by Hal Erickson
synopsis
The focus in this first episode of Alice's third season is on Tommy (Patrick McKeon), the 14-year-old son of single mom/waitress/aspiring singer Alice Hyatt (Linda Lavin). By Alice's account, Tommy is currently passing "from puberty to impossible", and she's at her wit's end. When her bombastic boss Mel (Vic Tayback) claims that he'd do a better job raising Tommy than she, Alice gets even by taking him up on his "offer"--and the result is literally painful for at least one of the principal characters. This episode, in which Alice spends a goodly portion of time posing as "Sam Butler", was one of several Alice installments directed by Bewitched veteran William Asher.
