Airdate: 09/24/1986

Directed By: Michael Landon

The second season was massively popular in its year, and Highway was more than ready to come back for a third. So, after completing the summer reruns of season two, in September 1986, the new episodes aired. For the new season, the producers tried to follow the same pattern as the second one—multiple episodes old featuring angelic revelations, assignments where Jonathan often relies on his powers, and the return of many familiar faces. Actually, this opener, the only two part episode of the season, immediately brings back some acquaintances: Scotty and Diane, the most recurring characters of the series, here in their last appearance.

But now, the opening.

It’s the same as in season one and two: Jonathan and his convicted felony attitude, Mark and his smirk, the landscape, the Little House recycle, the car. Everything is the same (for now), so let’s go right to it.

Complete show available here.

Assignment: Jonathan and Mark are assigned to work as coaches at the Special Olympics.

The season presumably picks up immediately where the previous one left off, although it’s unclear, since we don’t know exactly when season two concluded. But that was the way for the conclusion of season one and the beginning of season two, so it’s plausibly the same.

As in the successful season-two opening, this episode also revolves around kids. And hospitals.

Mark is like: “Not again, that was too emotional already”.

But it’s not like that time.

Instead, they go to the hospital because they are going to be working as track and field coaches for kids with mental impairments.

At the same time, Jonathan and Mark plan to see Diane and Scotty, the two most recurring characters of the series. The last time they stopped along the Highway in season two they left by wishing to have a baby. And that’s the subject of this episode.

When it turns out they can’t.

Apparently, Diane can’t have any child of her own.

The episode is divided into two parts. In the first, Jonathan and Mark help Scotty and Diane find another way to become parents (if anybody is familiar enough with Landon and this series, the solution is the same as in To Touch the Moon and Alone, right there).

Then, they enlist the help of Scotty and Diane to convince Todd, a kid at a foster home, get into the program.

Because, for some mysterious reasons, Jonathan wants them, particularly Scotty, to get familiar with the kid.

And in part two it will be revealed Jonathan has a secret plan for them.

• Background

It’s one of the few episodes in the series to be set in a real context: as in season two, they decided to ground the episode in a real-world program.

And this time (unlike the Camp Good Times last season), Mark already knows it, and he’s not particularly eager to get involved in it.

So, the Special Olympics is a real athletic organization founded in the 1960s with support from the Kennedy family. According to its history, it began with the Shriver Camp, a summer program for children with mental disabilities, and then expanded into year-round sport programs. In 1968, the first national event was held, open to both children and adults.

The competition was held irregularly in its first years, and starting from 1975 it became internationally organized every four years, just like the historical Olympics, including winter games. There was no international competition in 1986 (when this episode is set), but there were some local ones.

Curiously, 1986 is still marked as an important year for the organization. That September—roughly at the same time this episode aired—the United Nations officially declared 1986 the “Year of the Special Olympics”. It’s unclear whether Landon knew about this upcoming recognition and made this episode to honor the organization, or whether the timing was just a coincidence. If that was the case, it’d be uncanny as a foresight. Or maybe the UN actually watched this episode and recognized the Special Olympics after that —because Highway can change the world.

Either way, the episode really takes place during the local 1986 Special Olympics held at UCLA, and they called some of the kids attending there to be part of the episode — and used its real oath.

So, just like the season two opener, this episode is set on a real context but, unlike that show which was also based on a true story (Curtis and Jason were two kids the writer met at the camp), this time they made the adoption story up. That’s the third time a Highway episode uses a real setting or context in a fictional assignment (the other two episodes are The Torch and Popcorn, Peanuts And Crackerjacks), and the fifth time there’s an episode partially (in this case) or entirely based on a true story.

Actually, this episode shares many similarities to A Song For Jason, and the beginning of the two episodes play out almost identically: Jonathan and Mark go to a hospital, someone shows them around, explains what’s all about (Camp Good Times then; the Special Olympics now), and mentions a particular child (Curtis then; Todd now) who needs convincing to participate. Then, both episodes are grounded in an existing program.

The only difference is that now only the setting is real, and they made the rest of the characters up. And that Mark skipped the part where the doctor shows them around—probably because the writers realized it would be too similar otherwise.

Like that time at the Camp?.

Anyway, there were no Special Olympics in 1986 but, as explained in the episode, there are year-round local programs. And, considering the Olympics takes place in the summer, it’s likely this episode is set at the same time, and part one is set over some weeks.

Now, considering that Friends (the season two finale) took place around April or May, and didn’t last until graduation, it means this episode begins in May and spans over three months at least — which is plausible, because now they have to train kids for the Olympics, and it supposedly takes time to do that. Otherwise, this episode begins in June, and it’s not chronologically the first of the season — which is equally plausible, as it begins right away giving no indications whatsoever. Or maybe, again, it’s Friends that wasn’t the season finale. Anything is possible.

• Characters

As for the characters, the producers clearly decided to promote Scotty and Diane from guest characters to more prominent ones, and there was a good reason for it: their two-part episode The Monster in Season two — their preceding appearance—remains the most-watched two-parter of the series combining the ratings of part one and two, with its second part tied with Alone for the second most-watched episode of the entire show (behind Change Of Life, the most-watched one). So, the audience liked them, and the producers trusted them enough to have them open a new season.

But, like in The Monster they won’t give them a break.

Not again.

When Jonathan and Mark are back into their life, it means Scotty and Diane are having a problem. Which is usually revealed during a dinner with them, that inevitably leads to Scotty and Diane arguing and Diane walking out, while Scotty asks Jonathan and Mark to leave. That’s what happened in The Monster, and it happens again here. The only exception is that now they are not at the restaurant, and someone should clear off the table.

They idealized some aspects of Scotty’s life.

But that’s what an angel and his human friend are for: solving problems of a couple that has been supposedly matched in Heaven, which means no couples are perfect.

As for Mark, there’s an old reference: in the episode The Monster, it was revealed that, if Diane ever had kids, she would name one after him.

On this episode, he talks about it again. Except it turns out she won’t have any.

I’m sorry too you won’t have a kid with that name.

Instead, as for Jonathan, there’s a moment to point out: when he first meets Todd, he engages in a battle of weird facial expressions. Put the kids to bed.

That looks like a werewolf.

It’s likely a reference to his early Werewolf role (more details about it here, at the “Actor” entry).

But Todd wants to keep up.

That looks like a fish.

So, Landon showcase his whole arsenal.

That looks like Jim Carrey.

And eventually Todd wins it.

That looks like something that will give you nightmares.

Then, Landon probably reached the boundary of his acting skills and stopped right there. Anyway, that’s the first time in the series there’s a “weirdly comical and unsettling facial expressions” race between two characters, and it won’t be the last.

But there’s another weird feature of the characters: at the beginning of the episode, before Mark drives away, Jonathan tells him to “drive careful”.

What?

Now, it’s unclear why Jonathan has to make that remarks: it’s not the first time in the series Jonathan hops off while Mark drives away, and he never warns him about that before getting off. Actually, the only time Jonathan told him to be careful was in the Halloween Special, when Mark would later run over a kid. But it’s unclear what Jonathan meant by that, if it was addressed to Mark’s driving or selling his soul (more details at the “Highway Of Mysteries” entry of that episode).

So, the audience knows that Mark drives quite recklessly sometimes (as in Going Home, Going Home or Close Encounters Of The Heavenly Kind, just to name some), but it feels so random that Jonathan tells him that now, because he has almost never told him that before. And the odd part is that Mark replies as if it were habit.

No Joey Chitwood.

• Actors (Highway actors)

In A Song For Jason during season two, they called non-professional child actors to play the ill patients at the hospital. Now, for an episode with mentally impaired children, the approach is similar: they actually called non-professional actors who do indeed have disabilities.

Except for Todd, the subject of the assignment.

Still, the effort is admirable, especially considering how rare it was in the mid-1980s to feature children with disabilities on television. In that respect, the episode is groundbreaking. Of course, there’s a huge risk of being offensive by having Todd played by an actor without mental impairments, but they partially averted it by never disclosing what kind of specific mental condition he has. Also, it’s important to keep in mind it’s the 1980s, and even though they had wanted a kid with a real mental condition to play the character, it’d be hard to find, even for ethical reasons (for instance, parents might be unwilling to let their mentally disabled kid be shown on TV). Of course, it could be pointed out that even having a toddler spearing in TV is against ethical reason, but with the general attitude people have of kids with disabilities, it’s difficult all the same.

The character of Todd is played by Paul Walker, and he should look familiar: he had already appeared in one episode of Highway during the second season, playing a secretary’s son helping Jonathan become an activist (sort of).

Of course, there’s a huge risk of being offensive by having Todd played by an actor without mental impairments, but they partially averted it by never disclosing what kind of specific mental condition he has. Also, it’s important to keep in mind it’s the 1980s, and even though they had wanted a kid with a real mental condition to play the character, it’d be hard to find, even for ethical reasons (for instance, parents might be unwilling to let their mentally disabled kid be shown on TV). Of course, it could be pointed out that even having a toddler spearing in TV is against ethical reason, but that’s not the point here, and with the general attitude people have of kids with disabilities, it’s just as difficult.

So, just the effort of actually calling mentally impaired kids for some part is admirable, especially considering how rare it was in the mid-1980s to feature children with disabilities on television. And, that way, the episode is groundbreaking.

Instead, Scotty and Diane are again played by James Troesh (more about him here) and Margie Impert, that the audience should be familiar with by now.

• Production and Setting

The premise of this episode is nothing new: of course, Landon has already shown the audience the joy of adoption in To Touch The Moon, and he will do that again during the series. However, the part about Scotty and Diane trying to become parents isn’t new either: the episode of The Monster part 2 concluded with Diane expressing her desire to become a housewife and have a family.

But the idea came even earlier: in an interview with the Arizona Republic dated 1985, to promote the episode A Match Made In Heaven airing that night, actor James Troesh talked about the writing of that episode (which was based on the true story of his marriage with Theresa Troesh) and then revealed that, after its conclusion, he had submitted another idea for an episode where Scotty and Diane would try to have a baby.

And that seems what this episode is about.

However, for some reason, they made The Monster episode instead, where the two characters are having domestic problems. Then, one season later, they made this, and it was written by Gordon (the series headrwriter).

So, it seems like the premise of this episode had been outlined as early as 1985, by Troesh, yet that story about Scotty and Diane becoming parents would eventually become this episode, about Special Olympics and adoption — which doesn’t sound like what Troesh had originally intended to make. Likely, that’s why this episode is written by Gordon: maybe Troesh submitted the idea — and even wrote the first treatment — but then Gordon decided to revisit it into an adoption story and Troesh pulled back. Or maybe he only discussed this idea and never even wrote a script. Either way, something must have happened, and Troesh didn’t write it.

And it certainly feels like Gordon is not as familiar and confident with handling a quadriplegic life as Troesh was, considering the way he treated Scotty’s character in the episode: showing him alone in his chamber, asking Jonathan and Mark to leave without clearing the table even though Diane is crying and in no condition to do that, opening his house door by just pushing it with his wheelchair as if the door were always open, and never showing a single attendant around. Of course, anything can be justified in some way or another: for instance, considering that Diane is the housewife, maybe Scotty doesn’t need to have attendants all the time (even though Jim Troesh always had, as he specifically wrote in a 1991 article), and even though she was crying in the other room she might have cleared the table the next day. However, it seems that some details of what a quadriplegic everyday life is like have been either overltly simplified or just left out, while in A Match Made In Heaven, which was actually written by Troesh and not Gordon, there was more carefulness in the way they detailed the character’s everyday life. Likely that’s because Scotty and quadriplegic life wasn’t a core part of the episode, but that’s exactly the point: maybe Troesh would have wanted to make his condition more central, and that’s why he didn’t write it.

Anyway, this episode kicked off production of season three, on early July 1986 for one week. It’s unclear when it was produced exactly, but it can be traced back: as it’s reported by the L.A. Times article about the Olympics dated late July, the local Special Olympics at UCLA were held on a weekend earlier that month, and the production of this two part episode place during the real games. Thus, it must have started before July 13 and lasted one week, as usual. That’s plausible, considering production of season two likely began on July 16 one year ago, and this season concluded its first half earlier than the second season’s.

As for the setting, the hospital where Jonathan receives the information on the Olympics is in Los Angeles, while the stadium where Jonathan and Mark train the kids is the Drake stadium of UCLA, so it’s all around those areas.

There’s even a blooper: when the kid approaches Mark to take his whistle during the second race, Mark is shown handling the toy gun with both hands, but when the kid steals the whistle, suddenly Mark only has his right hand.

Now, the actual Special Olympics games will be shown in Part 2, so it’s likely production of this episode concluded before July 13 and began one week earlier. If that was the case, then the third season began almost two weeks in advance compared to season two, which was already two weeks in advance of season one.

Glossary

Blooper: there are a couple of bloopers. One is when the kid runs towards Mark holding the gun with both hands, and the kid steals it, while Mark’s left hand is not on the whistle anymore.

The second one is when Scotty tries to convince Todd to participate in the program, and the kid is shown with his arms folded.

But then they are stretched across the table.

Similarly, while he talks he lifts his right arm. But then it becomes the left one.

Hanging on: it seems like Scotty and Diane renovated their house. During The Monster, they had a painting in their living room looking like a reference to Little House, sort of.

But now that changed to a different one.

It’s more fitting to the summer season.

Or maybe they had forgotten which painting they had used for that episode, and they replaced it.

Reference: this episode makes reference to earlier shows of the series. In particular, the first one is at the beginning, when Jonathan tells Mark they’ll be sport coaches, Mark reveals he used to play football at the academy, and he had a surname Jonathan is already aware of.

That has already been revealed in The Good Doctor.

Instead, the second reference is about Scotty and Diane: the premise of the episode is about them deciding to have kids. And that intention had already been revealed at the end of The Monster Part 2, even though things do not go as they’d wanted them.

And the third reference is to Diane’s intention of naming her child after Mark, when they discuss the name.

And that’s not Leslie.

It had already been revealed that Diane wanted to do that in The Monster, though now it’s clear she won’t.

Sorry, Mark.

Curiously, they never mention Leslie in the episode. Like, she is part of the family all the same: she’s Mark’s sister, and that makes her Diane’s cousin too, yet for some reason Diane never talks about her, nor asks Mark about her. Like, Diane said she’d name her son after Mark, but doesn’t say is he had a daughter she’d name it after Leslie instead. And nobody talked about her in Going Home, Going Home either, when Mark found his grandpa (although probably on that occasion she wasn’t born yet). What a weird family.

The Job: in the assignment, Jonathan and Mark work as coaches at the Special Olympics. Which is run by volunteers, so they do not have to make up any references now.

However, the assignment is not really about training the kids and helping them in their personal struggles (as in A Song For Jason, that features multiple characters and the assignment was related to the job). Instead, they only stay at the Special Olympics for the beginning of the episode, followed by a time compressing scene in which Mark overcomes his fears of coaching those kids and learns how to do the job.

No problem, you’ll get the hang of it in a couple of minutes.

Then, they realized they had run out of materials, so they turned the assignment into an adoption story with Scotty and Diane.

Ratings: 28 million audience. 25th Weekly TV programs, 6th TV genre show.

The second season opened very strongly, which suggested the third season would continue that momentum. Actually, the popularity of the second season might even be partially attributed to the strings of summer reruns of season one, which in some episodes even surpassed the original airing, and they successfully built up the audience all the way to September, for the new season. However, the summer reruns of season two were far less successful, and never matched the ratings of season one’s. The last episode to have a rerun, before this episode kicked off the new season, was Change Of Life, the most watched of the series, and it scored lower than the last rerun of season one (The Banker And The Bum), that aired before starting season two.

Anyway, the reruns are just reruns, and might not predict the popularity of a season. However, this episode’s performance was not quite successful as one season ago. It aired in the third week of September— one week later than the immediate two preceding seasons —and earned roughly 28 million viewers. It is noticeably lower than the second season premiere, which scored two points higher. It even fell short of the second-season finale, which had been the least-watched episode of that otherwise very successful season.

Of course, this was only the start of the new season, and more importantly, only the first part of a two-part episode. The performance of the second part would provide a clearer picture of whether season three was on track for success. Still, the drop in viewership raises questions. Perhaps the promotional material didn’t resonate with audiences the way the “summer camp for ill children” assignment had one season ago. Or maybe someone in the audience was less enthusiastic after season two than season one and felt less urgency to tune in again — or quit watching the series completely. Or it may simply be a mirror of the broader TV landscape: many television programs were losing ratings during this period. A comparison of year-end ratings from 1984 to 1986 shows that even series that premiered alongside Highway that week (and ranked higher) were seeing declines compared to the preceding TV years. So, the cause could be any of several factors—but it’s not alarming, yet. Only part two would indicate where the season was headed, and if it could hold strong again.