| The Jimmy Dean Show | |
 | |
| Air Date | April 1, 1966 |
In the final episode of The Jimmy Dean Show, as an April Fools' Day joke, Jimmy Dean tells his audience he plans to have a little fun with his pal Rowlf the Dog. He's announced that he will be touring the country when the show wraps, but that he's going to string Rowlf along before he formally invites him to join him on the road.
Rowlf's first plea involves convincing Jimmy that he needs to take someone along, but each of his inadvertent hints results in Jimmy getting ideas that don't involve Rowlf (including the possibility of inviting Lassie). Rowlf: "I wonder if Batman and Robin could use a dog."
In a second attempt, Rowlf sells his talent by way of demonstrating his famous Mexican hat dance. He convinces Jimmy to hand over his new hat as he dazzles the audience with his "footwork". When he looks down, Rowlf is horrified at what he sees and tries to hand over various different hats. Eventually, Jimmy gets his hat back, but it's all crushed and torn from dozens of paw stomps.
Next, Rowlf plans to add some class to Jimmy's act when his tour takes him to the Shriners Auditorium, so he dons a pair of glasses (which fall off) and proceeds to read William Shakespeare. Jimmy protests; if anyone's going to recite Shakespeare, it'll be him. After a sampling of the "lend me your ears" portion of Julius Caesar, Rowlf slips in one last gag about the size of Jimmy's lobes. As an alternative, Rowlf offers to recite his own poetry, but Jimmy calls it out for being too outdated, "twenty-five years ago I loved it."
Beginning to realize he won't be joining Jimmy on the tour, Rowlf begins to unpack his bag: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a sweater, a toothbrush (to brush the peanut butter off his sweater), a full-length umbrella (pulled Mary Poppins-style as if from hammerspace), and his long winter underwear. The final item garners a whistle from the audience; Rowlf: "it's very warm, but sometimes I slip through the back door."
Jimmy finally reveals the gag and tells Rowlf he wouldn't imagine going on tour without him. Rowlf promises he'll do whatever it is Jimmy wants him to do, as long as they do it together. As their final duet on the show, Rowlf and Jimmy sing "Together Wherever We Go", ending on a heartfelt embrace between a man and his dog.
Notes[]
- This episode was taped on March 25, 1966.[1]
Sources[]
| Previous episode: | Next episode: |
| Episode 325 | (last) |