Retro Television Reviews: Jennifer Slept Here 1.12 “The Tutor Who Came To Dinner”

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Jennifer Slept Here, which aired on NBC in 1983 and 1984. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

This week, Jennifer gets some competition!

Episode 1.12 ‘The Tutor Who Came To Dinner”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on May 5th, 1984)

Concerned about Joey’s poor grades and the fact that he is always doing things like talking to no one and apparently playing ping pong by himself, George arranges for Joey to get a tutor.

At first, Joey is upset. He doesn’t want a tutor. As he explains it, he just got one D and it wasn’t even in an important class. But Joey changes his tune when Pam (Gail Edwards) arrives. Pam is supportive, enthusiastic, and always complimentary. She also always wears tight sweaters, which Jennifer quickly deduces is the main reason why Joey suddenly likes being tutored so much. Soon, Joey is asking his father if he believes that younger men should date older women.

Jennifer, however, does not trust Pam and it turns out that she’s absolutely right about Pam having a secret agenda. When Jennifer sees Pam walking through a closed door, she realizes that Pam is actually a ghost! Pam explains that the governing body of the spirit world has decided that Joey would be better off with a different ghost in his life so they’ve sent Pam to replace Jennifer.

This brings up a lot of questions. Jennifer Slept Here was never particularly consistent when it came to explaining why only Joey could see Jennifer or why Jennifer was even hanging around the house to begin with. Sometimes, Jennifer was portrayed as being a somewhat bratty ghost who just liked to play pranks on the people living in the house. Other times, Jennifer was portrayed as almost being a surrogate mother figure for Joey. That said, I think this is the first time that it’s actually been stated that Jennifer was specifically assigned to spend time with Joey. In fact, it almost sounds as if Jennifer is meant to be Joey’s guardian angel or something. So, why was Jennifer assigned to Joey? The simple solution was seem to be that it was because Joey and his family moved into Jennifer’s old house. But if Pam is going to be Joey’s new ghost than where is Jennifer supposed to go now? The implication is that Jennifer is going to have to leave but where is she supposed to go? And if Joey and his family ever move, does that mean Jennifer or Pam will automatically be assigned to whoever moves into the house next or would they be expected to travel with the family?

I know I’m overthinking all of this but to me, it is relevant as to why this show didn’t last, despite having two talented and likable leads. After twelve episodes, the show’s writers still hadn’t figured out just what exactly the true nature of Jennifer’s existence was. It’s not surprising that this led to a show that could be rather uneven.

Anyway, Joey pretends to be a messy brat in order to convince Pam that she doesn’t want to be his ghost. Pam seems right through Joey’s antics but she also realizes how much Joey and Jennifer care about each other so she agrees to leave. Continuity issues aside, this was a sweet episode. Joey really couldn’t ask for a better ghost friend.

Next week …. Jennifer Slept Here comes to an end!

Retro Television Reviews: Jennifer Slept Here 1.11 “Life With Grandfather”

Posted on December 14, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week’s episode made me cry.

Episode 1.11 “Life With Grandfather”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on April 28th, 1984)

George Elliott’s father, Barney (Milo O’Shea), is coming to visit. He’ll be staying up in the attic, which upsets Jennifer until Barney actually arrives and she discovers that Barney is a lovable eccentric who loves her movies and spends his time trying to invent new toys.

Unfortunately, the rest of the family is not as thrilled to have Barney around as Jennifer is. Barney and George have a strained relationship and Joey keeps making excuses not to spend time with his grandfather. Jennifer is the only one who understands how lonely Barney is but she can’t help him because Barney can’t see her.

Sadly, that changes when one of Barney’s toys explodes in the attic. Suddenly, Barney can see Jennifer and Jennifer can talk to him. That’s because Barney is dead. Jennifer helps Barney come to terms with being dead and she also tells him that he’s not alone because there’s ghosts all over the place. Barney says that he had so much he still wanted to tell his family and Jennifer assures Barney that his family had a lot that they wanted to tell him. It’s a surprisingly poignant scene, one that is wonderfully acted by both Ann Jillian and Milo O’Shea.

The episodes jumps forward a few days. George and Joey are still struggling to come to terms with Barney’s death. George admits that he was never as close to his father as he wishes he had been and that he has a lot regrets about not getting to tell Barney how much he loved him before he died. Joey, for his part, goes up to his bedroom and tells Jennifer that he wants to talk to his grandfather. Joey feels that, since he can talk to Jennifer’s ghost, he should also be able to talk to his grandfather’s ghost. Jennifer gently explains that Barney has moved on and Joey can’t talk to him anymore but he can continue to love him.

I mean …. MY GOD! Though this series is admittedly uneven, I’ve enjoyed the majority of the episodes of Jennifer Slept Here that I’ve watched. But I never thought that this show would bring me to tears. This was such a sweet and poignant episode and I think it’s one to which everyone watching could relate. We all have loved ones who we miss and we wish we could speak to. And sadly, we rarely say everything that we want to say to people while they’re still here. Joey’s desire to speak to his grandfather is an emotion that we’ve all felt. But Barney has moved on and the show deserves a lot of credit for not going for the easy solution and having Barney suddenly return to say goodbye to Joey. Instead, this episode (and Jennifer) emphasized the importance of enjoying the time together that we have and always carrying our love for others in our hearts.

This was a sweet episode and well-acted by the entire cast. As I’ve said, this is an uneven series but this was a truly good episode.

Retro Television Review: Jennifer Slept Here 1.9 “Risky Weekend”

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Joey has the house to himself …. kind of.

Episode 1.9 “Risky Weekend”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on April 14th, 1984)

It’s the weekend and George and Susan Elliot are going out of town. They’re taking their daughter with them but they’re leaving teenage son Joey alone in the house. George leaves the family’s sailboat sitting on the back patio so that “It will look like we’re still here!” How could this go wrong?

Jennifer is certainly excited about the house being nearly empty but Joey tells her that he has a big test coming up and he just needs some peace and quiet so that he can concentrate on studying. Jennifer agrees to leave him alone for the weekend but what she doesn’t know is that Joey is a damn liar. He and his friend, Marc, are planning on throwing a party. Woo hoo! Unfortunately, while Marc is helping to get the house ready for the party, he accidentally gives the sailboat a shove and it crashes into the living room.

Fortunately, Jennifer has come back home and she tells Joey that he should call his parents and just tell them what happened. Joey, however, decides to take care of the situation himself. He calls in a local landscaper, Eddie (Hamilton Camp). Even though Joey doesn’t have enough money to cover the repairs, Eddie says that he’ll fix the damage if Joey allows Eddie’s church to have bingo night in his house. Again, despite Jennifer’s reservations, Joey agrees.

It turns out that bingo night is actually an illegal casino. Joey tells Jennifer not to worry about it but, when his mom calls him and says that they’re coming home early, Joey is soon begging Jennifer to help him out. Jennifer helps Joey put the casino out of business by helping him cheat at all the games. Myself, I’m just amazed at how quickly the house was transformed into a casino, complete with slot machines, a craps table, and a roulette wheel. Did Eddie just have all of that stuff sitting in his living room or something?

Anyway, Joey breaks the bank. All of the gamblers leave but Eddie and his gangsters say that they’re not going anywhere. Fortunately, Jennifer calls the ghost cops to come and arrest Eddie because …. EDDIE AND HIS ASSOCIATES ARE ALL GHOSTS!

Even though Eddie left behind all of the casino stuff, it has mysteriously disappeared from the house by the time Susan and George return to the house. George is really impressed by how nice the house looks. Joey tells his parents about the casino and the ghost cops and they assume that he’s delirious from doing homework all weekend. Then George goes outside and accidentally crashes the sailboat into the living room again. What? How stupid is George?

This was a weird episode. The plot makes no sense but it’s also so random that it becomes likable in its own strange way. This is one of those episodes that feels as if it was made up on the spot but Ann Jillian and John P. Navin Jr. both give energetic enough performances that the whole thing somehow holds together. Then again, maybe I just like movies and TV shows that take place in casinos. I always appreciate the fact that people dress up to gamble. Were the gamblers also ghosts or was it just the gangsters? Weird episode.

Retro Television Reviews: Jennifer Slept Here 1.8 “Rebel With a Cause”

Posted on November 23, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Jennifer learns karate and Joey is tempted to the dark side.

Episode 1.8 “Rebel With a Cause”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on December 16th, 1983)

Poor Joey!

Jennifer has decided to learn karate. Why a ghost would need to learn karate, I do not know. However, while showing off her newly learned moves to Joey, Jennifer kicks his bed and causes it to collapse. Mr. Eliot rushes into the room and, because he can’t see Jennifer, he assumes that Joey must have been jumping up and down on his bed despite the fact that Joey is a teenager in high school. Joey’s allowance will go to buying a new bed!

The next day, at school, Joey makes the mistake of asking out the girlfriend of the school’s biggest bully. Fortunately, Jennifer materializes just in time to beat up the school bully. Again, because no one can see Jennifer, everyone assumes that Joey beat up the bully. The bully’s gang decides to make Joey their new leader.

At first, Joey is reluctant. But when people at school start to act like they’re scared of him and start to do favors for him, the power goes to Joey’s head. Soon, Joey is wearing a leather jacket and trying to be tough. Jennifer points out that this isn’t who Joey is and, deep down, Joey knows that. When the entire gang shows up at Joey’s house, Jennifer suddenly materializes and pretends to be Joey’s biker girlfriend which somehow scares the gang off.

This is a confusing episode, largely due to the fact that the show has never clearly established just what exactly Jennifer can and can’t do as a ghost. In some episodes, like this one, she can materialize and be seen by others. In other episodes, it’s been suggested that only Joey will ever be able to see her. In just the previous episode, Jennifer had the power to possess other people but, in this episode, she doesn’t even use that power despite the fact that it would have gotten both her and Joey out of a lot of trouble. (If Jennifer has possessed Joey and then beat up the bully, it would have certainly made more sense than everyone assuming Joey beat up the bully despite the fact that Joey would standing several feet away while Jennifer put the guy in his place.) And, again, why would Jennifer learn karate in the first place? Who is teaching her? When did she learn? Jennifer mentions that she’s met a lot of bikers in the afterlife but when was that? As far as I can tell, Jennifer spends all of her time harassing Joey at the house.

Even if you ignore all of the inconsistencies with Jennifer, you have to wonder why, in the year 1983, Joey is going to a school that is apparently controlled by a 1950s street gang. Seriously, this gang of bullies is even less intimidating than a community theater production of Grease.

It was sweet that Jennifer was so concerned about Joey and, as usual, Ann Jillian brought a lot of heart to the role but this episode just didn’t make any sense.

Retro Television Reviews: Jennifer Slept Here 1.7 “Trading Faces”

Posted on November 16, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Jennifer discovers that she can possess people!

Episode 1.7 “Trading Faces”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on December 2nd, 1983)

While watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Joey suggests that Jennifer may be capable of possessing people. Joey’s theory is that, just as Jennifer can walk through walls, she can also step into people’s bodies and control them. This seems like an odd theory for Joey to just come up with. Personally, I think Joey has been obsessing on this for a while.

Still, Jennifer says, “It’s worth a try!” so she crouches down and steps into the body of Joey’s bratty little sister, Marilyn (Mya Akerling). And, it works! Jennifer is able to possess Marilyn! It’s a good thing that worked, I guess. I mean, what if Marilyn died as a result of Jennifer trying to walk through her? How would Joey have explained that?

Jennifer is so excited about possessing Marilyn that she then proceeds to possess Joey’s best friend, Marc (Glenn Scarpelli). “Joey,” Jennifer-as-Marc says, “you have such beautiful eyes.” Joey freaks out but Jennifer is having a ball. The audience thinks its hilarious because this show is from the 80s.

The next morning, as the family eats breakfast, father George (Brandon Maggart) announces that he has a special guest coming by the house, a Spanish film producer (Henry Darrow) who is also an ex-boyfriend of Jennifer’s! (“Jennifer,” George announces, “was like Will Rogers. She never meet a man she didn’t like!”) George tells Joey to act normal and not yell at any invisible people during the producer’s visit.

Of course, it’s not Joey that George should be worried about. That night, when the producer shows up, Jennifer possesses George’s wife, Susan (Georgia Engel), and she flirts with the producer! Uh-oh, what if George finds out? What if this leads to divorce? What if Joey is sent back to New York and suddenly, Jennifer no longer has anyone to harass?

Jennifer really didn’t think this through. Or maybe she did and realized that George is the worst person in the world so who cares about destroying his career, marriage, and family?

Anyway, while possessing Susan, Jennifer kisses the producer. When George witnesses this, Jennifer hops out of Susan’s body, leaving Susan totally clueless as to why George is so upset. This leads to Jennifer once again possessing Susan so that she can declare her love for George and say that the producer was actually the one who put the moves on her and then George decides to punch out the producer but then the producer says that women are always throwing themselves at his feet and Jennifer realizes that the producer wasn’t that hot after all and then she steps into George’s body so that she can tell off the producer and….

AGGGGGGH!

Sorry. As you may have guesses, this whole episode was a bit too frantic for its own good but, to give credit where credit is due, both Georgia Engel and Brandon Maggart did credible Ann Jillian impersonations when their characters were possessed. Still, in the end, the sleazy producer decided to hire George as his lawyer and George accepted his offer because George is the worst person in the world and doesn’t have the self-respect necessary to kick the misogynistic old lech out of his house. Wow, that’s kind of depressing. Jennifer’s dead, everyone thinks that Joey is crazy, and George is so desperate for money that he’ll even take it from a guy who just tried to break up his marriage. This show is dark!

Next week, Jennifer helps Joey beat up the school bully!

Retro Television Review: Jennifer Slept Here 1.5 “Calendar Girl”

Posted on November 2, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, we are reminded that Joey has the worst father in the world.

Episode 1.5 “Calendar Girl”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on November 18th, 1983)

So far, the episodes of Jennifer Slept Her that I’ve watched have focused on Jennifer’s friendship with Joey, the teenager who is the only person who can see her. Joey’s family has remained largely in the background, occasionally wondering why Joey is talking to himself.

This week’s episode serves to remind the viewer (and I’m going to use the singular for viewer here because I’m probably the only person in the world binging this show in 2023) that Joey’s father, George (played by Fiona Apple’s father, Brandon Maggart), is the worst person in the world.

George was Jennifer’s attorney when she was alive. Apparently, even when Jennifer was living and paying his salary, George didn’t think much of her. Starting with the very first episode, George has frequently described Jennifer as being a “tramp.” In the second episode, George was happy to allow an exploitive biopic of Jennifer to be filmed in his house, which used to be Jennifer’s house. Seriously, the fact that George hated Jennifer but then moved right into her mansion after she died tells us all we need to know about him. The show keeps trying to portray George as just being a typical bumbling sitcom Dad but, just judging from his actions, George is the devil.

This week’s episode finds George in a foul mood because the IRS is demanding that Jennifer’s back taxes be paid off. George decides to auction off a lot of Jennifer’s former possessions, including the stuff in the attic. Jennifer doesn’t have any problem with George selling her movie memorabilia but, as she tells Joey, the stuff in the attic is “personal.” Joey is torn because George has offered to give him a percentage of the auction’s profits if Joey finds stuff that they can sell. Joey really wants to go to Cancun for Spring Break but he needs $600.

Joey does go up to the attic but he promises not to put anything up for auction without Jennifer’s permission. When Joey finds a nude calendar featuring Jennifer amongst her possessions, Jennifer explains that it was something she did when she was a struggling actress and she would prefer the world not know about it. Joey agrees not to give the calendar to his Dad but George stumbles across it anyway and immediately starts yelling about how much money he’s going to make off of it.

Again, George is the worst human being on the planet.

Joey tells his father that “maybe we shouldn’t sell it.” George and Joey’s mother (played by Georgia Engel, who delivered her lines in such a soft voice that I could barely hear them) think that Joey just wants the poster for masturbatory purposes. George explains that the nude picture of Jennifer is the most valuable thing that they have to sell. George can’t wait to sell the calendar to a publisher.

Joey apologizes to Jennifer but says he can’t go against his father. Jennifer thinks about what a wonderful career she had and how now, she’s just going to be remembered for “hanging in every muffler shop in America.” Awwwww! George, you suck!

Luckily, George is also incredibly stupid. He gives Joey the responsibility of holding onto the calendar until the day of the auction. At the auction, Joey substitutes a picture of Jennifer as a baby for the calendar. Fortunately, the picture still sells for $22,000.

In the end, George says that he’s proud of Joey for standing up for what he believes in but we all know that George still sucks.

This is one of those episodes that really only worked because of the energetic performance of Ann Jillian, who was consistently better than the material that was given to her. A lot of the jokes would have fallen very flat if not for Jillian’s delivery and comedic timing. In the end, Jennifer kept her calendar and Joey presumably went to Cancun. And George …. well, let’s hope he found a shred of human decency somewhere in the house.

Retro Television Review: Jennifer Slept Here 1.4 “Boo”

Posted on October 26, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Debbie Reynolds drops by!

Episode 1.4 “Boo”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on November 11th, 1983)

This week’s episode of Jennifer Slept Here opens with Jennifer tormenting Joey while he tries to make a snack. Whenever Joey tries to grab a bowl and a box of cereal, Jennifer materializes and says, “Boo!” I guess when you’re a ghost, you have to find a way to pass the time. Seriously, though, Joey acts like he’s about to have a heart attack every time that he sees Jennifer. He should be used to her by now.

In other words — STOP BEING SUCH A WIMP, JOEY!

Joey is upset because he’s stuck at home while his parents take his little sister to a costume party but then Marc shows up with two twins (played by Jacqueline and Samantha Forrest). The twins seem to like Joey and Marc but again, Joey can’t leave the house. Jennifer suggests to Joey that he suggest that they just have a party at the house. Joey follows Jennifer’s advice and it turns out that the twins really want to have a …. séance!

Joey is totally excited because he has his own ghost! However, Jennifer informs him that she doesn’t want to perform like a trained seal so he’s going to have to figure out his own way to party with the twins. Suddenly, the studio audience goes wild as Debbie Reynolds materializes in Joey’s bedroom. It turns out that Debbie Reynolds is playing Jennifer’s mother, who is also a ghost. Jennifer’s mom has spent 24 years searching for Jennifer. Why? Because she’s still upset over the fact that Jennifer didn’t thank her when she won a Golden Globe. Jennifer’s mother has tracked down her daughter so that she can demand to be given credit for her daughter’s career!

(Really? It’s just a Golden Globe.)

Jennifer and her mother argue over whether or not Jennifer has ever given her mother enough credit. Jennifer’s mother eventually announces that she’s leaving and proceeds to walk through a wall. Desperate for her mother to return, Jennifer asks Joey to perform a …. wait for it …. a séance! Joey gets Jennifer to agree to help him to impress the twins in return for him trying to contact her mother.

At the séance, Marc says they should contact Jennifer’s mother but Joey is like, “Let’s contact her mother!” As it storms outside, Jennifer does things like forcing everyone to keep their hands on table and causing candles to float around the living room. It scares and impresses the twins and they suggest a trip to their place where they have a hot tub. But Jennifer tells Joey that he can’t leave because the séance isn’t over. Realizing that Jennifer is right, Joey says he can’t go to the hot tub because he has to clean up the house.

“Joey,” Marc announces, “I don’t know what’s wrong with but someday, it’s going to keep you out of the army.”

Okay, 80s TV show, way to be cringey there.

Anyway, Jennifer’s Mother does eventually appear and Joey gets to go hot tubbing with the twins while Jennifer and her mom work on their relationship in the living room. And I have to say that, after a really silly 19-minute build-up, the final scene between Ann Jillian and Debbie Reynolds was actually very sweet and touching, perhaps more so than you would expect from a sitcom about a ghost and her dorky teenage roommate.

This episode did not get off to a great start but that final scene between Ann Jillian and Debbie Reynolds saved it. The show definitely worked best when it focused more on Jennifer and less on the people who lived with her.

Retro Television Reviews: Jennifer Slept Here 1.3 “Not With My Date You Don’t”

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Jennifer helps out when it looks like both Joey and Marc are about to get their hearts broken.

Episode 1.3 “Not With My Date You Don’t”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on November 4th, 1983)

I should start this review with an admission. Though every episode of Jennifer Slept Here has been uploaded to YouTube, some of the uploads are a bit better than others. That’s not the fault of the uploader. The uploader undoubtedly used the best copy of the third episode of Jennifer Slept Here that they had available. It’s just an acknowledgement that Jennifer Slept Here is a show that briefly aired 40 years ago and it’s doubtful that anyone, at that time, knew that a reviewer would need a good copy of the third episode to watch in 2023. The 3rd episode of the show is available on YouTube but the sound quality is a bit muddy and I often struggled to understand all of the dialogue. So, I’m just going to admit right now that I did the best that I could and if I misheard anything, I apologize.

As for the episode itself, it opens with Joey rehearsing asking out a classmate in front of his mirror. Jennifer materializes in a red dress that is to die for. Joey asks Jennifer where she’s going to go in that outfit and Jennifer says that she’s just going out. To be honest, Joey’s question is a good one because, seriously, where does Jennifer have to go? She’s a ghost!

When Jennifer finds out that Joey is feeling nervous about asking pretty blonde Linda (Viveka Davis) to go on a date with him, she decides to help him out by going to school with him. This makes sense because, as we all know, there’s nothing more attractive than a teenage boy who wanders around his school talking to himself. Anyway, with Jennifer’s encouragement, Joey asks out Linda but she informs him that she already has a date ….. WITH MARC (Glenn Scarpelli)! Marc is Joey’s annoying best friend.

Joey’s parents set him up with a blind date, who I think was named Eileen (Megan Daniels). At least now Joey can go on a double date to the movies with Marc and Linda. (Yeah, there’s no way that won’t be awkward.) However, Eileen turns out to be a punk rocker with multi-colored hair, who yells at the movie and totally embarrasses Joey in front of Marc, Linda, and Jennifer (who decides to tag along in ghost form). Eileen decides that the movie sucks and leaves. Linda asks Marc to go get her some more popcorn and, after he leaves, she immediately moves over to Marc and starts hitting on him. Jennifer is scandalized, saying that Linda has no morals.

Later, after the date, Joey is feeling pretty proud of himself when Marc suddenly shows up and accuses Joey of “stealing my girl.” This brings their friendship to an end. Yay! Seriously, Marc is a dork! Joey needed a better friend. Jennifer, however, is upset that Joey is allowing Linda — a girl with no morals! — come between him and his dorky friend.

The next day, in school, Jennifer decides to take actions into her own invisible ghost hands by grabbing Linda, shoving her up to the chalkboard, and then grabbing Linda’s hand and forcing her to write that she lied on the chalkboard. Apparently, the reason she lied was to get Joey to buy her tickets to a Rick Springfield concert but don’t quote me on that. This where that muddy soundtrack kicked in and made it difficult for me to follow all of the conversations. All I know that Jennifer forced Linda to write, “I lied” and then Jennifer added, “Springfield tickets” underneath Linda’s admission. So, that would suggest Linda either wanted to see Rick Springfield or maybe Dusty Springfield, depending on the depths of her musical knowledge. Or maybe she actually wrote Springsteen on the chalkboard. I really couldn’t tell. The important thing is that Joey dumps Linda for being dishonest and he and Marc are friends again.

Even when it came to the parts that I could understand, I wasn’t a huge fan of this episode, largely because I felt it was way too judgmental of Linda. I mean, really, the only thing that Linda did was flirt with a guy who she hoped would take her to a concert. It’s not like she was married to either Marc or Joey. In fact, she only went out with Marc once before hitting on Joey so it’s not like Linda was really even dating either one of them. Ann Jillian’s outfits were cute but this episode just didn’t work for me.

Retro Television Reviews: Jennifer Slept Here 1.2 “Jennifer: The Movie”

Posted on October 12, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the afterlife of film star Jennifer Farrell continues as a Hollywood production company comes to the house to shoot a scene for their Jennifer biopic!

Episode 1.2 “Jennifer: The Movie”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on October 28th, 1983)

The second episode of Jennifer Slept Here opens with ghostly Jennifer in a good mood. A movie is being made about her life and Joey has somehow gotten a hold of the script. Jennifer reads the script and announces that the movie is going to be the “great biopic since Gandhi! And I look a lot better under a sheet!”

(The audience loves that line.)

Jennifer’s main concern is who is going to be play her in the movie and, at her insistence, Joey asks his parents. Since his parents are wacky sitcom parents, it takes them forever to finally reveal that not only is Jennifer going to be played by Sheila Drake (Lynnda Ferguson) but that a scene from the movie is going to be filmed at the house. Jennifer is not a fan of Sheila Drake’s and she takes out her annoyance by playing the piano. When his mother comes in the room to see who is so beautifully playing the piano, Joey is forced to pretend to be a talented musical prodigy.

Later, Jennifer is super-excited when the film crew shows up at the house to shoot a scene in which she talks to a producer. This actually leads to a rather poignant moment in which Jennifer tries to talk to a few familiar members of the crew, just to be reminded that she’s dead and they can no longer hear her. (When I say that the scene is poignant, it’s almost all totally due to the performance of Ann Jillian.)

However, Jennifer is not amused when she discovers that Sheila is planning on playing her as a “cheap tramp” who slept her way to the top. Jennifer goes out of her way to disrupt filming, first by unplugging a power chord and then, after Sheila has gone up to Joey’s room to wait while the next scene is set up, spraying Sheila with water and then ripping off Sheila’s skirt. Because Joey is in the room at the time, he gets blamed for both of these incidents. So, I guess Joey’s going to jail and get booked on assault charges now, right? Nope. Instead, Sheila just walks off the picture.

The director (Luis Avalos) is freaking out because he’s got “a six million dollar picture” and no star when suddenly, Joey’s mom announces that there’s someone that the director should see. The director says he doesn’t want to see anyone but then, Jennifer comes walking down the stairs. AND EVERYONE CAN SEE HER!

It turns out that Jennifer has the ability to be seen when she wants to be seen. She convinces the crew that she’s Sheila’s stand-in and then she shoots the scene the way that it really happened, revealing that she was a hard-worker who earned her roles with her talent. Unfortunately, when the scene is later watched by the family, it turns out that the stand-in does not appear on camera. (Instead, just as in The Invisible Man, the camera just picks up Jennifer’s dress moving around on its own.) The family assumes that it was a problem with the camera while only Joey knows that it’s because Jennifer’s a ghost.

Accompanied by Jennifer (who is once again invisible to everyone but him), Joey heads down to a snooty restaurant where he confronts Sheila and, with Jennifer’s help, blackmails her to return to the film. Joey threatens to reveal that Sheila steals her wardrobe from her movies and that she once spent a night in Madrid with a soccer team. If I was Sheila, I would reply by calling the police and telling them that Joey was in the room when I was sprayed with water and had my skirt ripped off. But apparently, everyone’s moved on from that.

Sheila returns to the film and shoots the scene, this time the way that it actually happened. Jennifer wipes away a tear. Awwwww!

Hey, this isn’t actually was not a bad episode. It was certainly an improvement over the pilot and Ann Jillian did a great job playing up both Jennifer’s pride in her career and her anger that her accomplishments were being denigrated by a lesser actress. The supporting characters continue to be the show’s biggest weakness but this episode largely worked, even if it never really made sense for the director to be okay with the family hanging out at the house while they were shooting the film.

Next week: Joey and his loser friend Marc both want to date the same girl!