This was a rare serious episode that dealt with the hot-topic issue of child molestation by adults.
I especially love the epilogue, where Christopher Hewitt and Brice Beckham appeared out of character and addressed the audience directly on the subject.
I've also seen that a couple of times on MEET THE BROWNS. The actors seem so different from their characters when they break down the fourth wall.
I think there's another thread about this episode. I had been meaning to comment on it. There was a trend on sitcoms made in the 1980s to deal with more serious themes like this one. TV was different then. It had also been done earlier on 'Diff'rent Strokes.' Later, about twenty years later, 'Desperate Housewives' tried a story arc about a child molester who moves into the neighborhood and gets involved with the Scavo boys, but that story was quickly dropped (the man moved away after Lynette had found clues in his home that he lured young boys into his basement where various sex toys were on display). So I don't think modern audiences find this type of story to be entertaining or something they want depicted on their screens.
Back in the 80s, though, I think these stories became popular because they worked on the after-school program formula where a kid was put in harm's way and was rescued but not before the writers included a preachy moral about endangerment and child safety. Other examples besides the molestation angle included drug use, kids that were drinking behind their parents' backs, and teenage promiscuity. Mr. Belvedere covered a lot of these issues, more than 'Diff'rent Strokes' ever did.
Getting back to 'The Counsellor' episode, in some ways the scene where the camp counsellor touches Wesley is a bit daring and risque. It is not suggested at all, but rather it is shown. And the man touches Wesley several times. He keeps putting his hands through Wes' hair, and then there is the big scene where Wes is shirtless and the man caresses his shoulders/arms. I am surprised ABC let that get on the air. We would not see that now, in the modern age of political correctness.
I think part of what's shocking about this episode is not just the scenes that are depicted between Wesley and the counsellor (and the later implication the counsellor is about to touch another young boy)-- but it is the casting. On 'Diff'rent Strokes' and on after-school specials or TV movies that dealt with the subject, the molester was always some creepy looking older man. Gordon Jump who plays the molester on the 'Diff'rent Strokes' episode can hardly be called a sex symbol.
But in this episode of 'Mr. Belvedere' the writers and producers have gone out of their way to make it a sexy young man who is doing this to Wesley and the other boys at the camp. They have put an actor in the part that could easily pass for an all-American guy next door that everyone would think is normal and heterosexual. There is nothing very perverse in his appearance at all. They have put a handsome-looking dude into the role on purpose.
Well, the messages on MEET THE BROWNS dealt with the importance of regular mammograms and prostate exams--hardly "After School Specials" topics, LOL.
But I really appreciated them.
I don't understand your statement "We would not see that now, in the modern age of political correctness."
Are you implying that pedophelia is "politically correct"?
I am saying that it would have been shown in recent years with less skin. Pedophilia is politically incorrect, and the way it would be shown or implied on a network television series would not be as daring now. They would be afraid to address it as frankly as Mr. Belvedere did, because they would fear a backlash from conservative viewers. Back in the 1980s, sitcoms were much more socially progressive. Now, things are much more watered down so as not to offend.
shareAs a child I was really creped out but I am glad I think they wanted to shock kids to the realty of it. I think that it made me very aware of how adults acted around me and thankfully I never had to go through that. As an adult I wondered how I would react when I got the DVD and I must say I was very impressed. Wesley was very smart in how he got away in time and how he helped his friend. It was done with a lot more restraint and realism than Different Strokes managed.
shareI agree. I think the reason for the frank depiction was not only to shock kids but to shock parents and make them realize the dangers that surround kids. I like the fact that they did not rely on stereotypes. They picked an actor (an actor by the way who played Jessica Fletcher's wholesome nephew on Murder She Wrote in several episodes) that would seem normal and not everyone's idea of a pervert.
I thought it was very well done, except for the ending. I wanted to see the police on the scene, but instead they have the family sitting at a picnic table talking to Wes while Belvedere is supposedly off talking to the authorities. It should have been the parents discussing the case with the police-- and they could have done that at the picnic table. So I felt the ending was a little rushed and not quite correct.
Jarrod, that is very disturbing.
shareI wish some TV show (comedy or drama) of the '80's could have exposed the Catholic priests who sexually molested choir boys and other children and how the Roman Catholic Church had swept it all under the rug for so many years.
It might not have been "politically correct", but it just might have saved many families heartache and trauma.
I have to correct myself.
There was an episode about a pedophiliac priest on an early season of LAW & ORDER.
Detective Mike Logan was one of his victims.
Funny thing about that is that it was made years before the real-life scandal of child-molesting priests broke out in the news.
Christopher was a very religious Catholic and would not likely have been willing to go along with a plot like that. Bringing religion into the show itself would have been too tricky. I also think you made the point yourself that it was not a well known issue of the day. Mr. Belvedere never shied away from issues, they were ahead of the pack on them, but I think that one might of been too prickly for a sitcom of 1988.
I think "The Counsellor" was very good for what it was, and said what it had to say in good taste. Hopefully it made kids aware that you have to be careful around ALL adults you don't know well. It freaked me out a little when I saw it at age 11 or 12 and that was a good reaction. Like others here have expressed picking a likeable nice looking actor for the part was the best choice they made. If he had been weird from the start, it would not have had the same impact.
Today there was an episode dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace.
It ended with Marsha quitting her job and becoming a "mall lawyer".
If that episode were made today, she could file a complaint with EEOC, and, with accurate proof, could have won a sizable sum from that law firm.