Favorite Episode
I just started watching this show. Can anyone recommend a really good episode? Thanks.
shareAny from Season One. They have the "origin" stories of most of the main characters like Tuck, Littlejohn, Marian, Will Scarlet, etc. I'm midway through Season Two. Ransom, The Trap, The Bandit of Britanny, Flight From France, all dealing with Robin trying to pay the ransom for King Richard. I just flipped over to this board from the one about Russell Crowe's new Robin Hood film. I haven't seen it yet, but the consensus over there on that board is to skip it!
shareI'm a big fan of the darker, more adult stories. I'd go with "Trial by Battle," "The Scientist," "The Jongleur," "Sybella," "The Inquisitor," "The Dream," and—darkest of all—"The Debt."
I'd like to be a pessimist, but this is a luxury I cannot afford.
—Joseph of Cordoba
Great choices! Oh yes, especially "The Scientist." This episode was made shortly after Albert Einstein died. The last line of the episode was uttered by Albertus the scientist after he destroyed the only copy of the formula for making a giant lens as a weapon. "Too frighful to use by anyone," an allegory on nuclear weapons. Or maybe not as dark, but how about "Food For Thought" an allegory about the benefits of redistribution of wealth aka communism? All very historically interesting given the era in which they were filmed, the height of the Cold War.
shareAll very historically interesting given the era in which they were filmed, the height of the Cold War.Which, of course, is why the writers used a wide variety of pseudonyms and had their pay wired to savings accounts so there would be no checks with their names on them. (There's a wonderful, witty interview with Ring Lardner, Jr., in which he explains how anonymity was carefully preserved.)
I'm always haunted by the ending of "The Debt." Greene managed to bring so much weariness and sadness—both in body language and vocal tone—into the single line: "I want to go home." More even than one would get in a major psychology treatise. Unquestionably one of the greatest—if not the greatest—Robin of them all.
I'd like to be a pessimist, but this is a luxury I cannot afford.
—Joseph of Cordoba
share
Richard Greene? Absolutely! He has always been my first and best concept of Robin Hood. I didn't see Errol Flynn's version until I was an early teen (around 1964), long after this series left the air. My first impression of Flynn was, "Who is this goonie looking guy with the long hair?" I have since changed my opinion of Flynn's incarnation, but Richard Greene is, and always will be, the epitome of all Robin Hoods.
shareRichard Greene was my first Robin too. I loved that show. I especially loved that Marian was just one of the guys when it came to getting things done. She was my first role model. When my mother threw out an old curtain rod, it became my sword.
I finally got the whole series on DVD and my husband have been working our way through it. We're part way through the 2nd season now. I hadn't realized at the time how good they really were. A half hour long (some stories were continued over two or three episodes), well written, good history, and very good acting (even if they used the same actors over and over. Paul Eddington could be a guard in one episode and a noble in the next one.)
I have many favorites, but the one that really stuck with me as a little kid was in the 4th season. I can't remember the name, but two very hungry children stole a loaf of bread, and the sheriff wanted to hang them for thievery! (They were my age!) Friar Tuck gave them sanctuary in his church, but for some reason it had a time limit. Tuck made a deal with the Sheriff to give him a large number of loaves of bread (the townsfolk were going to make them) in exchange for their lives. But the Sheriff had locked up all the flour in town and Robin had to get it.
Honora, the episode you've described is called "The Loaf" (#6 in Season 4.) I agree that this series has held its lustre remarkably well over the years.
If the viewer who asked for about great episodes isn't as far along as season four yet, "The Black Five," (episode 29 in Season 2) is lovely, if you like some mystery intertwined with the action and comedy. I nominated this episode because generally, I prefer the episodes that make me laugh out loud. Some of the writing is just wonderful, and carried off with perfect timing! (No spoilers!)
One of my simple pleasures in watching this show is seeing the light dusting of vaudeville in the expressions of the players--not over done, just a hint, now and again. "The Sheriff's Boots" (season 1, episode 19,) fits this category, imho.
My only complaint in all the adventuring is that the writers/producers didn't conclude the series with the return of King Richard and the restoration of Locksley Hall to its rightful heir. Checking other boards, no one seems to have a definitive answer for this. Perhaps they were hoping for a reprieve from the cancellation, or thinking ahead to "The Sword of Sherwood," and possibly, (though not as likely), leaving something for all other producers who would return to this perennially popular story later? (After all, Robin only ever took one-half the treasure!)
Of the episodes I've seen, my favorite is 'Children of The Greenwood".
shareOh, you should watch the Crowe Robin Hood. If you watch the director's cut, it's actually quite good, and historically accurate. Not about all things as there are dramatic licences, but it deals with a somewhat unknown point in that part of history, dealing with John and the magna carta.
"Thanks to Frank here, I know all there is to know about our friend, the tongue"-Beau Felton