This episode caught me off you guard, when I saw Larry Storch, I thought it was going to be a real funny one. I mean after all, Storch has perfect timing for a comedian, but this time he played it serious and straight. This episode had to be the most serious one so far, don't you think?
Whom the Gods destroy, they first made mad.
I LOVE Larry Storch and also think of him as a funny guy--F TROOP, THE GHOST BUSTERS, and even CAR 54 where he cracked me up as Charlie the drunk a number of times. And even his voice work in cartoons--Phineas J. Whoopee on TENNESSEE TUXEDO and later Drac on GROOVIE GOOLIES (and speaking of things groovy--who can ever forget Storch as the Groovy Guru on GET SMART??). BUT... he can play it straight as he did here, and play it with aplomb!
I was a little prepared for seeing Storch's dramatic side by having caught his guest appearance on ALL IN THE FAMILY. In the 1973 episode "Oh, Say Can You See," Storch plays a childhood friend of Archie Bunker's. He played that one straight and did a fine job. It was filmed after his PERSUADERS appearance and makes a nice complement to it since he plays an old friend to the show's protagonist in both. Storch's characters also serve to underscore what Bret Sinclair said to Danny about not being able to go back to the good old days because they never really were.
"Angie... Angie" was a pretty serious episode of the series, though punctuated with the usual banter that lightened the mood. I do think the producers cast Storch counting on guys like you and me bringing our F TROOP associations and then being shocked when it turns out Angie is no Agarn.