Eating a piece of cheese will give you a better taste of France than this lame segment ever will! In what turns out to be a poor monsieur'sremake of Episode #10 ("Just One Happy Family") the question at hand is who REALLY went on vacation...the cast or the WRITERS?!
Unlike previous European episodes which were inspired at least a bit by the history or atmosphere of the locale they were supposedly in, this installment has all the French flavor of an Egg McMuffin. Yeah, yeah...there's an old shot of the Arc de Triumphe and a silly subplot with Darrin being zapped up on to the Eiffel Tower but that's not what this episode's really about.
Sadly, it's about watching our beloved cast act as if they're in a high school play...standing on a tacky set, spouting dialogue with no meaning and over-compensating with inappropriately huge takes (Liz), mean-spirited line readings (Maurice) and giving new definition to the expression "Phone-In Performance" (Dick and Liz)! Only Aggie remains true to her solid-as-a-rock portrayal, pretending like she's at least interested in what's being said. But even that's not enough to save this "dramatique terrible."
If nothing else, keep an eye out for two unusual and creative magical touches: Maurice's scary entrance via ominous floating black mist and the bizarre vibrating plant Endora materializes into Darrin (shades of "Josie and the Pussycats!") -- both interesting and visually appealing! Now if only the same could be said for Sam's cowgirl hat... Eeww-la-la!!!
GERALD WATCH: Moonlighting in Paris as Sam and Darrin's taxi driver in the opening.
©Review Copyright 1998 by SCOTT VIETS