COACH: MAGNIFICENT ABSCESSION (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy series which centers around the personal and professional life of Hayden Fox, the head football coach at Minnesota State University. In this episode, Hayden has a bad toothache, but tries to ignore it and encourages his players as well as himself to “play through the pain.” They lose the game, however, and the town reacts badly, and Stuart leaps to his defense when some tough cheerleaders burn him in effigy. Christine encourages him to get his tooth looked at, but he vows not to do so until they have won a game, which he believes will not happen until their star player recovers from an injury of his own. The next day, however, the tooth has gotten worse and his jaw is badly swollen, à la Don Corleone, and Luther offers Hayden the name of his dentist. When he turns him down, Luther calls him a “chicken,” and Hayden’s attempts to downplay his malady fail. He goes to see Dr. Hibke, Luther’s eccentric, “no-frills” dentist. He tells him that the tooth has abscessed and that he needs an oral surgeon, but Hayden protests, saying that he must fly to Minneapolis the following day for an important game. Hibke scares him with some medical facts about what can happen to an untreated infection, however, and he relents.
Hayden returns to his office and gives Luther and Dauber the bad news, and Luther begins to panic at the idea of coaching alone, despite his many years of experience. Hayden, however, promises to watch the game on TV and call Dauber in the press box and coach it from afar. The next day, he returns home loopy from the drugs and aided by Christine and Kelly. He turns on the game and calls Dauber, but is too incoherent from the surgery to communicate his plays, and the game begins to go south. Everyone panics, particularly Luther, but eventually Hayden’s swelling goes down and he is able to make himself understood. He accidentally disconnects the phone with all his nervous pacing, and is horrified that the game is doomed, but Luther makes a good call all on his own and the team wins, much to everyone’s great delight. Later, Hayden’s bliss is increased by a dose of pain medication, and Luther stops by to check on him, proudly toting the game ball. Hayden warmly congratulates him before passing out, and Luther gives him the ball—temporarily. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: October 2, 1990 9:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:30:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:20539
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Coaches (Athletics)
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV Series, 1989-1997
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Cadillac automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Clorox bleach
- TV - Commercials - DeBeers jewelers
- TV - Commercials - Ford automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Gillette Sensor razors
- TV - Commercials - Mazda automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Miller Lite Superbowl contest
- TV - Commercials - Woolite laundry detergent
- TV - Promos - "All My Children"
- TV - Promos - "Eve of Destruction" motion picture
- TV - Promos - "Father Dowling's Mysteries"
- TV - Promos - "Gabriel's Fire"
- TV - Promos - "Good Morning America"
- TV - Promos - "NutraSweet World Challenge of Champions" sporting event
- TV - Promos - "Raiders of the Lost Ark" motion picture
- TV - Promos - "World Cup Downhill" sporting event
- TV - Promos - "thirtysomething"
CREDITS
- Barry Kemp … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Sheldon Bull … Co-Executive Producer
- Judd Pillot … Supervising Producer
- John Peaslee … Supervising Producer
- Jay Kleckner … Producer
- Craig Wyrick … Associate Producer
- Mark Ganzel … Writer
- Alan Rafkin … Director
- J.A.C. Redford … Music by
- John Morris … Theme Music by
- Craig T. Nelson … Cast, Hayden Fox
- Jerry Van Dyke … Cast, Luther Van Dam
- Clare Carey … Cast, Kelly Fox
- Bill Fagerbakke … Cast, Michael "Dauber" Dybinski
- Kris Kamm … Cast, Stuart Rosebrock
- Shelley Fabares … Cast, Christine Armstrong
- Tom Poston … Cast, Dr. Hibke
- Joe Fowler … Cast, Announcer