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Tread Perilously


Nov 5, 2020

Tread Perilously's month of revisiting Grab Bag favorites begins with Supertrain and the episode called "Pirouette."

Mild-mannered gynecologist Dr. Marshall Fossberg (special guest star Bernie Kopell) gets more than he bargained for when his trip on Supertrain includes meeting ballerina Natalie Smithburne (special guest star Joyce DeWitt). She wants to spend time with him, but is not responding to any of the seduction tactics his friends or a self-help book assure him will lead to success with women. Then again, Natalie is distracted as she is the Dime Store Heiress Reba (special guest star Isabel Sanford) wants to return to New York, newspaper man Tony Snelling (special guest star Tony Danza) wants to interview, and some inept hitmen (special guest stars Mako and James Gregory) want to kill.

Erik and Justin mourn Supertrain's "Weird Babyman" -- a character who did not survive the show's cast culling with this, its sixth episode. They also try to explain the program's premise to new listeners. The decision to make the story's hero a gynecologist leads back to a time when TV writers considered the profession a punchline. Erik pitches a Lifetime movie called "The Five Mrs. Fosters" for Kopell to star in. He also critiques Joyce DeWitt's perm. Justin points out how weird it is to set Kopell up as the romantic lead when Tony Danza is also on the train. Erik and Justin reveal their pet causes if they suddenly became millionaires and an ongoing Mad Men joke comes to a surprising end.