Writing
American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.
Thornton Sayre, a respected college professor - secretly formerly a silent films romantic action hero - is disturbed, feeling his privacy has been violated, and his professional credibility as a scholar jeopardized, when he learns his old movies have been resurrected and are being aired on TV. He sets out to demand this cease. However, his former co-star is the hostess of the TV show playing the films, and she has other plans.
Just before Christmas, department store clerk Steve Mason meets big spending customer Connie Ennis, who's actually a comparison shopper sent by another store. Steve lets her go, which gets him fired. They spend the afternoon together, which doesn't sit well with Connie's steady suitor, Carl, when he finds out, but delights her young son Timmy, who quickly takes to Steve.
"Meeting cute" while Jodie's son Timmy enthuses over a model train set, Jodie and the raffish but likeable Steve immediately hit it off, but she is already engaged to conservative lawyer Paul Davis. The days between Christmas and New Year's Eve, Jodie finds herself in the unenviable position of choosing between two men whom she adores equally--a job not made easier by the well-meaning interference of son Timmy.
A comedy centered on a handyman (Arkin) and his lifelong competition with his neighbor (Pendleton.)
A miserable man who doesn't believe in the holidays must contend with his 11 children and wife celebrating the most wonderful time of the year.
Connie is a widow and mother whose work involves checking up on the competition for her department store employer. When Steve, a charming salesman at a competing store, recognizes her true motives but refuses to expose her, he ends up getting fired as a result. Feeling guilty, Connie agrees to buy lunch for Steve, striking up a friendship that complicates her relationship with Carl, a lawyer who wants to marry her.
