The Hottest Ticket in  Town

  

Directed by Ray  Austin

Written by Bob Shayne

Synopsis:  A man gets  into a limousine carrying a blue suitcase. The limo driver pulls a gun on  him and demands he hand over the case, but the man resists. In the  struggle, the man is shot. The limo driver grabs the case and flees to a nearby waiting car.

Meanwhile, a young blonde, Dianne is waiting for concert tickets; she's been there all  night. A guy from her new school talks her into buying three more tickets for two girls and him. When she gets to the window, however, she is thwarted by a "Sold Out" sign.

Upset, she turns to her Aunt Cecilia, who in turn brings in her sons to help get four  tickets to the hottest show in town. Mom successfully guilts her sons into  doing what they can.

They first try the concert promoter, Rick offering him an exchange of their detective skills for some tickets. He unceremoniously tells them no deal.

Later, the promoter finds out that the suitcase full of his counterfeit tickets has been stolen and the man who was to deliver them is in the hospital fighting for life. He's deeply concerned about the loss of the tickets  when he remembers the visit from the Simons. He incorrectly assumes that the brothers were there to sell him back his fraudulent tickets and sends  two goons to get to the bottom of things.

AJ and Rick, having no success at the promoter's, try asking a friend of Rick's who  sells...well, a little bit of everything. The guy can't help him, though he gives them the address of someone who is selling suspiciously large  amounts of concert tickets.

Skip to the two  thieves. The one who'd shot the delivery guy is desperately afraid of  being caught by the police and wants to flee the country. The other one is too busy selling tickets to pay him much heed and heads off to deliver some of the ill-gotten, illegal gains.

As he drives off, the Simons arrive, hoping to get the four tickets. The remaining man  assumes they're there about the shooting, punches Rick, and disappears out the back. Chagrin turns to money signs in Rick's brain as he looks at the pile of concert tickets sitting on the table. Shoving them into the nearby  suitcase, he assures AJ that they'll return the tickets, get four for Dianne, and most likely a reward. AJ is highly dubious of his brother's  motives, but goes along with it since it seems the moral thing to do.

The promoter's goons arrive as the Simons are leaving and find one discarded pile of tickets on the floor. They're more sure than ever that the brothers stole the tickets in the first place. The guy who'd left to deliver some tickets overhears the goons and drives away, leaving the goons unaware of his presence.

Dianne is  waiting for Rick and AJ when they return with the case full of tickets.  They tell her to stay outside while they try to arrange something better than the tickets. They go inside and AJ calls manager of the concert's star, Rick Brewster, offering the return of the tickets that they thought were stolen but legal, and asking Brewster to pick them up personally. The  manager agrees and then tells Brewster that someone's selling tickets for  seats that don't exist.

The goons catch  up with the Simons at their office. They bring in Danielle, pull out their guns and demand the suitcase. The Simons hand it over, but not before getting the daylights knocked out of them. When they regain consciousness, they find Dianne bound and gagged but otherwise unharmed in the backroom of the office.

Brewster's manager arrives, all right, bringing a pair of policemen with him. The  Simons try to explain what really happened, but the police aren't buying it. Covertly, AJ calls Janet and leaves the phone pointing towards the officers so she can pick up what's going on. When the police start hauling  the Simons off, Janet distracts them so they can slip away.

Dianne, left behind, has realized that the guy dressed as a chauffeur is actually her idol, Brewster. She joyfully asks for an autograph, but he blows her off,  telling her to write his fan club where people are paid to sign his  autograph. Dianne stares after him as he steals away, her face showing her  feelings of mortification and betrayal.

The Simons head  to the concert arena, intent on asking the promoter a few questions about  the tickets they now know are illegal. They are surprised by the ever-present goons with the promoter and are held hostage. Brewster's  manager has also figured out that the promoter must have created the  illegal and confronted him. When bribery didn't work, the promoter told  one of the goons to go up to the catwalk with him and toss him over the  side to certain death.

The Simons overpower the remaining goons. Rick runs to save the manager while AJ runs to tell Brewster what's going on. Rick arrives almost too late and dumps the tickets over the side of the catwalk to get the goon's attention. He  attacks Rick, throwing him over the side, but Rick catches hold of a  convenient chain, after which the manager overpowers the goon.

AJ has a tough time getting Brewster to stop playing long enough to listen to him, but  the avalanche of tickets gets everyone's attention. Rick slowly descends  down the chain until it ends, then grabs on to a large sign with the name "Rick" in lights (for Rick Brewster). The sign slowly lowers him to the stage where Rick is greeted with applause from all present.

The boy from Dianne's school comes with her to the Simons to pick up the concert  tickets. Brewster shows up to give them to her himself, with her ticket  autographed. After he leaves, Rick and AJ hide their smiles as the teenage  Casanova awkwardly asks Dianne to go with him to the  concert.










Review:

**Pet Peeve Alert** Why is it that practically every time a series decides to feature a singing 'star', they  sing songs folks wouldn't get paid to listen to?? I was a pre-teen at the  time this episode was filmed, my tastes haven't changed that much, and I  thought Brewster's song wasn't good enough to be released on the 'B' side.  It's an old gripe of mine - I just think that if they're going to include a song, make sure it's a good one!

Okay, onto the episode itself. May I say I loved how Cecilia  wrapped her boys around her little finger when she wanted them to find  tickets for Dianne? She may not have meant to put them in agony over the loss of their records, but she certainly took advantage of it when it came up. Nicely done, Cec.

What exactly is Rick's friend selling in that store of his? I thought memorabilia due to the toys behind him, but that doesn't quite cover the sale of handcuffs. Or explain his joy over a polyester shirt with crossed wrenches, at best a questionable object for collecting. Not a big deal,  it's just one of those little things I wonder about.

He may be an enigma, but he set up one of my favorite opening scenes. I love  how cocky Rick is as he knocks on the door and plays 'rough'...right before he gets punched out.

I also enjoyed AJ's obliviousness as he just watches, moving slightly so as not to get in the way of Rick's fall. Classic! I'm so glad  it became a regular part of the show's opening.

And how cute is Rick when he realizes AJ's not jumping for joy at his plan?

I  also like how AJ just knew Janet would be able to help them without a word  spoken. She instantly catches on and comes up with a great scheme to distract the policemen, putting herself at risk if the cops realized what she'd done. It's this kind of tight friendship that I so enjoy about this  show.

Okay, lastly, I really enjoyed the scene after the goons had flattened our boys. Once again, I'm struck by the difference between the  brothers. AJ just looks like a little kid crumpled on the floor. I think  it's helped by his longer hair spreading out and definitely helped by the way he crumpled. It just shouldn't happen! Rick is the first to wake up,  of course, and moves to check his little brother as soon as he can get  that far.




He picks him up, which couldn't have felt good with his injury. When he slapped AJ (tapped is more like it), he's ready for AJ's fight reflexes and calms him down instantly. Gotta love these little brother  moments.

The  plot held water (except for the total lack of interest in the man who shot  the delivery guy), but the lackluster song really got on my nerves, so it gets three Camaros.

3 out of 5 Camaros

  

 

 

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