Bob Uecker is affectionately known as “Mr.Baseball,” a moniker given to him by Johnny Carson. The sobriquet fits well, as Uecker not only played professional baseball for six years, but also was a colorful commentator for network broadcasts and has been the play-by-play radio announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers for more than 40 years.
Actually, Uecker’s affinity for sports extends well beyond baseball. He started playing basketball in eighth grade. He appeared in a series of commercials for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. He hosted a historic 1984 tennis match between Kenny Rogers and Bobby Riggs for his show War of the Stars. He even was the ring announcer for the famous WrestleMania III match between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant.
However, one sport Uecker has little, if any, connection to is billiards. (Well, that excludes him hosting a 1986 episode of Bob Uecker’s Wacky World of Sports which featured a pool-playing poodle.) So, that made it just a bit disappointing to watch him in the Season 2 episode of Mr. Belvedere entitled “Tornado.”
Mr. Belvedere was an ABC sitcom that ran from 1985 to 1990. Based on the 1947 novel Belvedere, the series featured a posh housekeeper, Lynn Belvedere (Christopher Hewitt), who struggles to adapt to Owens household. Uecker plays the patriarch of the family, sportswriter George Owens.
In the October 1985 “Tornado” episode, a tornado strikes the town of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, where the Owens family resides. Taking the necessary safety measures, the entire family retreats to the basement. But the close quarters only exacerbate the brewing tension between George and Mr. Belvedere. That tension gets channeled toward the pool table, where George challenges Mr. Belvedere to a 100-point game of straight pool.
Unfortunately, no imagination is given to the filming of the pool game. In comparison to other billiards sitcom episodes like The Brady Bunch – “The Hustler” or The Steve Harvey Show – “Pool Shark Git Bit,” the shots in “Tornado” are all incredibly basic and unoriginal. Sprinkled between the shots is some studio audience-friendly, G-rated banter, such as George saying to Mr. Belvedere, “Have a seat Fats, I could be here for a while,” or Mr. Belvedere’s reply when George misses, “Tough stuff, cream puff.”
The Owens’ kids seem to interpret this exchange of taunts as a sign that Mr. Belvedere’s future employment may be in question. But, with one point remaining and with the 8-ball balanced on the edge of the far corner pocket, the tornado strikes the Owen house, forcing the game to end and the men to go into a protective huddle and set aside their differences.
A clip from Mr. Belvedere – “Tornado” episode is available to watch below:
