TV.com

Charles in Charge

Cousin Elliott

Season 1, Episode 5, Aired Nov 07, 1984

Next
Episode Previous
Episode

Episode Summary

EDIT

6.6

EPISODE RATING: Fair

25 votes

Your Rating: 10

"Perfect"
Your Rating: 9.5

"Superb"
Your Rating: 9

"Superb"
Your Rating: 8.5

"Great"
Your Rating: 8

"Great"
Your Rating: 7.5

"Good"
Your Rating: 7

"Good"
Your Rating: 6.5

"Fair"
Your Rating: 6

"Fair"
Your Rating: 5.5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 4.5

"Poor"
Your Rating: 4

"Poor"
Your Rating: 3.5

"Bad"
Your Rating: 3

"Bad"
Your Rating: 2.5

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 2

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 1.5

"Abysmal"
Your Rating: 1

"Abysmal"

Rate Now!

Charles comes home triumphant from a softball game. He is so happy with life, his job, school...Lila is getting ready for a survival trip to which Douglas was hoping to go also, all hidden in her duffel bag. Unexpectedly cousin Elliot shows up at the Pembroke house. His ideas of how to deal with children, what is permissible and what is not, does not necessarily coincide with Charles' opinions. The children drink coffee, overeat on ice cream to the point of stomach aches, Elliot even plans to take Lila - who is only fourteen years old - to a dark, smoky night club. Charles is undecided. Should he step in and stop all the "fun" or should he not get involved at all? His friend Buddy had told him that blood is thicker than water, and Elliot is family. In the end, Charles does put his foot down, and to his amazement finds out that Mr. and Mrs. Pembroke were just letting him go through this experience by himself, since they knew all along how things were going to end, and that you cannot simply say 'yes' to everything and then not be present to accept the consequences.moreless

WRITE A REVIEW

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

GUEST STAR
Jerry Levine

Elliot Pembroke
GUEST STAR
Mario Baio

instructor

Scott Baio

Charles
Julie Cobb

Jill Pembroke
James Widdoes

Stan Pembroke
April Lerman

Lila Pembroke
Jonathan Ward

Douglas Pembroke
Michael Pearlman

Jason Pembroke

Watch Online

Fan Episode Reviews (1)

See All

When Stan's nephew Elliot comes to visit, things look a little bleak for Charles.

6.0

"Fair"

By Lady_Lancaster, Jan 16, 2011

The three Pembroke children are overjoyed when Stan's young nephew, Elliot (Jerry Levine), son of his brother, Dave, comes to visit. Elliot seems like a happy-go-lucky, easygoing type of guy but from the outset, his behavior rubs Charles up the wrong way.

Lila is going away for a survival weekend and must be up very early in the morning but Cousin Elliot promises to take her to the new nightclub on Water Street in spite of the fact that she is only 14. For Douglas and Jason, it's as much coffee and ice cream as they can handle. Cousin Elliot just doesn't seem to know when to put the brakes on and Charles watches helplessly as the kids run wild and Elliot encourages them in more and more unsuitable behavior. Buddy, with the best of intentions, warns him that Elliot is family and Charles is just an employee but Charles is far more concerned about the welfare of the three kids than his job and so, he immediately takes charge and stops Elliot in his tracks, a fact that Elliot warns him is a very bad idea indeed.

Later that evening, after dealing with Lila and sending her to bed and helping Jason deal with a "fudge ripple" stomach ache, Charles talks to the Pembrokes about Elliot and about what has been happening and says that he is prepared to lose his job. He is astonished when the Pembrokes tell him that they knew all along what Elliot was like, just as silly and irresponsible as his father, and that they also knew that the children were in safe hands because Charles was in charge.

All's well that ends well but apart from a moving speech at the end by Scott Baio, there isn't a whole lot to recommend this one.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
2 0

Flag
Share Hide

WRITE A REVIEW

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

FILTER BY TYPE

TRIVIA (0)
ADD TRIVIA
- ADD TRIVIA from this episode.
QUOTES (10)
ADD QUOTES
- Buddy: So, where's Elliott? Charles: Oh, he moved into his dorm. Buddy: Don't tell me Baily Hall, right? Charles: Yes, how did you know? Buddy: All the winkers live there.
  EDIT SHARE
- Charles: O.k., Elliott you want to give the boys candy and cigars that's fine, the worst that'll happen is they'll get a belly ache and smell like my Uncle Ralph's suit.
  EDIT SHARE
- Gwendolyn: Oh, Charles, I got two wonderful courses already, are you happy with what you got? Charles: I've got trouble Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn: What? Charles: Because at this very moment, Elliott could be teaching Jason how to recite limericks that begin with "There once was a woman from Fargo".
  EDIT SHARE
- Charles: Buddy, what's wrong? Buddy: I won't take a course if you have to read more than 5 books, because I won't read them and then I'll be forced to cheat and I don't cheat Charles. Charles: It's good to know your a man of principles Buddy. Buddy: Come on we got to cut in this line over here.
  EDIT SHARE
- Charles: I don't think he's ready for coffee yet, do you? Elliott: Sure, why not? Charles: I don't know, doesn't it stunt your growth or something? Jason: That's ridiculous Charles, I've been drinking coffee for 30 years.
  EDIT SHARE
- Buddy: Uh, Sociology, 121, please Man: O.k., here's you course card, and here's your reading list. Buddy: You have to read all those books. Man: Yes. Buddy: No, thanks.
  EDIT SHARE
- Charles: What are you so excited about? Buddy: Registration, every girl on campus in one spot at the same time, openly declaring where they're gonna be every minute of every school day, I just love the American educational system.
  EDIT SHARE
- Douglas: I'll be back in a thousand years. Jill: Get milk.
  EDIT SHARE
- Jason: You shouldn't be happy out loud, my father always says, "Whenever he compliments something out loud it always breaks". Charles: Yeah, but I was complimenting my life. Jason: Goodbye, Charles.
  EDIT SHARE
- Lila: I'm ready for my survival weekend? Gwendolyn: Oh, I went on one of those for school Lila, a whole class of girls alone in the forest with nothing to fear but the wild animals. Lila: What wild animals? Charles: The whole class of boys in the next forest.
  EDIT SHARE
NOTES (1)
ADD NOTES
- Scott Baio's brother Mario Baio appears in this episode.
  EDIT SHARE
ALLUSIONS (0)
ADD ALLUSIONS
- ADD ALLUSIONS from this episode.