After a fantastic "My Favorite Martian" pilot episode full of snappy lines, an evocative plot, and Ray Walston dramatically breaking the fourth wall at the end, episode 2, "The Matchmakers," is a bit of a let-down. The wonder and mystery of having a space alien in your home is gone already, and we're already into parlor tricks to establish that, yes, Uncle Martin is indeed a Martian.
Uncle Martin demonstrates a new talent, as he does in virtually every episode - he can talk to the animals like Dr. Doolittle - and, as usual we run with that for the 26 or so minutes.. One dog is in love with another and, well.... Uncle Martin wants to help. This occupies his attention as much as a seemingly more serious romantic issue involving people that he also "manages" in his spare time. Not that there's anything wrong with this, - the juxtaposition fits in nicely with the series' somewhat high-concept tone in which Uncle Martin is basically slumming by being around earthlings and from his lofty vantage point (sorry, the opportunities for puns just leap out at you with "My Favorite Martian") views humans and dogs as of equal value beneath Martians' superior intellect. Everything works out in the end for everyone and every... dog, of course, this is a '60s sitcom after all.
It is not that "The Matchmakers" is a poor episode. It simply feels taken out of production order and is a jarring descent to the mediocre after the soaring pilot, which admittedly took a lot of time to put together and had an obviously impressive budget compared to the rest of the series. "The Matchmakers" also is jarring in some other ways, such as the disappearance (never to be seen again, in fact) of the lovely Ina Victor as Tim's love interest Annabelle. This wasn't uncommon in sitcoms back in the day - whatever happened to Richie Cunningham's basketball-dribbling brother? - but isn't even casually explained in a "she left for college" kind of way. Since the Annabelle character was so striking and helped sell the show in the first place, one has to wonder why they didn't keep her around, though the plan apparently was to have a different girl as guest star each week to serve as Tim's foil and possible conquest.
The soap-opera focus on the crisis in the adults' relationship in "The Matchmakers" also is jarring. If "My Favorite Martian" did one thing badly throughout its run, it was deal with real emotion. If the ubiquitous laugh track had been lost somehow, this show would have been in trouble quick. As long as Uncle Martin barks in an effort to heal the dogs' broken hearts, "My Favorite Martian" was on firm footing, but Peyton Place it was not.
Of course, the episode, as all of them were, is saved by Ray Walston's avuncular (sorry) attitude and Bill Bixby's "I feel you" empathy. If anything, "The Matchmaker" is a lesson in how even a poor sitcom script with shaky acting by the guest stars can be saved by the inherent likeability of the leads.
