Nat Hiken, one of the great comedy writers of TV’s early years, had a commanding knowledge of men in uniform: Before creating New York City patrol-car cops Gunther Toody and Francis Muldoon, he gave Sergeant Bilko marching orders. Joe E. Ross plays Toody, the stocky, nonsense-spouting motormouth; Fred Gwynne is Muldoon, his tall, thin, dour, college-educated partner.
In “How Smart Can You Get?” the NYPD’s personnel department decides that Toody and Muldoon are too mismatched to be partners and pairs Muldoon with a rookie named Corrigan (Richard Morse), a Harvard graduate. Muldoon eventually becomes so preoccupied with Corrigan’s highbrow conversation that he drives right past crimes in progress — and ends the episode pleading to be reunited with Toody. That’s the deal with great TV odd couples: Nothing breaks them up, no matter how odd they are.
Original Airdate: February 15, 1962
