Episode
My Favorite Martian: Shake Well and Don't Use
Overview
Tim and Mr. Burns' nephew, Freddie Carson, are in the running for promotion to journeyman reporter at the newspaper. After finding out that Mr. Burns is a gourmet, Martin decides that a way to swing the tide in Tim's favor is to cook Mr. Burns a special meal, one which includes some special Martian condiments. The Martian ingredients however react with the Earth ingredients to cause Mr. Burns to move in slow motion. The effect of the antidote Martin has on hand has the opposite effect of speeding up Mr. Burns' movements. Meanwhile, Freddie arrives on the scene to take Mr. Burns to the airport to meet a newspaper bigwig. Tim and Martin hide Mr. Burns in his catatonic state in the bedroom while Martin works on figuring out the correct antidote to cure Mr. Burns. Freddie, unaware that his uncle is there, shoots himself in the foot in the quest for what he feels is the sure promotion for himself with some disparaging remarks about a certain uncle.
Details
- Series
- My Favorite Martian
- Season
- Season 1
- Episode
- Episode 35
- Air date
- 1964-06-14
- Runtime
- 30 min
Episode context
Shake Well and Don't Use is Episode 35 in Season 1 of My Favorite Martian. It aired on 1964-06-14. The runtime is 30 min.
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Episode 34: The Disastro-nauts
Martin convinces Tim to use his connections as a reporter to get Martin a tryout as the astronaut for a Mars destined rocket, privately financed by Omar M. Keck. Despite a slew of younger stereotypical astronaut types vying for the job, Martin's obvious advantages as a Martian get him the job. Before Martin is ready to leave, he allows Tim to prepare a story of his uncle "The Martian" for publication after Martin is on his way. On his way to the air force base with Martin, Tim leaves the tape of the story on Mr. Burns' desk - based on his usual schedule, Mr. Burns should arrive at the office after Martin and the rocket are safely in space. However the launch of the rocket is delayed, leaving Tim and Martin to rush back to the office to retrieve the tape. They rush back to base to watch the launch happen without Martin in the rocket. At least the launch was picture perfect!
Episode 36: A Nose for News
Tim gets mad at Martin for "disappearing and spying" on him while he has a date at the apartment. To make up for this, Martin covers for Tim when he goes missing from the office and Mr. Burns calls the apartment looking for him. Martin goes on the story in his place and phones back to Mr. Burns with an exclusive using Tim's voice. Unfortunately, Mr. Burns sees Tim in the office when he is also on the talking to him on the phone; Tim confesses that it is Martin on the phone covering for him. Also unfortunately, the exclusive is regarding an old friend of Mr. Burns', Ambassodor Lloyd Thomas, who decides to sue the paper for invasion of privacy because of the story. Martin finds out that the suit is in part due to some old animosity between Mr. Burns and Ambassador Thomas, and thus Martin decides to try and mend some old wounds.
More episodes from this season
Episode 33: Oh, My Aching Antenna
Martin finds that he is prematurely aging due to the increased gravity on Earth compared to Mars. Thus he goes through some anti-gravity therapy, which in turn causes havoc for those around him.
Episode 37: Uncle Martin's Wisdom Tooth
A toothache of his "eye" tooth causes "eye" problems for Martin: he can't see. Tim takes him to see his dentist, although Martin doesn't have typical human teeth. He needs dental expertise and some dental powder without the dentist actually examining him, which is why dentist-phobic Tim takes the place in the dental chair. The remedy causes Martin's eye teeth to go crossed eyed, as does his vision. The only answer is tooth extraction.
Episode 32: Who's Got the Power?
During an electrical storm, Martin gets an affliction called popsy, which causes him to appear and disappear uncontrollably. With Tim's help, Martin needs to long ground himself electrically to cure the popsy. Just as he does so, Mrs. Brown drops by and accidentally completes the grounding. In doing so, she gets Martin's levitation power. Martin temporarily fixes the symptom of appearing and disappearing by a concoction of household cleaners. But that is only in a need to get his levitation powers back from Mrs. Brown, which requires an electrically charged transfer. With much maneuvering and wiring and some hand holding (to control Mrs. Brown's levitation, but which she construes as Martin being affectionate with her), Martin manages to do the transfer successfully. After that, Martin and Tim need to try the grounding procedure once again. Just as they are about to do it, Mrs. Brown comes by once again, which Martin and Tim think will cause the transfer of the levitation power all over again. But Mrs. Brown fakes them out - this time, she doesn't cause a problem, and Martin's popsy is finally cured.
Episode 31: Miss Jekyll and Hyde
Mrs. Brown's niece, Paula Clayfield, comes for visit. A former child prodigy, Paula has always relied on her brains to mask insecurities in her personal appearance. Despite her Plain Jane looks, Paula does have a boyfriend, Dr. Edgar Edgarton (her intellectual equal), with whom she has an "understanding" - they have a commitment to each other shy of a formal engagement. Paula notices Martin's sketches for a space ship, and insists on helping him to refine his design. Later, she also notices in Martin's possession a piece of a Martian alloy (something not available on Earth) to which she states she cannot identify its contents. These probings of course hinder Martin's progress in fixing his space ship as well as his hiding his Martian identity, so Martin asks a reluctant Tim to ask her out to keep her otherwise occupied. After Paula and Tim's first "date", Paula confides to Martin that Tim seems disinterested, which is indeed the case. So to get Tim to ask Paula out again, Martin transforms her into a ravishing beauty without her knowledge. This transformation does the trick on Tim, who continues to take Paula out and eventually asks her to marry him, which convinces her that she can be and is beautiful. Edgar comes for a visit, and after some time he notices the transformation in her appearance, which solidifies their commitment to each other. In the meantime, Paula has accidentally taken Martin's alloy, which she and Edgar are going to get tested. Martin's Martian identity would then be exposed, that is unless Martin and Tim can get the alloy back beforehand.
Episode 30: How Are You Gonna Keep Them Down on the Pharmacy?
The Earthly environment is causing a vitamin deficiency in Martin. He draws on energy and vitamins from everything and everyone around him. The effect on things is for them to go haywire. And if people look him in the eyes, they will fall asleep since they are sapped of their energy. Martin needs some vitamins immediately or else he will grow weaker and weaker to the point of no return. Luckily, the vitamins he needs can be found at any pharmacy, however by prescription. Also it's Sunday and all the stores are closed. But Tim convinces his good friend, Doc Mullen, to open his pharmacy. Martin's plan is that he will try and get the necessary vitamins while Tim distracts Doc Mullen. It does the trick and Martin starts on the course of his vitamins. However, Martin's illness is contagious and Tim gets it, which in turn causes Mrs. Brown, Doc Mullen and then Martin to fall asleep, with no more vitamins from Martin's stash to use. Thus Tim has to wake them all up without Tim or Martin in particular not to look at each other, as that will cause them both to fall asleep forever. With a lot of effort, Tim and Martin manage to do it as well as get the necessary refill of vitamins from Doc Mullen. Although Martin manages to get re-energized by the concoction, he is over-energized due to a higher than required dose, which in turn causes everyone else around him to feel over-energized. This can be cured by a good old everyday nap.
Episode 29: Unidentified Flying Uncle Martin
Martin needs to fly his space ship, which is deteriorating due to inertia. Tim's fear is realized: Martin's flight is spotted as a UFO. Martin needs to take another flight, but Mrs. Brown calls in the authorities - Jack and Jim being their representatives - who use Tim and Martin's apartment as a sighting station. Martin uses the opportunity to take his second flight since Jack and Jim have equipment - a plutron counter - that would be able to locate the space ship parked in the garage. The plutron counter does go off, but Martin slips some plutron into Mrs. Brown's apron pocket, making the plutron counter point in Mrs. Brown's direction. Jack and Jim think the machine has gone haywire. During Jim and Jack's kafuffle with Mrs. Brown, Martin slips away. While in flight, Tim further distracts Jack and Jim with a spoon dangling outside on their tree, which through Jack and Jim's telescope will look like a flying saucer. Martin takes his flight undetected and gets back to the apartment safe and sound. To further protect himself, Martin exposes Tim as the perpetrator of the flying saucer hoax - all in the name of getting a news story - with the spoon on the string as his proof of his claim.
Episode 28: If You Can't Lick Them
Martin can't work on his spaceship because neighborhood boy, won't leave him alone. Martin is so stressed that his antennae get stuck in the up position and he loses some of his powers.
Episode 27: Danger! High Voltage!
Martin needs to electrically charge himself for his trip back to Mars. However he overcharges himself. He needs to rid himself of the excess electricity, and when he initially tries to discharge it, he blacks out half of Los Angeles. Martin is facing two problems. First, if he is overcharged for an extended period of time, he will exhibit unusual symptoms such as a plaid designed face. A current symptom is his continual sneezing which is causing electrical switches to turn on. And second, the power company is narrowing the source of the blackout to the O'Hara's neighborhood, and have called in the police to investigate the malicious tampering with the power grid. Martin figures the best course of action to discharge the electricity in a hurry is to do it direct at the source: the power house. In his invisible state, Martin hitches ride in the power truck that's come to investigate their neighborhood. After distracting the power man on duty, Martin manages to discharge his excess electricity safely back into the system. But once again, he's missed his opportunity to get back to Mars.
Episode 26: Martin and the Eternal Triangle
Since Tim is unavailable for an outing, Martin asks Mrs. Brown out on a "date". Mrs. Brown herself can't make it since surprisingly she already has a date for that evening. Martin feels dejected, but he doesn't know why. Tim lets him know that he is jealous of Mrs. Brown's new suitor, Andre Philippe Charles Dupre, a suave, debonair fashion designer. On first glance, Martin must admit that Andre is a charming and accomplished gentlemen, worthy of Mrs. Brown's affections. But Martin digs a little deeper in hopes of finding fault with Andre. When Martin finds nothing, he feels ashamed about his selfishness, and vows to further the happiness of Mrs. Brown, a person for who he has deep affection, by doing whatever he can to foster her relationship with Andre. Martin does this despite gleaning from reading her mind that Mrs. Brown does not find Andre to be as romantic a suitor as she had hoped. Thus while Mrs. Brown and Andre are on a dinner date, Martin does whatever he can to make Andre appear the most romantic of suitors. Andre proposes, but Mrs. Brown turns him down and decides not to see him again. She felt the evening was too perfect and thus their relationship would have no where to go. She mentions to Tim and Martin that women prefer men with a few imperfections, she implying that Martin is that man for her.
Episode 25: The Sinkable Mrs. Brown
Pete Dudley, a real estate salesman, convinces Mrs. Brown that she should sell her ramshackle of a house, which causes a problem for Tim and Martin, especially in hiding the spaceship. Dudley already has prospective buyers, Edgar and Emily Graham, who would be especially interested in the garage since Mr. Graham wants to make it into a workshop. When the Graham's show up unexpectedly for their first visit, Martin has to hide the spaceship. The only thing he can do is to levitate it with his levitation finger, which even for Martin is difficult due to the ship's large size. They manage to hide the ship long enough for the Graham's visit. Dudley makes Mrs. Brown sign a contract for a $100 advance in commission. After doing so, Mrs. Brown is having second thoughts about selling the house. Martin decides the best avenue to take would be to show the Grahams and Dudley just how ramshackle of a house it is, which he does of course with a little help of his Martian powers. As such, Dudley not only loses the sale, but the Grahams as clients. Martin also gets Mrs. Brown's $100 back for her. And as for Dudley, he decides to leave the real estate game due to some frayed nerves.