Original Air Date: December 12, 1962
Directed by: John Rich
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode!
Synopsis: Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) starts having bouts of sneezing during a bridge game with his wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) and their neighbors Jerry and Millie Helper (Jerry Paris and Ann Morgan Guilbert.) Jerry plays armchair psychiatrist and guesses that Rob is sneezing because of pent up hostility towards his wife. The situation escalates as Laura starts to believe what Jerry has said and Rob’s sneezing continues unabated.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): At the end of the episode Rob starts to piece together the real cause of his sneezing, finally learning that his son, Richie, and the Helper’s son Freddy, have been keeping a kitten.
Jerry brings the kitten over (an adorable gray and white furball) for Rob to test his allergies, and sure enough it turns out that the kitten is what has been making Rob sneeze.
The sweetest moment of the episode is when Rob picks up the kitten gently and it mews, soliciting an “Awww!” from the studio audience.
Final Mewsings: Kittens help release pent up hostilities by making you sneeze.
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