Original subtitles

Who can turn the world on with her smile?

Who can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?

Well, it's you, girl, and you should know it.

With each glance and every little movement you show it, love is all alone,

need to waste it. You can never tell, why don't you take it?

You're gonna make it after all.

You're gonna make it after all.

This is McCluskey's.

Wow, it really is an Irish bar, isn't it?

Do you think it's crowded now? You should have seen it before McCluskey

Hey, Lou.

Hey, Philly.

A little hand wrestling or a drink?

You're on.

Oh, Philly.

One of these days I'm going to take you.

for my friend Philly. Thanks, Lou.

And one for myself.

Mary? Oh, I don't think so, Mr. Grant. I don't arm wrestle.

Anyway, we've got all that work to do tonight.

Oh, yeah.

Philly, this is Mary Richards, my associate producer.

Hi. Philly is one of our more legendary habituates.

You only go around once in life, so you might as well go around smashed.

Until McCluskey's widow can find a buyer for the place. Oh, yeah, that's right.

I missed McCluskey's wake, didn't I?

Well, we've been working late every night. Yeah, I missed the wake, Lou.

This is it.

Where's McCluskey? In the back room.

Mr. Grant, I didn't really know him.

Well, if you don't get to know him now, you never will.

I'll go back after dinner.

Let's sit down, Mary.

What's a special night, Philly?

I'm sorry to...

There's always something to eat around here.

Thanks, Philly.

Nice guy, Philly.

And strong for a little guy.

Huh? You mean that arm wrestling?

He knows I can take him at that.

It's a little thing we go through so I can buy him a free drink.

Isn't this a great place?

I'd give anything to own a place like this. It's a gold mine.

Yeah. I wonder how much they want for.

No, it's crazy.

Why is it crazy?

Oh, me owning a bar is ridiculous.

I don't know. If you want something in life, you ought to go out and try to get

it. Well, it's like Philly.

She's got another buyer, but she's willing to sell the place to me for old

time's sake if I call back by 10 o 'clock.

What do you think?

Oh, Mr. Grant, I think you should. And I only need $10 ,000.

And I almost have it right here.

$6 ,000 in my savings account, $2 ,000 in Edie's savings account,

and $500 in my grandchildren's piggy bank.

dollars, right? That's all.

That's all.

Mary, you wouldn't by any chance

happen to. Oh, no.

I mean, a thrifty girl like you, I bet you have, oh, say, three, four thousand

dollars.

I decided to buy McCluskey's Bar.

No kidding.

Why?

Because it's a gold mine. That's why.

But I seem to have come up a little short on the down payment. Sorry, Lou.

already invested my money this year in children's shoes.

This is a once -in -a -lifetime deal. A bar is a risky thing, Lou.

Murray.

Murray.

I've known banks who have went...

guys who wanted to open bars.

bar he's buying.

You know, I've always wanted a place of my own.

Ted Baxter's newsroom.

It's one of my five ambitions in life.

I don't want to know what the other four are.

All right, I'll tell you.

Make a million dollars.

Replace Walter Cronkite.

Why is it you can never get a doctor when you need one?

Say, Lou, I'll go into that bar place with you. No, thanks, Ted.

Oh, come on, Lou. Ted, I'm talking about buying a bar, not a raffle ticket.

I need 1 ,500 bucks.

Oh.

Newsroom.

Oh, just a moment, please. Mr. Grant, it's Mrs.

McCluskey.

Tell her I'll call her right back.

Can he call you right back?

Thank you very much.

All right, try Dr. Ames again.

What's the total asking price, Lou?

Eighty -five. Net income at the taxes? Fifteen. Incumbrances of record? None.

Interest per annum? Five and a half percent. Will you take cash?

Five hundred.

One thousand.

Fifteen hundred dollars.

Don't you think we ought to sign something first?

All right.

Let's step into my office.

Just a minute.

I'll go to my room and get my lucky pen.

Why does he carry $500 bills around in his wallet?

You want to know why?

Say, Ted, do you have the $3 you borrowed from me at lunch last week?

Oh, sure, Murr.

You got change for a $500?

See, there's this bar on Third Street, and it's packed every night.

And I figured out why, Lou.

They've got the cutest bartenders you ever saw.

Ted, I am not hiring barmaids. Oh, no, these aren't barmaids, Lou.

These are good -looking guys.

Thanks, Luke.

thirsty looking at.

Well, best of luck, Lou.

Hey, that's pretty cute.

Giving a bottle of scotch to the owner of a bar.

Anybody want a drink? Sure.

Oh, boy, you sure have a great place here, Mr. Grant.

And we moved McCluskey out.

Lou, we have a little conference.

What is it, Ted? A little business that we as partners should have.

Be right back.

All right, Ted, what do you want?

Lou, I'm not paying for that champagne.

arm wrestle for it.

I was so glad to see her.

It was just sad. I mean, nobody came in for hours.

Yeah. Lou's been dragging me in there every night after work. I think I'm

developing a...

I'm worried about my mother.

She's in jail, Lou.

I've got to get an attorney to get her out.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for my $1 ,500 back, Lou.

What's he in for, Ted?

Oh, grand theft auto.

No, Ted.

All right, Lou.

I'll tell you the truth.

It wasn't grand theft.

They can save me.

But it'll mean an awful lot of money, Lou.

wild -looking hair, and very long sideburns. They began here, went all the

down his face, came out his cuffs.

Who is it?

Mary in there.

Yes, she is.

Mr. Grant?

Yeah. What are you doing here?

May I come in? Sure, Lo. My feeds are always open.

I'm glad I found you.

I've been walking around thinking about this bar thing, and I think I finally

hit on something.

Can we get out of here?

bedroom and go into the living room. This is it, Lou.

This is it? Yes.

Cute.

Mr. Grant, why don't you sit down and have a cup of coffee?

You wouldn't have anything a little stronger, huh?

No. Oh, wait. I have some wine my mother sent me.

Manischewitz...

Sacramento winos.

Mary.

Rhoda.

It's so depressing at my bar.

Mr. Grant, it is not.

I finally realize what McCluskey's needs to be successful.

What? McCluskey. So why don't you get him back?

No, Rhoda. Mr. McCluskey is no longer with us.

And neither are his customers.

They're at all the other saloons all over town.

And that's because they loved McCluskey.

And they don't love me.

Oh, sure they do. Yeah, of course they love you, Lou.

No, no, no.

McCluskey had a gift for people.

He knew how to tell them jokes.

He knew how to get them to sing.

He remembered the names of... Everyone who came into that bar.

You had to love him.

And Mary, I'm not what you would call a lovable person.

Oh, Mr. Grant, yes, Rhoda, isn't he lovable? Yeah, truly lovable.

Thank you.

The thing is, I never really cared about being lovable till now.

It was always enough that people were afraid of me.

Things are going to be entirely different.

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be incredibly lovable.

How are you going to do that?

Happy Halloween?

Right.

I'm going to see to it that this place is exactly like it was when McCluskey

owned it. I put up posters, sent out flyers.

I'm the owner. My name's Lou Grant.

And yours?

Al Bollinger.

Al. Tim Kellack. Tim.

Well, well, well, I'm certainly glad you could make it. Al and Tim.

Al and Tim.

You gentlemen play darts?

We just came in for a drink. Ah, ah. Have a seat. Have a seat.

Hey, Al and Tim. I heard a pretty funny story today.

Did you hear... Oh, excuse me, Al and Tim. I'll finish this. story later. It's

really funny. I think you'll like it.

Come right in. Come right in. How are you? How are you? I'd like to welcome

here this evening. I'm the owner. My name's Lou Grant. And yours?

Rick Simmons.

Rick, good to see you. Have a seat. Have a seat. And yours, sir?

Henry Thomas. Henry, Henry, pleased to see you. And yours, young lady? Alice

Howard. Alice, how are you?

Betty Dodson. Betty, so nice to see you.

Oh, well, well, I'm certainly glad you all could make it. Alan, Tim?

Tell that story now.

Say it.

I was just going to tell Al and Tim this very funny story I heard today.

Maybe you've heard it. Listen.

This drunk walks up to the parking meter and he puts a penny in it. And he looks

at it and he says, Hey, look!

I just weighed 12 minutes.

As a matter of fact, you're just in time for the sing -along. Sing -along?

Yeah, you know, stand around the old bar, hoist a few, sing the old songs.

Come on now, it'll be fun.

I'll start, then you two join in.

Oh, sure.

You got change for 500?