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Scott Baio experiences 'Growing Pains'
In case you were unaware, Scott Baio is 45… and single. We know this because the title of his new reality show is Scott Baio is 45… and Single (see). Scott Baio has never been married, always opting to date and sleep with many women at the same time instead. He is currently dating a very nice girl, but he's not quite sure that he wants to marry her. He therefore has hired a "life coach" who will help him change his ways.
The beginning of the third episode of this tour de force finds Scott and his life coach, Doc Ali, talking about Scott's fear of commitment. It seems as though Scott's parents have been married for 54 years, and yet Scott still sees commitment as bondage instead of freedom. As the discussion continues, Scott's one-time relationship with Julie McCullough (you know, Julie from Growing Pains, the nanny Mike was going to marry) comes up. His relationship with Julie represents one of the few times Scott got caught cheating. Doc Ali thinks Scott ought to apologize to Julie. She is almost certainly right; there are a myriad of women to whom Baio ought to apologize. And that, ladies and gentleman, is why the man has a reality show on VH1.
After calling Julie's house and speaking to her roommate, Scott learns that she is out, but will be home after doing a show at the Improv that night. As Scott's voiceover informs us, he has heard that Julie is using him as a punchline in her act anyway, so he's kind of curious (nervous, too).
Sure enough, once Scott walks in Julie notices him and starts making fun of him. She refers to him as Cheapie Cheater Chachi and goes into some length as to why she does this. As we all know, Scott cheated on her (repeatedly, it seems) and, back when they were dating he was incredibly cheap. Once when they went out for pizza, Scott made Julie pay for her own slice (class all the way). Soon, Scott has enough of her making fun of him and runs out of the Improv; his friends, however, stay and watch the rest of the show.
With the performance finished, Scott heads back and meets up with Julie to talk. Julie tells him that she got her first AIDS test because of him (she means her first HIV test, but I'll forgive her … this time). This implies that there were others down the line (I smell reality spin-off here). When Scott apologizes for his actions to her back in the day, Julie seems genuinely touched and Scott seems genuinely apologetic. Yes, fine, they're both actors, but I want to believe they both meant it. When they hug at the end of the conversation Julie feels something weird in Scott's groin area … he was so scared of her that he wore a cup just in case she were to kick him (but he seems so nice on TV).
Returning from the commercial break, we find Scott and his buds ready to take a trip to Palm Springs so he can forget all his worries. After cruising there, top down in a Bentley convertible, they head out for the night. Walking into a bar they happen upon a bachelorette party. Who knows how many drinks later, Scott is cajoled by the girls and his friend Johnny to get into the girls' limo and head back to the house Scott and friends are staying at (Scott's voiceover points out that he made the celibacy vow to Doc Ali in another zip code, so clearly it doesn't count here).
A few words on Scott's friend Johnny. Johnny is best imagined as one of those small fish that swim right next to whales. You know, the kind that eat everything that the whale misses. Johnny does just that. His goal through this whole encounter is to end up with one of the girls Scott is not going to sleep with (and Scott and the girls seem to know it). We have been told before that this is how Johnny operates, but it's fun to see in action. Upon learning that the girls were five years old in 1985, Scott realizes that he has pants older than they are and decides to go to bed. Johnny gets upset, tries to convince him to come back -- but when he does not, the girls leave.
At 7:00am the next morning, Scott gets a call from Doc Ali and she tells him to go meet two friends of hers: Arlene and Birds (Burks? Burds? Burts? Scott never quite gets the name). Arlene and her husband have been married for nearly 51 years and Scott questions them about it and their commitment. But this is only after Arlene tells Scott, as he's looking at a picture of her granddaughter, that she's 16 and too young for him.
The questioning takes place pool side, with some wonderful appetizers -- including pickled eggs, which, after one bite, Scott places in his pocket rather than finish eating. Scott asks them about sex and their faithfulness to one another (apparently Arlene had a thing at one time for Robert Redford, but it never panned out).
As the conversation finishes up, Arlene advises Scott to get a life. How she can say this to the man that used to have a wheel in his house with pictures of eight different girls that he would spin every night to see who he was going to go out with, I cannot imagine.
But, thus ends the episode. Scott and his pals head back to L.A., and we wait breathlessly for next week to find out if Scott Baio will succeed on his quest to change his life.
JOHNNY V IS SO FUNNY. HE AND SCOTT ARE A BLAST TO WATCH. I LOVE "SCOTT BAIO 45 AND SINGLE" SCOTT IS STILL SO VERY SEXY AND RADIATES CHARM MORE THAN EVER BEFORE. MOSTLY HE IS SO FUNNY. I CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT SUNDAY. I HOPE TO SEE MORE OF JOHNNY V.
Gina C | Jul 23, 2007 7:11:36 PM | #Scott is right on the money with the babes. Right on Scott. I need a Johnnie V in my life, he's one crazy dude. Hey Johnny can I borrow your clothes? Great show!
DAVID | Jul 23, 2007 7:19:23 PM | #I've watched the episodes because there's at least one scene where Scott actually looks within himself. When he said no one is perfect including him, I WAS SHOCKED! Where does he get off thinking that the outside is the only aspect of a woman! I am 35, tall, blond and attractive and if a guy only saw me for my looks, I'd dump him in a flash. Scott is arrogant and egocentric. He's lucky that he's found a nice woman like his current girlfriend. But I'm not sure she's lucky to have Scott.
dnturner | Jul 31, 2007 8:23:59 PM | #
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