EPISODE: New Man
By Heidi (Netherlands)
Ep number 420, Season 14, Originally aired October 10, 1972
Guest stars: Ronny Cox, Charles Dierkop
Written by: Jack
B. Sowards
Directed by: Leo Penn
SUMMARY:
The ep starts with Ben, Joe and Candy waiting outside for Griff, who is released on parole from prison. Ben gives Griff the reins of his own horse (Griff’s horse) which Griff mounts. As they all leave through the gates, the guards say that Griff will be back.
While they are heading home, Griff suddenly stops and turns around to look for a last time at the prison. The others wait and then Griff rides along with them through desert. A while further Candy rides next to Griff and they start a conversation about the time they shared together long ago.
On the way home, Ben tells Griff to get rid of his jacket and in the nearest town called Lipstock, he and Joe buy Griff new clothes which will fit him. At the shop, Ben and Joe sort out the new clothes. When Griff asks why there is no gun, Ben replies: “There is no gun. You are on parole.” Griff tries the new clothes on at the back of the shop. Then they head for home.
At the ranch Jamie is ‘doing homework’ which is really reading a dime novel. When Ben and Griff come in, he quickly puts the book in his back pocket and greets his father. Jamie gets introduced to Griff. Then Ben sees the dime novel and grabs it. Jamie calls it modern history but Ben disagrees (very funny scene which most parents recognize as they check on their children’s homework!).
When Jamie has gone upstairs, Griff looks around the living room. Ben and Griff have a talk in which the rancher asks the new hand if he has made up his mind about staying. Joe and Candy come in and Joe asks what Griff thinks of the place. His answer is that is it alright. Ben tells Candy to show Griff where he can bunk down. They start to leave but then Griff asks: “How much do these clothes cost?”
“Eight dollars and 63 cents,” Ben replies.
“Take it out of my first month pay,” Griff reacts.
“I have already put into the book,” Ben says.
Then Griff and Candy leave the ranch house.
Outside, the two have an argument about favors and help. Griff says cleverly, “If you need a hand, you find it at the end of your wrist. (I love that remark, LOL). Everywhere I turn around, somebody tells me what to do and where to go.”
Candy asks: “If you were asked about the parole, would you have turned it down?”
“No,” admits Griff.
“Will you make up your mind about staying? You stay here and you work. If you cause trouble, you won’t have just the law looking for you,” Candy says as a threat.
“Will you show me where to bunk down?” Griff asks.
Candy takes him to the bunkhouse where the other hands tease Griff but he reacts fiercely to them. Then the hands play a joke on Griff by cutting through the ropes under his bed. Griff starts to fight with one and Candy comes between them. Candy sends the boys outside and talks to Griff about what had happened. Later on, the others come in, and just as Griff wants to fix his bunk, the light goes out. That night he goes to sleep under a tree, watched by another hand called Lucas.
The next day Candy gives out the chores to the hands. Griff gets to hear from Ben that he must chop wood. He (Griff) protests and says that he used to be a top hand on a ranch once.
Ben says, “Then you know that the new man must do the rough jobs. And you are the new man.”
Then Joe steps in and says that Griff can help him and Candy with breaking the horses.
“If that doesn’t work out well, he can always chop the wood tomorrow,” Joe adds with his famous convincing smile.
So Griff goes with Joe, Candy and Jamie to the corral for breaking horses. They warn Griff about a horse named Dynamite. First Griff goes on a wild horse but the horse throws him off its back. But Griff gets back on and tries again, and then Joe tries to ride a horse.
Griff asks, “What is the name of that ugly animal?”
“Alice,” someone answers.
“Can’t wait to meet Dynamite,” comments Griff.
After the horse Alice is broken by Joe, Candy asks, “Griff, ready for the next horse.” Griff nods and goes back into the corral. Joe goes to stand against the corral and watches with Candy and Jamie. (end of the scene).
Sheriff Clem Foster comes to visit the ranch. He tells Ben that the store has been robbed and Ben asks if Clem suspects Griff of doing it. They go the barn where Griff is on a ladder when Ben and Clem come in.
Ben: “Griff, a friend of mine Clem Foster. He wants to talk to you.”
Griff: “What about?”
Clem: “Will you come down here, boy?”
Griff: “Some people call me Griff. Others call me Mr. King. Those are the only two names I answer to.”
Clem: “Mr. King.”
Griff comes down and walks to the men.
Clem: “Last night the store was robbed. Know about it?”
Griff: “I know the store was robbed.”
Clem: “Where were you then?”
Ben: “Sleeping in his bunk.”
Griff: “No, I was sleeping under a tree.”
Ben: “Any witnesses?”
When Griff says no, Clem wants to take Griff along to jail but Ben steps in.
Ben: “As the law says, he is innocent until you can prove him guilty.”
Clem: “Where is your gear?”
Griff: “I am wearing it.”
Clem: “Where is your bunk?”
Griff: “The last one on the right of the door.”
As Clem leaves the barn, Griff calls, “You can’t miss it. It is the one on the floor.”
When Griff asks what it takes to be trusted, the rancher answers, “You have to trust them.”
In the bunkhouse, Clem sees Lucas, who then comes with the sheriff to the barn where Ben and Griff still are. Lucas tells them what happened at the bunkhouse the previous night and how he saw Griff sleeping under the tree. Lucas leaves and so does Clem.
Griff comes into the bunkhouse and tries to make conversation with the other hands but that fails somehow. He sits down and watches the checkers games being played. When it’s his turn, the lights go out but Griff keeps on playing in the dark. He says sarcastically, (in a really Tim Matheson way) “I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed your friendship and this evening. Thank you for your kind attention.” He takes off his boots and goes to lie down on his bed, thinking.
The next morning Griff repairs Lucas’ saddle.
Outside Ben looks for a volunteer to get something at Cimarron Canyon and to get supplies. Griff wants to do it but Ben says no, giving the reason that Griff doesn’t know the land very well yet. Griff answers that all they have to do is tell him how to get there. Lucas volunteers and gets a day off for it.
In the bunkhouse, Griff plays checkers with himself. (another way to win. too). Lucas comes in and Griff asks why he isn’t on his way to Cimarron Canyon. Lucas says that he has to go to town first to pick up a package at Wells Fargo. Griff says that he wants to go to town and have a look around. Lucas gives Griff 2 dollars for spending money in town.
The hands go to town and some time later on, Griff starts following Lucas toward the Wells Fargo office. At the Wells Fargo office, Griff gets knocked out. When he comes around, a posse led by Clem starts to chase him. Griff escapes and the next morning he waits for Ben and Clem at the sheriff’s office, where Lucas is already behind bars. Griff locks up Ben and Clem too, and then tells them that Lucas is the one who robbed the Well Fargo. Griff leaves and Candy goes after him while Joe takes care of Ben and Clem. Griff tries to stop Candy with a gun, but they end up in a fight. During the fight, both fall into some water. Candy pulls Griff out of the water and they argue about the fact that Griff thinks that nobody listens to him. But Candy tells Griff that he and Ben will listen to him. Candy leaves and goes back to the ranch, where Ben and Clem have called the men together. Griff sneaks in through the kitchen with a rifle in his hand and hears Clem say that they caught the robbers and that Griff is innocent. Griff comes out and gives his rifle to Ben.
As the men leave, Ben sees the Lucas and Griff walking together to the bunkhouse.
Griff: “What was in the package?”
Lucas: “A birthday cake from my mother.”
Griff: “When was your birthday?”
Lucas: “Six weeks ago.”
Griff: “And you receive it now?”
Lucas: “It is the thought that counts, isn’t it?”
They walk ahead and Ben knows that Griff will be alright.
REVIEWS:
“I like the characters of both Griff and Candy and it is nice that they know each other, too. Griff didn't really get much of a chance to become an established character, as the show was axed, but it was obvious from what we did see that Ben was happy to take the young man under his wing, and look out for him, as he had with Candy Although both Candy and Griff had had quite tough childhoods, I think that Griff was the more vulnerable, maybe because he was younger than Candy. If the show had continued I think that Griff would have proved to be a good addition, much as Candy was. The show needed some new blood, and although I would have preferred it if that had arrived in the shape of Adam's son, or Hoss could’ve married and left his children in Pa's care, Candy and Griff were both good characters.” Little Joe forever Lynne
“Had Dan Blocker not died, the character of Griff and bringing in the "guys in the bunk house" might have carried the show for another few seasons. I also think Griff would have been the hot-headed young handsome cowboy that Landon was now too old to be playing (not that he wasn't handsome) (WOWza). Jamie was getting too old to be the cute vulnerable kid but was no way going to be the sexy handsome young cowboy. He might have been the dopey sidekick to Griff. And they sure never gave Jamie much to do at the end but be awkward and childish and do homework.” Robin
“Not much to comment on the show though but I will say this is probably one of the few episodes with Griff in it that I liked. Enjoyed the Jamie/Pa moment but it reminds me a little more of how much Dan Blocker must have been missed. The ranch was and never would be the same without our "Gentle Giant".” Nancy
“I always liked Candy as a "buddy" for Joe. I thought he and Joe made good foils for each other when they were competing for a girl, and a really strong team when they were taking on the bad guys. I never warmed up to Griff, though. Perhaps it was because he was on the show such a short time before the series was cancelled. Griff came across as the "angry young man" and that type of character has never been a favorite for me. I have to admit, though, every time I see Tim Matheson in some show, I think of him as Griff grown up. First impressions are the ones that last the longest, I guess.” Susan Grote