Phantom of the Open Hearth

Humorist/raconteur Jean Shepherd both wrote and narrated the TV play Phantom of the Open Hearth. Set in the 1940s, the story involves the trials and tribulations of Shepherd's alter-ego Ralph (David Elliot). Our Hero would like to escort the beautiful Daphne (Tobi Pilavin) to the junior prom, but instead settles for the comparatively homely Wanda (Robert Wallach). Along the way to the inevitable "big dance" denouement, we are treated to such slapstick sidetrips as a riotous softball game and a chaotic contretemps over a movie-house giveaway. Phantom of the Open Hearth was first telecast December 23, 1976, as an offering of the PBS series Visions.