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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 262744" data-attributes="member: 23">Motorcycle Boogie <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOTc2NDIxY2EtYWJlMi00Njk2LWFmNzUtZWZhNDIzOTNjNjAzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjA5MzIxNjQ@._V1_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 581px" />Stunt casting has never been more literal than in Motorcycle Boogie which features Evel Knievel as himself. It’s often a bad sign when a series builds an episode around their big name guest-star. It’s appropriate, then, that this move involves the very man who jumped the shark (again, literally) nine months before Fonzie. Meaning that phrase can be traced directly to Mr Knievel. And it appears to be perfectly placed in the series itself which has indeed taken a turn for the sillier this season. While this appearance was fun enough, it did all but have Evel wearing a sandwich board to remind us who he is in every scene. There was a running gag about Jaime not believing Evel is who he claims to be which was fine up to a point. But after almost an entire episode of dismissing him, Jaime seemed incredibly slow on the uptake, diminishing her own character at the expense of the guest. And all to give the episode the moment where he makes a jump with Jaime riding pillion, which anyone would know is going to happen anyway. Unlike the typical “big name playing themselves” character, Evel isn’t wheeled on to say a few lines and perform a stunt at the end. He has a lot of screen-time and a lot of dialogue. While it’s apparent he hasn’t studied with Lee Strasberg, I have to say his work is passable. Not effortlessly natural, but he’s game enough and doesn’t appear ridiculously self-conscious With this being another German-set episode (Jaime and Evel dart from West to East, with the big jump being in order to cross the border to return), there’s a nice bit of business where Jaime - as she bike-jacks him to demand his help - starts off thinking Evel is German. Which gives us Jaime trying to make herself understood by speaking German to the confused Evel. And a nice moment where she asks Evel the German for “you’re cute” and coquettishly repeats the phrase to an officer checking their I.D.s in order to distract him. If I’m paying attention, this is the second consecutive episode in which Oscar doesn’t appear. I probably wouldn’t have noticed but for the fact that Rudy takes over Oscar’s role as Jaime’s contact. It felt very much like the writers giving Richard Anderson a breather with him being stretched across two series. But it also worked because, after all, why would he be permanently at his desk when he’s got so many responsibilities. </blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?