Ah, The Annual Family Defrost--
The Refrigerator Taking Its Vacation.
What Have You Got There?
Something I've Been Thinking About
But Nothing For You To Get Involved In.
Then I Won't.
But You Could Help Me Defrost.
Oh, Okay.
Just One Second.
What Is This?
My Hand.
I Made It Myself.
Do You Need An Extra?
Yes.
What For?
You Never Know.
We'll Just Save This For Martin And Denise.
I'll Have It.
It's My Memory Of Being Five.
Oh, Well, In That Case Then
We'll Freeze Your Feet.
No.
Hello.
Hi, Grandpa.
Hey! Here's Roy And Dale.
Get Up Here On The Horses.
Grandpa?
Uh-Huh?
Put Something In My Canvas Bag.
Okay.
Give Me That Frozen Hand There.
It's My Hand, But You Can Hold It If You Want.
Let's Bring The Hand Upstairs.
Hmm.
It Wants To Go Upstairs!
Come On!
Okay!
What's This?
That's, Um...
That's Ice Cream, Mom.
Why Was It Hiding Way In The Back
Heathclifford?
What?
Why Was This Hiding In The Back Of The Freezer?
If It Was All The Way In The Back
Obviously, It's Old.
Look, It's Got Freezer Fur All Over It.
No, It Doesn't
And It Expires In Three Weeks.
See, That's What You Know.
That Is Not...
That's The Price Of It.
So This Container Of Ice Cream Cost 10-91 Dollars?
Dear, I Don't Regulate The Dairy Product Prices.
Hey.
Cliff: Hey.
I Got The Bread For The Sandwiches.
We've Got Multi-Grain, Semi-Wheat, Butter-Topped
Thinny Thin, Hot Dog Rolls If You Got The Dogs...
We Got The Dogs.
Here's Your Change.
A Daughter Giving Me Change.
Bless You.
You're The Best.
Oh, And, Uh, Mom And Dad...
I'm Engaged.
That's Very Nice, Vanessa
But You Forgot The Tomatoes.
Oh, No, Mom, Here They Are Right Here.
I'm Serious.
I Am.
I'm Engaged.
To Do What?
To Be Married.
All: Whoa!
Vanessa
We Sent You To The Store For Bread.
What Happened?
Did The Guy At The Check-Out Counter Propose To You?
No, Dad.
I Got Engaged At School.
Okay, Everybody, Out.
Out!
I Guess I Didn't Know How To Tell You.
So, Uh, When Did This Happen?
A While Ago.
A While Ago?
How Long A While Ago?
Six Months.
Did You Hear That, Cliff?
The Girl Has Been Engaged For Six Months.
Six Months.
But I've Known Him A Lot Longer.
How Long?
Oh, Oh, A Year... If You're Going To Count.
We're Going To Count.
Mom, Dad, I Didn't Tell You
Because I Didn't Think You Would Approve.
Besides, I'm An Adult Now.
I'm 18.
Did You Hear That, Cliff?
She's 18.
Who Is He?
His Name Is Dabnis Brickey.
You Met Him At School?
Yes.
What Is He, A Sophomore?
What Year Is He?
He's Not A Student.
He's A Professor?
He's The Maintenance Man.
And I'd Like You To Meet Him.
And We'd Like To Meet Him.
Well, Great.
He's In The Area
So I'll Just Get Him And Bring Him Over.
Yeah, You Bring Him.
Bring Him Over.
Bring Him Over Here.
Bring Everything Over...
Because It's Going To Be Over When They Come Over Here.
See, I, I...
I Just Feel That If...
If Vanessa...
No, No, No, No.
Don't Say The Name.
Please.
She.
She Was The One
Who Wasn't Going To Give Us Trouble.
All Those Years Of Straight A's
And Community Service.
We Were Set Up By That Goody-Goody.
Now There You Go.
We Don't Know Anything, Though.
I Mean, Does He Have His Own Apartment?
I Don't Know.
Does He Live Alone?
I Don't Know.
What Do You Know?
I Got The Same Amount Of News That You Got In The Kitchen.
I Do Know One Thing:
They Are Not Going To Live Here.
No! No, No...
Hello.
Mom, Dad...
This Is Dabnis Brickey.
Isn't That Funny?
A He Was Just In The Neighborhood.
Well, Mr. Brickney.
Brickey, Sir. Brickey.
Brickey.
Mr. Brickey.
Mrs. Huxtable, Dr. Huxtable
I've Really Been Looking Forward To Meeting You.
And We've Been Looking Forward To Meeting You...
For The Past Half Hour.
What A Beautiful Home.
It's Just Like I Imagined It.
We've Tried To Raise Five Children Here.
What Exactly Are You Trying To Do?
Mrs. Huxtable, Dr. Huxtable
I Know Our News Is A Surprise.
Believe Me
My Parents Were Surprised When We Told Them.
(Chuckling)
So, Is That What You Two Do--
Just Rent A Car And Drive Around Surprising People?
Absolutely Not.
We Told My Parents Six Months Ago.
Six Months?
That's Right.
The Day We Got Engaged.
They Were So...
They Were So Happy For Us.
They Love Nessa.
Uh, Let Me Get This Straight.
You're Telling Me That You Had The Courtesy And The Respect
To Tell Your Parents The Day That It Happened?
I Had To.
At My Age
They Were Beginning To Think
I'd Never Get Married.
What... What Age Is That, Sir?
Oh, I'm Knocking On 30.
(Knocking On Wood)
Mr. Brickey, Aren't Your Parents The Least Bit Curious About Us?
Oh, Nessa Told Them All About You.
And What Exactly Did You Tell Them, Nessa?
Well, Just That
You Had Been Through A Lot Of Emotional Ups And Downs
With Your Other Children
And We Didn't Want To Complicate Your Lives
Until We Felt
That You Were Stable.
How Can You Tell..?
No, Don't Touch Me, Please.
We're Not...
I Just Want To Ask...
Dr. Huxtable, Mrs. Huxtable
I Would Have Liked To Have
Shared This Milestone In Our Lives With You
When It Happened
But Vanessa Felt It Prudent To Wait
And I Trust Her Judgment.
She's The Wisest Woman I Know.
Hey, Hey, Hey.
What's Up, Everybody?
I Got The Ice.
I Did My Part.
I'm Ready For The Smorgasbord
So Let's Eat.
You Guys Look Like We Just Got Robbed Or Something.
Did We Just Get Robbed?
Theo, This Is Dabnis Brickey.
Hey, How You Doing?
Nice To Meet You, Man.
And We're Engaged.
Whoa!
(Snickering)
Hey, Congratulations, Sis.
Theo: Well, Dad?
Ooh, Things Are Kind Of Chilly In Here
So I Think I'll Just Put This Ice In The Kitchen.
(Snickers)
Mr. Brickey, We Were Planning A Family Dinner.
We've Emptied The Freezer For It.
We Weren't Expecting You...
For This Meal.
But, Since You Are Here, You're Welcome To Stay.
For This Meal.
I'd Like To Stay.
For This Meal.
I Think We Could Use
Some More Chairs In This House.
But We're Flexible.
Boy, Things Sure Are Busy Down At The Center.
How So, Theo?
Well, Vanessa
We Just Instituted A New Program.
And What New Program Is That, Theo?
You See, We Just Created A Hotline
For Dysfunctional Families.
So How Did You Two Meet?
It Was A Beautiful Day About A Year Ago.
I Was Out Mowing The Quad Lawn At Lincoln
And That's Tricky Because, See, There Are These Begonias...
This Begonia Bed...
Oh, Yeah, Begonias.
They Can Be Tricky.
Vanessa Was Sitting Under This Oak Tree
Reading This Collection Of Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry.
She Was So Engrossed In Her Book
She Didn't Even Notice Me
So I Mowed Around Her
And Around Her And Around Her.
She Wouldn't Move, So I Mowed Off.
Then One Day, The Elevator In My Dorm Broke Down
And My Roommate And I Were In It
And Dabnis Came And Fixed It.
He Saved Our Lives.
Vanessa, You Live On The Second Floor.
We Could Have Run Out Of Air.
There Are Many Ways To Die.
You Got That Right.
So, Dabnis...
What Did You Do
Before You Got Into The, Uh... Maintenance Game?
Well, Actually, Theo, He's The Head Of Maintenance.
Okay, Well...
Before You Became Head Of Maintenance?
I Was In The Army.
I Enlisted Right After High School.
Served Six Years, Mostly In Germany.
Life Overseas On An Army Base.
I Didn't Live On Base.
Was That When You Were Living With Barbara?
No. I Was Living With Phyllis.
I Lived With Barbara When I Came Back.
Uh-Huh.
Vanessa, May I Speak With You In The Kitchen?
Is, Uh... Everything All Right?
I Don't Think So.
I Know What You're Going To Say.
Mom, I Know What Is Right For Me.
I Am In Love With Dabnis.
This Has Been The Happiest Year Of My Life.
Vanessa...
I Know About Barbara And Phyllis
And The Rest Of Dabnis's Life.
Vanessa, I Don't Give A Flying Fig
About Barbara And Phyllis And Winkie, Twinkie And Dinky
Or Anybody Else He's Done Light Housekeeping With.
I Care About You And What Is Going On With You.
His Parents Knew?
Yes.
His Aunts And Uncles Knew?
Yes.
Cousins Know?
Yes.
His Friends?
Any Pets?
Now What About Your Friends?
Did Your Friends Know?
Yes, They Did.
Vanessa, For An Entire Year
You Have Kept This Part Of Your Life A Secret From Us.
We, Your Parents, Did Not Know.
I Know That, And I'm Sorry.
Isn't It Obvious Why I Couldn't Tell You And Dad?
Because He's Not A Doctor
Like Elvin, Mother.
He Didn't Graduate From Annapolis Like Martin.
He's A Maintenance Man.
Vanessa, Please.
I Am Not That Lame.
Don't Use A Profession As A Smoke Screen.
That Is Not The Problem We Are Having Today.
What?
Vanessa, You Know
And You Know That I Know That You Know That I Know.
You'll Make Me Say It?
All Right.
Vanessa, You're Not Ready.
Mother, I Am In Love With Him.
Socially, Dear, You Are Worlds Apart.
Honey, This Man Has Lived, With A Few, I Might Add.
You Have Lived One Year Away From Home
Have Met Somebody At School, Fallen In Love, Become Engaged
And Are Talking About Getting Married.
Vanessa, You're Not Ready.
Mother, I May Just Be 18 Years Old
But I Have Made Good Decisions All My Life
And I Feel That This Is A Good Decision For Me.
It's So Good
That You Had To Keep It A Secret
From Your Parents For Six Months.
(Whispering:) You're Not Ready.
Oh, Vanessa!
Is That Your Ring?
Yes, It Is.
The Stone's Missing.
No, It's Not, Sandra.
It's Right There.
Oh! It's Nice.
Oh, Wow.
That's Nice.
That's Understated.
Tasteful, Delicate.
So, Have You Two, Uh... Set A Date?
Oh, Yeah.
We Were Thinking About Getting Married
A Year From Now.
But I Am Going To Graduate.
I Will Graduate.
You Can Trust Me.
May I Say Something?
Yes.
I Believe In Family.
I Respect Mine
And I'd Like To Become A Part Of Yours.
Now I Realize That Is Going To Take Time...
But I Plan To Be Around.
Mr. Brickney
I Want To Tell You A Little Story.
Oh, Boy.
Let's Check The Children.
Good Thinking.
Can I Help?
Yeah.
You... Um...
Probably Come From A Very Fine, Fine Family--
Great Morals And Whatnot
And Our Daughter, Regardless Of What She Has Done
Comes From What We Feel Is A Great Family Also
And You'll Just Have To Forgive Us
Because We Just Don't Like You.
Well, I'm Sorry.
No, No, No.
It's Not For You To Be Sorry
Because, You See, You Are Not To Blame.
If You Want To Blame Anybody, Then You Blame Vanessa.
What I'm Trying To Say
Is I Don't Want You To Leave This House
Saying That We Don't Like You
Because You Are A Maintenance Man
Or In Charge Of Maintenance Or Whatever.
You Could Be A Banker
And We Would Not Like You At All.
It's The Way That...
You Have A Favorite Food?
Yes, Sir.
What You Had Was Fine.
I Enjoyed The Fish Sticks.
No, Forget The Fish Sticks.
Do You Have A Favorite Food--
Something That You Really...
You Know, Love?
Oh, Yeah.
Occasionally, I Enjoy A Juicy Steak.
Steak! Steak! There You Go.
Just Imagine We Got The Porterhouse
And No White Lines In It At All.
Yeah.
What Would You Like To Go With It?
Oh, Some Crispy Potatoes.
No Problem.
Now, You've Got Mushrooms.
You Like Your Mushrooms?
Yes, Sir.
Smell It? Smell The Potatoes?
Yes, Sir.
The Mushrooms?
Sauteed.
Smell Good.
Mmm, Boy, Huh?
Yes, Sir.
Now, I'm Going
To Present It To You, Right?
I Go Over, I Don't Get A Plate.
I Take The Garbage Can Lid, Turn It Upside Down.
After Taking It Off Of The Garbage Can
I Take Your Steak, Your Potatoes And Your Sauteed Mushrooms
And I Give It To You.
Not Too Appetizing, Is It?
It's In The Presentation.
That's The Way She Brought You Here--
On A Garbage Can Lid.
Dabnis, Dr. Huxtable And I Will Always Be Fair.
I Appreciate That.
If This House Has Anything
It's A Lot Of Fairness.
What We Don't Have A Lot Of Is Space.
We Would Never Dream Of Living Here.
We Would Never Dream Of Asking You To Live Here.
I Want You To Consider This House
To Be Like The Begonia Bush.
You Know, You Can Mow All You Want Around It.
Well, Sir, Actually
I Have My Own Begonias In My Own Yard.
You Have A Yard?
Yes, Sir.
I Have A Farmhouse I'm Renovating.
Now, Would You Clarify For Me The Meaning Of The Word "Have"?
I Own It.
You Own Your Own House?
Yes, Sir.
Get The Gentleman Some Coffee.
Get Him Some Coffee.