The Last Payment

A Mark-centered episode with a largely Black cast as Mark goes undercover to get the goods on a mysteriously loan shark. Tough work as he gets up getting beat up twice! We've seen it in other episodes, but I'm old enough to remember the "Give me ten" hand slap, and it's great to see here. It's a fantastic greeting and what a shame that it got replaced by the fist bump and other such nonsense. So I say, bring back the "give me ten!" The big treat of this episode is guest star Scatman Crothers. Such a unique character and always fun to see, including here where he's Mark's friend who talks mostly in rhyme and features some wild hats.

The Scatman was in The Shining and many other movies of course, but I also remember him for his voice work. He was "Scat Cat" in the Disney movie The Aristocats and also was Hong Kong Phooey, Meadowlark Lemon from the Harlem Globetrotters cartoon, a Transformer, and voices in the Scooby Doo cartoons. I actually thought at the end they might psyche us by having Scatman be the mysterious loan shark, but glad they didn't.