One Day at a Time (1975–1984): Season 3, Episode 10 - Barbara's Friend: Part 2 - full transcript
Barbara's friend calls and says that she has taken a lot of pills.
♪ This is it (this is it)
♪ This is life, the one we get
♪ So go and have a ball
♪ This is it, this is it
♪ Straight ahead,
and rest assured
♪ You can't be sure at all
♪ So while you're
here, enjoy the view
♪ Keep on doing what you do
♪ Hold on tight, we'll muddle
through one day at a time
♪ One day at a time
♪ So up on your
feet (up on your feet)
♪ Somewhere
there's music playing
♪ Don't you worry none,
just take it like it comes
♪ One day at a time
(one day at a time)
♪ One day at a time
♪ One day at a time
♪ One day at a time
♪ One day at a time
- [Announcer] Here are some
scenes from last week's show.
- You want to go to the
concert with me or not?
- Well, yeah, I wanna go, but...
- Okay.
- Barbara!
- Melanie, I'm sorry.
- Sorry?
No wonder you were so eager
to come down here with me,
so you could
steal Cliff from me.
- From you?
- Yes!
- I'm not your best friend.
- I'll say you're
not my best friend.
You're my worst friend!
- I'm not your worst friend.
I'm not your best friend,
I'm not any kind of friend.
If I was your friend,
I'd be your only friend.
Melanie, what are
you talking about?
- Nobody understands me.
Nobody likes me.
(coughing)
- No, Melanie, don't!
No, you can't, stop it!
- What?
- Melanie!
- [Ann] Barbara.
- Oh, Mom, help, Melanie's
trying to kill herself.
- [Announcer] And
now for the conclusion
of Barbara's Friend.
- Melanie, Melanie!
- All right, now, listen to me.
You cannot panic, you
have got to keep her talking.
I'm going to call the police
and have them trace the call.
Keep her talking,
keep that line open.
Don't hang up, just
keep her talking.
- Melanie, um, why
don't we talk, okay?
We'll talk, you talk to
me, I'll talk to you, okay?
So what's new?
Uh, no, Melanie, look.
Okay, can you hear me?
Melanie, can you hear me?
- Yes, Mother.
(coughing)
Don't be mad at me.
- Oh no, no, I'm not
mad at you, really.
No, I love you.
We all love you.
Your mother loves
you, even Cliff loves you.
He loves you too.
- How long are you gonna
be on that phone, shrimp?
I gotta make a quick call.
- Oh, Melanie, guess
who just came in!
You'll never believe
who just came in.
It's my big sister,
remember big sis, Melanie?
- Melanie?
Would you tell her
to just drop dead?
- Julie!
Uh, Melanie, look, um,
if it's just Cliff Randall,
you know, Cliff, he was just,
he just asked me to the
concert to ake you jealous,
that's all.
That's all he did.
Come on, Melanie,
don't you wanna live?
Tell me where you are, please.
- He discovereth the deep
things out of darkness,
and bringeth out to
light the shadow of death.
- Oh, I always did
love Rod McEwan.
No, that's the Bible, right?
Bible, Bibles are in motels.
Melanie's in a motel.
- With Cliff Randall?
- I wish she was.
Look, Melanie, tell me which
motel that you're at, okay?
The phone number, okay?
You got a phone, you're
talking on the phone,
give me the phone number.
- Wait a second, wait a second.
What is happening
here, what's going on?
- Melanie's trying
to commit suicide,
she just swallowed a
whole bunch of pills.
I can't find her.
- What?
- Melanie, talk to me, please.
It's no use, she's not talking.
- Give me the phone.
- Don't hang it up.
- Melanie?
Melanie, are you there?
Say something.
- Oh, God, Julie,
what am I gonna do?
She's dying, it's all my fault!
- Come on, baby, come on.
- Where is she?
We gotta find her.
- Barbara, Barbara, it
is not your fault, okay?
Just, just keep calm.
You have to remember that
in all emergency situations,
you must keep
calm, absolutely calm.
Mom!
- Your mother just came
running down the hallway
screaming about somebody
committing suicide,
so that, it's Barbara!
Barbara, Barbara,
come back to us, kid!
It's a big, wide,
wonderful world we live in!
Look, she's struggling,
fighting for her life.
- That's you're
ODing her on oxygen.
Schneider, it's not Barbara.
Melanie Walsh is the one
who's trying to kill herself.
- Melanie, right, where is she?
In the bathroom?
- No.
- Oh, in the bedroom.
- No.
- Well where is she?
- She's on the phone.
- On the phone?
Melanie, Melanie, you
get up and you walk around.
Melanie, I'm telling you, now,
you get up, you go,
and you walk around.
I can't hear her walking around.
Melanie, Melanie, look.
If you can't walk around,
get up and make
yourself a pot of coffee.
- Give me that phone.
Hello?
- Oh, God, she's
probably unconscious.
- Well, where is she?
- She's in a motel.
- Motel, I gotcha.
(muffled shouting)
- Barbara, Barbara, you okay?
- Uh, yeah, I think so.
It really is
happening, isn't it?
- It's really happening,
but I got ahold of the police
and they're gonna
trace that call.
We just gotta
keep that line open.
Come on, honey, they're also
gonna inform Melanie's parents.
- God, why would she do this?
- I can't answer
that, I don't know.
- What motel?
- I don't know, she's
just in some motel, dying.
- Wait, Melanie told
you she was in a motel?
- No, not exactly,
but I guessed.
She was reading from a Bible.
- Listen, Nancy Drew
has got something there.
There's Bibles in motels.
In case one of the parties
gets there early, you know?
- Okay, Schneider, tell me.
Where in this area
could you find a motel
that you could afford if
you were a high school kid?
- What are you asking
me about motels?
I'm not an expert on motels,
what are you, implying that I...
Of course, I do have a lodge
brother who happens to be,
and he did say that there
were some reasonable motels
out there on Meridian,
and you can get 'em,
I dunno, six dollars, nice room.
That's for your
basic three hours.
- They wouldn't give her
a room without luggage.
I guess, I don't know.
- Yeah, well, I think that
the motel rents your luggage
at a buck and a half.
- Schneider, do me a favor.
I want you to call the
police and tell them
that we think that
Melanie is in a motel.
- Right, call the police, well.
Barbara, everything is
gonna be all right, believe me.
I'll call it out
there on the CB,
and all those truck drivers,
they know everything
what's happening.
And maybe us,
we could, you know,
probably say a little prayer.
- Schneider sure believes
in going to the top, all right.
God and the Indiana
Teamster's Union.
- Julie, you're joking.
How can you joke?
Somebody is dying because
of me, and you're making jokes.
- Honey, we've done
everything we can for right now.
(doorbell ringing)
Everything is gonna be okay.
She'll be fine.
- Hey, Miss Romano.
Hey, Barbara, you ready yet?
- Oh, no, not you, Cliff!
- I thought we'd get
to the concert early
so there's no parking hassle,
but if you're not
ready yet, no big deal.
- Believe me,
Cliff, it's a big deal.
- Melanie's dead.
- Oh, hey, hey, that's too bad.
Who's Melanie?
- He doesn't even remember.
- Oh, no, no, sure, sure.
Melanie, your goldfish, right?
Your pet turtle?
- She's dead!
- Hey, come on, now.
We don't know whether
Melanie is dead or not.
- Hey, look, couldn't
somebody check her out?
If she's alive, we can go.
- We can't go if she's alive!
- Oh, right, right.
If she's dead, can we go?
- We can't go if she's dead
and we can't go if she's alive.
- Does this mean
we're not going?
- I think you could
safely assume that.
- Barbara, I don't get it.
Look, if you don't
like me, just say so.
- Oh, Cliff, I like you, I
like you, really, I like you.
Now would you please
get out of here, turkey?
- Turkey?
Hey, look, I don't get
it, what's happening?
- Would you just please leave?
- Yeah, yeah, uh,
Cliff, why don't you just
give Barbara a
call sometime, huh?
- Yeah, how about 1988?
- Goodbye.
- Now I'll never see him again.
- Oh, come on, Barb,
1988's not that far off.
- I don't even care.
Where is Melanie?
- Melanie, are you there?
Melanie, speak to me.
Oh, it's gonna
be all right, kid.
They're gonna find her.
- Then what?
If she's alive, it's not
because she wants to be.
She's a 16-year-old girl
who doesn't even wanna live.
- Barbara, that's not true.
Otherwise she wouldn't
have called here.
She was asking for help.
- I tried to help.
I did everything
I possibly could.
I even told her she
could have Cliff,
and now he's not
even mine to give away.
- Oh, Barbara, Cliff doesn't
even know that Melanie exists.
- If he does, he
thinks she's a turtle.
(doorbell ringing)
- Julie, could you get the door?
Melanie, Melanie,
can you hear me?
Melanie, can you hear me?
- Is this the Cooper apartment?
- Yes, who are you?
- We are Melanie's parents.
I have been trying and
trying to get you on the phone,
and all I get is a
damn busy signal.
- Elizabeth, please,
try to calm down.
- Yeah, well, the
phone's off the hook.
- Well, no wonder!
- No!
- Uh, the police were
trying to trace the call
to find your daughter.
- Why did you call the police?
What business is it of yours?
- Elizabeth, please.
- Shut up, Russell.
Now this will be all over town.
- Elizabeth, please.
Look, you'll have to excuse her.
She always gets upset
when Melanie does this.
- This has happened before?
- Russell, have I ever told
you that you have a big mouth?
- Yes, you've mentioned
that, Elizabeth.
- Good.
- I don't understand.
Don't you understand?
Melanie said she
was gonna kill herself.
- Barbara, I think
there's something
that the Walshes
haven't told us.
- All right.
Look, the fact is...
- The fact is Melanie
has done this before.
- Our daughter
has a little problem.
- Well, this is one
hell of a little problem.
Suicide!
- It isn't suicide, it's an act.
Melanie's bluffing.
- Bluffing!
I heard your daughter on
that phone, that was no act.
- Oh, come on.
Look, it isn't suicide.
She just plays these little
games in order to get attention.
- Well, maybe you
should give her some.
- Seems to me she
needs more than attention.
The child needs help.
- We tried that.
We took her to a
psychiatrist in Dayton.
- Melanie said you
used to live in Columbus.
- Well, that's why we took
her to a psychiatrist in Dayton.
We didn't want people talking.
- It was stupid.
Everybody found
out about it anyway.
- Russell.
That's one of the reasons
we moved to Indianapolis.
If people find out about it,
now I don't know what we'll do.
- Yeah, you're
running out of cities.
- I can't believe this.
You're worried about
people finding out,
and she has swallowed
God knows how many pills?
- Look, I know my daughter.
She's overly dramatic.
Now, the last time she
did this, she took two.
She took my last two sleeping
pills, I was awake all night.
- It was the worst
night of my life.
- She's taken more this time.
I couldn't understand her.
She wasn't making any sense.
- Oh, sure, of course,
she's good at it.
She should be.
Suicide is her thing,
as you kids say.
She's really into it.
- Look, Mrs. Walsh,
it seems to me
that if she even threatens
suicide, no matter how often,
you gotta take her seriously.
- Don't tell me how
to raise my daughter.
- No, no, I'm not
trying to tell you
how to raise your daughter,
but alive might be nice.
- Now you're concerned?
Why didn't your
daughter think about this
before she got
Melanie all upset?
- Hey, hey, wait a
second, wait a second.
Now you're blaming Barbara?
You're crazy, lady.
- Julie, I think we'd
better stay a little
calm in here, huh?
- Yeah, right.
- Thank you.
What the hell do you
mean, blaming Barbara?
- I did not steal
Melanie's boyfriend.
(doorbell ringing)
- Look, um, Mrs.
Walsh, I'm sorry I yelled.
You must be going through hell,
but Barbara's upset
enough as it is.
- Oh, no, not again.
What are you doing here?
- Look, Barbara,
I got downstairs,
and I decided to come back
up and give you another chance.
- You mean you got downstairs,
made three phone calls,
and bombed out.
Would you leave me alone, Cliff?
- I don't get it!
- Oh, so you're Cliff.
- Who are you?
- I happen to be Mrs.
Walsh, that's who I am.
- Oh, Mrs. Walsh.
Who?
- I don't suppose you feel any
responsibility about Melanie.
- Barbara's turtle?
- Elizabeth, this isn't
getting us anywhere.
We came here tonight
because we thought Barbara
might have an idea
where Melanie is.
- And we're not
worried, I don't want you
to get the idea
that we're worrying.
And young man, don't you
say a word of this to anyone.
- Oh, no, I certainly won't.
I won't say anything.
About whatever I'm not
supposed to say anything about.
- I, uh, just got some
news over the CB.
- What did you hear?
Oh, Schneider, these
are Melanie's parents.
- Uh, the police picked
up your daughter.
- Oh, thank God.
I knew it all the time, I
told you it was an act.
- Some act.
They're rushing
her to a hospital.
They don't know if
she's gonna pull through.
- Oh my God, Russell.
- Critical.
That's all they'd
say, is critical.
- Honey, they let her
parents go in and see her,
that's a good sign.
- Oh, yeah, that's right.
I mean, whenever they call
the next of kin, you know that...
- She was unconscious.
They could hardly find a pulse.
- Barbara, she took a
whole bottle of sleeping pills.
- A whole bottle.
Probably sleep right
through Star Wars.
You know, I bet everybody's
probably very hungry.
Why don't I go down
and I get some pizza,
some pepperoni and anchovies.
Heartburn takes your
mind off your problems.
- Thanks for
driving us here, too.
- Oh, listen, don't
mention it, will ya?
I mean, what other guy's
gonna get you across town
in 12 and a half minutes flat?
- What other guy has the
nerve to tell two motorcycle cops
that he is racing three
pregnant women to the hospital?
Oh, kid.
Come on, it's
gonna be all right.
Would you think about
some pleasant thoughts, huh?
Come on, come on.
The rock concert!
You know, I bet I
could get us two tickets
to The Grateful Dead.
Sorry, baby.
Um, I'm gonna go with Schneider.
You take it easy, huh?
(sighing)
- So this is it, huh?
Life?
I thought all it was
is going on dates,
the senior prom, and
picnics at Indian Lake.
- That is life.
And I want you to
savor that part of it.
Those are all
wonderful things, honey.
(sighing)
How alone Melanie must
feel to have done this.
- She wouldn't be
in this stupid hospital
if it wasn't for me.
Oh, I shouldn't have done it.
- You didn't do anything.
- You're right.
I should've done something.
I should've been nice to her.
I should've been her friend.
I should've gotten
Cliff interested in her.
- Oh, honey, Cliff doesn't
even know that the girl exists.
He doesn't care about her.
- He could have.
I should've told him that she
kisses with her mouth open.
It's all my fault.
Melanie's gonna die,
and it's all my fault.
- Boy, you're all-powerful
there, aren't ya, kid?
I mean, you can handle life
and death all by your lonesome.
I want you to listen
to me, young lady,
and I want you to
listen to me good.
No matter what
happens in that room,
you have nothing
to feel guilty about.
- I do too!
I have plenty to
feel guilty about.
I'm a guilty person,
I've always felt guilty.
I still feel guilty about
the time when I was eight
and I started the
fire in the toilet bowl.
- Hey, wait a minute,
you told me Julie did that.
- I know.
That's why I feel guilty.
I'm all filled up
with feeling guilt.
- How many times have I
told you not to play with fire?
- It was paper, I thought I
cold close the lid and flush it.
- You didn't flush it in time.
There were heat blisters
all over the toilet seat.
Silly, huh?
I mean, why are we
going through all this stuff
that happened eight years ago?
- I guess I just wanted to get
rid of some guilt, somehow.
- Good.
Things are gonna be okay.
- Mom?
- Yeah?
- I'm the one who poured
the 20 boxes of Jell-O
into Aunt Clara's tub.
Oh, you don't know
how it scared me
when she got in, fell
asleep, and gelled.
- Now why in the world would
you do something like that?
- Well, when you're
10 you don't ask why,
you just ask, why not?
- More guilt.
- Yeah, more guilt.
- Feel better?
- A little.
- Good.
I have a suggestion, though.
I wouldn't remind Aunt Clara.
- And it's no good.
I still feel it, all this guilt.
Not the kid stuff,
about Melanie.
Oh, you don't
know what it's like
to feel this kind of guilt.
- No, no, you're right.
I don't feel guilt about
things I haven't done.
When I feel guilt, it's real.
I mean, it's for
something I really did.
- What did you ever do?
- Not important, forget it.
- Julie's illegitimate.
(laughing)
- Oh, Barbara, we've
been through it a lot.
You know I feel a lot of
guilt about you and Julie.
It's wild, you know.
I took two great kids
away from a father
who loved them and wanted them,
and I deprived two
kids of a great father.
Overbearing, dominant, a
male chauvinist, nevertheless,
a great father.
- Mom, we understand
about the divorce.
It was good for you.
- Yes, it was.
It was really good for
me, but how about you?
You had a house, yard,
friends, grandparents,
a town you grew up in.
I dragged you kicking and
screaming into a big city
and into a little
two-bedroom apartment.
- We're okay.
It's a lot better
than all that fighting.
You did what you had to do,
you have nothing
to feel guilty about.
- Honey, when you feel
you cheated your children,
that's feeling guilty.
And I can't tell you
how guilty I used to feel
about your father.
- Dad did all right.
He married a very
beautiful, pretty, young lady.
- That's when I stopped
feeling guilty about him.
- Things just happen.
You shouldn't feel
guilty, it wasn't your fault.
- That should be
my attitude, right?
It wasn't my fault.
- Right, you said it.
It wasn't my fault.
Pretty good advice, huh?
- Pretty good advice.
Will you take it?
- I will if you will.
- I'll try.
Ah, babe.
Ah, Mr. Walsh, how's Melanie?
- The doctor said
she's gonna make it.
- Oh, she's gonna live!
- That's wonderful.
- What are we talking
about here, wonderful?
The hell it's wonderful.
You have any idea
what she went through?
Stomach pump, tubes, sick.
Totally disoriented.
- But she's going
to be all right now.
- I never said she was
going to be all right.
She's going to be just
like she was before,
and that's a long
way from all right.
- How dare you
talk to me that way!
Do you realize what I've
just been through in there?
It isn't easy being a mother.
You call that a bedside manner?
- No, I call that the truth.
Get it through your head.
Your daughter is sick.
She tried to kill herself,
and she came very
close to succeeding.
- She's trying to get attention!
I'm telling you, that's
all she was doing!
I mean, she's an
extremely sensitive child.
And uh, we certainly
hope this isn't going to
get into the newspapers.
We wouldn't want that to
happen, would we, Russell?
- I hope it makes
the front pages.
That's right, the front pages.
Three-inch headlines.
Melanie Walsh is wacko.
On her mother's side.
Because if everybody knows,
then you don't have to
worry about covering it up.
Then maybe we can do
something for Melanie.
- Russell, I like your style.
- Well, I don't like yours.
I'm shocked.
- Good.
Look, I don't give a damn if you
like what I'm saying or not.
But I want you to
understand one thing.
If you don't do something
about Melanie this time,
you may not get another chance.
- But it's not my fault!
Melanie's always getting
in with the wrong crowd.
- When Melanie's all alone
she's in the wrong crowd.
- Look, Mrs. Walsh.
I sympathize with you, really.
But you can't push
Melanie's problems on me.
- Elizabeth, look,
you've got to face it.
We're to blame.
- We're not to blame!
It's this crazy world
the kids live in.
It's too fast, it's too loose.
- Wait a minute, wait a
minute, wait a minute.
Look, doctor, you're the expert.
Now, will you tell us why?
Why did our daughter
try to kill herself?
- Mr. Walsh, I have a
whole library full of books
on teenage suicide.
It is an epidemic, and I
don't have any answers.
But how many books do you
need to recognize a scream?
- A scream?
What are you talking about?
- Your daughter.
She has been
screaming for years,
and you have never heard her.
- She's been to a psychiatrist.
- She has.
But you haven't.
Look, this is a family problem.
I want you all involved
in therapy together.
- Well, nobody on
my side of the family
has ever been to a psychiatrist.
- Maybe that's what's wrong
with your side of the family.
She'll be there.
(sighing)
- From now on, it is
gonna be a new me.
I am turning over a new leaf.
I'm gonna be sweet and
nice and lovable to everybody.
Even to people I don't like.
Especially to
people I don't like.
I'm gonna make Mary
Tyler Moore look like
the bride of Frankenstein.
Wrong, huh?
- Wrong.
- Well, I guess that
means we're stuck with
plain old Barbara Cooper.
Also means we're stuck
with a lot more trouble.
- Yeah, I guess so.
We'll have to bear
up underneath it.
Let's go meet Julie and
Schneider downstairs.
(upbeat music)
- [Announcer] One Day
at a Time was recorded
live on tape before
a studio audience.
♪ This is life, the one we get
♪ So go and have a ball
♪ This is it, this is it
♪ Straight ahead,
and rest assured
♪ You can't be sure at all
♪ So while you're
here, enjoy the view
♪ Keep on doing what you do
♪ Hold on tight, we'll muddle
through one day at a time
♪ One day at a time
♪ So up on your
feet (up on your feet)
♪ Somewhere
there's music playing
♪ Don't you worry none,
just take it like it comes
♪ One day at a time
(one day at a time)
♪ One day at a time
♪ One day at a time
♪ One day at a time
♪ One day at a time
- [Announcer] Here are some
scenes from last week's show.
- You want to go to the
concert with me or not?
- Well, yeah, I wanna go, but...
- Okay.
- Barbara!
- Melanie, I'm sorry.
- Sorry?
No wonder you were so eager
to come down here with me,
so you could
steal Cliff from me.
- From you?
- Yes!
- I'm not your best friend.
- I'll say you're
not my best friend.
You're my worst friend!
- I'm not your worst friend.
I'm not your best friend,
I'm not any kind of friend.
If I was your friend,
I'd be your only friend.
Melanie, what are
you talking about?
- Nobody understands me.
Nobody likes me.
(coughing)
- No, Melanie, don't!
No, you can't, stop it!
- What?
- Melanie!
- [Ann] Barbara.
- Oh, Mom, help, Melanie's
trying to kill herself.
- [Announcer] And
now for the conclusion
of Barbara's Friend.
- Melanie, Melanie!
- All right, now, listen to me.
You cannot panic, you
have got to keep her talking.
I'm going to call the police
and have them trace the call.
Keep her talking,
keep that line open.
Don't hang up, just
keep her talking.
- Melanie, um, why
don't we talk, okay?
We'll talk, you talk to
me, I'll talk to you, okay?
So what's new?
Uh, no, Melanie, look.
Okay, can you hear me?
Melanie, can you hear me?
- Yes, Mother.
(coughing)
Don't be mad at me.
- Oh no, no, I'm not
mad at you, really.
No, I love you.
We all love you.
Your mother loves
you, even Cliff loves you.
He loves you too.
- How long are you gonna
be on that phone, shrimp?
I gotta make a quick call.
- Oh, Melanie, guess
who just came in!
You'll never believe
who just came in.
It's my big sister,
remember big sis, Melanie?
- Melanie?
Would you tell her
to just drop dead?
- Julie!
Uh, Melanie, look, um,
if it's just Cliff Randall,
you know, Cliff, he was just,
he just asked me to the
concert to ake you jealous,
that's all.
That's all he did.
Come on, Melanie,
don't you wanna live?
Tell me where you are, please.
- He discovereth the deep
things out of darkness,
and bringeth out to
light the shadow of death.
- Oh, I always did
love Rod McEwan.
No, that's the Bible, right?
Bible, Bibles are in motels.
Melanie's in a motel.
- With Cliff Randall?
- I wish she was.
Look, Melanie, tell me which
motel that you're at, okay?
The phone number, okay?
You got a phone, you're
talking on the phone,
give me the phone number.
- Wait a second, wait a second.
What is happening
here, what's going on?
- Melanie's trying
to commit suicide,
she just swallowed a
whole bunch of pills.
I can't find her.
- What?
- Melanie, talk to me, please.
It's no use, she's not talking.
- Give me the phone.
- Don't hang it up.
- Melanie?
Melanie, are you there?
Say something.
- Oh, God, Julie,
what am I gonna do?
She's dying, it's all my fault!
- Come on, baby, come on.
- Where is she?
We gotta find her.
- Barbara, Barbara, it
is not your fault, okay?
Just, just keep calm.
You have to remember that
in all emergency situations,
you must keep
calm, absolutely calm.
Mom!
- Your mother just came
running down the hallway
screaming about somebody
committing suicide,
so that, it's Barbara!
Barbara, Barbara,
come back to us, kid!
It's a big, wide,
wonderful world we live in!
Look, she's struggling,
fighting for her life.
- That's you're
ODing her on oxygen.
Schneider, it's not Barbara.
Melanie Walsh is the one
who's trying to kill herself.
- Melanie, right, where is she?
In the bathroom?
- No.
- Oh, in the bedroom.
- No.
- Well where is she?
- She's on the phone.
- On the phone?
Melanie, Melanie, you
get up and you walk around.
Melanie, I'm telling you, now,
you get up, you go,
and you walk around.
I can't hear her walking around.
Melanie, Melanie, look.
If you can't walk around,
get up and make
yourself a pot of coffee.
- Give me that phone.
Hello?
- Oh, God, she's
probably unconscious.
- Well, where is she?
- She's in a motel.
- Motel, I gotcha.
(muffled shouting)
- Barbara, Barbara, you okay?
- Uh, yeah, I think so.
It really is
happening, isn't it?
- It's really happening,
but I got ahold of the police
and they're gonna
trace that call.
We just gotta
keep that line open.
Come on, honey, they're also
gonna inform Melanie's parents.
- God, why would she do this?
- I can't answer
that, I don't know.
- What motel?
- I don't know, she's
just in some motel, dying.
- Wait, Melanie told
you she was in a motel?
- No, not exactly,
but I guessed.
She was reading from a Bible.
- Listen, Nancy Drew
has got something there.
There's Bibles in motels.
In case one of the parties
gets there early, you know?
- Okay, Schneider, tell me.
Where in this area
could you find a motel
that you could afford if
you were a high school kid?
- What are you asking
me about motels?
I'm not an expert on motels,
what are you, implying that I...
Of course, I do have a lodge
brother who happens to be,
and he did say that there
were some reasonable motels
out there on Meridian,
and you can get 'em,
I dunno, six dollars, nice room.
That's for your
basic three hours.
- They wouldn't give her
a room without luggage.
I guess, I don't know.
- Yeah, well, I think that
the motel rents your luggage
at a buck and a half.
- Schneider, do me a favor.
I want you to call the
police and tell them
that we think that
Melanie is in a motel.
- Right, call the police, well.
Barbara, everything is
gonna be all right, believe me.
I'll call it out
there on the CB,
and all those truck drivers,
they know everything
what's happening.
And maybe us,
we could, you know,
probably say a little prayer.
- Schneider sure believes
in going to the top, all right.
God and the Indiana
Teamster's Union.
- Julie, you're joking.
How can you joke?
Somebody is dying because
of me, and you're making jokes.
- Honey, we've done
everything we can for right now.
(doorbell ringing)
Everything is gonna be okay.
She'll be fine.
- Hey, Miss Romano.
Hey, Barbara, you ready yet?
- Oh, no, not you, Cliff!
- I thought we'd get
to the concert early
so there's no parking hassle,
but if you're not
ready yet, no big deal.
- Believe me,
Cliff, it's a big deal.
- Melanie's dead.
- Oh, hey, hey, that's too bad.
Who's Melanie?
- He doesn't even remember.
- Oh, no, no, sure, sure.
Melanie, your goldfish, right?
Your pet turtle?
- She's dead!
- Hey, come on, now.
We don't know whether
Melanie is dead or not.
- Hey, look, couldn't
somebody check her out?
If she's alive, we can go.
- We can't go if she's alive!
- Oh, right, right.
If she's dead, can we go?
- We can't go if she's dead
and we can't go if she's alive.
- Does this mean
we're not going?
- I think you could
safely assume that.
- Barbara, I don't get it.
Look, if you don't
like me, just say so.
- Oh, Cliff, I like you, I
like you, really, I like you.
Now would you please
get out of here, turkey?
- Turkey?
Hey, look, I don't get
it, what's happening?
- Would you just please leave?
- Yeah, yeah, uh,
Cliff, why don't you just
give Barbara a
call sometime, huh?
- Yeah, how about 1988?
- Goodbye.
- Now I'll never see him again.
- Oh, come on, Barb,
1988's not that far off.
- I don't even care.
Where is Melanie?
- Melanie, are you there?
Melanie, speak to me.
Oh, it's gonna
be all right, kid.
They're gonna find her.
- Then what?
If she's alive, it's not
because she wants to be.
She's a 16-year-old girl
who doesn't even wanna live.
- Barbara, that's not true.
Otherwise she wouldn't
have called here.
She was asking for help.
- I tried to help.
I did everything
I possibly could.
I even told her she
could have Cliff,
and now he's not
even mine to give away.
- Oh, Barbara, Cliff doesn't
even know that Melanie exists.
- If he does, he
thinks she's a turtle.
(doorbell ringing)
- Julie, could you get the door?
Melanie, Melanie,
can you hear me?
Melanie, can you hear me?
- Is this the Cooper apartment?
- Yes, who are you?
- We are Melanie's parents.
I have been trying and
trying to get you on the phone,
and all I get is a
damn busy signal.
- Elizabeth, please,
try to calm down.
- Yeah, well, the
phone's off the hook.
- Well, no wonder!
- No!
- Uh, the police were
trying to trace the call
to find your daughter.
- Why did you call the police?
What business is it of yours?
- Elizabeth, please.
- Shut up, Russell.
Now this will be all over town.
- Elizabeth, please.
Look, you'll have to excuse her.
She always gets upset
when Melanie does this.
- This has happened before?
- Russell, have I ever told
you that you have a big mouth?
- Yes, you've mentioned
that, Elizabeth.
- Good.
- I don't understand.
Don't you understand?
Melanie said she
was gonna kill herself.
- Barbara, I think
there's something
that the Walshes
haven't told us.
- All right.
Look, the fact is...
- The fact is Melanie
has done this before.
- Our daughter
has a little problem.
- Well, this is one
hell of a little problem.
Suicide!
- It isn't suicide, it's an act.
Melanie's bluffing.
- Bluffing!
I heard your daughter on
that phone, that was no act.
- Oh, come on.
Look, it isn't suicide.
She just plays these little
games in order to get attention.
- Well, maybe you
should give her some.
- Seems to me she
needs more than attention.
The child needs help.
- We tried that.
We took her to a
psychiatrist in Dayton.
- Melanie said you
used to live in Columbus.
- Well, that's why we took
her to a psychiatrist in Dayton.
We didn't want people talking.
- It was stupid.
Everybody found
out about it anyway.
- Russell.
That's one of the reasons
we moved to Indianapolis.
If people find out about it,
now I don't know what we'll do.
- Yeah, you're
running out of cities.
- I can't believe this.
You're worried about
people finding out,
and she has swallowed
God knows how many pills?
- Look, I know my daughter.
She's overly dramatic.
Now, the last time she
did this, she took two.
She took my last two sleeping
pills, I was awake all night.
- It was the worst
night of my life.
- She's taken more this time.
I couldn't understand her.
She wasn't making any sense.
- Oh, sure, of course,
she's good at it.
She should be.
Suicide is her thing,
as you kids say.
She's really into it.
- Look, Mrs. Walsh,
it seems to me
that if she even threatens
suicide, no matter how often,
you gotta take her seriously.
- Don't tell me how
to raise my daughter.
- No, no, I'm not
trying to tell you
how to raise your daughter,
but alive might be nice.
- Now you're concerned?
Why didn't your
daughter think about this
before she got
Melanie all upset?
- Hey, hey, wait a
second, wait a second.
Now you're blaming Barbara?
You're crazy, lady.
- Julie, I think we'd
better stay a little
calm in here, huh?
- Yeah, right.
- Thank you.
What the hell do you
mean, blaming Barbara?
- I did not steal
Melanie's boyfriend.
(doorbell ringing)
- Look, um, Mrs.
Walsh, I'm sorry I yelled.
You must be going through hell,
but Barbara's upset
enough as it is.
- Oh, no, not again.
What are you doing here?
- Look, Barbara,
I got downstairs,
and I decided to come back
up and give you another chance.
- You mean you got downstairs,
made three phone calls,
and bombed out.
Would you leave me alone, Cliff?
- I don't get it!
- Oh, so you're Cliff.
- Who are you?
- I happen to be Mrs.
Walsh, that's who I am.
- Oh, Mrs. Walsh.
Who?
- I don't suppose you feel any
responsibility about Melanie.
- Barbara's turtle?
- Elizabeth, this isn't
getting us anywhere.
We came here tonight
because we thought Barbara
might have an idea
where Melanie is.
- And we're not
worried, I don't want you
to get the idea
that we're worrying.
And young man, don't you
say a word of this to anyone.
- Oh, no, I certainly won't.
I won't say anything.
About whatever I'm not
supposed to say anything about.
- I, uh, just got some
news over the CB.
- What did you hear?
Oh, Schneider, these
are Melanie's parents.
- Uh, the police picked
up your daughter.
- Oh, thank God.
I knew it all the time, I
told you it was an act.
- Some act.
They're rushing
her to a hospital.
They don't know if
she's gonna pull through.
- Oh my God, Russell.
- Critical.
That's all they'd
say, is critical.
- Honey, they let her
parents go in and see her,
that's a good sign.
- Oh, yeah, that's right.
I mean, whenever they call
the next of kin, you know that...
- She was unconscious.
They could hardly find a pulse.
- Barbara, she took a
whole bottle of sleeping pills.
- A whole bottle.
Probably sleep right
through Star Wars.
You know, I bet everybody's
probably very hungry.
Why don't I go down
and I get some pizza,
some pepperoni and anchovies.
Heartburn takes your
mind off your problems.
- Thanks for
driving us here, too.
- Oh, listen, don't
mention it, will ya?
I mean, what other guy's
gonna get you across town
in 12 and a half minutes flat?
- What other guy has the
nerve to tell two motorcycle cops
that he is racing three
pregnant women to the hospital?
Oh, kid.
Come on, it's
gonna be all right.
Would you think about
some pleasant thoughts, huh?
Come on, come on.
The rock concert!
You know, I bet I
could get us two tickets
to The Grateful Dead.
Sorry, baby.
Um, I'm gonna go with Schneider.
You take it easy, huh?
(sighing)
- So this is it, huh?
Life?
I thought all it was
is going on dates,
the senior prom, and
picnics at Indian Lake.
- That is life.
And I want you to
savor that part of it.
Those are all
wonderful things, honey.
(sighing)
How alone Melanie must
feel to have done this.
- She wouldn't be
in this stupid hospital
if it wasn't for me.
Oh, I shouldn't have done it.
- You didn't do anything.
- You're right.
I should've done something.
I should've been nice to her.
I should've been her friend.
I should've gotten
Cliff interested in her.
- Oh, honey, Cliff doesn't
even know that the girl exists.
He doesn't care about her.
- He could have.
I should've told him that she
kisses with her mouth open.
It's all my fault.
Melanie's gonna die,
and it's all my fault.
- Boy, you're all-powerful
there, aren't ya, kid?
I mean, you can handle life
and death all by your lonesome.
I want you to listen
to me, young lady,
and I want you to
listen to me good.
No matter what
happens in that room,
you have nothing
to feel guilty about.
- I do too!
I have plenty to
feel guilty about.
I'm a guilty person,
I've always felt guilty.
I still feel guilty about
the time when I was eight
and I started the
fire in the toilet bowl.
- Hey, wait a minute,
you told me Julie did that.
- I know.
That's why I feel guilty.
I'm all filled up
with feeling guilt.
- How many times have I
told you not to play with fire?
- It was paper, I thought I
cold close the lid and flush it.
- You didn't flush it in time.
There were heat blisters
all over the toilet seat.
Silly, huh?
I mean, why are we
going through all this stuff
that happened eight years ago?
- I guess I just wanted to get
rid of some guilt, somehow.
- Good.
Things are gonna be okay.
- Mom?
- Yeah?
- I'm the one who poured
the 20 boxes of Jell-O
into Aunt Clara's tub.
Oh, you don't know
how it scared me
when she got in, fell
asleep, and gelled.
- Now why in the world would
you do something like that?
- Well, when you're
10 you don't ask why,
you just ask, why not?
- More guilt.
- Yeah, more guilt.
- Feel better?
- A little.
- Good.
I have a suggestion, though.
I wouldn't remind Aunt Clara.
- And it's no good.
I still feel it, all this guilt.
Not the kid stuff,
about Melanie.
Oh, you don't
know what it's like
to feel this kind of guilt.
- No, no, you're right.
I don't feel guilt about
things I haven't done.
When I feel guilt, it's real.
I mean, it's for
something I really did.
- What did you ever do?
- Not important, forget it.
- Julie's illegitimate.
(laughing)
- Oh, Barbara, we've
been through it a lot.
You know I feel a lot of
guilt about you and Julie.
It's wild, you know.
I took two great kids
away from a father
who loved them and wanted them,
and I deprived two
kids of a great father.
Overbearing, dominant, a
male chauvinist, nevertheless,
a great father.
- Mom, we understand
about the divorce.
It was good for you.
- Yes, it was.
It was really good for
me, but how about you?
You had a house, yard,
friends, grandparents,
a town you grew up in.
I dragged you kicking and
screaming into a big city
and into a little
two-bedroom apartment.
- We're okay.
It's a lot better
than all that fighting.
You did what you had to do,
you have nothing
to feel guilty about.
- Honey, when you feel
you cheated your children,
that's feeling guilty.
And I can't tell you
how guilty I used to feel
about your father.
- Dad did all right.
He married a very
beautiful, pretty, young lady.
- That's when I stopped
feeling guilty about him.
- Things just happen.
You shouldn't feel
guilty, it wasn't your fault.
- That should be
my attitude, right?
It wasn't my fault.
- Right, you said it.
It wasn't my fault.
Pretty good advice, huh?
- Pretty good advice.
Will you take it?
- I will if you will.
- I'll try.
Ah, babe.
Ah, Mr. Walsh, how's Melanie?
- The doctor said
she's gonna make it.
- Oh, she's gonna live!
- That's wonderful.
- What are we talking
about here, wonderful?
The hell it's wonderful.
You have any idea
what she went through?
Stomach pump, tubes, sick.
Totally disoriented.
- But she's going
to be all right now.
- I never said she was
going to be all right.
She's going to be just
like she was before,
and that's a long
way from all right.
- How dare you
talk to me that way!
Do you realize what I've
just been through in there?
It isn't easy being a mother.
You call that a bedside manner?
- No, I call that the truth.
Get it through your head.
Your daughter is sick.
She tried to kill herself,
and she came very
close to succeeding.
- She's trying to get attention!
I'm telling you, that's
all she was doing!
I mean, she's an
extremely sensitive child.
And uh, we certainly
hope this isn't going to
get into the newspapers.
We wouldn't want that to
happen, would we, Russell?
- I hope it makes
the front pages.
That's right, the front pages.
Three-inch headlines.
Melanie Walsh is wacko.
On her mother's side.
Because if everybody knows,
then you don't have to
worry about covering it up.
Then maybe we can do
something for Melanie.
- Russell, I like your style.
- Well, I don't like yours.
I'm shocked.
- Good.
Look, I don't give a damn if you
like what I'm saying or not.
But I want you to
understand one thing.
If you don't do something
about Melanie this time,
you may not get another chance.
- But it's not my fault!
Melanie's always getting
in with the wrong crowd.
- When Melanie's all alone
she's in the wrong crowd.
- Look, Mrs. Walsh.
I sympathize with you, really.
But you can't push
Melanie's problems on me.
- Elizabeth, look,
you've got to face it.
We're to blame.
- We're not to blame!
It's this crazy world
the kids live in.
It's too fast, it's too loose.
- Wait a minute, wait a
minute, wait a minute.
Look, doctor, you're the expert.
Now, will you tell us why?
Why did our daughter
try to kill herself?
- Mr. Walsh, I have a
whole library full of books
on teenage suicide.
It is an epidemic, and I
don't have any answers.
But how many books do you
need to recognize a scream?
- A scream?
What are you talking about?
- Your daughter.
She has been
screaming for years,
and you have never heard her.
- She's been to a psychiatrist.
- She has.
But you haven't.
Look, this is a family problem.
I want you all involved
in therapy together.
- Well, nobody on
my side of the family
has ever been to a psychiatrist.
- Maybe that's what's wrong
with your side of the family.
She'll be there.
(sighing)
- From now on, it is
gonna be a new me.
I am turning over a new leaf.
I'm gonna be sweet and
nice and lovable to everybody.
Even to people I don't like.
Especially to
people I don't like.
I'm gonna make Mary
Tyler Moore look like
the bride of Frankenstein.
Wrong, huh?
- Wrong.
- Well, I guess that
means we're stuck with
plain old Barbara Cooper.
Also means we're stuck
with a lot more trouble.
- Yeah, I guess so.
We'll have to bear
up underneath it.
Let's go meet Julie and
Schneider downstairs.
(upbeat music)
- [Announcer] One Day
at a Time was recorded
live on tape before
a studio audience.