Yes, the shadow of "Ted Baxter" loomed over this show. Granted, had 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (which was a better show) not existed, no one would have given Ted Knight his own show, but let's take that show out of the equation. What you have left is a pretty funny show, albeit Roger Dennis is somewhat similar to Ted Baxter.
I saw at least two of the episodes, but the one I recall the most of was "The Honeymoon Game". This episode featured a parody of the "Newlywed Game". Roger Dennis agrees, after a woman named Helen threatens suicide, to pose as her husband on "The Honeymoon Game". After seeing through a lie that forced him to appear on the show, he tries to sabotage their chances and tells her so during a commercial break. So then we are left with two very hostile contestants. A question posed to them is, "What movie star do you think your wife most resembles?" She says, "He probably said, 'Godzilla'". You then see Roger hastily crossing out the answer on his card!
Another episode featured Dennis having to go to a masquerade party. He is dressed as a sheriff and one of the escorts ends up in a scrape of some sort. Dennis must save her from the "dir-ty" (her pronunciation) predicament. The other fellow that is in the scene sees Dennis in full sheriff garb and after Dennis threatens him, he asks whether Dennis' guns are loaded. Dennis replies, "I'm dressed as a sheriff in the middle of New York City, YOU BET THESE ARE LOADED!"
Probably because people could not forget his Emmy-winning turn as Ted Baxter, this show died after six episodes. A similar fate seemed to befall Ted Danson, "Ink" was canceled after a short run and while "Becker" ran for six seasons, it was not a critical favorite, even though the shows were actually quite funny and in some cases, touching. Perhaps people were not ready to see lovable skirt-chasing Sam Malone as a cranky chain-smoking doctor. Subsequent roles and a lot of talent have happily allowed his career to flourish.
