Episode Report Card Cate: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Seven Is Enough
By Cate | Season 1 | Episode 14 | Aired on 02.02.1997
The CamRents organize a family meeting in the garage. Great location. As they all troop in there, Simon says, "I hope this is about getting George back to the orphanage as soon as possible. The kid's starting to get on my nerves." While George is nowhere near as annoying as any of the Camdens, Simon's got a point. His siblings agree, because when Annie suggests adopting George, the reaction is pretty underwhelming. Ruthie approves of the idea, but that's not saying much, because she's stupid.
Mr. and Mrs. Colonel walk in on George eating breakfast. They ask where the rest of the family is, and George informs them that the Camdens are outside having "the big adoption meeting" about him. He's pretty philosophical about the whole thing, stating, "If this family takes me, I'll count my blessings and be a man about it." The Colonels move to the other side of the kitchen, where they watch George eating his breakfast. They imply that they wish to adopt George themselves. Um, why? ["To save him from a horrible CamFate? That's my assumption, anyway." -- Sars]
Up in her room, Mary is harshing on Dopey for not speaking out against the adoption at the family meeting. Dopey says he has realized that the adoption has good points, arguing that there will be sort of a trickle-up effect, in which the younger kids will get all the time and attention from the CamRents, leaving Dopey and Mary unsupervised and free to do what they want. Right, like that would happen. Dopey believes it, though. So does Mary, but that's not saying much, because she's stupid. Dopey offers to take Mary for a driving lesson, even though she doesn't even have her learner's permit yet.
Downstairs, George agrees to be adopted, then leaves the kitchen while the CamRents hug. The Colonel breaks up the happy moment by saying, "I guess you're not interested in our opinion about this." Annie chirps, "We're always interested in your opinion, Colonel." RevCam is not sure why his parents should even have an opinion on the adoption, since it won't affect them. He sarcastically amends that by saying, "Well, that's not quite right. It means that once a year you'll have to bring an extra bag of candy out with you." Ooh! That was pretty funny, though the Colonel obviously doesn't think so. He starts lecturing RevCam about the cost of raising George and sending him to school. We learn that RevCam and Julie paid their own way through school, since the Colonel wanted them to learn the value of hard work. Before this exchange can degenerate into a full-scale screaming match, the Colonel stalks out. Ruth follows him like a good little wife. Annie puts on a sad clown face to show her sympathy for Eric.