Episode #416 "Superstitious Dick"

 Nina tells Dick that the Fleischman Foundation called to say that Dick’s grant application has arrived just as Dick is opening a chain letter. He has no idea how a letter could give him luck, good or bad, and Mary observes that belief in chain letters is a silly superstition, but Nina is adamant that he follow the directions in the letter to avoid potentially disastrous results. Shortly afterward, when Mary is run down in the hallway by an out of control floor waxer, Dick wonders if Nina might be right. He polls the aliens for their thoughts on the subject, and Tommy says it’s totally ridiculous but Sally isn’t so sure. Sally and Harry go to the hardware store to find a part for her toilet, and Sally quickly becomes fixated on Justin, the guy who waits on her. Harry, meanwhile, is mistaken for a hardware store employee and is taking care of customers. Tommy tries to impress Alissa by taking her to a hockey game, but is unhappy when she immediately starts screaming for one of the players. Mary, who tells Dick about a series of mishaps she’s had, is surprised that Dick hasn’t thrown away the chain letter. Dick questions his physics class and is enlightened on the subject of good luck charms. Dick and Mary are at the hockey game and Dick finally tears up the chain letter; immediately Mary is flattened by a hockey puck, and Dick knows he’s cursed. Tommy is convinced that Alissa is in love with Stenstrom, the hockey player, and tells Don his problem. Dick tells Mrs. Dubcek he isn’t leaving the house without a good luck charm. Sally keeps returning to the hardware store to see Justin, but when she arrives one day to discover that it’s his day off, she quickly shifts her attention to his co-worker Bill. Tommy actually does impress Alissa by telling Stenstrom to stay away from his girlfriend. Alissa observes that if Stenstrom had understood English, he would have killed Tommy. Dick ruins any chance of getting a grant by revealing to the panel of scientists who are interviewing him that he’s insanely superstitious.