Season 1

Episode 108: “Manny”

Episode 108: “Manny”
Original Air Date: December 14, 1994
Written by: Dawn Prestwich & Nicole Yorkin
Directed by: Tim Van Patten
Produced by:

Martha Williamson
Jon Andersen
Robert J. Visciglia, Jr.

Guest Cast:
Amelia Bowthorpe Archibald Rue McClanahan
Dr. Harrison Archibald Robin Thomas
Barbara Archibald Gail Edwards
Manny Jonathan Hernandez
   
   
 

Monica and Tess are party coordinators for Harrison Trowbridge Archibald IV, a stuffy doctor whose wife, Barbara, and mother, Amelia, are planning a prestigious social event to commemorate a new hospital expansion named after their family.  They are in the midst of preparation when Manny arrives at their doorstep, claiming to be a child the Archibalds sponsor through Child Watch, a charitable organization.  Unable to have children of her own, Barbara welcomes him with open arms although her husband remains suspicious. 

Just as Harrison starts to bond with “Manny,” Monica learns the boy is not from Child Watch but is really Luis, a homeless child who lives under the hospital.  The angel reveals herself and urges him to tell the Archibalds the truth.  When he does, Harrison becomes irate and wants to throw Luis out of the house, but Barbara and Amelia convince the doctor to wait until after the party.  Tess, in turn, prods Amelia to tell her son the truth about his heritage:  not only are the Bowthorpes of Charleston really the Klumps of Bowthorpe, but Harrison’s real father was an Argentinean gardener who was kind to Amelia when she and her husband were experiencing marital difficulties. 

After the doctor announces that the hospital expansion will be simply called The Children’s Pavilion, he encounters Monica who delivers the message that God loves him for who he is, not for his name.  She then takes the doctor to Luis’ hiding place in the hospital basement.  Taking the child back home, Harrison and his wife decide to adopt him and become a family.

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