Lumpy Rutherford's college football scholarship - a source of great pride and joy to him - is revoked when it transpires that he got a "D" in math. This is an embarrassing let-down for Lumpy, as he had been riding high with his classmates and even with the girls (a rarity for him) and had been briefly the apple of his father's eye. "Lumpy's Scholarship" is a defining episode for Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford, humanizing this often buffoonish and unsympathetic character; when Lumpy's father Fred phones him in the middle of a party in his honor to bawl him out, our sympathy goes out to old Lump. Even Ward and June, not typically prone to lavish praise Wally's friends, sympathize with him and try to help him out.
Both this episode and "The Merchant Marine," a Lumpy-centered episode from Season 5, are like well-written mini stage plays. The episode plays upon a number of typical themes of postwar American culture, such as the desire for success and being well-liked - themes which are also found in the serious drama of the period, like DEATH OF A SALESMAN. The dynamic between Lumpy and his dad is quite dysfunctional; but after Ward engineers a successful outcome to the dilemma, their friendship is restored and we are left with the picture of them beaming at each other. Altogether an outstanding episode.
Both this episode and "The Merchant Marine," a Lumpy-centered episode from Season 5, are like well-written mini stage plays. The episode plays upon a number of typical themes of postwar American culture, such as the desire for success and being well-liked - themes which are also found in the serious drama of the period, like DEATH OF A SALESMAN. The dynamic between Lumpy and his dad is quite dysfunctional; but after Ward engineers a successful outcome to the dilemma, their friendship is restored and we are left with the picture of them beaming at each other. Altogether an outstanding episode.