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Rite of the Dancing Wood Nymph - On episode No.
131 "The Buck Stops Here" on the sitcom NEWHART/CBS/1982-90 writer Dick Loudon
(Bob Newhart) was motoring along a Vermont road near his home when he hit and
killed the Great White Buck.
Unfortunately, for Dick, the deer was the symbol of good luck for the area.
SO, when the local townsfolk heard of the incident, many thought Armageddon was
close at hand and bad luck would reign supreme. Evidence of the bad luck soon
manifested itself when a normal guy actually dumped Stephanie, the town's
prettiest girl.
To avert such a catastrophe, Dick Loudon was asked to perform a ritual
ceremony known as "The Rite of the Dancing Wood Nymph." Indignant, Dick refused
shouting "I'm not going to go prancing through the woods like a pixie."
Eventually, to put everyone's fears to rest, Dick commiserated and
donned a burlap costume and a set of deer antlers.
Wielding a staff topped by a pine cone, Dick tippy-toed in a circle, flapped
his hooves and completed the solemn, if not humiliating ritual. The entire
ceremony was recorded for posterity. As they reviewed the videotape, the
townsfolk saw another white buck in the background and dubbed it "Son of White
Buck."
With the emergence of the new deer, the town's good fortune returned and much
to his chagrin, Dick realized the whole ritual in the woods had been a waste of
time.
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