A husband and father of two young children had walked away from his family 10 years earlier. He had been accused of theft from the company where he worked. He was a trophy husband who had a job in his wealthy wife's family firm. (Shades of Period of Adjustment.) His marriage was a sham. His kids deserved a father who loved their mother, who wasn't under a cloud of suspicion. Ya-da-ya-da-ya-da. At any rate, he reappeared on the scene as his wife lay dying, two years after he himself had been declared dead. (Shades of My Favorite Wife/Move Over, Darling). No humor in this situation, though. Also no Tony Franciosa, Cary Grant or James Garner. The guy who played Lazarus seemed OK to me but the reviewers at imdb did not like him.
There's a family meeting to discuss the return of Lazarus and he loses it while talking with the patriarch, Edgar Thorne. Edgar, who is the children's guardian and who plans to leave his middle-aged wife for a younger woman, is the one who chased off Lazarus with his accusations of theft. He claims to have proof of wrongdoing stashed away in his safe.
Lazarus: You’re no good. You're a scheming, unprincipled parasite with a mania for money and power, completely lacking in ethics, morality, or even the slightest regard for the human dignity I want my children to have and respect.
Mrs. Edgar: Here lies the body of Edgar Thorne, slain by, well, whatever it is you are, darling.
This was a strange episode, where everybody seems to be holding something over everyone else. Perry specifically targets the moral rectitude of the people involved and there is an uncharacteristic scene where he pays a visit to the wife of the victim.
PM: This paragon of virtue to whom you were married, he had no faults at all?
Mrs. Edgar: He was a good man.
...
PM: Why do you drink to excess? Don’t you drink to excess?
Lazarus leaves at the end of the show, off to Saudi Arabia to keep earning money and recover his self-esteem. That way he can eventually come back to his kids as someone worthy of their affection. Doesn't even care to visit them once before he goes away again. I am sure they will welcome him with open arms after he has made something of himself and missed their growing-up years entirely.
There's a family meeting to discuss the return of Lazarus and he loses it while talking with the patriarch, Edgar Thorne. Edgar, who is the children's guardian and who plans to leave his middle-aged wife for a younger woman, is the one who chased off Lazarus with his accusations of theft. He claims to have proof of wrongdoing stashed away in his safe.
Lazarus: You’re no good. You're a scheming, unprincipled parasite with a mania for money and power, completely lacking in ethics, morality, or even the slightest regard for the human dignity I want my children to have and respect.
Mrs. Edgar: Here lies the body of Edgar Thorne, slain by, well, whatever it is you are, darling.
This was a strange episode, where everybody seems to be holding something over everyone else. Perry specifically targets the moral rectitude of the people involved and there is an uncharacteristic scene where he pays a visit to the wife of the victim.
PM: This paragon of virtue to whom you were married, he had no faults at all?
Mrs. Edgar: He was a good man.
...
PM: Why do you drink to excess? Don’t you drink to excess?
Lazarus leaves at the end of the show, off to Saudi Arabia to keep earning money and recover his self-esteem. That way he can eventually come back to his kids as someone worthy of their affection. Doesn't even care to visit them once before he goes away again. I am sure they will welcome him with open arms after he has made something of himself and missed their growing-up years entirely.