Loading...
Meet The Optimist. A guy who has big dreams in life yet creates problems and confusion wherever he goes. He means well, but in this dialogue-free comedy series he manages to leave a trail of chaos across Hollywood and London.
1983
Suffering from the effects of a hangover, the Optimist (Enn Reitel) watches a windsurfing documentary on television and starts to dream that he is part of the exotic scene.
Dressed up for a weekend break, the Optimist (Enn Reitel) arrives at a dude ranch. He meets the beautiful Girl (Carinthia West), a riding instructress, and squares off with a handsome Rival (Martin Kove), who also pursues her affections.
As an odd-job man, the Optimist (Enn Reitel) is a tennis pro, a waiter, golfing coach and dog minder - all in one day. Out walking a St Bernard and a Toy Poodle in Beverly Hills, he loses the poodle while coaching a beautiful Lady Golfer (Tracy Scoggins).
Out jogging, the Optimist (Enn Reitel) realizes he's unfit, but when a doctor enrols him at a health farm, he soon discovers the place is more like a prison run by the scary Matron (Fran Ryan).
Employed by a Mother (Patrika Darbo) to babysit her 'perfect' son, the Kid (Mathew J Connors), the Optimist (Enn Reitel) finds the spoiled 10-year old is a real problem.
Roller-skating through Venice Beach, the Optimist (Enn Reitel) runs into a racing driver, the Girl (Dinah May). After helping her fix a bust tire, he follows the Girl to the racing circuit where he becomes a mechanic before deciding to disguise himself as one of the top drivers.
After meeting a beautiful Girl (Jadie Rivas) in Marina del Ray, the Optimist finds himself in competition with a Rival (Richard Booker) for her affections.
As chief greenfly sprayer to both the Chinese and Indian Embassies, the Optimist (Enn Reitel) is 'persuaded' to smuggle messages into the Russian and American Embassies via roller towels.
After losing money at the racecourse, the Optimist (Enn Reitel) meets Sal (Julia Chambers) the owner of the stables, and manages to get work as a stable boy, where he saves the aptly named horse Nutter from being sent to the knackers yard and lovingly prepares him for the big race.
Working as a humble cobbler, the Optimist (Enn Reitel) is thrown into an international world of crime and classical ballet when a diamond is stolen - the famous Light Fantastic.
On his arrival at a plush London casino, the Optimist (Enn Reitel) discovers that he has become an instant celebrity. What he doesn't know is that he is actually the identical double of the Boss who owns the club.
Whitewashing the walls and unintentionally the entire garden of a suburban home, mistaken identity causes the Optimist (Enn Reitel) to be hailed a new impressionist painter.
An unexpected inheritance leaves the Optimist with a crumbling and sinister country estate, which includes an equally crumbling and sinister butler named Old Norman (Eric Francis).
