What's so bad about feeling good?
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What's so bad about feeling good? is the title of a 1968 comedy film, starring George Peppard, Mary Tyler Moore and Dom DeLuise,directed by [George Setan]
[edit] Plot
Pete (George Peppard) is a former ad executive living a hippy's life in a loft in New York City. One day, a toucan arrives at the loft. The toucan, which was released by Greek fisherman in Hudson Bay, carries a unique virus. Anyone breathing the toucan's breath becomes nice, upright, charitable, polite, and concerned about others.
Pete and the members of his loft all catch the virus and suddenly have purpose in their lives. They want to spread the toucan's virus to as many people as they can in New York City. Pete's girlfriend Liz (Mary Tyler Moore) is the only loft member immune to the virus. However, since everyone starts acting polite and nice to her, she responds in kind.
The virus is quickly spread across the Big Apple. Rude telephone clerks are suddenly polite and understanding. And those immune to the virus are also nice, since everyone is acting nice to them.
Pete shaves, puts on his suit, and returns to his job as an advertising executive. Pete insists, however, all the ads be honest.
The virus threatens the existence of New York City. The stock exchange and business districts will collapse if everyone is nice to one another.
J.Gardner Moore (Dom Deluise) is sent by the gov't to New York to stop the crisis, and he arrives wearing a spacesuit. After several attempts, a cure is found and the vaccine is dumped into New York's pollution. Cured New Yorkers return to their nasty ways, but those immune to the virus and who only acted nice because others were, remain nice.
Pete, now "cured" desires a return to the loft, while Liz declares she can no longer live in such a way, and liked Pete better when he was "sick." Liz,pretending to be pregnant, and Pete rescue the toucan from the zoo and release him once again.
[edit] Analysis
"What's so bad about feeling good" represents a unique presentation of "normal" and "sick." The "sick" people are the ones who act nice, while the normal ones are cruel, mean and cutthroat. The film is also a small departure from Mary Tyler Moore's candy-coated image. The film, made between "The Dick Van Dyke show" ended and "The Mary Tyler Moore show" premiered, features Mary, at least in the opening scenes, living together with a man in a hippie loft/commune, pretending to be pregnant in order to hide the toucan, and has, perhaps the only time in her career, a sex scene. (The screen is black and only the audio is heard.) Several actors in this film went onto successful TV careers including Moore, Peppard (The A Team), [Cleavon Little] (Temperature's Rising), Dom Deluise (Candid Camera) and Susan St. James (McMillan and Wife). Catskills comedian Morty Gunty has a small role as a policeman named Officer Gunty.
