Annette

Storyline

Annette McCloud (Annette Funicello), an orphaned teenager from rural Beaver Junction, Nebraska, shows up on the doorstep of her Uncle Archie (Richard Deacon) and Aunt Lila (Sylvia Field) in the medium-sized town of Ashford. This comes as shock to the elder McClouds, as they were unaware that they had a niece. They briefly consider sending her to boarding school, but she's soon established as a resident of their home. Annette quickly befriends Jet Maypen (Judy Nugent), who delivers eggs from her familys ranch. However, Aunt Lila, conscious of the McCloud social standing in Ashford, wants Annette to associate with the children of upper crust families, and introduces her to Val Abernathy (Doreen Tracey). Val invites Annette to a party at the Abernathy home. Annette's escort to the party is the diminutive and somewhat uncouth Olmstead "Steady" Ware (Rudy Lee), who insists on stopping at the malt shop on the way. Here, Annette meets the charming Mike Martin (David Stollery), who works as a soda jerk after school. At the party, Annette meets Val's friend Moselle Corey (Shelley Fabares) and Moselle's house guest Laura Rogan (Roberta Shore). Despite being only a temporary resident of Ashford while her parents are in Europe, Laura has established herself as the queen bee of the teen set. She has also claimed Val's popular brother Steve (Tim Considine) as her boyfriend. Annette had spoken very briefly to Steve on her first day in Ashford, and it appears that Val saw enough in this encounter to arouse her jealousy.The party gets going with a very tame version of Spin the Bottle, in which players have to forfeit possessions (Laura's is an expensive necklace), then reclaim them by performing. In this phase, Laura sings, Steady dances a jig and Annette begins a song, but is interrupted by dinner. Later, after Annette has left, Laura discovers that her necklace is missing. She points out that Annette had been alone in the room where they had been playing. At school, Annette's lack of Latin and algebra means she'll have to repeat 10th grade. She spends her lunch hour with Jet, which separates her from Laura and the rest of "Val's crowd". Jet reveals she has a crush on Steve, but doesn't think he's even aware of her existence. Meanwhile, Laura continues to make insinuations about her necklace, but denies she's accusing anyone in particular. Steve appoints Annette to the school entertainment committee, much to Laura's annoyance. She nearly succeeds in driving Annette off the committee, but Mike gets her to show more backbone. Annette wants Jet as her assistant, so Steve goes to Jet and asks her to take this role. Jet is surprised to learn that Steve admires her. Steve and the other boys have less success trying to mediate the quarrel between Annette and Laura, and their efforts backfire. Later, Jet comes to dine with Annette and her family, and has a conversation with her father's old friend, Uncle Archie. Archie and Annette make a date with Jet to visit her at the ranch. Later, it turns out that this interferes with a hayride and barbecue planned by Val's crowd, but Annette insists on honoring her earlier commitment. At the ranch, it turns out that Steve has diverted the hayride to stop there, so they can have Annette and Jet join them. Uncle Archie insists that they go. On the ride, there are songs (including Annette's "How Will I Know My Love"), and at the barbecue there's dancing. Steve dances with Annette, again making Laura jealous. Laura makes one crack too many about Annette, earning her a sock in the jaw from Jet. They both end up falling into the pool, along with Steady. Everyone scatters to find dry clothes or otherwise help the soaked teens. Steve makes a point of comforting Jet, who feels foolish. Back at home, Annette decides she's just causing trouble, so she packs, leaves a note for Aunt Lila and Uncle Archie, and heads for the train station. Luckily, her absence is discovered when Mike drops by, and he finds her at the station, convincing her to come back and face her problems. On the next school day, Laura and Jet are both absent, but Steve assures Annette that he has visited Jet and she's OK. No one seems concerned about Laura - even her best friends Val and Moselle wish she'd leave town. At the next meeting of the entertainment committee, Laura is about to perform her song, but one note on the piano is bad. It turns out that no one had checked the piano very thoroughly in the search for the necklace, because there it is. Annette accepts Laura's apology, and Laura and Jet also make up. Jet and Steve appear to be a couple now, but Laura has other boys still in her train. The gang sings "Don't Jump to Conclusions". Annette makes a lunch date with Mike and tells her family that all her problems are over. (Also see the plot summaries of the individual episodes.)