Becker, Season 1

[Fred is in John's apartment, trying to get his son to talk to him and going about it as if it were a sales pitch]

John Becker:
[annoyed] Cut the crap, will you!? I'm not a customer; I'm your son! I don't wanna joke, I don't want a pen! Every few years, you show up and we do this ridiculous little dance! You wanna talk to me, talk to me!

Fred Becker:
What do you want to talk about?

John Becker:
No, no, no, no! This time, we're really gonna talk!...I was eleven years old. Why'd you leave?

Fred Becker:
[solemn] Ok, Johnny. Here it is; your mother and I were completely wrong for each other. All we ever did was argue. It got to the place where I took any kind of a job, just to get out of town. Your mother finally got fed up and...told me to keep going.

John Becker:
I didn't ask you to leave! I didn't argue with you, why didn't you at least come back and see me!?

Fred Becker:
Because your mother asked me not to. [John looks stunned] You didn't know that, did you? And yes, I could've insisted I have a bigger part in your life, but I didn't. I took the easy way out and I regret it.

John Becker:
[shocked] She asked you to---?

Fred Becker:
Don't blame her; she was afraid I'd be a bad influence on you. [chuckles] Back in those days, she wasn't entirely wrong. I was...[pause] I took time to look in on you now and again; I saw one of your high school basketball games and...I was there when you graduated from med school.

John Becker:
I know. I saw you. What was with the lime-green leisure suit?

Fred Becker:
It was the 70's! Give me a break!