Al Pacino in "Kramer vs. Kramer"—a role that Pacino had declined. During the 1970s, Pacino had four Oscar nominations for Best Actor, for his performances in "Serpico", "The Godfather Part II", "Dog Day Afternoon", and "...And Justice for All". Pacino's career slumped in the early 1980s; his appearances in the controversial "Cruising", a film that provoked protests from New York's gay community, and the comedy-drama "Author! Author!", were critically panned. However, his performance in "Scarface" (1983), directed by Brian De Palma, proved to be a career highlight and a defining role. Upon its initial release, the film was critically panned due to
Say Hello to My Little Friend (Awake) "A-" review, Zack Handlen from "The A.V. Club" claimed that Isaacs' is usually the "bad guy", but he seems like a "dad". Fowler gave the episode itself a "9.5 out of 10", classifying it as "amazing"; the entry's story was called "powerful". However, Bonaime gave the entry a "8.9" rating. Fowler and Nick McHatton, a "TV Fanatic" critic, stated that this was the best episode of the program since "Pilot"; Handlen said that the episode, for the most part, was "a great hour of television, and a fine uptick from the last couple weeks of "Awake"", while Bonaime called it