Unusually for Wayne, who usually portrayed straitlaced heroes, Cogburn is portrayed as a curmudgeonly antihero. He surmises that Carr is Zack's straitlaced father, confronts him and obtains his confession. Retch Sweeney, his straitlaced neighbor, Alphonse 'Al' Finley, and his rich friend Fenton Quagmire. Even the relatively straitlaced Leopold used a scatological expression in one letter. For her part, the normally straitlaced Ruth finds herself attracted to the handsome newcomer. The lovers represent everything the straitlaced society rejects. While his programs often featured "serious" music, they were never straitlaced. But when their straitlaced friends get engaged, their relationship gets turned upside down. Accompanying her is her straitlaced boyfriend, Neil Steinhart (John Rubinstein). Moreover, American people are more straitlaced and they have closer links with tradition. The Hubbards are very straitlaced, the Buells off-the-wall and fun-loving. Straitlaced Doug is bullied by his retired father-in-law, whose small-town Pharmacy he took over.