This month it’s all about one-named sitcoms and today it’s all about Arnie. Arnie is a series that isn’t talked about much anymore. It debuted in 1970 on CBS and was on the air for two years.

David Swift created this series. Swift was a successful director, producer, and writer. He created and wrote for Mister Peepers, The Interns, and Camp Runamuck before Arnie. He also wrote the screenplay for both the 1961 and 1998 version of The Parent Trap. Swift accumulated 51 credits for writing, 23 for directing including The Parent Trap from 1961, and 5 for producing.

Arnie Nuvo (Herschel Bernardi) is a blue-collar employee at Continental Flange Co. who was promoted to an executive position out of the blue. Arnie tries has a difficult time related to his very wealthy boss and he still has a lot of friends outside of management. He still has a union card so he can mediate difficult labor situations and is respected by the workers.

Sue Ane Langdon played his wife Lilian, Del Russel was his son Richard, and Stephanie Steele was his daughter Andre. Rounding out the cast was Elaine Shore, his secretary Felicia; Tom Pedi, his friend Julius, who still works on the dock; and Roger Bowen, his boss Hamilton Majors Jr.

The show was scheduled before The Mary Tyler Moore show on Saturday nights. Surprisingly, it received an Emmy nomination for best comedy series, but it didn’t receive very high ratings. Getting an Emmy nomination was impressive for this year. Its competition was Love American Style, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Odd Couple, and the winner, All in the Family.

Like it typically did, the network (and I’m not picking on CBS, they all did it), decided immediately to turn things topsy turvy instead of giving it some time. Arnie’s neighbor played by Dick Van Patten was let go and Charles Nelson Reilly, a tv chef named The Giddyap Gourmet, moved next door.

The series was moved to Monday night following My Three Sons which was moved from Saturday nights to Tuesday nights as well. That probably didn’t help the ratings because this was the last season of My Three Sons. As much as I love that show, it should have stopped a year earlier than it did. To make it more confusing half-way through the second season, Arnie moved back to Saturday and My Three Sons ended up on the schedule Thursday nights. Both shows were canceled by spring.

In addition to all the moving around, when it returned for its second season it was up against Monday Night Football, so I’m guessing that spot didn’t help attract people after it moved. Saturday nights its competition was weak; it was primarily up against the movie of the week, The Pearl Bailey Show, and Cade’s County.

The Television Academy interviews included both Eddie Foy and Dick Van Patten discussing this show.

Foy talked about the casting and said Bowen was the best cast member. He said it was a bit of a bland show, not a break-through series, but he thought Herschel was a big star at the time after starring in Zorba. Foy said it was a great show to work on and everyone in the cast had fun.

Dick Van Patten also talked about his time on the show. He said he had come to California for a play and while he was performing, Shirley Booth approached him and said she wanted him to talk to someone about joining the cast of Arnie as the neighbor. Van Patten said he didn’t remember much about the show which supports Foy’s view of it being a bit bland.

It sounds like the network was trying to take advantage of Bernardi’s fame at the time and maybe didn’t take as much care as it should in designing the perfect show for him.