Everyone is Welcome on The Waltons

January 16, 2023January 1, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we celebrate some of our favorite families, The Walton family has to be on the list. Those of us who were kids in the seventies grew up with the Walton kids. Debuting in 1971, the show was canceled a decade later.

The Cast of The Waltons Photo: theguardian.com

The show was listed as a historical drama, but it had a lot of humor in it as well. Based on the book Spencer’s Mountain by Earl Hamner Jr. from 1961, the show was incredibly popular. In 1963 a movie was released based on the book. Hamner created the book from his childhood memories, and many of the plots and characters were based on real events and people. The ending of the episodes has often been parodied, and even if you never watched the show, you recognize the ending when the kids all said “Goodnight John Boy”, “Goodnight Ben”, “Goodnight Erin”, etc until they were told to go to sleep. Hamner said this was a regular activity in his home, and he did have six siblings.

In 1971 a made-for-tv movie called The Homecoming: A Christmas Story received great ratings, so the show was ordered by CBS for a new series. It was produced by Lorimar Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in syndication. After the show went off the air, both CBS and NBC aired a total of six sequel movies.

The Waltons have a big family. John (Ralph Waite) and Olivia (Michael Learned) live with John’s parents Zebulon (Will Geer) and Esther (Ellen Corby). The couple has seven children: John Boy (Richard Thomas), Jason (Jon Walmsley), Mary Ellen (Judy Norton Taylor), Erin (Mary Elizabeth McDonough), Ben (Eric Scott), Jim Bob (David W. Harper), and Elizabeth (Kami Cotler).

The story was set in Virginia in Walton’s Mountain, a fictional town based on Spencer’s hometown of Schuyler. During the years that the show was on television, it covered 1933 to 1946. John runs a lumber mill, and the family does some farming. Halfway through the series, Grandma Walton has a stroke and Grandpa Walton passes away; in real life Corby did have a stroke and Geer died that year.

The Baldwin Sister Photo: thewaltons.com

During the run of the show, we get to know a lot of the community members including The Baldwin sisters, Emily and Mamie (Mary Jackson, Helen Kleeb), who sell Papa’s recipe, otherwise known as moonshine; Ike Godsey (Joe Conley) who runs the general store; Flossie Brimmer (Nora Marlow), a widow who owns a boarding house and communicates the town gossip; Yancy Tucker (Robert Donner), a local handyman; Sheriff Ep Bridges (John Crawford), and Reverend Fordwick (John Ritter).

Although the Depression is hard for the family to navigate, WWII caused even more hardship in their community. All four Walton boys serve in the military as does Mary Ellen’s husband. John Boy’s plane is shot down, and Curtis (Tom Bower), Mary Ellen’s husband, a physician, was sent to Pearl Harbor and believed to have died. However, years later Mary Ellen learns he has been alive the entire time, and she finds him living under an assumed name, depressed from his wounds. They divorce, and she later finds love and marries a second time. In later seasons, Olivia volunteers at the VA hospital and is not an active member of the series. She later is said to develop TB and moves to a sanitarium in Arizona. Her cousin Rose (Peggy Rea) moves into the house to help take care of the family, and a couple of years later, John moves to Arizona as well. The sequel movies took place in 1947, 1963, 1964, and 1969.

John Boy grows up to be a journalist and a novelist; he narrates the opening and closing of each episode, and the voice of the adult John Boy is Earl Hamner, the author. He is able to attend Boatwright University in a nearby town before moving to New York to begin his writing career. Jason is interested in music, and Mary Ellen becomes a nurse.

Walton’s Mountain was part of the Hollywood Hills range near the Warner studios in Burbank, and the town was built at the studio as well. Because the original set was destroyed when the show was canceled, later sequels had to recreate the home. That building is still being used and became the Dragonfly Inn on Gilmore Girls.

Although the network did not think the show would last, the show was very popular with both the viewers and critics. The networks had just done the “rural purge” where they canceled all shows with rural themes even those like Green Acres that were receiving high ratings. However, congressional hearings were held to discuss the moral compass of programming on television, and President Bush wanted more family shows, so the network gave it a go. I’m guessing they did not want the show to do well considering it was definitely a rural show, and they put it up against The Flip Wilson Show and Mod Squad. Ralph Waite did not want to be tied to a series long term but his agent told him not to worry about it, the show would never sell.

When Thomas was asked about the show’s popularity, he said, “It was kind of a miracle and a mystery. Certainly, the last thing any of us expected was that it would be embraced the way it was. I think our competition on Thursday night was Flip Wilson and Mod Squad, which were hugely popular and terrific shows for people. I think we premiered in 34^th place and finished the season in first. It was just this steady climb. The critical community certainly came and went to bat for us.”

In 1973 the series won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. That same year Richard Thomas won the Emmy for Lead Actor. Michael Learned received the Emmy in 1973, 1974, and 1976. Will Geer and Ellen Corby also were presented with awards: Corby won for Supporting Actress in 1973, 1975, and 1976 while Geer received the honor in 1975 as well.

The show’s ratings began declining in the late seventies. I’m not sure why Learned left the show; I do know she admits she suffered from alcoholism during those years. Waite was let go to save money for the series. The network wanted the show to concentrate on the younger viewers, but apparently, it was too late, or the show had come to the natural end of its life.

In the finale episode, the Walton family members and the Godseys attend a party at the Baldwin sisters’ mansion. If you look closely, you will see several unknown guests in the group–they included Hamner and other cast and crew members.

If you want to experience the life of this show, I have two suggestions for you. You can watch several seasons of the show on DVD, or you can check out John & Olivia’s Bed & Breakfast Inn which is located just behind the boyhood home of Hamner. It’s a five-bedroom, five-bathroom home inspired by the depression-era home of the Waltons.

It’s hard to explain the popularity that The Waltons had in the 1970s. I’m trying to come up with a show that was as critically acclaimed and was watched by the entire family for almost ten years. The only shows I can compare it to are Bonanza which aired for fourteen years and Little House on the Prairie which was on the air for nine years. Viewers embraced the characters and the values of the Walton’s Mountain community. We all felt we knew the family intimately and cared about what happened to them. It left a legacy, and I’m sure it influenced many people currently in the television industry. If you have never seen the show, you definitely want to watch a couple of seasons and if you grew up with it, you might want to revisit your old friends.

Nanny and the Professor: The Mary Poppins of the 1970s

January 9, 2023January 1, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

We are starting off the new year with a blog series taking a closer look at some of our favorite families. Between Mary Poppins and The Nanny, we had Nanny and the Professor. A lot of my friends don’t remember this show, but it was part of the ABC lineup for two years. It began its life on Wednesday nights in 1970 followed by The Courtship of Eddie’s Father and then Room 222. The second season, it moved to Friday nights airing after The Brady Bunch and before The Partridge Family. The short third season found the show on Monday nights up against Gunsmoke and Laugh In which surely set it up for failure.

AJ Carothers and Thomas Miller created the show for 20^th Century Fox Television. Carothers was best known for his Disney movies, and this show has that same type of atmosphere. English-born Phoebe Figalilly (Juliet Mills) is hired by Professor Harold Everett (Richard Long) to be the housekeeper and nanny for this three children: very intelligent Hal (David Doremus), prankster Butch (Trent Lehman), and musical prodigy Prudence (Kim Richards) who had a pet rooster named Sebastian. Juliet Mills, sister to Parent Trap star Hayley Mills, was offered the role after auditioning in England. An open casting call was done for the role in London.

Nanny became very close to the three children, and she and Professor Long had a subtle romance. You could tell there was chemistry, and he began working less and hanging out with the family more often.

Nanny had a great intuition, but we were always left wondering if there was more to her secret knowledge than we were aware of. While the Professor hired her, she showed up unannounced for the job. Sometimes she hinted at being much older than she looked. One of the running gags of the show was that she always knew when people were at the front door or on the phone before the doorbell or phone rang. She also seemed to be able to communicate with animals including the kids’ dog Waldo. She also fixed up and drove around in a 1930 roadster which she named Arabella in honor of her favorite aunt.

Nanny had a lot of relatives who showed up at the Everett household from time to time. Uncle Alfred (John Mills, Juliet’s father) entertains the children with this stories and human flying act. Aunt Justine (Ida Lupino) and Aunt Agatha (Majorie Bennett) arrive in a hot air balloon. Uncle Horace (Ray Bolger) claims to be able to make it rain. Aunt Henrietta (Elsa Lanchester) comes with the circus; in another episode she helps get rid of a ghost.

Fun fact, the background music was taken from My Favorite Martian. The theme song was called “Nanny” and was written and sung by The Addrisi Brothers. The song is:

Soft and sweet
Wise and wonderful
Oooh our mystical magical nanny

Since the day that nanny came to stay with us
Fantastic things keep happening

Is there really magic in the things she does
Or is love the only magic thing that nanny brings

You know our nanny showed us you can make the impossible happen
Nanny told us have a little bit of faith and lots of love

Phoebe Figalilly is a silly name
And so many silly things keep happening
What is this magic thing about nanny
Is it Love Or is it Magic

The show might be done, but much of the merchandise that was used to promote the show still exists. Colorform sets, coloring books, paper dolls, comic books, View Master reels, and several books are available on ebay.com

Even though the move to Monday night could not have been good for ratings, Mills said the cast was stunned when the show was canceled. In a July 22, 2019 interview with foxnews.com, she said, “I think we were all shocked, actually, and not ready to move on.” She said she does not regret starring in the show, and that the cast was “wonderful, really, very professional and very good. She said the show had a special place in her heart. “I’m proud of it and have very, very happy memories of it, she said. “I’m still recognized all over the place for that as much as anything I’ve ever done, which is extraordinary. People just hear my voice and they turn around, ‘Hey Nanny.’”

Although Nanny and the Professor might not be as well known as other shows of its decade, it deserves to be remembered. Even though it never hit the 100-episode target for syndication, the show was played on other networks after it was canceled. I could not find any network showing reruns or anywhere to stream the show, and the DVDs are currently not available on Amazon but they are available on other DVD websites. It might be worth searching for to have a marathon weekend binge some cold, winter weekend.

Family Affair: When Indiana and New York Collide

January 2, 2023January 1, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are celebrating some of our favorite television families. Many families were single parents in the classic age. In the fifties, Bentley Gregg, a wealthy attorney, raised his niece with his houseboy Peter on Bachelor Father. Fred MacMurray raised his three boys in 1960. In 1966 Bill Davis (Brian Keith), a wealthy engineer, raised his two nieces (6-year old Buffy played by Anissa Jones and 15-year old Cissy played by Kathy Garver) and Buffy’s twin, nephew Jody (Johnny Whitaker) with his valet Giles French (Sebastian Cabot) on Family Affair.

The show was on CBS until 1971, producing 138 episodes during its five-year run.

The cast of Family Affair Photo: decades.com

The kids grew up in Indiana and now have to adjust to an apartment in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Their uncle has to adjust from being a carefree bachelor to a parent of three children, and Mr. French’s quiet days are now noisy and full of small crises. The five of them become a family and learn rely on each other.

The show was created and produced by Don Fedderson and Edmund Hartman. Fedderson, who had been the creative force behind My Three Sons, sold the show to CBS without having to film a pilot.

There were a lot of similarities between the two shows. In addition to two single men bringing up the three siblings, their production schedules were similar. Fred MacMurray had been promised a schedule where all his filming was done in one or two blocks for the entire season. Likewise, Keith used two thirty-day blocks to shoot all of his scenes. Garver and Cabot probably had the hardest time filming. The kids could only work limited hours, so quite often when scenes required Cissy or Mr. French, they were talking to a “big paunchy guy from New York with a cigar in his mouth,” pretending to be one of the other cast members.

On My Three Sons, Dodi’s doll “Myrtle” was sold in toy stores. Buffy’s doll “Mrs. Beasley” was also sold to its youngest fans. Buffy often took the doll with her, and Mr. French was embarrassed when he had to “babysit” the doll. The 1967 Mrs. Beasley can still be found on sites like ebay, but be prepared to pay $500 for a doll in mint condition.

Cast with Mrs. Beasley. Photo: tvseriesfinale.com

Frank DeVol who wrote the theme for MacMurray’s show also composed the instrumental song for Family Affair.

Glen Ford was offered the role of Uncle Bill; this may have been because he played a single father in the movie version of The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. When he turned it down, the production crew turned to Keith.

Uncle Bill and Mr. French did not become perfect parents instantly. Uncle Bill often lost his temper, and Mr. French was not accustomed to having his tidy bachelor pad look like a cyclone hit it. Unlike other single-parent shows, the kids’ deceased parents were mentioned often and were kept a part of their life.

Kathy Garver reminisced about Keith later in life. She said that he was very much like his character: “He had three adopted kids, two biological kids and loved kids . . . He was a gruff ex-Marine, but he had a heart of gold.”

Ironically, the show was canceled during the big rural purge despite the fact that it was set in Manhattan, and it continued to do well in the ratings. CBS did air the show in syndication daily from its end until 1973.

Keith with his youngest costars Photo: closerweekly.com

While the cast appeared to be very close, there was a lot of dysfunction among the cast members after the show went off the air. In 1976, Anissa Jones died from an overdose; Jody Whitaker had a lot of addiction problems but then turned his life around. Sebastian Cabot had a stroke and died in 1977. Brian Keith who was devastated by Jones’ overdose and his real daughter’s suicide, was diagnosed with cancer and took his own life in 1997. Garver and Whitaker, the only survivors, both have appeared on Broadway in the past decades.

Like almost every popular show from the sixties, this one was rebooted in 2002. It was on the WB for thirteen episodes. Gary Cole took on the role of Uncle Bill while Tim Curry became Mr. French.

Garver has accepted that she will always be known for her role as Cissy. There was an announcement in 2019 that a show titled Aunt Cissy starring Garver was going into production. It was a Travis Hunt Production filmed in LA. It has its own Facebook site, but it does not look like it ever aired. Six episodes were filmed, but I have not found any other information about the series.

In addition to Mrs. Beasley, there was a lot of merchandise associated with the show. Gold Key Comics published four comic books in 1970 based on the series. You can also find lunch boxes, puzzles, coloring books, View Master reels, a board game, and even a piece of luggage.

Although the plots were quite simple, this show was a favorite for many families. It was a series the entire family could enjoy. Fans watched the kids grow up for the five years it was on the air. Although Uncle Bill was quite wealthy, the family never appeared to be a rich one. The kids kept their Indiana morals. When I was researching for this blog, I found a lot of fans expressing fond memories and giving heartfelt tributes, and that is a true legacy for any show.

The Cosby Show: A Work in Progress

December 26, 2022December 4, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 4 Comments

Today is the last blog of the series on our favorite sitcom families and the last blog of the year. We have been to Long Island, Detroit, and Los Angeles, and now we are heading back to New York. Today we are going to visit the Huxtables.

I will admit, I have put off writing this blog for years. It is a very difficult one for me to write about. Writing this blog makes me mad, sad, and strangely joyful at the same time.

It makes me mad because of Bill Cosby’s despicable behavior. It makes me sad because this amazing show has been tarnished through no fault of its own. After Cosby’s arrest, the show disappeared from the airwaves. The rest of the cast has to suffer because of the bad behavior of one person. But, if I take my own advice, and I choose to celebrate the characters, not the people behind them, I can still find joy in this well-written and truly funny show.

Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner were two ABC executives who had worked on Mork & Mindy, Three’s Company, and Welcome Back Kotter. They were looking for a celebrity to star in their new show. Bill Cosby helped create this show which became The Cosby Show and was a staple on Thursday nights on NBC for eight seasons. It was the number one show on television for five of those years.

The Huxtables were an upper-class family living in a Brooklyn Heights brownstone. Father Cliff (Cosby) was an obstetrician and mother Clair (Phylicia Rashad) was an attorney. They had five kids: Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), Denise (Lisa Bonet), Theo (Malcolm Jamal Warner), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keisha Knight Pulliam).

Vanessa Williams and Whitney Houston were both considered for the role of Sondra. Originally Rudy was planned to be a boy, and Jaleel White was brought in to audition.

A couple of famous kids who appeared on the show went on to be stars including Alicia Keys and Adam Sandler.

The brownstone they lived in was a house we got to know well. It was actually located in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.

The theme music, “Kiss Me,” was composed by Stu Gardner and Bill Cosby. Seven different versions showed up during the run of the series. Under Stu Gardner’s supervision, two albums were produced: A House Full of Love: Music from the Cosby Show in 1986 and Total Happiness in 1987.

When daughter Denise went off to college, a spin-off show was created. A Different World was about her time at Hillman College, a fictional historic black college.

The show often promoted art and music. Musicians like Miles Davis, BB King, Stevie Wonder, and Sammy Davis Jr. appeared on the series. Much of the artwork that was featured in the house was by Synthia Saint James and Varnette Honeywood.

This was an important series for so many reasons. It was the one of the first shows to have an upper middle class family who was black. At this point in time, the sitcom had become a dying art. This show was responsible for bringing the sitcom back to life. It featured music, art, and culture which is seen on very few sitcoms. It was well written and very funny, yet had its heart-warming moments. The kids all were very different just like our own families, so everyone had someone they could identify with. I do understand the human behind the character is often not what we would hope for.

A lot of stars have disappointed us with their behavior behind the scenes. Usually I can move beyond that. However, I have had two times when it has been extremely difficult for me. I love The Philadelphia Story and Harvey. They are two of my go-to movies when I am looking for something to watch on a weekend. When I heard about the racist comments Jimmy Stewart made during his career, I did not watch them for years. It was really hard for me to view them in the same way I did before that knowledge.

The Cosby Show was the other difficult one for me. I remember a story my dad told me. He was staying at a hotel in Illinois for business; he went down to the restaurant this quiet weekday evening for dinner and a drink. He was sitting at one table, Bill Cosby was sitting at another table, and only two other tables were occupied by diners. At one of these tables sat two women who were obviously excited to see him, and finally, they approached him to ask for an autograph. My dad said he rebuffed them and was quite rude, and they went back to their table, extremely embarrassed. That unkind and egotistical behavior always stuck with me. While, I totally appreciate that stars have a right to refuse to sign autographs, there is a kind and tactful way to say no.

In the New York Times, Wesley Morris wrote an article on June 18, 2017, titled “How to Think About Bill Cosby and The Cosby Show.” He described the importance of the show for its “portrayal of black people as happy, stable, well off, and free of white oppression and guilt; for sneaking into typical sitcom high jinks the occasional, hilarious, often poignant lessons about gender equality, friendship, and marriage; and for proving that such a depiction could be a ratings winner.”

He then went on to talk about Cosby’s court trial. He summarized, “Guilty or not, Mr. Cosby’s courthouse behavior acknowledged an additional trial: the one going on in our hearts. I don’t need a jury to know that this trial has worn mine out.” I could not agree more. It took me some time, but I have come to love this show again. I find the show innocent of any negative connotations placed on it because of Cosby’s behavior. However, the trial inside myself did wear my heart out. While I am still trying to like Cliff Huxtable, it’s hard not to remember the hardships brought about by Bill Cosby. It’s a work in progress.

Yes, Dear: The Fans Take on The Critics

December 19, 2022December 4, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 3 Comments

As we begin week three in our blog series looking at some of our favorite families, today we are heading to Los Angeles to check in with the Warners and the Hughes.

O’Malley, Snyder, Kelly, Clark Photo: imdb.com

Created by Alan Kirschenbaum and Gregory Garcia, Yes, Dear was on CBS for five seasons from 2000 to 2006.

Greg (Anthony Clark) and Kim (Jean Louisa Kelly) Warner have a son Sammy (Anthony and Michael Bain); he is a film industry businessman and she is a stay-at-home mom. They have a peaceful, although maybe somewhat boring, life. Then Kim’s sister Christine (Liza Snyder) and brother-in-law Jimmy (Mike O’Malley) Hughes move into their guest house with their two overactive boys, Dominic (Joel Horman) and Logan (Christopher and Nicholas Berry, Alexander and Shawn Shapiro, Brandon Baerg). One of the gags of this show is Greg recalling Logan’s childhood; when he reflects back on it, we see all the different Logans.

The Warners and the Hughes have very different lifestyles and views on life and parenting. Kim and Greg are a bit neurotic and try to hard to be the perfect parents. Christine and Jimmy, on the other hand, are down-to-earth and less concerned about doing everything perfectly.

For example, in one scene, the script is:

Dominic: Can I have some coffee, so I don’t fall asleep in school again?

Jimmy: Dominic, you are six years old, you can’t have coffee. Here, drink these Mountain Dews.

Rounding out the cast was Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence as Greg’s parents Tom and Natalie, Jerry Van Dyke and Beth Grant as Jimmy’s parents Jimmy and Kitty, and Dan Hedaya and Alley Mills as the girls’ mother Jenny and father Don.

The theme song, “Family is Family,’ written and performed by Bill Janovitz summarizes the plot:

1,2,3! You got a wife and kid in love with you. Yes, Dear.

You swear to God they’re poking fun at you. Yes, Dear.

You live your life the best you can. Yes, Dear.

Until your family screws up the plan. Yes, Dear.

But family is family is family is family. Yes, Dear.

Yes, Dear. Yes, Dear.

The great Betty White Photo: twitter.com

Despite its decent ratings, critics never seemed to appreciate the show at all. The only Emmy award the show was nominated for was for Betty White as a guest star in 2003. Nominees that year included Georgia Engel, Betty Garrett, and Cloris Leachman; the winner was Christina Applegate for Friends. According to Nancy Tellem, president of CBS Entertainment, “there was a huge difference between the critics and mainstream America.”

On June 23, 2021, thewrap.com posted the 37 worst sitcoms of all time. While I can get behind My Mother the Car and Two Broke Girls, along with about 30 sitcoms I never heard of, I thought the inclusion of Yes, Dear was unfair. I can’t say this was ever a “must-see” for me, but there were plenty of worse sitcoms on the air.

The show held a steady 24^th place for the first four seasons and then ratings increased, and the show placed 11th and 15th for the last two seasons. So, with ratings going up, why was the show canceled? CBS canceled the show after season four and then brought it back. However, after season six, Clark took an offer to host Last Comic Standing. With one of the four stars gone, CBS decided to be done with the show.

Although the show was on the air for six seasons and was in syndication for a while, DVDs have never officially been released. I was not able to find out why that is the case.

When Kelly thought back to her time on the show, she said it was a fun show. “They gave me a lot of fun stuff to do. There was so much silliness.” Fun and silly doesn’t sound so bad. Maybe the show will become available on DVD or in syndication again soon, and you can judge for yourself.

Home Improvement: It’s Just a Name; No Improvement Needed Here

December 12, 2022December 4, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

Here we are in week 2 in our blog series looking at some of our favorite families. Last week we were in Long Island with the Seavers. Today we are traveling east to Detroit to spend some time with The Tool Man and his family.

Home Improvement was on ABC from 1991 through 1999; this was the era my older boys grew up in, and I think they have some fond memories of watching this show. They weren’t alone, because it was one of the most-watched shows of the decade. It stayed in the top ten the entire time.

Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra, and David McFadzean created the series. A lot of writers worked on the show. Richardson talked about the writer’s room where all the writers were men and she did the scripts at first without saying anything, because she didn’t want to rock the boat. She said eventually she would tell them a woman would not say that and defended her position more often.

It was based on the stand-up comedy of Tim Allen. Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) is married to Jill (Patricia Richardson) and they have three boys: Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), and Mark (Taran Noah Smith). They live in Detroit where Tim has a television show for Binford Tool Co.; he was previously one of their salesman.

The cast is rounded out with their neighbor Wilson (Earl Hindman) who doles out advice to Tim, but whom we never see more than part of his face. Al Borland (Richard Karn) is Tim’s assistant on the show. During the run of the show there were several Tool Time girls including Pamela Anderson and Debbe Dunning. The show was a parody of This Old House, a home-improvement show on PBS for years.

Originally the show was titled Hammer Time. The first pilot starred Frances Fisher playing Jill Taylor. The studio audience did not view her as a comedic actress, so she was recast. Al was a harder part to cast. John Bedford Lloyd auditioned for the roles of Tim’s assistant and neighbor Wilson. He got the part of Wilson but dropped out when he learned his face would not be seen on tv. That’s when Hindman took over. Stephen Tobolowsky was then offered the role of Al, named Glen at the time. He was occupied with a project at the time, so Karn was hired, and Al was created.

In a June 6, 2017, episode of thehomeimpodcast.com, Karn was interviewed. He was asked what one of his favorite Al moments was on the show. He talked about a scene when Tim invited him over to play poker. He had asked about a theme and then showed up in a 10-gallon hat as a cowboy. He said Tim opened the door, and Karn would raise his hat and hit the light. Every time that happened, Tim cracked up. Karn said he could not stop himself from laughing.

Jill has her hands full living with four males, and I can certainly relate. Tim is a bit stubborn, accident prone, spends lots of time with his cars, and often acts like one of the kids. Allen was from Detroit himself and one of his quirks on the show was wearing Michigan sports apparel.

There were a lot of guest stars on the show during its nine seasons: race car drivers Johnny Rutherford, Robby Gordon, Mario and Michael Andretti, and Al Unser; golfer Payne Stewart; Denver quarterback John Elway; boxer Evander Holyfield; NASA astronaut Ken Bowersox; basketball player Grant Hill’ singers The Beach Boys and The Manhattan Transfer’ comedians Drew Carey and Rodney Dangerfield; ex-President Jimmy Carter; talk show host Oprah Winfrey; and actors Jack Nicholson, Dan Aykroyd, and Marlon Brando.

Home Improvement was still in the top ten after its eighth season. Richardson was offered $25 million for a ninth season, and Taylor was offered $50 million, but they both declined.

The theme song was “Iron John’s Rock.” It was composed by Dan Foliart. In addition to the music, it included Allen’s grunting that became a catch phrase of a sort and several power tools in the background.

When Allen got his second series, Last Man Standing, Karn, Richardson, and Taylor Thomas guest-starred on the show. Also, many of the tools he used on this show were Binford tools.

This was one of those much-loved shows. In a time before DVR, families sat down to watch television together when their favorite shows were on. The shows were relatable to all family members. It was well written, and the stories had the right amount of humor and heart-warming moments. When a series stays in the top ten for almost a decade and the stars turn down huge piles of money to end the show, you know the quality is still there. Like The Dick Van Dyke Show, this show ended on a high note, and I’m so happy we did not have to go through the “they should have ended it a year or two before” stage. Thanks to the entire cast for being a team player and bringing an amazing show for a decade.

Growing Pains: Every Family Experiences Them

December 5, 2022December 4, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are looking at some of our favorite families from classic sitcoms. Today we are traveling to Long Island, New York to visit the Seavers from Growing Pains.

Growing Pains aired on ABC from 1985 to 1992. The seven seasons provided 166 episodes.

Jason Seaver (Alan Thicke) is a psychiatrist who works from home. His wife Maggie (Joanna Kerns) works outside the home as a reporter. They have three kids: happy-go-lucky and sometimes irresponsible Mike (Kirk Cameron), bright and studious Carol (Tracey Gold), and Ben (Jeremy Miller) who looks up to his older brother. Gold and Cameron had some experience in sibling rivalry because they played brother and sister in a McDonald’s commercial. In season four, Chrissy (Kelsey and Kirsten Dohring and later Ashley Johnson) is born, twelve years behind Ben. In season seven, Mike befriends Luke Brower (Leonardo DiCaprio), a homeless kid he mentors, who moves in with the family.

Johnson said that she had fun on the show. Since she was so young, she said she didn’t really have to act; she just was herself. She said she loved working with Thicke and they stayed in touch over the years. She also recalled acting with DiCaprio. She said he was a great actor, and she appreciated her time on the set with him. She felt the family unit on the show was very strong and that it was the same off the screen with the cast as well.

Rounding out the cast are several of Carol and Mike’s friends, Maggie and Jason’s parents, and several teachers. Mike’s best friend Richard was played by Andrew Koenig, son of Star Trek’s Chekov. If you look closely, you might see a couple of familiar faces in some classroom scenes. Alan’s son Robin Thicke played a student in several episodes, and Cameron’s sister, Candace Cameron Bure, who would star in Full House, also played classmates. Carol also had a couple of famous boyfriends on the show including Matthew Perry and Brad Pitt.

Kerns and Thicke received their roles and became good friends in real life as well. Carol was originally played by Elizabeth Ward but was replaced when audience reaction was not positive.

There were four versions of the theme song during the seven seasons. B.J. Thomas sings a solo and later Dusty Springfield was added to the track to make it sound like a duet. Later Jennifer Warnes replaced Dusty in the song with Thomas. An a cappella version was used in the last season.

The show ranked in the top 30 until season seven when it fell to 75^th place. DiCaprio was brought onto the show to win teen ratings. Ratings didn’t increase, and the show was canceled.

This series gave birth to the spin-off show Just the Ten of Us; on this show, Carol and Mike’s gym teacher and coach moves to California with his wife and eight kids to work at an all-boys Catholic school.

Eight years after the show ended, two made-for-tv movies debuted: The Growing Pains Movie in 2000 and Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers in 2004.

After the show went off the air, Kerns felt she needed to switch to directing because she was getting older and there weren’t a lot of available parts for older women. Her friend JoBeth Williams did the same. Kerns had 77 acting credits, most of them before Growing Pains. She has 72 directing credits, so she has been busy behind the scenes. Currently, she is directing episodes for A Million Little Things.

In 2018 the Today show interviewed Cameron, Gold, and Miller. They said they all kept in touch some, but they all stayed connected to Alan all the time. They said Thicke set the tone on the set and taught them to appreciate their work and emphasized how important it was to have a happy set. Gold said they laughed a lot. They all agreed that they were a family unit on the set, but they were also a family unit in real life.

I do remember watching the show when it was on live. I did watch several shows for this blog. It wasn’t a show I agonized over missing, but I also didn’t mind watching it when I was home. I think kids growing up in the eighties probably had more fondness for the show and it symbolized what My Three Sons did in my generation.

Nash Bridges: The Best Office in Town

November 28, 2022November 28, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This is the last series in our Crime Drama November. When the pandemic was in full force, my husband and I watched a lot more television than we did before. One of the shows that we watched more of was Nash Bridges. While technology and clothing can always date a show, these shows held up very well. We never felt like we were time traveling. I decided to learn a bit more about it this month as we rediscover some of our favorite shows.

The show was produced by the Don Johnson Company and Carlton Cuse Productions in association with Rysher Entertainment for the first four seasons, and then Paramount Network Television acquired Rysher and was part of the mix. Don Johnson starred in the show as Nash Bridges along with his sidekick Joe Dominguez (Cheech Marin).

The show was on CBS for six seasons from 1996 to 2001. The introductory episode was written by Don Johnson and author Hunter S. Thompson. You can see Thompson in the pilot as a piano player.

Bridges and Dominguez were police officers with the San Francisco Police Department, working under the Special Investigations Unit. Nash is divorced and is good friends with his ex-wife Lisa (Annette O’Toole); they often hang out and talk about getting back together on and off during the show. They have a daughter who is a teenager when the show begins (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe); in later seasons, she works with her father. Nash’s father Nick (James Gammon) moves in with him partway through the series. Nash refers to everyone as “Bubba” or “Sister.” Nash had a lot of romantic relationships during the series, including a two-season one with Yasmine Bleeth as detective Caitlin Cross.

Dominguez comes back after retiring to be Nash’s partner; he is married and they have a child during the run of the show. Nash and Dominguez work with Harvey Leek (Jeff Perry) and Evan Cortez (Jaime Gomez).

Nash’s pride and joy is a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda convertible, which had been his brother’s car before he was sent to Vietnam.

The investigators worked in a very interesting place. Their work space was a 177-foot floating vessel. The producers paid $175,000 for the working barge used in Seattle; they then put $1.1 million into adding a three-story glass and steel structure for the new set. When the show was canceled, the producers bought it for about $400,000. They planned to rent out the 11,000 square-foot set for movie shoots, videos, and parties. It can easily be used for a houseboat, factory, oil rig, or open-air restaurant.

Nash Bridges did well in ratings during its time on the air. The sixth season, the show was up against Law & Order: SVU. Paramount decided that $2 million dollars an episode was too much to pay for the show so they canceled it. It might have ended anyway, though, because Johnson was ready to be done. There were enough episodes for syndication, so Johnson continued to earn money from the show after it ended.

A year or so ago, USA Network featured Johnson, Marin, and Perry in a two-hour movie. Nash and Perry come back to help SIU crack a serial killer case. Nash convinces Dominguez to serve as a consultant from time to time. The movie left it open for a new series to begin with the team solving cases.

If you want to learn a bit more about what was going on behind the scenes, there are some fun options for you. Seasons one and two DVD sets include a Roundtable Discussion by the writers. On February 4, 2015, the Film Score featured a general discussion with Eddie Jboson, Velton Ray Bunch, and others about the music on the show (https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=108116&forumID=1&archive=0).

Most fans seemed to enjoy the show, although the recent movie got mixed ratings. The show seems to have it all: two very different but close partners solve interesting crime cases while riding around in a really cool car and there are a lot of heartwarming scenes and humorous moments packed into the action. What’s not to like?

Honey West: Quality Over Quantity

November 21, 2022July 31, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we look back at some favorite crime dramas, this week we are traveling back sixty years. From 1965-1966, Honey West appeared in our living rooms. Only thirty episodes were produced, but the show was respected and worth remembering.

The show was based on a novel series. Married couple, Gloria and Forrest “Skip” Fickling wrote the books. Skip had been a gunner in the US Army Air Force. According to Skip, they combined Marilyn Monroe and Mike Hammer for the character of Honey West. The novels were published from the late fifties to 1971, with eleven total.

West was one of the first female private eyes on tv. In an episode of Burke’s Law, Ann Francis showed up as Honey West which led to a spin-off. The series was developed by Gwen Bagni and Paul Dubov, writers on Burke’s Law. Aaron Spelling was listed as the producer.

West has a partner Sam Bolt (John Ericson). Ericson never received another starring role in a series, but he was a successful actor, amassing 105 acting credits.

Honey is an interesting character. She has a hidden radio in her lipstick case, has a pet ocelot named Bruce, a colorful animal-print wardrobe, and a Cobra convertible. She shares an apartment with her Aunt Meg (Irene Hervey) who shows up in about half of the episodes.

West owns her own investigation firm which she inherited from her father. Her base of operations was behind a fake wall in her living room. She’s very smart and experienced in electronic surveillance. Bolt creates many of the gadgets she uses. They go undercover in a specially equipped van which had a sign “H.W. Bolt & Co., TV Service.” She and Sam could be the inspiration behind Maddie and David from Moonlighting.

Like James Bond, or Max Smart, she uses a number of high-tech instruments: an exploding compact, a garter belt gas mask, tear gas earrings. You don’t have to worry about Honey’s safety. Sam is an ex-Marine, and Honey attained a black belt in judo.

Several of the episodes were written by Richard Levinson and William Link who would go on to write for Columbo and Murder, She Wrote.

The show was canceled after the first year for two primary reasons, one understandable and one which makes me shake my head. I understand that the network determined that it would be cheaper to import The Avengers and show it in the time slot. The second reason is a bit harder to understand: the show was in competition with Gomer Pyle USMC and could not hold its own in the ratings war. I say this with great respect to Jim Nabors whom I love and while Gomer Pyle was an ok show, it’s hard for me to picture it as a show that would draw more viewers than a crime drama.

Francis did receive Golden Globe and Best Actress Emmy nominations that year. She was beat out by Barbara Stanwyck for The Big Valley. The show was described as “sexy, sophisticated and delightfully funny.” According to most of the reviews of the DVDs, it holds up very well after sixty years and is still fun to watch.

They had some clever details in the show. There is often at least one instance when the last word of a sentence leads into a funny new scene. The actors often discuss television shows, wondering about their ratings. Honey pulls down an imaginary shade, so viewers won’t watch her sleep. It also had a jazzy theme written by Joseph Mullendore. He had created a lot of the music for Burke’s Law and would go on to provide music for other series, including Land of the Giants and Daniel Boone.

There were several drawbacks mentioned, most notably the lack of color. Not only was color becoming the norm by this time, but Honey West was a show that would have been enhanced by color. It was also criticized for being a 30-minute show. There was not enough time to truly develop both the plot and the characters’ relationships in such a short time.

This show reminds me a bit of Barbara Eden’s show How to Marry a Millionaire and Bachelor Father, starring John Forsythe, in that both debuted in 1957; two series that I thought had clever writing, fun characters, witty dialogue, and elegant interiors. On one hand, it is sad it wasn’t given more of a chance to get established with viewers. On the other hand, it sounds like it has thirty mostly great episodes to watch. Maybe an early cancellation allowed the best shows to be saved. I think about I Dream of Jeannie which was released the same year as Honey West. The shows from the first year are fun to watch. Jeanne is witty, clever, mischievous, and smarter than she lets on. During the following years, the episodes were average at best and often sub-par. If I only had the first year’s episodes to watch, I would not feel like I was missing anything.

For less than $20, you can buy the entire DVD season of Honey West. And if it makes you want to go out and get a pet ocelot, who am I to judge?

The Rockford Files: The Detective Voted Most Likely to Still Have An Answering Machine

November 14, 2022July 31, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we are taking a look back at some favorite crime shows, The Rockford Files with its memorable answering machine message opening and fun theme song, is one that definitely is worth exploring. The show was on NBC from 1974-1980.

Jim Rockford (James Garner) is not the average TV detective of the seventies. He does not have an elegant apartment; his clothes come off the rack, not a designer’s showroom; and he doesn’t have a sexy assistant, just his dad, a former truck driver who sometimes helps him out. He lives in a small mobile home in a parking lot; the home also serves as his office.

Creators Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell created the show. Huggins had also been the force behind Maverick which also starred Garner from 1957-1962. Robert Blake was also considered for this role, but Huggins cast him in Baretta, another one of his shows.

Rockford has a gun, but no permit for it. However, he prefers to talk his way out of most situations. He tends to work on cold cases, missing persons, and low-budget insurance scams.

The story was that Rockford was incarcerated in San Quentin for five years for a crime he did not commit. Eventually, he was pardoned, but now he is having a tough time making ends meet. He’s a private eye who charges $200 a day (about $1000 today) but he doesn’t get enough work to do more than pay the rent and incidentals.

Garner with Noah Beery Jr. Photo: ebay.com

His father Joe (Noah Beery Jr.) nags Jim to find a more secure job and to settle down and get married. Jim’s friend Joe Santos (Dennis Becker), a sergeant for the LA Police Department, also helps him out from time to time.

Rounding out the cast were Evelyn “Angel” Martin (Stuart Margolin) who had been Jim’s friend in prison. His con artist schemes cause a lot of headaches for Jim. Beth Davenport (Gretchen Corbett) is Jim’s attorney and sometimes girlfriend. Lt Diehl (Tom Atkins) was on the first half of the show while Lt Doug Chapman (James Luisi) was on the final three seasons. Neither of them like Rockford much.

This show had an impressive list of guest stars, including Lou Gossett Jr., Isaac Hayes, Rita Moreno, Tom Selleck, and Dionne Warwick. Garner’s brother Jack also shows up in quite a few bit parts; you can see him as a policeman and gas station attendant, among other minor roles.

Jim drove a gold Pontiac Firebird. Rockford was known for his “turn-around” to evade police and criminals, a procedure commonly taught to Secret Service agents. As Garner described it in his autobiography, “When you are going straight in reverse about 35 mph, you come off the gas pedal, go hard left, and pull on the emergency brake. That locks the wheels and throws the front end around.” Then you release everything, hit the gas, and off you go in the opposite direction.”

The theme song for the show was written by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter. It went through several versions over the years. It hit the Billboard Top Ten in 1975.

When I think of the show, the iconic answering machine introduction is what comes to mind. After two rings, you heard, “This is Jim Rockford. At the tone, leave your name and message. I’ll get back to you.” Typically, the message was its own little skit which help us get to know a little bit more about Rockford. The writers had to come up with 122 different messages during the run of the show.

The show was popular with viewers throughout the four seasons. However, after being #12 in its first year, it fell to #58 by season five. In 1979, Garner was advised by his doctors to take some time off because he was suffering some knee and back problems, as well as dealing with an ulcer. Until then, he had performed many of his own stunts on the show. When the physical pain did not get dramatically better, Garner decided not to continue with the show, and the network canceled the program midseason.

It was also popular with critics. James Garner was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama in 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979; he won in 1977. The show was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series from 1978-1980; the show won in 1978. There were an additional nine nominations with Margolin winning two and Rita Moreno winning two.

If you were a fan of the show, you will know a few of these fun facts about Rockford. One of his favorite foods was tacos, and he ate a lot of them on the show. When he needs an alias, he typically was Jim Taggert. Rockford’s full name is James Scott Rockford; the star of the show’s name is James Scott Garner. Rockford was a Korean vet, and one of his military friends was played by the great Hector Elizondo. He cares for a stray cat who lives near his home. And, last but not least, a running gag of the show is that even though Rockford’s job involves crucial details, he can never remember license plate numbers.

This show holds up well today. The show is on DVD and can be found on several cable channels. Check it out, even if you just want some inspiration for creative voice mails.