Family Ties Bind Us Together

August 31, 2020 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

Last week’s blog was about Meredith Baxter. Today we are taking a more in-depth look at one of the shows she is best known for, Family Ties.

Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse Keaton (Meredith Baxter) are liberal ex-hippies with three children when the show starts out: super conservative son Alex (Michael J. Fox), shopping maven, boy-crazy daughter Mallory (Justine Bateman), and easy-going Jennifer (Tina Yothers). Later they have a baby and Andrew (Brian Bonsall) is added to the family. The name Keaton was a tribute to Diane Keaton. (One fun fact is that Both Baxter and Gross had the same birthday, being born June 21, 1947.)

The concept was based on the life of Gary David Goldberg and his wife Diane when they transitioned from flower children to suburban family. Goldberg explained that “It really was just an observation of what was going on in my own life with my own friends. We were these old, kind of radical people, and all of a sudden, you’re in the mainstream . . . now you’ve got these kids and you’ve empowered them, and they’re super intelligent, and they’re definitely to the right of where you are. They don’t understand what’s wrong with having money and moving forward.”

Debuting in 1982, the show was on for seven years, producing 172 episodes.

Originally Ed O’Neill was considered for the role of Steven, and Matthew Broderick was slated to play Alex. When Broderick’s father became ill, he had to decline. (Broderick’s father played Baxter’s father on the show Family in the 1970s.) Another source simply stated that Broderick decided he didn’t want to move to LA. Fox made the role his own and won three Emmys. Despite his disdain of his parents’ ethics and lack of materialism, Alex was a likable character. When Goldberg explained why he liked Alex but not Alex’s philosophy, he said, “With Alex, I did not think I was creating a sympathetic character. Those were not traits that I aspired to and didn’t want my kids to aspire to, actually . . . But at the end of Family Ties, when we went off the air, then The New York Times had done a piece and they said, ‘Greed with the face of an angel.’ And I think that’s true . . . [Michael J. Fox] would make things work, and the audience would simply not access the darker side of what he’s actually saying.”

Steven and Elyse went to school in Berkeley; he is now the manager of a public radio station in Columbus, Ohio and Elyse majored in architecture. Although she has been a stay-at-home mom, during the run of the show, she is now ready to return to work.

Photo: architecturaldigest.com
Fox with Scott Valentine, Mallory’s boyfriend Nick

Rounding out the cast was Alex’s friend Skippy (Marc Price), Mallory’s boyfriend Nick (Scott Valentine), and Ellen (Tracy Pollan) who was Fox’s girlfriend and later wife in real life.

The theme song is a memorable one. “Without Us” was written by Jeff Barry and Tom Scott. For the first season, it was performed by Dennis Tufano and Mindy Sterling, and for some reason, it switched to Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams for the rest of the show’s run.

Freddie J. Rymond was the set decorator for the show. In an article “The Set Design of Family Ties” by Cathy Whitlock in 2012, we catch a glimpse of the thought process of Rymond’s creation.

“Rymond explains, ’Most sitcoms evolved around the living room in those days, and they all pretty much had the same furnishings.’ Rymond received numerous requests from viewers regarding the kitchen set’s appliances; of particular interest was the Wolf commercial-style range, an item that was gaining popularity in the consumer-driven ’80s. Executive producer Gary David Goldberg, who was very specific about the set’s decor, had a Wolf range in his home in Los Angeles. The kitchen was the epicenter of the Keaton family’s activity and one of the multi-camera sitcom’s three primary sets. . . At its best, set decor defines and supports a character—here, hanging above the bed of Alex P. Keaton is a poster of conservative icon William F. Buckley, Jr., rather than, say, Farrah Fawcett, who was probably the more popular poster subject of the time. The bedside WKS lamp comes from the local public television station where father Steven Keaton works. Rymond used what he called a ‘conglomeration’ of accessories to decorate youngest daughter and resident tomboy Jennifer’s bedroom. A pop-cultural mélange consisting of a Cleveland Browns pennant, a white iron–and-brass bed, and a world-globe throw pillow round out the set. Mom and dad Elyse and Steven’s master bedroom was reminiscent of so many interiors of the ’80s—shelves filled with clutter and white porcelain figurines, tchotchkes and knickknacks from a lifetime of family vacations.”

Although the show was a comedy, it tackled some dark subjects including alcoholism, incest, and death. In one of the earliest episodes, Mallory is scared and confused when “Uncle Arthur”, a close friend of the family and her father’s co-worker at the television station, makes a pass at her. Meanwhile, Steven prepares a farewell tribute to Arthur to air during the station’s pledge drive. In season five, Alex works with a renowned professor on an economics paper. Reviewing the final content, he finds the hypothesis is incorrect, but the professor wants to submit it with false data. During the final season, the Keatons are delighted by a surprise visit from Elyse’s Aunt Rosemary. The family starts to notice a difference in her actions, and Rosemary finally admits she is becoming forgetful. A doctor diagnoses the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

The finale was a very emotional time for the entire cast. In an article “Cutting the ‘Family Ties’” by Daniel Cerone on May 2, 1989, some of the stars discuss what the week was like. In the final episode, Alex gets his dream job on Wall Street and is moving to New York City.

The article interviewed the cast. “‘We taped the last episode in front of an audience of family and friends,’ said 27-year-old Michael J. Fox, who joined the show in 1982 as an unknown Canadian-born actor and parlayed his role as the conservative, wise-cracking Alex Keaton into a flourishing film career. ‘I was fine until the curtain call, then I started weeping. I felt like an idiot, until I looked around and realized I had company.’ Baxter also commented on the end of the show, ‘This week has been so much more grueling than anyone expected,’ said Meredith Baxter Birney, who plays Alex’s mother, Elyse Keaton. ‘Everyone involved thought the show would just sort of take care of itself. No one was prepared for what we went through. It was awful.’”

Goldberg also discussed the finale, “‘Last night was extraordinarily emotional,’ agreed 44-year-old Gary David Goldberg, whose UBU Productions produces ‘Family Ties’ in association with Paramount Network Television. ‘It was a very surreal feeling. We started a half-hour late because everyone was crying and we had to redo their makeup. The sadness is overwhelming. It’s like raising a great kid who you love to have around, and then he has to leave you and go to college.’”

Although the show was based on the differences between the generations, it was not their differences that made the show one of the most-watched sitcoms of the decade. Despite their range of values, the kids loved and respected their parents. The parents truly liked their kids. While the show was very funny, it was also heart-warming. There was unconditional love in the family. Alex could be very sarcastic to Mallory, but then we would see them having an intimate conversation in the kitchen late at night. While the elements that separated the characters is what drew us to the show, it was the qualities and love that they shared that kept us coming back.

Meredith Baxter: Her Long and Successful Career

August 24, 2020 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know I am a big fan of the show Family starring James Broderick and Sada Thompson. Along with Gary Frank and Kristy McNichol, Meredith Baxter played one of their children on the show. As Nancy, she got divorced and moved into a garage apartment with her son Timmy. She went to law school to follow in her father’s footsteps. Today we will learn a bit more about the life Meredith Baxter had off the show.

Baxter was born in 1947 in California. Her mother was Whitney Blake who played Dorothy Baxter on Hazel. Her father was a radio announcer. Her parents divorced when she was 6. She lived with her brothers and her mother who eventually remarried; Meredith’s stepfather was sitcom writer Allan Manings. Manings wrote for a variety of shows, including McHale’s Navy, Laugh-In, Good Times, and both the original and reboot of One Day at a Time.

Baxter went to Hollywood High. She briefly transferred to Interlochen Center for the Arts as a voice major, but returned to Hollywood High to graduate. Shortly afterward she married Robert Lewis Bush and they had two children. They divorced in 1971.

For the next few years, Meredith appeared on a variety of television shows and in several big-screen movies, including The Doris Day Show and The Partridge Family.

Image #: 2088657 David Birney (as Bernie Steinberg) and Meredith Baxter (as Bridget Fitzgerald Steinberg) in the CBS comedy series “Bridget Loves Bernie.” 1972 – – Picture by Landov / Retna Pictures – Job: 79439 Ref: LAN / CBS – UK Rights Only *Unbylined uses will incur an additional discretionary fee!*

The following year, Meredith got her first major acting role: Bridget Loves Bernie. She starred with David Birney. The premise behind this sitcom is that wealthy, Catholic Bridget Fitzgerald marries lower-class, Jewish Bernie Steinberg who drives a cab. Both sets of parents are uncomfortable with their children’s mates.

Although the show only lasted one season, she and Birney lasted a little longer. They married in 1974 and had twins. In 1989 they divorced and don’t have very good things to say about one another.

Photo: sitcomsonline.com
Asea on The Love Boat

In the mid-seventies, television kept Meredith very busy with 11 appearances on shows such as Medical Center and McMillan and Wife and 10 made-for-tv movies.

She appeared on the big screen in All the President’s Men in 1976 before taking the role of Nancy Maitland on Family that same year. Family featured the Lawrences. Kate is a stay-at-home mom and a bit distant but obviously loves her children. Warm, friendly Doug is a lawyer and judge. Nancy is in her twenties but much more mature than her brother Willie who can’t decide what to do with his life. Buddy, a tweener, is the youngest in the family.

Critics as well as viewers were devoted to the show. Baxter was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in both 1977 and 1978. She was beat by her “sister” McNichol in 1977 (McNichol was nominated every year the show was on) and by Nancy Marchand for Lou Grant in 1978. For both years, Family was nominated as best show and Sada Thompson as lead actress which she won in 1978 (Thompson was also nominated every year). Gary Frank as Willie won in 1977. James Broderick also received a nomination during those years.

After Family ended, she went back to making made-for-tv movies with 7 during the 1980s and 21 in the 1990s.

The following year, she would land the role that made her the most famous, Elyse Keaton on Family Ties. In this much-beloved show, Elyse and Steven, former hippies, raise their four children who have different values than they did. Alex, the oldest is a conservative interested primarily in money, Mallory cares more about shopping and boys than anything else, Jennifer has a dry sense of humor and is trying to find her spot in the family and the birth of baby Andy doesn’t help her figure that out. The show was on the air for seven seasons.

In 1995, Baxter married actor and screenwriter Michael Blodgett, but their married only lasted five years. (Blodgett wrote for a variety of television shows and several movies.) Shortly before her divorce, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She made a full recovery and has become a spokesperson for treatment and research and developed a skin cream (Signature). A portion of the proceeds is donated for breast cancer prevention.

THE FACULTY — Meredith Baxter stars in the new comedy series, THE FACULTY, which airs on the ABC Television Network.

In 1996, she again attempted a television series, The Faculty. The show wasn’t renewed for a second season. Baxter played the role of a principal who is divorced and a single mother, and features the choices she has to make to balance her busy life. While the critics praised Baxter’s performance, they didn’t find much else to like about the show, and it was cancelled after 13 episodes.

She made several television appearances on various shows or movies but her only recurring role was as Lilly Rush on Cold Case in 2007.

In 2011, Meredith published her memoir, Untied. She talks frankly about her unhappy marriages, including the abusive one with Birney. She also discloses that she was a recovering alcoholic and that she was gay. After coming out, she met Nancy Locke whom she married in 2013.

In 2014 Baxter accepted a role as Maureen, Nicky’s friend, on The Young and the Restless which began and ended that year. Since that time, she has appeared on a variety of television shows and in several movies. She has a couple of movies coming out soon.

Photo: tvguide.com
With Melody Thomas Scott on The *Young and the Restless*

Baxter has also done a variety stage work including the two-character play, “Kissing Place” with David Ogden Stiers. Most recently she has appeared in “Women Beyond Borders,” “Angels in America” and “Love Letters.”

Although Meredith has definitely had some trauma and sadness in her life, she has had a varied and long-lasting career. Being cast in three successful television shows is not something that happens for most actors. She seems to have come to a place in her life where she is happy and content and that is something all of us strive for. Join me next week as we look more closely at the show that made her a household name: Family Ties.

The Scarecrow and Mrs. King: You’re Not in Kansas Anymore

August 17, 2020 / thewritelife61 / 4 Comments

In a recent blog (August 10, 2020), we learned a bit about Kate Jackson and some of the successful series she was a part of. One of those shows was The Scarecrow and Mrs. King. No, it’s not a dream sequence where Mrs. King travels around Oz with her best friend. In this case, Scarecrow (Bruce Boxleitner) was a spy. Amanda King (Kate Jackson) was an ordinary divorced housewife and the mother of two young boys. They worked together in covert operations.

Created by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming, The Scarecrow and Mrs. King ran for four seasons, producing 89 episodes. Rounding out the cast was Dorothy West (Beverly Garland), Amanda’s mother whom she lives with; Francine Desmond (Martha Smith), another secret agent; Billy Melrose (Mel Stewart), Scarecrow’s boss; and Amanda’s boys Jamie (Greg Morton) and Philip (Paul Stout).

Photo: statesidestills.com
With Beverly Garland

The way they begin working together was a bit unlikely, but that is the way most spy shows go. The show is set in the Cold War era and is full of James Bond components and witty repartee. Scarecrow a/k/a Lee Stetson in real life, hands Amanda a package at the train station and tells her to give it to the man in the red hat. Unfortunately, at the time, there are a bunch of men wearing red fezzes there so she is unable to deliver it. Scarecrow later tracks her down to recover the package. When he is taken by bad guys, she solves the secret about the package and rescues Stetson before they can kill him.

At the time they met, Amanda was unemployed and looking for a job. She majored in photojournalism. She had a boyfriend named Dean, and she volunteered at the local hospital as a Bedside Bluebell. She liked to read romance novels and was allergic to horses.

Amanda becomes more involved with the agency and eventually becomes a trained agent, considered a seasonal employee. The team travels around the world, often posing as other people. Of course, Scarecrow and Amanda fall in love. Her ex-husband Joe is still around and they are good friends. Sam Melville played Joe; he had some experience because he played her husband Mike in The Rookies.

Amanda already has to keep her spy career a secret from her mother and boys. When Scarecrow and Amanda get married, they must keep the marriage a secret from their friends, families, and coworkers as well.

The show aired on CBS. For season one, it was up against That’s Incredible on ABC and Boone early in the year with TV Bloopers later in the year on NBC. Season two found it competing with Hardcastle and McCormick on ABC and TV Bloopers again on NBC. It finished in the top twenty for its first two seasons. Season three it dropped to 28^th. Hardcastle and McCormick was still its competition on ABC. On NBC it started against TV Bloopers which was replaced by You Again? and Valerie. Both You Again? and Valerie were in the top 30 as well.

Season four the show was moved to Friday nights. Even coming on the heels of Dallas which was the only top 30 show airing Fridays, the ratings were not great. It had some tough competition with Webster and Mr. Belvedere on ABC and The A-Team on NBC.

In addition to the move to Fridays, during season four, Kate was diagnosed with breast cancer and her treatments required her to have limited shooting time. The show was cancelled without the series’ ability to film a finale that would have wrapped up the storylines. In hindsight, the network should have let it finish out because they replaced the show with two mundane sitcoms: Nothing is Easy, a Dee Wallace show in which she and her husband adopt a daughter and then are asked to adopt an Asian boy and an African American girl; later her husband is killed in a car accident and she is a single mother. The Popcorn Kid was about a wannabe movie star who works in a theater.

Photo: pinterest.com
With Martha Smith, fellow agent

In addition to viewers enjoying the show, critics also liked it. The show won and Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series in 1986. It was also nominated for three other Emmys: Outstanding Cinematography for a Series in 1985 and Outstanding Costuming for a Series for both 1985 and 1986. Jim Lapidus and Molly Harris Campbell were nominated in 1985, and Andrea Weaver and Lapidus were nominated in 1986. Weaver would go on to do costuming for movies. Lapidus did costuming for movies after the show including Witches of Eastwick and Jerry Maguire and became a costume designer for shows such as 24, Dexter, and Hawaii Five-O. Harris continued her career as a wardrobe designer for Remington Steele, Night Court, and LA Law before becoming a designer on Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed, The X-Files, and She Spies.

In the era of couples working as a team to solve crimes, a la Hart to Hart and Moonlighting, this was a decent show. It featured humor, romance, drama, clever dialogue, intrigue, and a great chemistry between its co-stars. The characters go through a bit of growth during the four seasons. Scarecrow morphs from a risk-taking, arrogant, lady’s man to a more thoughtful person and a smarter agent. Amanda becomes more confident and capable as an agent and a working woman.

The entire series was out on DVD by March of 2010. If you’ve never watched it, give it a try. You won’t be bored solving crimes with The Scarecrow and Mrs. King.

Kate Jackson: She Teaches Us to Listen with Our Ears but To Hear with Our Heart.

August 10, 2020 / thewritelife61 / 4 Comments

In my blog last week, we learned a bit about the unique show, Dark Shadows. One of the young, unknown actresses who received a role in the show was Kate Jackson. She was born Lucy Kate Jackson in Birmingham, Alabama in 1948.

Jackson started her post-high school education at the University of Mississippi as a history major but then transferred to the Birmingham Southern College, choosing classes in speech and the history of the theater. After an apprenticeship at the Stowe Playhouse in Vermont, Jackson moved to New York City to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Jackson found work as an NBC page and tour guide. In 1970, she accepted the role of Daphne on Dark Shadows.

Photo: fanpop.com
Daphne on Dark Shadows

She would go on to star in several television series during her career. She has also tried her hand at producing and directing.

Kate appeared in several shows in the early seventies including The Jimmy Stewart Show and Bonanza. In 1972, she was offered the role of Jill Danko in The Rookies. Jill was married to Mike Danko (Sam Melville), one of three Southern California policemen featured in the show.

Her appearance in James at 16 brought her the first Emmy nomination.

In 1976 she was offered the role that made her most famous: Sabrina Duncan on Charlie’s Angels. Jackson was credited with naming the show as well. Originally called “Alley Cats,” Leonard Goldberg told her the title had to be changed and she pointed at a photo of three female angels on the wall. Another change was characters. Jackson was offered the role of Kelly Garrett but felt Sabrina Duncan suited her better.

She stuck with the show until the end of the third season. During that time, scheduling conflicts forced her to turn down the offer to star in Kramer vs Kramer which Meryl Streep won an Oscar for. Fawcett had left the show after season one.

Jackson was nominated twice for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role of Sabrina Duncan. I understand her loss in 1978 to Sada Thompson for Family, but I’m not sure I can agree with 1977’s loss to Lindsay Wagner for the Bionic Woman, especially since Sada Thompson was again in the running, as was Michael Learned for The Waltons.

It sounds like they had a lot of fun filming Charlie’s Angels, but it was a grueling schedule. Jackson mentioned that the three women did a lot of ad-libbing on camera. She discussed one scene where Smith was sitting on the couch, Jackson was sitting on the arm and Farrah was standing behind them. Farrah’s character was supposed to turn and walk out the door, but as she did so, she tapped Jackson on the shoulder knowing she would lose her balance and fall on the floor. Kate told her she couldn’t believe she did that. She said “Farrah was walking out the door and looked back at me and laughed. It was actually in the show. I saw it in the show that week. They left it in. They left in a lot of the stuff we did.”

One thing Kate took with her from the show was her close friendships with Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith. After Fawcett’s death, Jackson was quoted as saying “When the first year of Charlie’s Angels ended, our friendship didn’t. It just grew stronger and closer through the years. I don’t know what the connection that the three of us have is, but it is there, and it is something extremely special. I think that is the reason the show worked. I think it’s even better than the movies because we truly cared about each other and still do. It was a pleasure and a privilege.”

During her time on Charlie’s Angels, Kate married her first husband, Andrew Stevens. They divorced in less than two years. Unfortunately, Jackson’s love life would continue in this pattern when she married David Greenwald and divorced in less than two years followed by Tom Hart whom she divorced within two years.

In 1983, Kate returned to the small screen on the Scarecrow and Mrs. King. The show lasted until 1987 with 89 episodes. In this one-hour drama, she played Amanda King, a housewife and mother. Bruce Boxleitner was a spy code-named Scarecrow and the two worked together to help save the country. Amanda had to keep her role a secret. Kate’s partner in The Rookies, Sam Melville, appeared in Scarecrow as Joe King, Amanda’s ex-husband.

Photo: themoviedatabase.com
Scarecrow and Mrs. King

During her time as Amanda, Jackson was diagnosed with a malignant tumor and underwent a procedure and radiation treatments.

After Scarecrow’s cancellation, Jackson decided to try one more series in 1988-89, Baby Boom, based on a successful movie starring Diane Keaton. The show did not get the desired ratings, and it was cancelled within the first year. That probably was good for Jackson because in 1989 her doctors found cancer that the previous operation had missed. She endured a partial mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. Jaclyn Smith waited at the hospital while her friend was in surgery. Jackson had publicly said “the range of emotions you go through is amazing . . . but I made a conscious decision to be positive.” Smith and Jackson were given great news afterward: the lymph nodes were clean.

In 1995, Kate found herself back in the hospital for surgery to correct an atrial septal defect, a tiny hole in her heart. During this same year, Jackson adopted a son.

Photo: fanpop.com
Sabrina the Teen-aged Witch

Throughout her time starring in various series, she continued to show up in television shows like Sabrina, the Teen-aged Witch and Criminal Minds. She also managed to find time to appear in seven big-screen and 23 made-for-television movies.

Since 2007, she has been out of the public eye most of the time. With her health back on track and a child to raise, I’m hoping she found a happy place to relax and enjoy life. One thing she shared while she was going through her health issues was good advice that inspired me: “Listen with your ears, but hear with your heart. It’s one of the most important things I’ve ever learned. It’s true in art, in life—in everything.” I couldn’t agree more.

Dark Shadows: Blending Past and Present

August 3, 2020 / thewritelife61 / Leave a comment

Dark Shadows was a unique concept. It was billed as a soap opera. From June of 1966 until April of 1971, it aired daily on ABC. I remember hurrying home from school to catch up on the lives of the Collins family, past and present, in their beautiful, but creepy, mansion in Collinsport, Maine. The show morphed back and forth into different eras and many actors played roles in different time periods.

Barnabas Collins and Dr. Julia Hoffman are probably the two characters most associated with the series. What is surprising is that they weren’t part of the original cast. The vampire came on close to the end of the first year.

I have read about a lot of different ways producers came up with ideas for shows, but this one is one of the most unusual. Dan Curtis had a dream in 1965 about a mysterious woman on a train. He pitched the idea to ABC who gave it a green light. Art Wallace was brought on board to turn the dream into a pilot. The show was originally called “Shadows on the Wall.” Other titles considered were “The House on Widows’ Hill” and “Terror at Collinwood.” Curtis took over as creator and executive producer. Directors Lela Swift, John Sedwick, and Henry Kaplan were hired. Robert Cobert developed the musical score. Sy Tomashoff designed the eerie set.

The dream became the story of a governess Victoria Winters who arrives at Collinwood for a new job but is also looking for the answers to her mysterious past.

The show was one of 18 soap operas on the air in the late sixties. The ratings were not great. In December the show came in 13^th of 18. When a third of the shows were cancelled, Dark Shadows’ ratings looked even worse—13^th of 13. The show was given an ultimatum—26 weeks to increase viewership or it was done. So, Barnabas Collins was added to the show. Bert Convy was considered for the role of Barnabas before Jonathan Frid got the part. During the second year, the show began to be filmed in color which also helped.

During an interview with Ron Sproat, he said that he and fellow writer Gordon Russell had just met with Curtis and they were told a vampire would be added to the show. Leaving on the elevator, they decided right there that Barnabas would be a reluctant vampire with a conscious.

Twenty-eight characters were in at least seventy shows. Most of the actors who played them were unknown at the time, but some of the well-known stars now include Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins), Grayson Hall (Dr. Julia Hoffman), Alexandra Isles (Victoria Winters), Joan Bennett (Elizabeth Collins Stoddard), David Selby (Quentin Collins), Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Collins), Lara Parker (Angelique), Roger Davis (Jeff Clark), and Kate Jackson (Daphne Harridge).

The music is very memorable for those of us who watched the show. The original soundtrack was in the top 20 US Billboard albums in 1969. The song, “Quentin’s Theme” earned Cobert an Emmy nomination and it peaked at 13 on the Billboard 100.

It definitely took a while for the show to hit its stride. Variety’s review of the first show was not favorable: “Writer Art Wallace took so much time getting into his story that the first episode of the Neo Gothic soaper added up to one big yawn.” It wasn’t until episode 52 that evidence of a real ghost appeared.

A basic guide to the episodes is (1) Contemporary Era – Episodes 1-365, (2) The 1795 Era – Episodes 366-460, (3) Contemporary Era – Episodes 461-699. (4) The 1897 Era – Episodes 700-883, (5) The Contemporary Era – Episodes 884-1060, (6) The Future Era – Episodes 1061-1070, (7) The Ghosts of Gerard Stiles and Daphne Harridge Haunting Collinwood/The 1840 Era – Episodes 1071-1186, and (8) The Parallel Time of Contemporary and 1841 – Episodes 1187-1245. (These are not exact because there is some paralleling in different times; also even though 1225 episodes were produced, because of various numbering discrepancies, the final episode was listed as #1245.)

As the stories were developed, we learn that the Collins were a wealthy family who had been in Maine for generations. Elizabeth Collins Stoddard and her daughter Carolyn live on the estate. Mr. Stoddard has been missing for twenty years. Elizabeth’s brother Roger Collins and his son David also live there. Roger’s wife had died in a fire. This is the family Victoria Winters works for. When Barnabas came on the show, he said he was a distant cousin of the family but is really a vampire who is not a cousin but was the original Barnabas who lived in the house in the 1700s.

Parallel times revealed how Barnabas became a vampire, the relationship he had with a witch Angelique, and we meet Barnabas’ true love Josette Dupres. During the show, Roger brings home a new bride who turns out to be the real Angelique.

Barnabas meets a young woman named Maggie who reminds him of Josette. Along the way he kidnaps her. Dr. Julia Hoffman wants to transform Barnabas from a vampire back to a man. They are close friends and she is the only one who knows who he truly is; it is obvious that she is in love with him.

Joan Bennett and Louis Edmonds were the only characters to appear in both the first and last episodes.

DARK SHADOWS – Show Coverage – June 12, 1966. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)LOUIS EDMONDS;JOAN BENNETT

Although the show was set in Maine, the show’s exteriors were filmed in Essex, Connecticut. The Griswold Inn was used for the Collinsport Inn; the post office was the Collinsport Police Station, and The Carey Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island was the Collinswood mansion. All the interiors were filmed on sound stages in Manhattan.

Portraits were inexpensive, but useful, props for the show. There is a portrait of Barnabas which was painted in the 1700s. However, Frid did not pose for it because he had not been hired yet, so Robert Costello, the line producer stepped in and the face was added later. Quentin Collins’ portrait aged and whenever an injury occurred to him, he was fine but the portrait showed the harm. Angelique also had a portrait of herself. This artwork had powers too; when anything happened to her, the portrait cracked and faded; it was not restored until her health was.

The weekly budget for creating five episodes was only $70,000. There was little money for decorating and props. Barnabas’ black onyx ring came from Woolworth’s. The prop department painted a green gem black.

The special effects were pretty impressive for where technology was at the time of the show’s existence. Often shows featured ghostly apparitions or other supernatural occurrences. One camera operator realized he could use plastic wrap or Vaseline around the edges of the lens for dream sequences.

It was shot with live-to-tape format which meant each scene was done in one take. Because of this the show is famous for its goofs: crew members visible in a scene, props didn’t work, equipment above actors’ heads, or people calling each other by the wrong names. During one shooting, Kate Jackson’s dress caught on fire because she was surrounded by candles. The camera crew had to keep filming while the fire was put out. At that time, the thought was that the show would only ever be seen once.

By 1969 the show had peaked, and many kids were tuning in to watch a storyline set in 1897 with 7-9 million viewers watching daily. When the 1897 plot was over, the writers were trying to come up with another popular story. They decided on “The Leviathans” which proved to not be very popular.

When an economic recession hit in 1971, the networks were forced to cut costs. To make matters worse, cigarette advertising was banned from television which slashed networks’ profits even more. Since Dark Shadows was primarily watched by a younger demographic who were not necessarily purchasing household goods, the show was cancelled. Creator Curtis said he was actually relieved. He said “I was just hoping it was going to end. I couldn’t squeeze my brain any harder to come up with just one more story. I just wanted to move on and out.”

Some episodes have been in a syndication package since 1975. However, the Sci-Fi Channel was granted permission to run all 1225 episodes and they aired in reruns between 1992 and 2003.

With all the reboots, this show had a different twist. In 2003, the original cast gathered together for a reunion play. It was recorded for MPI and in 2006 audio dramas for a company called Big Finish began, allowing new generations of fans to listen to the show.

With this large of a cast, you would expect to hear about some personality conflicts. However, no rumors of this have surfaced. One of the cast members said that the time the crew spent together daily rehearsing lines and filming made them a close-knit bunch.

A lot of shows that were not in the top ten when they originally aired like The Brady Bunch or Gilligan’s Island have become fan favorites. Dark Shadows might not be known by as many viewers, but those who love it are extremely loyal. It has become a cult classic with an annual convention similar to The Andy Griffith Show. Held annually since 1983, the official Dark Shadows Convention is typically in New York or Los Angeles. Many cast and crew members are there, question-and-answer sessions are held, autographs can be obtained, dinner with the stars is on the menu, and plenty of merchandise is for sale.

There are fan clubs to join and even Dark Shadows cruises where you can meet and mingle with the original cast.

If you are more of a homebody, you can buy the complete series. At a price of $599, Amazon features it for only $349. It’s a big, scary price but with 1225 episodes, that is a lot of binge watching. You’ll enjoy more than 612 hours of eerie fun. You could watch an hour and a half a day and it would take a little over a year to finish.

Personally, I am not willing to invest that much money or time into the show, but I have fond memories watching it. I read the books that were published and had a Barnabas Collins jigsaw puzzle. On rainy days the girls in our neighborhood gathered in a basement and often played Dark Shadows.

There was always a fight over who got to be Angelique or Daphne. My favorite episodes back then involved a dollhouse that came to life.

With so many wonderful memories associated with the show, I’m not sure I’m willing to risk watching the original episodes again, but I understand why so many people continue to revisit them.

The Tony Randall Show: It May Have Been Judged Too Quickly

July 27, 2020 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we wind up our “Don’t Judge Me” blog series, today we’ve been sent to the bench to sit along side Judge Walter Franklin (Tony Randall) on The Tony Randall Show. Judge Franklin is a middle-aged, single-parent, widower living in Philadelphia. His extremely bright kids–teenage daughter Roberta (Devon Scott) and preteen son Oliver (Brad Savage) live with the judge, along with daffy housekeeper Bonnie (Rachel Roberts). At work we get to know his severe secretary “Miss” Janet Reubner (Allyn Ann McLerie), court reporter Jack Terwilliger (Barney Martin), and Mario Lanza (Zane Lasky), no not THAT Mario Lanza, but an overbearing assistant the judge does not care for. Judge Eleanor Cooper (Diana Muldaur) plays his co-worker and “lady friend.”

In the second season, Penny Peyser took over the role of Roberta, and Hans Conried joined the cast as Walter’s father. A lot of famous guest stars found themselves in front of the judge during the two years it was on the air. A handful of stars who appeared around Judge Franklin included Victor Buono, Beverly Garland, Michael Keaton, Hal Smith, David Ogden Stiers, and Dick Van Patten.

If this sounds a little bit like the concept of The Mary Tyler Moore Show where we see a professional at work and at home, that’s because The Tony Randall Show was produced by MTM Enterprises and created by Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses. This was the duo that produced The Bob Newhart Show a few years earlier.

The Tony Randall Show debuted on ABC in 1976. When ABC cancelled the show, it was picked up by CBS for a second season. Surprisingly, the show was not cancelled by ABC for low ratings. The show was holding its own going up against Hawaii Five-0 and Best Sellers on Thursday nights. Apparently, Patchett and Tarses did not get along with Tony Randall. Unfortunately, they did not get along with each other either, and on top of that, they refused to take calls from ABC president Fred Silverman. Tiring of the drama, Silverman ended the show. On CBS, the show moved to Saturday nights and was on at the same time as Operation Petticoat and The Bionic Woman. When CBS cancelled the show, it was done for good.

Reflecting on the show, Grant Tinker remembered “Tony was born to work in front of a live audience, and the writing was largely first rate. Ultimately, however, three strong egos could not live together. Since Tony was obviously essential, Tom and Jay retreated to their office and oversaw from a distance, giving two of MTM’s younger writers, Hugh Wilson and Gary David Goldberg their first chance to produce.” (Wilson would go on to create WKRP in Cincinnati and Goldberg would create Family Ties and Brooklyn Bridge.)

At least this turmoil produced some good results. Goldberg said from his time on The Tony Randall Show, he learned you need to hire good people and let them do their job, and that if you have to remind people you are the producer, you’re probably not a very good one.

Ken Levine discussed working with Randall in his blog from June of 2007 (kenlevine.blogspot.com/2007/06/working-with-tony-randall.html). According to Levine, Randall “was the consummate professional. Not only did he know all of his lines, he knew everyone else’s too. . . . I loved working with Tony Randall. Of course, it helped that he thought I was funny and that I didn’t smoke.”

Everyone seemed to enjoy working with Randall. In a Television Academy interview, Asaad Kelada, one of the directors for the show, described Randall as a “fascinating, erudite, funny man.” He talked about the way he warmed up an audience before the show with his stories. It must have been a fun set sometimes because Kelada said he used to wear a sweater over his shoulders, and it became his trademark. One day he said there was a bit of extra energy on the set, and he suddenly realized absolutely everyone on set from the cameramen to gophers to stars were wearing sweaters, blankets, or towels around their shoulders. The Television Academy also did interviews with Abby Singer, production manager for the show, and Hugh Wilson about his writing and producing. Singer said Randall was “a good guy.” When asked if the rumors that Randall was particular were true, he said “Yes, he was so particular it was unbelievable. You couldn’t even whisper when he was on the set, but he was a sweet guy.” Wilson backed their comments up, saying “It was super to work with Tony Randall. He was a vast library of show business information and very nice.”

Despite all the problems on the set, Randall was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role of Judge Franklin. He lost to Henry Winkler for Happy Days.

I could not find any official DVDs for The Tony Randall Show, but some of the episodes can be found online. It sounds like the show had all the right ingredients but either did not have enough time to find its true voice or appeared a bit too late in the 1970s at a time when things were changing in television programming. Anytime you can watch Tony Randall on the small screen (or the big screen for that matter) is a special opportunity.

Sirota’s Court: It Never Got a Fair Trial

July 20, 2020 / thewritelife61 / 4 Comments

We are in the middle of my “Don’t Judge Me” blogs. Today I am picking up my gavel to make a ruling on Sirota’s Court.

This sitcom made its debut December of 1976. By April of 1977, it had disappeared from the airwaves. It was produced by Peter Engel Productions and Universal Television.

The show followed Judge Matthew Sirota (Michael Constantine) who sits on the bench for the night court. He works with, and has an off-again, on-again romantic relationship with, court clerk Maureen O’Conner (Cynthia Harris). The liberal public defender is Gail Goodman (Kathleen Miller) who battles with private attorney Sawyer Dabney (Ted Ross) and assistant district attorney Bud Nugent (Fred Willard). Bailiff John Belson (Owen Bush) has the judge’s back. Like the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the series devotes time to Judge Sirota’s professional and private lives.

If that concept sounds eerily familiar, it should. Seven years after Sirota’s Court left the air, Night Court appeared. Maybe Sirota’s Court was ahead of its time or could not survive the scheduled competition, but it’s hard not to see Night Court as an almost identical clone of this show. The newer judicial comedy featuring Harry Anderson would last nine seasons and produce 193 episodes.

In the original version, the Honorable Sirota incorporates a sense of humor and a boatload of common sense into his courtroom. Being in a large metropolitan city, Sirota is a surprisingly compassionate judge, considering the bizarre cases, the odd clients, and the eccentric court comrades he has to deal with. He often had to take on the role of referee between public defender Goodman who was trying to make the world a better place however she could, attorney Dabney who only cared about making a buck, and totally inept assistant district attorney Nugent.

The show employed a lot of different writers for only thirteen episodes. Twelve different writers were credited on the series. Some of the plots included Judge Sirota trying to prevent being named one of the ten worst judges in America, dealing with dentists who were using laughing gas on election night, or the night a full moon brings in an even more ridiculous roster of bizarre situations to rule on.

The show was on Wednesday nights. There was no way this series was going to obtain satisfactory ratings going up against All in the Family and Baretta. All in the Family was in the seventh year of its nine-year reign and still was in the top twenty. Baretta, which was in its third year, had a solid following and was in the top ten. In addition, the show took a lot of heat for one of its episodes, “Court Fear,” when the judge performed a same-sex wedding. It’s creator, Peter Engel, mentioned several times that the show “never got cancelled, it just sort of faded away.” Another factor may have been too many writers. Considering Jack Winter wrote 4 of the 13 episodes, that left 11 writers covering the other 9 shows. Perhaps there was not enough time to fully develop the characters with so many different perspectives.

Considering there were only 13 episodes, it’s impressive that Sirota’s Court was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Art Direction or Scenic Design for a Comedy Series and for a Golden Globe for Constantine for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy. Constantine was up against Tony Randall for The Tony Randall Show, Freddie Prinze for Chico and the Man, Alan Alda for MASH, and winner Henry Winkler for Happy Days.

Unfortunately, I could not find DVDs for this show anywhere, even the rare and hard-to-find DVD sites. It would be interesting to compare it with Night Court and see how similar the two shows actually were. My ruling is that the show was competent to stand trial, but the powers that be were too quick to negotiate a settlement.

His Honor Homer Bell: Was It a Comedy? A Western? A Legal Drama? It Was a Mystery.

July 13, 2020January 3, 2021 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we continue our “Don’t Judge Me” series, we check out a show full of mystery: His Honor, Homer Bell.

This show seemed to be unsure what genre it wanted to be. Was it a drama? A comedy? A western? Some shows were written by Si Rose who wrote for Bachelor Father and McHale’s Navy, but other writers included Michael Cramroy, a Dragnet writer and Jerome Coopersmith who wrote for Hawaii Five-0.

It also didn’t have a definite home. The show was made to go directly into syndication by NBC Films and taped in Brooklyn. There are different statistics about how many episodes were made of the show. Imdb lists only one episode. Some other sites indicate 38 episodes were made. To the best of my research ability, I believe there were 39 episodes including the pilot. It had a budget of one million dollars and episodes were listed in TV Guide.

Those TV Guide descriptions lead to another mystery. The show talks about being in the West but it must be a more contemporary west. In one episode, Judge Bell tries to acquire tickets for a sold-out football game and in another one he delivers a speech to the town traffic commission.

What we do know for sure is that the show debuted in 1955. The show followed the ups and downs of Homer Bell (Gene Lockhart) who was a respected and much-loved justice of the peace living in a small western town of Spring City. Bell was a widower who lived with Casey (Mary Lee Dearing) and their housekeeper Maude (Jane Moultrie).

Adding to the mystery is whether Casey was his daughter or an orphaned niece he was raising. I found several descriptions listing both cases. However, Casey was a tomboy, and her antics often caused problems for the judge. He was a caring man who went to great lengths to help others. He relied more on good old common sense than legal technicalities to make his decisions. The show was produced by Hy Brown and directed by Derwin Abbe.

Gene Lockhart, father of actress June Lockhart, transitioned from the big screen to the small screen for this series.

He was born in Ontario, Canada in 1891. His father was musical, and when a band he played with went overseas on tour, he took his family along with him. During most of that time, Gene went to school in London. When the family returned to Canada, Gene’s mother encouraged him to try out for a Broadway play. He moved to New York and received his first offer in 1917 as part of the cast in “The Riviera Girl.” He also began to write for the stage. One of his projects, “The Pierrot Players” toured Canada.

In 1924, Gene married Kathleen Arthur, an English actress and musician. Gene stayed busy. He continued to appear on the stage, he could be heard on radio, he became a writer for theatrical magazines, and he lectured on drama techniques at the Julliard School of Music.

In 1933, he was offered the role of Uncle Sid in “Ah, Wilderness.” His great reviews in the play led to a contract with RKO Pictures. While he occasionally returned to Broadway, notably in 1949 as Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman,” he found his true calling as a Hollywood actor. He appeared in more than 125 films and was nominated for an Oscar for his work in Algiers in 1938. With 146 acting credits, he had about ten appearances on theater shows in the fifties on television.

Lockhart suffered a heart attack in his sleep in 1957.

Mary Lee Dearing (another mystery was her last name; most places credit her as “Dearing” but I’ve seen “Dearring” and “Deering”) was born in 1939 in New York City. She only has eight acting credits in addition to Homer Bell. She began her career on several theater dramas in the fifties, was on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Danny Thomas Show, and The Brian Keith Show. I could find very little about her; most of her fame stems from appearing on the episode of Dick Van Dyke as a babysitter when Rob talks Laura into going to a party, leaving a sick Richie with the sitter.

Photo: sitcomsonline.com
Mary Lee Dearing as Janie on The Dick Van Dyke Show

Very little is known about Mary Moultrie as well. She was born in 1903 in Los Angeles. Her only other acting credits occurred in the fifties in several theater drama shows and on Mister Peepers and The Goldbergs.

By this time, you might be asking yourself—If there is more unknown than known about this show, why even write about it? We are losing so much information about the classic age of television. My philosophy is that if we keep the shows in the conversation, they won’t become totally lost. If anyone has any of the answers to the many questions about this show, I would love to hear from you. Besides, what television fan doesn’t love a mystery?

Note: In January of 2021, I received this information in an email from Diane Dearring and wanted to share it with you for an update on Mary:

I found the info on your site about Mary Lee Dearring (https://thewritelife61.com/tag/mary-lee-dearing/). Mary Lee was my dad’s first cousin. You mentioned on your site that you couldn’t find much info about her, so I thought I would share what I have with you.
Her maiden name was indeed Dearring. However the spelling was originally Doering. Her ancestors came to the US from Germany in 1853 and settled in Ohio, Her father, my grandfather’s brother, was Ernest “Ernie” Dearring and her mother was Lene (Belisario) Dearring. They owned a dance studio in NYC. I haven’t been able to find out any information on the dance studio, but would dearly love to know more.
Mary Lee married Wallace Foster Tracy in 1966. They had no children.

I Married Joan: Fans Said I Love Lucy

July 6, 2020 / thewritelife61 / 4 Comments

This month my blog theme is “Don’t Judge Me.” We’ll take a look at sitcoms featuring judges. The first show on the docket is I Married Joan. Debuting on NBC in 1952, the show starred Joan Davis and Jim Backus and was typically described as the marriage of a respected judge and his scatterbrained wife, Joan and Bradley Stevens. It ran for three seasons and produced 98 episodes.

The early shows begin in the judge’s chambers where he recalls one of his wife’s wacky adventures followed by the episode and ending with the judge summing up his tale of his wife’s mishap and its similarity to a case he was working on. It was very similar to I Love Lucy; however, this show featured more slapstick comedy by Davis. Marc Daniels directed both shows. The shows also were both filmed in Los Angeles at General Service Studios and debuted October 15 (one year apart). Time hated the show—“It might have better been left on the shelf.” Variety, on the other hand, found it filled with “comic zest and vitality.”

I Married Joan was created and produced by Joan Davis Enterprises. She was a successful businesswoman and a workaholic. Joan earned $7500 a week; in today’s equivalent, that would be about $70,000 per episode. Joan was apparently not a very easy person to work for or with. Sherwood Schwartz wrote about a third of the episodes. (He would later go on to create The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island.) He did not care for Davis and said that Joan made one of the writers stick close to her when they ran through the show because she often wanted a better joke substituted. Jesse Goldstein also wrote a third of the shows. He had written for Burns and Allen and Red Skelton.

Other actors also complained about working with Joan. Apparently, Backus detested her because she was not kind to the crew and fellow actors. Sandra Gould (who would later appear as Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched), Hal Smith, and Hope Summers (who both showed up in Mayberry as Otis the drunk and Bee’s friend Clara) confirmed Backus’ stories. There are a couple of other stories floating around that Joan once slapped a child for asking for her autograph and threw a temper tantrum at a salon, knocking over a bottle of bleach. Backus had worked with her on radio before signing on for this role, so I’m surprised he had not been aware of her work abuses before. She was described as a bit quiet and shy in her non-work life and spent her spare time fishing, golfing, watching boxing, or reading her extensive gag files.

Rounding out the cast were Dan Tobin as their friend Kerwin, Geraldine Carr as Mabel, Sheila Bromley as Janet, Sandra Gould as Mildred and Hal Smith as Charlie.

For seasons two and three, Joan’s daughter Beverly Wills played Joan’s sister on the show. I guess it was a family affair because Henny Backus, Jim’s wife, also had a role on one episode as Mrs. Bunker.

The plots were about what you would expect on a show from this time era. In one, Joan and her friend admire each other’s houses and decide to swap for a week which quickly cures them of their envy. When Joan finds a dress that her husband is hiding for a friend for his wife; she assumes it is for her and “alters” it–a lot. In one episode, Joan wonders what life would be like if she had never married. In another show, she realizes she doesn’t have enough chicken to serve when Brad brings unannounced guests home. Any of these plots could have come from Burns and Allen, The Ann Sothern Show, Our Miss Brooks, or The Life of Riley.

However, in one show, Joan crawls into an enormous commercial soup pot in order to spy on the kitchen crew to learn the recipe for a chef’s famous soup. As you would expect, all the ingredients suddenly begin to get thrown in all around her. Even reading this description, you can picture Lucille Ball in the predicament. Perhaps this is another reason the show didn’t succeed. It was just too similar to the top-rated show in the nation.

Many people remember the theme-song lyrics.

I married Joan
What a girl, what a whirl, what a life.
Oh I married Joan
What a find, love is blind, what a wife!
Giddy and gay, all day she keeps my heart laughin’
Never know where her brain has flown.
To each his own
Can’t deny that’s why I married Joan.
I married Joan!

For the entire three seasons it was on the air, it was up against Arthur Godfrey and His Friends on CBS and news shows on ABC for seasons one and two. The show did so-so in the ratings for the first season. The second season the ratings increased to the number 3 show. Part of it might have come about from the negative publicity Arthur Godfrey got when he fired Julius LaRosa. The third season Disneyland was on ABC, and the ratings declined again. The ratings were especially low in the New York market, so the show was cancelled. Howdy Doody had just gone off the air, so reruns of the show replaced the popular kids’ show in the mornings. Jim Backus had signed a three-year contract and declined to come back; I’m not sure if that contributed to the cancellation of the show or not.

Photo: wikimedia.com
With guest star Bing Crosby

Joan Davis tried to get a few other sitcoms on the air in later years; one interesting idea was for a woman astronaut who was training for a flight to the moon. She officially retired in 1959 and passed away in 1961 after suffering a heart attack.

Jim Backus would go on to have a very successful career. He would cross paths with Sherwood Schwartz again when he accepted the role of Thurston Howell III on Gilligan’s Island. A fun aside is that when the I Married Joan sets were later re-used, Backus’ lines were found written in various places.

As I noted earlier, the theme for my blog this month is “Don’t Judge Me.” In that spirit, I am trying not to judge Joan Davis too harshly without learning more about her as a person. One thing I have learned in writing television blogs for so long is that several of my favorite characters were not my favorite people; I decided long ago that I could adore the character and abhor the actor. Fortunately, most of the actors in classic television were wonderful people.

I do remember watching this show in reruns in the late seventies and early eighties. It was not really my cup of tea, but I am not a big lover of slapstick comedy. Most of the fans that bought the DVDs (91%) gave the series 5 stars and made comments like “extremely funny,” “I couldn’t stop laughing,” and “clever writing and great comic acting.” If you are an I Love Lucy fan, you should probably give I Married Joan a try. There are worse ways to spend an evening.

The Wonder Years Was Wonderful

June 29, 2020 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

It’s been a lot of fun this month to visit a variety of eras in my blog series: “Timeless Comedies: Living in the Past.” Last week we learned more about the fifties on Happy Days. Today we travel a few short years and end up in 1968 where we get to know Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) on The Wonder Years.

Debuting in 1988 following the Superbowl Game that winter, The Wonder Years is narrated by an older Kevin; it described the life of a 12-year-old boy which is what viewers see. The show would last till 1993, and we were able to follow Kevin in his journey from a preteen to a man. The series produced 115 episodes during its time on the air.

Husband and wife Neal Marlens and Carol Black created the coming-of-age show. Kevin experienced all the typical angst and joy of an American kid growing up in the turbulent sixties. From heart-warming to heart-breaking, we journeyed with Kevin through the ups and downs of growing up.

Kevin lives with his father Jack (Dan Lauria), his mom Norma (Ally Mills), his older sister Karen (Olivia d’Abo), and his annoying older brother Wayne (Jason Hervey). We also get to know Kevin’s best friend Paul Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano) and his girlfriend Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar). Although Kevin narrates the show, it’s narrated from an adult perspective and voiced by Daniel Stern. The narrator for the pilot was Ayre Gross. Later Stern re-recorded the episode so it matched the future shows on DVD.

Both the critics and viewers loved this show. After only six episodes aired, the show won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series.

The theme song was Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help from My Friends.”

When Black and Marlens began casting, all five casting directors they spoke with recommended Fred Savage for the role of Kevin. He had recently been in The Princess Bride. Finding an actress for Winnie became a bit harder. After narrowing down the choices, the creative couple were looking at two sisters, Danica and Crystal McKellar. It was practically a toss-up, but in the end, they chose Danica. However, they liked Crystal so much, they wrote her into the show as Becky Slater as an alternate girlfriend for Kevin in the later episodes.

In the pilot episode, Winnie’s older brother is killed in Vietnam. When Kevin consoles her, they end up having their first kiss. It truly was both the actors’ first kiss, so there is a tension there that made it touching. There is always an interest between the two but Winnie starts dating an eighth grader Kirk McCray, and Kevin eventually goes steady with Becky. When he realized he couldn’t shake his feelings for Winnie, he breaks up with Becky. Winnie goes through a similar process. The two share a second kiss at the beginning of their summer vacation the next year but continue to be just friends for a while.

Winnie and Kevin eventually become a couple. Not long after, Winnie moves. While her house is only a few miles away, she must change schools. The two continue their relationship for a while until Winnie becomes interested in another boy at her new school.

The three schools that Kevin and Winnie attend are RFK Junior High, Lincoln Junior High, and McKinley Senior High. All three were named for famous political men who were assassinated. Another fun fact about the schools is that whenever the kids were in the cafeteria, they have green Jell-O.

Winnie and Kevin would get back together again after she is injured in a car crash. They both attend the same high school and date much of that time.

It was tough for both the producers and the cast when you have minors on the set because you have to follow child labor laws. Savage explained his frustration at times. “You have to get at least three hours of school in every day. So, whenever I’m on a break, I go to school. It’s really intense because I have to get a lot done in short periods. And it’s hard because if they need you back on the set, they pull you away every twenty minutes. If you’re writing an essay and suddenly get inspired, you’ve got to stop and go back to work.”

Black and Marlens left the show after season one. I never found a reason listed, but some sources claimed it was because they were having a baby and wanted to escape the Hollywood environment and bring up their children somewhere else.

The show was cancelled in 1993. It was getting harder to keep the plot innocent and fitting for the primetime slot people were used to with a seventeen-year-old. Escalating costs and declining ratings also took their toll. When the final episode of the series aired, the cast still was not sure if this was the final show or if it would be coming back for a seventh season, so the finale was not as smooth or wrapped up as the team wanted.

I’m sure one of the questions people ask Fred and Danica was were they also in love. The fact and fictional parts of the show blurred a bit. Both Fred and Danica mentioned in a People interview that they had a crush on each other at one time or another. Fred said, “I was in love with her for the same reasons every other boy fell in love with her.” He also said, “You won’t meet a sweeter, nicer girl—and she’s gorgeous.” Danica also talked about her crush. “In the beginning we had a mutual crush. Then things went into the teasing stuff and then into a more comfortable, brother-sister thing.”

Another blurring was some of the script language. I remember Sherwood Schwartz’s daughter complaining that something happened in her life and then it ended up on The Brady Bunch. In a similar manner, some of the writers incorporated things Fred and Danica said to each other off camera into the scripts.

Jason Hervey improvised some of the scenes he had with Kevin. Jason remembered some of the things his older brother did to him and in turn tormented Kevin with them. There are a few scenes when Wayne has to drop Kevin off or pick him up, and he would keep inching the car forward as his little brother tried to get in or out. That happened to him in real life.

Finally, the show mirrored life in that on the show Paul Pfeiffer attended Harvard to become a lawyer. In real life, Josh Saviano also became a lawyer, after attending Yale.

The show has held up surprisingly well in reruns. It’s similar to M*A*S*H. You know the show is set in Korea in 1950, but the themes it demonstrates are timeless and the relationships could occur in other times and places.

The Wonder Years works for the same reasons. Neither Kevin nor Winnie are the most popular kids in the school, but they are two of the nicest. If you ever looked back in an old yearbook from junior year or high school, you’ll see kids that you kick yourself for not dating. At the time, they just weren’t the popular kids everyone was interested in, but you realize they were the kids you should have ended up with. Although this show is set with the backdrop of the sixties when times were unpredictable, the primary subject of the show is the relationships Kevin has with this friends and family. The reality and sentimentality of those relationships is the same whether you watch a show from the 1940s, the 1960s, or the 1990s.

Do yourself a favor if you never watched the show or haven’t seen it in a couple decades and treat yourself to a week-end of binge watching. It only gets better with age.