Empty Nest: These Birds Kept Flying Home

November 13, 2023November 5, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are looking at sitcoms dealing with careers in our “Work It Out” series. Today I also am learning a lot about a show that I thought was okay but had a big following and was quite popular for seven seasons: Empty Nest.

This show was produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions, the same team that produced Benson which we learned about last week. It was a spin-off of The Golden Girls which also was produced by the group. However, it is a stretch to connect the original episode and this series. In 1987 George (Paul Dooley) and Renee (Rita Moreno) were a couple who lived next to the Girls. They were suffering from Empty Nest Syndrome after their daughter (Jane Hamick) left for college and their son (Geoffrey Lewis) lived on his own. They had a neighbor Oliver (David Leisure).

Rita did not think the show was very well written. She said Susan Harris was ill at the time. The Corliss house and neighbor was about the only thing that was included in the new show.

On Empty Nest, Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan) is a widowed pediatrician. His two adult daughters Barbara (Kristy McNichol) and Carol (Dinah Manoff) move back in with him. Rounding out the cast was neighbor Charley (David Leisure) and Weston’s nurse Laverne (Park Overall). Carol is the oldest and had gone through a bad divorce. Barbara was the middle child and was a tough, undercover cop. Their youngest sister Emily was off at college and never seen in the first three seasons. When McNichol left the show early in the fifth season, Emily (Lisa Rieffel) moved back home but she left after that year, and for the final two seasons, only Carol remained at home, although McNichol did return for the finale. Charley bonded with Harry and considered him a surrogate father figure. Their dog Dreyfuss (Bear) also lived with the crew.

Bear’s father was a Golden Retriever mix and his mother was a St. Bernard. Bear’s entire family was in show business. His father was in Father Murphy and Summer Rental with John Candy. His brother was in both Steel Magnolias and The Bodyguard. His children continued the tradition taking roles in several movies including Homeward Bound II. Mulligan and Bear were close. Richard would greet him every morning and give him a treat.

The cast was well aware of each other before working together. McNichol had worked with Manoff who played her friend on Family earlier in the 80s. Mulligan had played Manoff’s father on Soap. Mulligan and McNichol worked together on The Love Boat. And, McNichol and Leisure were in the movie You Can’t Hurry Love in 1988.

The reason this show is considered in this month’s blog is that a lot of the show revolved around Harry’s medical practice. He worked at a hospital for the first five seasons with his nurse Laverne. The two are good friends. For the final two seasons, Harry retires and then decides to help out an inner city clinic run by Dr. Maxine Douglas (Marsha Warfield). When Laverne is fired by Harry’s replacement, he hires her at the clinic.

Some notable guest stars who showed up along the way included Don Adams, Diana Muldaur, Loni Anderson, Mayim Bialik, Angie Dickinson, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Shirley Jones, Audrey Meadows, and Doris Roberts.

The theme song was “Life Goes On,” written by John Bettis and George Tipton; it was performed by Billy Vera.

Critics liked the show. In 1988, TV Guide said “it’s a simple premise, but it’s vintage Harris and like everything else she does, Empty Nest has been meticulously thought out and superbly cast. Each of the regulars is carefully drawn, consistently realized . . . as for Empty Nest, it’s warm and entertaining comedy . . if you like the humor in Golden Girls, you’ll enjoy Empty Nest. And even if you don’t like Golden Girls, sample Empty Nest anyway. Trust us.” In 1992, TV Guide still liked the show and said, “Harry Weston is delicious and Dreyfuss the dog is delightful. Empty Nest is home to an experienced ensemble that knows its way around a sitcom.”

Mulligan was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy in 1989, 1990, and 1991, winning in 1989. He was beat out by Ted Danson for Cheers in 1990 and Burt Reynolds for Evening Shade in 1991.

Most viewers loved the show the first four seasons, but after McNichol left and Harry retired, the quality seemed to wane. The show was in the top for seasons one through three. However, after that, it slowly declined, coming in #23 for season four, #45 for season five, #62 for season six, and #118 for season seven, so there was no surprise when it was canceled.

Grace Zabriskie appeared in the very first and very last episode of the series. In episode one, she was a woman who dated Harry, and in the finale, she played Laverne’s mother.

One of the typical plots that a lot of people mentioned as one of their favorites was episode 22 from season 1 where we watch Dr. Weston visit five different patients during one episode. At the end of the show, we realize that we have been following Billy from a newborn to 18 years of age, and we understand how much influence a family doctor can have on one patient.

Rue McClanahan talked about how Park Overall would spend her breaks roller skating in the parking lot. However, during season five, she broke her leg doing so and had to miss several episodes and spend several more with crutches in a cast.

I have read a few times in the past few years doing research that Bea Arthur could be very difficult to work with. She was not the favorite on The Golden Girls set and, apparently, she caused an issue on Empty Nest as well. She despised gum chewing and would make the crew spit out their gum. When she guest starred on Empty Nest, she saw Manoff chewing gum and told her to get rid of it. When Manoff declined, Arthur stormed off the set. Speaking of Manoff, she was able to direct seven episodes of the series during the last three seasons. She directed five other shows including an episode of Sabrina, the Teen-Aged Witch. She was also credited with writing two of the Empty Nest episodes.

I do remember watching the early seasons of this show and thinking it was a decent show. I did not remember that McNichol had to leave for mental health reasons, so I’m guessing I stopped watching it before she quit. However, being in the top ten for three years is, or at least was at the time, a good indication of quality and then you add in TV Guide liking the show and Mulligan’s nominations for Emmy awards, and it presents good evidence of a well-rounded show. I did read that Overall could be a bit difficult on the set, and one of those comments came directly from her.

Marty Pollio, guest starred in season six when things weren’t so great and still had good things to say about the cast. He said that “it was an honor to be doing scenes with Richard Mulligan, he was talented beyond belief, and a great guy too. I never realized what a good actress Dinah Manoff was until I watched her work on this particular episode . . . nice person as well. The set was pretty relaxed and friendly. . . I had a really good time on this one.” It would probably have been better for the quality of the show to be a four-season show than a seven-season show.

I agree with TV Guide. If you were a fan of Golden Girls, you definitely should check out the first three seasons of Empty Nest. And even if you are in that small group of people who did not like Golden Girls, you should watch a few episodes and see what you think. However, that is easier said than done. There is no official DVD set; however, there are bootlegs on several places. I also could not find any streaming channels showing it. YouTube does have at least the first episode. Perhaps with all the classic tv channels out there, this show will make a comeback.

Dr. Kildare: The “Perfect” Doctor

July 10, 2023July 1, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are checking out a few favorites in a blog series: “Examining Our Favorite Medical Shows.” Last week we learned a bit about Ben Casey. Today we are looking at a similar show to Ben Casey, although in many ways it was very different: Dr. Kildare. Dr. Kildare was also on the air from 1961-66. MGM produced this show created by Max Brand in the 1930s. The show had previously been a movie and a radio series. Unlike Ben Casey who seemed to argue with everyone, Dr. Kildare (Richard Chamberlain) was a respectful intern at Blair General Hospital. He wants to help his patients and listens to his mentor, Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Raymond Massey). In season three, Kildare became a resident, and the episodes focused more on the stories about the patients.

In 1960 a pilot was filmed with Joseph Cronin in the Kildare role and Lew Ayres as Gillespie which did not sell. The role of Kildare was offered to William Shatner and James Franciscus who both turned it down. In 1961, a new pilot was produced with Chamberlin and Massey. One of the reasons Massey accepted the role is because he was certain the show would only last one season, and he wanted to continue with his movie career. The popularity of the show put his film career on hold for five years.

Other cast members who appeared on the show included Dr. John Kapish (Ken Berry), Nurse Fain (Jean Inness), Dr. Agurski (Eddie Ryder), Dr. Gerson (Jud Taylor), Dr. Lowry (Steve Bell) Nurse Conant (Jo Helton), and Nurse Lawton (Lee Kurty).

The guest stars on this show were amazing. I feel like this should be read in auctioneer mode but here goes: Eddie Albert, Jack Albertson, Fred Astaire, Ed Asner, Lauren Bacall, Ed Begley, Joan Blondell, Tom Bosley, Beau Bridges, Charles Bronson, James Caan, Robert Culp, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Angie Dickinson, Olympia Dukakis, Barbara Eden, Linda Evans, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Peter Falk, Beverly Garland, Ron Howard, Kim Hunter, Celeste Holm, Carolyn Jones, James Earl Jones, Brian Keith, Ted Knight, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Jack Lord, Walter Matthau, Gavin McLeod, Ricardo Montalban, Harry Morgan, Jack Nicholson, Leonard Nimoy, Carroll O’Connor, Suzanne Pleshette, Basil Rathbone, Robert Redford, Robert Reed, Cesar Romero, Gena Rowlands, William Shatner, Jean Stapleton, Gloria Swanson, Rip Torn, Sam Waterston, Dennis Weaver, and Robert Young. For a show that was only on five years, it was an impressive guest cast.

To add more realism to the show, writer E. Jack Neuman spent several months working with interns in a large hospital. Technical advice was provided by the American Medical Association.

The show was realistic in portraying all the drama that is truly found in a city hospital. The plots involved a lot of medical and social issues including smallpox, physician competency, drug addiction, malpractice, and euthanasia. Neuman definitely captured what life in a large, city hospital was like. Kildare makes about $60 a month, or $500 in today’s terms, works long hours, rotates through the various medical departments and has senior physicians overrule his diagnoses.

Just like Ben Casey, the first seasons produced stand-alone episodes and after the success of Peyton Place, storylines carried over from one show to another to entice the audience to tune in again the next week.

The theme music for the series was composed by Jerry Goldsmith. A CD set was released in 2009 which included the theme, the original music from the 1960 pilot, Richard Chamberlain’s recording of “Three Stars Will Shine Tonight,” and musical scores from the five seasons by Hurr Sukman, Richard Markowitz, Morton Stevens, Lalo Schifrin, John Green, and Burt Bacharach.

Airing on Thursday nights, the show was in the top ten during season one and the top twenty for seasons two and three. The show received about 12000 fan letters weekly, and, in addition, Chamberlain received letters personally asking for medical advice.

The network moved the show to Tuesday nights against Red Skelton and McHale’s Navy for season five and the viewers did not follow. The ratings declined, and the show was canceled.

This show really changed Chamberlain’s career. He had always been a small-role guy before this show, but he suddenly became a teen idol. He received more than 35,000 fan letters a month. Onscreen the idealistic Kildare and the wise, sometimes cantankerous, Gillespie don’t always agree but they had great chemistry on the set and apparently off the set as well. Unlike Ben Casey, the cast on this show did get along and Chamberlain mentioned that he always enjoyed working with Massey.

Richard said he grew up in a family where they all pretended to be perfect. So, he went through life trying to be perfect too. He said that philosophy did not work well for his life, but it did work well for Dr. Kildare.

Following the show he would take a turn on Broadway, in big-screen movies, and back on television where he specialized in mini-series like Shogun and The Thorn Birds, both in the 1980s.

One fact I found interesting was that the DVD release of the show included a never-aired pilot from a different medical show, The Eleventh Hour in 1962. The episode originally was written for Dr. Kildare. Drs. Kildare and Gillespie assist Dr. Bassett (Wendell Corey), a psychiatrist diagnosing one of his patients Ann (Vera Miles). Instead of airing on Dr. Kildare, Chamberlain and Massey were cut out of the film and it was submitted as a pilot for the show, with the title “Ann Costigan: a Duel on a Field of White.”

Even Mad Magazine got on the Kildare bandwagon. The 1962, #74 issue, featured “Dr. Killjoy,” a parody of the show.

Everyone seemed to like this show. Then again, what is not to like? You have a handsome doctor, exhilarating drama, a fun guest star every week, and realistic stories. The show would go on to inspire the talents behind a variety of medical series including Marcus Welby MD, ER, House, and Grey’s Anatomy.

Gunsmoke Took 20 Years to Get Outta Dodge

June 7, 2021 / thewritelife61 / 4 Comments

From 1952-1961, you could tune into Gunsmoke on your local radio to hear the adventures of the folks in Dodge City, Kansas created by Norman Macdonnell and John Meston. The primary characters were Marshal Matt Dillon (William Conrad), Doc Charles Adams (Howard McNear), Miss Kitty Russell (Georgia Ellis) and Chester Wesley Proudfoot (Parley Baer). Three years after its debut, the series shifted to television as well, running on CBS from 1955-1975, producing an incredible 635 episodes. For television, Macdonnell took over the reins as producer with Meston the head writer.

Amazon.com: Gatsbe Exchange Framed Print Gunsmoke Cast Marshal Dillon Kitty Fester and Doc: Posters & Prints

James Arness was offered the role of Dillon on television. The network wanted John Wayne who turned it down. He did, however, introduce the first episode. Both Raymond Burr and Denver Pyle were also considered for the role. Matt Dillon spent his youth in foster care, knew the Bible well, and at some point was mentored by a caring lawman. He also talks about his time in the Army in some episodes.

Gunsmoke Cast Matt Dillon 8x10 Photograph – Vintage Poster Plaza — Photo: allposters.com

The role of Chester, with a new last name of Goode now, was played by Dennis Weaver. Chester was not only a loyal employee to Marshal Dillon, but he brewed a mean pot of coffee. He had a noticeable limp which apparently resulted from an injury in the Civil War. Weaver later said if he realized how hard it would be to film that long with a fake limp, he would have not used it. Other sidekicks to the Marshal included Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen, Burt Reynolds as Quint Asper (1962-65), Roger Ewing as Thad Greenwood (1966-68), and Buck Taylor as Newly O’Brien (1967-75).

Chester Good....Dennis Weaver Gunsmoke I've always loved that hat | Movie stars, Actors, Tv westerns — Photo: pinterest.com

Doc was now Galen Adams and played by Milburn Stone. Doc was an interesting guy. He apparently was educated in Philadelphia and spent some time as a ship doctor on gambling boats on the Mississippi River where he met Mark Twain. His young wife died from typhus two months after their marriage. He finally settled in Dodge City after wandering a bit.

Gunsmoke photo 197 Milburn Stone — Photo: ebay.com

Miss Kitty was portrayed by Amanda Blake. Perhaps the closest bond she had with Dillon was that she also grew up in foster care in New Orleans. She was in more than 500 of the television episodes. In addition to her role as “entertaining men” in Dodge City, she is half owner of the Long Branch Saloon. Kitty and Matt obviously are attracted to each other and are very close. Kitty was a successful business owner and had a cold demeanor about professional matters but had a soft heart in other matters. Blake was ready to leave the show in 1974, and her storyline was that she finally returned to New Orleans.

Amanda Blake - Wikipedia — Photo: wikipedia.com

During its twenty-year stint, the show had some notable guest stars. Just a few celebrities who graced the set include Jack Albertson, Ed Asner, James Backus, Beau Bridges, Charles Bronson, Bette Davis, Angie Dickinson, Richard Dreyfuss, Buddy Ebsen, Barbara Eden, Jodie Foster, Mariette Hartley, Ron Howard, June Lockhart, Jack Lord, Rose Marie, Howard McNear, Harry Morgan, Leonard Nimoy, Carroll O’Connor, Denver Pyle, Wayne Rogers, William Shatner, Cicely Tyson, and Adam West.

While the show portrayed the hard life in the West, it was also a warm and humorous celebration of a group of people making a new life together.

The opening of the show is a gunfight between Matt and a “bad guy.” It was shot on the same Main Street set used in High Noon, the Grace Kelly/Gary Cooper classic. The scene was dropped in the 1970s when a nonviolence emphasis was placed on television shows and the opening was Matt riding his horse.

Gunsmoke, The Great American Western — Photo: marksmannet.com

The show began its life on Saturday nights at 10 pm ET. In 1961 when the radio show left the air, the television show switched from half an hour to an hour. For season 13, it moved to Monday nights at 7:30 for four years, and then at 8 pm for four years. By season two it was a top ten hit, rising to number one where it remained until 1971.

The first seven seasons were sponsored by L&M cigarettes and Remington shavers.

The well-known theme from the show and radio was “Old Trails” composed by Rex Koury. Lyrics were later recorded by Tex Ritter in 1955 but not used in either radio or tv. Although I could not confirm it, I read several mentions that Koury was so busy, he actually penned the song while using the bathroom. William Lava composed original theme music for television; other composers who contributed music during the twenty years were Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann, Jerome Moross, and Franz Waxman.

Surprisingly, the show was only nominated for fifteen Emmys during its reign. Of those, there were only three wins: one for best dramatic show in 1957, one for Dennis Weaver as supporting actor in 1958, and one for Milburn Stone in 1967.

After surviving the rural purge Paley conducted, the cast thought they were not in jeopardy and were all stunned by the cancellation in 1975. CBS had not prepared them that they were debating ending the show. They assumed the show was continuing till it had 700 episodes and many of the stars read about the cancellation in the trade magazines.

The show has appeared in syndication in three different versions. One package is half-hour episodes from 1955-1961, one package contains hour-long black and white episodes from 1961-1966, and the final package contains one-hour color episodes from 1966-1975. Me TV currently airs the one-hour color shows.

Arness would appear in five made-for-television movies after the show went off the air. In 1987, Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge featured Blake as Miss Kitty and Taylor as O’Brien. Stone had passed away in 1980, so his role was not part of the new film. Gunsmoke: The Last Apache premiered in 1990 without Blake who had died in 1989. In 1992-1994, Gunsmoke: To the Last Man, Gunsmoke: The Long Ride, and Gunsmoke: One Man’s Justice would appear before the series rode off into the sunset for good.

After being on television so long, it’s not surprising that there were a lot of merchandising opportunities for the show. In addition to typical items like lunch boxes, there was Gunsmoke cottage cheese. A Matt Dillon figurine was available with his Horse Buck.

There were also board games, puzzles and a variety of books including numerous paperbacks and comic books from Dell and Gold Key.

1950s Gunsmoke lunch box with thermos. Vintage Gunsmoke Matt Dillon U.S. Marshall metal lunchbox with thermos. Lunchbox depicts James Arness as Matt Dillon draw…

Fans had an affinity for the show. During its time on the air more than thirty westerns came and went, but Gunsmoke continued, in the top ten for most of its two decades. Few series have their own museum, but you can visit Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City to learn all about the show. Furniture from the series is included, as well as signed photos from the cast and other memorabilia including one of Miss Kitty’s dresses.

When you hear someone say “Get outta Dodge,” you can fondly remember Gunsmoke which is where this phrase began. Perhaps being cancelled was a blessing in disguise. After two decades, maybe it was time to get outta Dodge, maintaining the high standards and high ratings that made the show such a long-running success.