Good Morning World: Tune In

February 17, 2025November 10, 2024 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we are in the middle of our What in the World? blog series, today it’s a forgotten sitcom from the sixties: Good Morning World.

This series was created by Sam Denoff and Bill Persky, the team behind That Girl. The concept was based on Persky and Denoff’s time as writers for a New York radio station in the fifties.

In fact, William B. Williams, a WNEW DJ was given screen credit because the title was based on his daily greeting, “Hello, World.” William B. Williams was quite a character and an icon in the world of music. He was born in 1923 and after attending the University of Syracuse, he got a job with WAAT in New Jersey. He filled in for a DJ who failed to come to work but then was fired for, believe it or not, wearing red socks to work. He was hired by WNEW in New York City. He became a beloved radio icon. The radio station said at his funeral there was a huge crowd outside which included taxi drivers, sanitation workers, bookies, waitresses, singers, songwriters, politicians, housewives, first responders, and even the Rockettes.

📷radiohalloffame.com William B. Williams

According to the radio station’s website, “William B. Williams respected singers and songwriters, music and musicians, and it showed. He had a permanent, perhaps profound, effect on the lexicon of pop music.

He bestowed the ‘Count’ on Basie and the ‘Duke’ on Ellington. Billie Holiday was ‘Lady Day.’ Ella Fitzgerald was the ‘First Lady of Song.’ Louis Armstrong was ‘Pops.’ Sinatra was ‘Francis Albert,’ the ‘Chairman of the Board.’ Nat ‘King’ Cole was simply ‘Nathaniel.’”

The show was produced by Sheldon Leonard and Carl Reiner. Looking at that alone and you would expect it to be a hit.

The premise was two radio disc jockeys who have a morning show, “Lewis and Clarke,” in Los Angeles. Dave Lewis is happily married, and Larry is a lady’s man and party boy.

They had some problems casting this show. Roddy McDowell and Sharon Farrell were cast as the married couple. Then Ron Rifkin replaced McDowell. Then they were both let go and David Lewis was played by Joby Baker, his wife Linda was played by Julie Parrish, and Ronnie Schell was cast as Larry Clarke.

Billy de Wolfe and Goldie Hawn were fun additions to the cast. De Wolfe played Roland Hutton, the stuffy station manager. Hawn was Linda’s best friend Sandy Kramer.

The series debuted on CBS in 1967. It was on Tuesday nights, sponsored by Procter and Gamble. It was competing with N.Y.P.D., a police crime show and Tuesday Night at the Movies which began half an hour before Good Morning World.

Given that the talent behind The Dick Van Dyke Show was contributing to this show as well, it’s not surprising that it seems to be a mixture of The Dick Van Dyke Show and the later Mary Tyler Moore Show. Like Dick Van Dyke, the show features the DJs’ home and work life; like Mary Tyler Moore, you have a Lou Grant-type manager, and we learn about life at a radio station.

The theme music was by David Grusin. The opening was a different look for a sitcom. It’s a bouncy theme that begins with an alarm clock ticking, the guys quickly getting ready, morning traffic, life in LA, and the two DJs barely getting into their chairs before the show started.

The show was not awful in ratings, but the network had two concerns. They still were not sure Baker and Parrish were the right actors to play the married couple, and Parrish had some health concerns that affected the show. They were also concerned that the show did not pull in more of the viewers who were watching The Red Skelton Show which was on before Good Morning World. I don’t think that is surprising. I’m guessing people who enjoyed watching Red Skelton would not love this show as much and vice versa. Full disclosure, I am not a Red Skelton fan. I didn’t find his humor funny, and I have read too many stories shared by actors and writers who experienced his ego and lack of respect dealing with coworkers.

The network made the decision not to renew the show for a second season. Schell, who had been playing a private on Gomer Pyle: USMC, another Leonard/Reiner show, returned to military life with a promotion to corporal.

Goldie Hawn was free to accept an offer to appear on Martin and Rowan’s Laugh In which was a turning point for her career. De Wolfe became part of the cast of his close friend Doris Day’s show.

Baker never starred in another show, but he was a busy character actor. Parrish was later cast in Return to Peyton Place and also stayed busy in television; she later had a recurring role on Beverly Hills 90210.

This would be an easy series to binge watch with 26 episodes available. S’more Entertainment released the series on DVD in 2006 and its’ on Roku, so viewers can check it out for free.

Dharma and Greg: Showing Us It’s Not So Hard for Opposites to Attract

August 28, 2023August 21, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we wrap up our “Duos to Love” blog series, we finish with a couple that is always fun to hang out with: Dharma and Greg. This show aired for five years, teaching us that opposites do indeed attract.

Before we get into hearing more about this quirky show, I want to take a minute to thank all of you who read my blog. This month, I published my 365th article. That means many of us have now been spending time together every week for more than seven years. I’m not sure how long the run will last, but I can tell you that I have at least four more years scheduled, so just a big THANK YOU!

So onto Dharma and Greg. Created by executive producers Dottie Dartland and Chuck Lorre, this sitcom debuted on ABC in September of 1997. Chuck Lorre would go on to create other popular shows including Two and a Half Men, Mike and Molly, and The Big Bang Theory. Dartland had been a producer on Caroline in the City and Grace Under Fire.

Spontaneous free spirit Dharma Finkelstein (Jenna Elfman) is a yoga instructor; organized and conservative Greg Montgomery (Thomas Gibson) is an attorney. Educated at Harvard and Stanford, Greg’s family was very Republican and very wealthy. Dharma’s parents, who home-schooled her, sort of, are not wealthy and definitely not Republican, having lived as hippies.

Kitty (Susan Sullivan) and Edward (Mitchell Ryan) Montgomery are socialites who expected a very different type of woman for their daughter-in-law. Edward is a bit eccentric who deals with his wife by consuming martinis and Scotch. Abigail O’Neil (Mimi Kennedy) and Larry Finkelstein (Alan Rachins) are not married, although they have been together for decades. Abigail is a devoted vegan. Myron loves conspiracy theories; but he has a lot of other interests. He always tells people that he is wanted by the FBI.

Rounding out the cast was Jane (Shae D’lyn), Dharma’s friend who hates men and gradually disappears from the show by the last season; Peter, (Joel Murray) Greg’s best friend and colleague who is a bit lazy and is not a good attorney at all. Marcie (Helen Greenberg) and Susan (Susan Chuang) are friends of Dharma’s from the Co-op.

The theme song was written and performed by Dennis C. Brown. He created several other theme songs, including Grace Under Fire, Mike and Molly, and Two and a Half Men.

For the first three seasons, the show was in the top 25 on Wednesday nights. It had some competition from Beverly Hills 90210 on Fox for the first two seasons. It moved to Tuesdays during season three and ratings increased. However, in season four, ratings began to decline and never really picked up. Its competition that night was Will and Grace. Unfortunately, in season six it was on against Frasier; by the last season, they lost too many viewers but when Fraiser moved nights, they had to take on #14 JAG. The highest-rated show was during season three with 20 million viewers while the finale episode only attracted 6.8 million.

Dharma and Greg did make a return, however. In season nine, episode one, they showed up as Dharma and Greg taking a tour of Charlie Harper’s house after his death in Two and a Half Men.

Elfman received three Emmy nominations. In 1998 and 1999, she lost to Helen Hunt for Mad About You and to Patricia Heaton for Everybody Loves Raymond in 2000

The shows had a nice blend of humor and warm fuzzy moments. Eventually, the parents learn to respect and like each other even if they would not choose each other as friends. Let’s take a look at several episodes that show this blend of heart-warming and comic elements.

In season one, episode 9, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Father,” Greg has to have background checks done on both his and Dharma’s family. The results come back revealing that Larry is not, and never was, wanted by the FBI. Dharma knows that this will devastate him rather than make him happy. So, the pair stages a “crime” where Larry steals his file and then assumes the only reason that he is no longer wanted is that his file is missing.

In season two, episode 8, “Like, Dharma’s Totally Got a Date,” Dharma accepts the invitation of a neighbor boy to go to a dance at his high school. Because she was home-schooled, she was never able to attend a school dance. Dharma convinces Donald to find someone his own age at the dance and then is a bit lonely, only to realize Greg has shown up and the two of them have a special moment dancing together.

And, in season two, episode 20, “Dharma Drags Edward Out of Retirement,” Dharma needs investing help in her job and convinces Edward to help her get things figured out. Kitty does not like the fact that he is spending all his time working again and tells Dharma know she is unhappy. At the end of the show, Kitty joins Edward on the project and the two of them enjoy working together.

These episodes display why the show was so good. While the cast could have so easily been stereotyped and shallow, everyone truly learns to like and respect each other despite their differences. That is not something we have become used to in our divisive society. Maybe we should all watch a few seasons and remember how easy that is to do if we give everyone a chance.

June Lockhart Rocked the Acting Profession

January 11, 2021May 17, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 4 Comments

As we check out some of my favorite actresses this month, this week we learn about one of the most prolific actresses on the small screen. With more than 170 credits between 1938 and 2004, June Lockhart had a very successful career.

Perhaps destiny planned for June to become an actress. Both her parents, Canadian-born Gene and English-born Kathleen Lockhart, were actors and she traveled with them as a young child while they performed. Although she was born in New York City in 1925, she was brought up in Beverly Hills.

She was only 8 when she took the role of Mimsey in “Peter Ibbetson” at the Metropolitan Opera.

In 1938, at age 13, June made her film debut in A Christmas Carol with her parents. She appeared in more than thirty movies, including Meet Me in St. Louis, Sergeant York, All This and Heaven Too, and The Yearling.

Meet Me in St. Louis, 1944 ~ June Lockhart, Judy Garland & Lucille Bremer | Judy garland, Hollywood, Holiday movie — Photo: pinterest.com Meet Me in St. Louis

In 1948, she won a Tony for Outstanding Performance by a Newcomer for her role in “For Love or Money.”

Although her appearances in film and on Broadway would have been a lucrative career n themselves, it was in television that she found most of her fame. In 1949 she accepted a role on The Ford Theater Hour. During the 1950s she would make 56 appearances on drama theater shows. In addition, she was in Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, Rawhide, and Wagon Train.

In 1951 she married John Maloney. In 1959 they divorced and that same year, she married John Lindsay whom she was married to until 1970.

But it was in the television show, Lassie from 1958-1964 that she became a household name as Ruth Martin, Timmy’s (Jon Provost) mother. The show was about the Martin family’s life on the farm and the heroics of Timmy’s dog Lassie.

The 1960s continued to be very productive for her as an actress. She appeared in a variety of television shows, including the dramas Perry Mason, The Man from UNCLE, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and the comedies Bewitched, Family Affair, and The Beverly Hillbillies.

She also starred in two long-lasting sitcoms. From 1965-1968 she was Maureen Robinson on Lost in Space. On the show, a family with three children travel with Major Don West to colonize a new planet. Dr. Zach Smith is a stowaway who tried to sabotage their mission by throwing their ship off course and ends up having to live with the people he thought were his enemies.

In an interview with Bill Mumy who played her son Will on Lost in Space, he said that Lockhart always made time for the kids on the set. He said she kept them occupied between takes which she didn’t need to do. He said “she spent a lot of time nurturing Angela’s and my developing thought processes. Teaching us.”

In 1968 she was offered a role as Dr. Janet Craig for the final two seasons of Petticoat Junction. Bea Benaderet, the star, passed away in 1968, and Janet filled in as a “mother” to the girls.

Although she would not take on any additional regular roles for sitcoms, she continued to keep busy through the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. During these decades , she could be seen on Love American Style, Marcus Welby, Adam-12, Police Story, Ellery Queen, Happy Days, Magnum PI, Falcon Crest, Quincy, Murder She Wrote, Full House, Roseanne, Drew Carey, Grey’s Anatomy, and in Beverly Hills 90210 where she had a recurring role, along with 33 other series.

Her last acting role was an animation movie, Bongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm, in 2016.

Lockhart is an interesting person as well as a successful actress. She hosted the Tournament of Roses parade for eight years and the Macy Thanksgiving parade for five years.

During my research, I learned several surprising things about her. She was an Ambassador for the California State Parks system. She won the NASA award for Exceptional Public Achievement Medal for inspiring the public about space exploration in 2013. She served as a panelist with several White House correspondents on a quiz show Who Said That in the fifties. That job provided her with an open invitation to attend White House briefings which she did and said were fun.

Her hobbies included gold mining, antique motorcars, lighter-than-air aircraft, and learning about the Old West. She kept medical texts near her bed for nighttime reading. She was a member of a kite-flying club. She also loved old steam engines.

Her husband bought her a 1923 Seagrave pumper fire engine named “Cordelia Delilah Lindsay” which she drove around even though it got two miles to the gallon. She actually had the largest parking space at the studio.

If all those facts aren’t interesting enough, in an interview with Bill Mumy by the Archive of American Television, he relayed that she loved rock and roll. In 1967, she hired the Allman Brothers Band (then called Hour Glass) to play at her house. She took Angela Cartwright and Bill to the Whiskey-A-Go-Go. He also said that “in the 1980s she carried a picture of only one person in her wallet and it was David Bowie.”

I’m truly impressed that with as busy as she was as an actress, she made time for both her two daughters and her television children, and enjoyed a ton of hobbies as well. It seems she had a joy for learning about new things and continued to add interests to her life. She is a great role model for all of us.

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.

Our House: Learning the Art of Compromising

August 19, 2019 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As continue our Rewind 1980s month, today we take a look at Our House, another family dramedy. Our House debuted in 1986 on NBC and ran for two seasons, producing 46 episodes.

James Lee Barrett created the series. He would receive credit for writing all 46 episodes. He passed away a year after it was cancelled. He also developed and wrote the scripts for In the Heat of the Night.

The premise of the show is that three generations of family members live together and cope with the ups and downs of daily life. When John Witherspoon (Patrick Duffy) passes away, his widow Jessie (Deidre Hall) moves her three children from Fort Wayne, Indiana to California to live with her father-in-law, Gus (Wilford Brimley), a widower.

Gus thinks his grandkids should be raised the same way his kids were, but Jessie doesn’t always agree with his rules and methods. Gus’s neighbor and best friend Joe is a bit easier to get along with. When Gus invites the family to move in with him, Joe (Gerald O’Laughlin) says, “You’re set in your ways. It could be fatal.” The kids had to learn that beneath Gus’s gruff exterior, he was a gentle and loving man, and he had to learn how to impart life lessons to them without sounding like an old grouch. During the run of the show, Gus learns he must change his view on some things, and his grandkids realize he has a lot of wisdom to share. The show manages to uphold traditional values while exploring contemporary social issues and being open minded about them.

Gus likes living alone, being retired, and enjoying quiet time, but he knows Jessie needs help to and does the right thing. One of the things viewers remember most about this show was the beautiful old Victorian house they lived in.

Deidre Hall plays the part of Jessie. She is best known for her role of Marlena on Days of Our Lives, and it’s interesting to note that she continued playing the role of Marlena while she starred in this show. Dee Wallace Stone, the mom on ET, was originally offered the part, but she declined. When Jessie gets to California, one of her priorities is to become financially stable. She gets a job as an administrative assistant. Eventually Jessie begins dating again which is hard for both her and Gus.

Kris, 15 and the oldest, is played by Shannen Doherty. She wants to get into the Air Force like her father. Doherty would go on to find fame as Brenda on Beverly Hills 90210.

David (Chad Allen), 12, is the middle child and only son. Allen would later appear on Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman for five years.

The youngest is Molly, 8, played by Keri Houlihan. She is a sweet and mild-tempered girl who wants to make everyone happy and for everyone to get along. Molly also brought her dog, Arthur, a basset hound.

Joe Kaplan is the same age as Gus. While they don’t always agree, Joe is sometimes the voice of reason for Gus. Gus always listens to him and respects his viewpoint even if he thinks it’s the wrong perspective.

Michael Baum of the Los Angeles Times wrote of this show: “Our house is such a nice, sweet, good-natured show, and Wilford Brimley is so wonderfully endearing in the lead role . . . Please, NBC, preserve this warm and entertaining show for all us softies at heart.”

Unfortunately, the show was up against Sixty Minutes, and the ratings never achieved anything significant. If Sixty Minutes wasn’t bad enough, in season two it also had to face The Disney Sunday Movie. It ranked 59^th in season one and 71^st in season two.

I’m not sure why the network was not willing to move the show in season two and see if more viewers turned in without the pressure of Sixty Minutes.

I understand this show was not of Shakespearian quality, but it was a wholesome show and never really got a chance to get off the ground. Having a diverse group of people and different ages learn to live together peacefully under the same roof was interesting to watch. Everyone learned about compromise and family values. The cast was made up of good actors and the plot was different from most other family shows at the time. Brimley had just the right amount of crotchetiness. His character sets the tone for the entire show. He could have been too grouchy, turning off viewers but he made the show charming instead.