Sammee Tong

Linda Evans’ Destiny was Working with John Forsythe

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This month we are looking at some of our favorite “Supportive Women.” Today we are taking a closer look at the career of Linda Evans.

Photo: vintageeveryday.com

Born Linda Evenstad in 1942 in Hartford, Connecticut, she was the middle child of three sisters. Both her parents were professional dancers. When she was six months old, the family moved to North Hollywood. Linda graduated from Hollywood High School with Stefanie Powers, who we will be talking about next week. Like Morgan Fairchild, who we will be discussing in two weeks, Linda took drama classes to help her deal with shyness.

Linda was engaged to Patrick Curtis, but they never married. He later became a press agent and married Raquel Welch.

Linda’s first two roles were on two of my favorite sitcoms. In 1960, she guest starred on Bachelor Father where Bentley Greg (John Forsythe) raised his niece Kelly (Noreen Corcoran) with the help of his houseboy Peter (Sammee Tong). Her second appearance was on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. During the sixties, she would appear on a variety of shows including Dr. Kildare, Wagon Train, and My Favorite Martian.

Photo: pinterest.com

Her first made-for-tv movie was 1962’s Buttons with Beaus, and her first big screen feature came a year later in Twilight of Honor; her second movie was Beach Blanket Bingo in 1965 where she played Sugar Kane.

It was in 1965 that Evans began dating film director John Derek. They would marry in 1968 and separate in 1973 when Linda learned he was dating the actress who became known as Bo Derek.

1965 was also the year she was offered her first role as a regular cast member of a series. She became Audra Barkley from 1965-1969 on The Big Valley. The western was very popular. Similar to Bonanza, in this show, Victoria Barkley managed to raise her family and keep the villains at bay.

She and Barbara Stanwyck, who played her mother Victoria on the show, became very close. Stanwyck continued to refer to her as Audra after the show ended. Linda says Barbara was a great mentor and friend to her.

In 1967 when Derek was filming Evel Knievel’s famous motorcycle jump over the fountains at Caesar’s Place in Las Vegas, he asked Linda to take over one of the cameras, and she shot the famous footage of Knievel’s devastating crash.

During the 1970s she kept busy with television appearances on dramas including McCloud, Banacek, Harry O, McMillan and Wife, and The Rockford Files.

With “mom” Barbara Stanwyck Photo: imdb.com

In 1975, she married Stan Herman, a real estate tycoon. They were married four years before splitting up. She never married again.

From 1976-1977 she again accepted a role as a regular on the show Hunter. The series only lasted fourteen episodes before being canceled. Not to be confused with the show from the 1980s, in this one, US government special agents James Hunter (Tony Franciscus) and Marty Shaw (Evans) take on missions around the world. He posed as a bookstore owner, and her cover was a model. I admit I have never seen this show, but it sounds like a seventies version of I Spy.

During the 1980s, her career was split between two primary shows: The Love Boat and Dynasty. Dynasty was on the air from 1981-1989. When Dallas became extremely popular, ABC commissioned Aaron Spelling to come up with a primetime soap opera of its own. Evans was back on the air working with John Forsythe again as Blake Carrington, her wealthy husband. The basic premise of the show was that it was an upper-class version of the Hatfields and the McCoys with the Carringtons and the Colbys feuding in the oil business in Denver, Colorado.

Dynasty with Forsythe and Collins Photo: imdb.com

Evans and Forsythe remained close friends for the rest of his life. She said he was “so magical. This show was so serious and he was funny personally. We’d be fighting and people would be strangling each other and he made me laugh all day long, I’ll be forever grateful to him for that.” The person Linda was often strangling was Joan Collins who played Alexis Carrington Colby, Blake’s first wife.

By 1984 the show had reached number one in the rankings. Linda was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1983. She was beat out by Tyne Daly from Cagney and Lacey.

After the show was canceled, Evans stepped out of the limelight for the most part. She did film five made-for-tv movies during the 1990s and guest starred on Germany’s version of The Love Boat, Das Traumschiff, in 2020. In 2021, she was in a big-screen feature, Swan Song.

In 2011 Evans published a book, Recipes for Life: My Memories, a combination of candid memoir and inspirational cookbook. Despite her perfect figure, one of her weaknesses is pizza. On premierspeakers.com on April 10, 2018, she was quoted as saying “I love pizza so much, that if you wake me up in the middle of the night and ask me if I’d like to eat a slice, I’ll say YES. Kenny Rogers used to have it delivered to me while I was filming The Gambler.

Photo: dailyexpress.com

Linda seemed to enjoy her career. She is remembered for several well-known characters in Audra Barkley and Crystal Carrington. While she has given up acting for the most part, I would not be surprised to see her back on the big screen for another part or two if it’s the right offer.

Stars Who Jump From the Big Screen to the Small Screen Don’t Always Land on Their Feet

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While it is not uncommon for stars to transition from television to movies–think about Robin Williams, Sally Field, Melissa McCarthy, and Tom Hanks–it is less likely to see stars move from the big screen to the small screen.  Jane Fonda has transitioned to television in Frankie and Grace and Fred MacMurray did it with My Three Sons.  For most stars, the move has not worked out very well. Let’s look at a few stars who tried to make the conversion.

That Wonderful Guy – Jack Lemmon (1949)

Neil Hamilton (best known as Commissioner Gordon on Batman) plays Franklin Westbrook, a conceited drama critic who dislikes almost everything. Jack Lemmon plays Harold, a Midwesterner who thinks working for Westbrook will help him become worldly and give a boost to his acting career. His girlfriend is played by his real wife Cynthia Stone. The episodes revolved around his romantic and business adventures in New York City.  Perhaps Westbrook panned the show because it was cancelled after three episodes.

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Heaven for Betsy – Jack Lemmon (1952)

Three years later, Lemmon gave it another try. In this show, Lemmon plays Peter Bell, a toy store buyer. His wife Cynthia again played his wife Betsy. The series was based on a sketch “The Couple Next Door” that Lemmon and his wife played regularly on the Frances Langford/Don Ameche Show. Each episode lasted 15 minutes, and it told about the newlyweds’ struggles in New York City. Instead of three episodes, this series lasted three months.

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Honestly Celeste – Celeste Holm (1954)

After playing Ado Annie in Oklahoma, Holm tried her hand at television. She plays Celeste Anders, a Minnesota college professor living in Manhattan, who is getting journalism experience working for the NY Express. Celeste wrote stories ranging from modern art to underprivileged families. She also dated the publisher’s son Bob Wallace, played by Scott McKay. After three months, she was sent back to school in Minnesota. What was most surprising about this failure was that Norman Lear (who would go on to create dozens of shows) and Larry Gelbart (who later created M*A*S*H) were both part of the writing staff.

 

Going My Way – Gene Kelly (1962)

Bridging television and movies, Gene Kelly redid Bing Crosby’s movie from 1944 for the small screen. Kelly is Father Chuck O’Malley, a progressive priest assigned to the slums of New York. Father Fitzgibbon played by Leo G. Carroll is a cantankerous, old priest. Dick York was his boyhood pal Tom Colwell who ran the community center. Mrs. Featherstone (Nydia Westman) played the rectory housekeeper. The list of guest stars on the show was very impressive, but after a year, the network told Kelly to keep going and cancelled the show.

 

The Bing Crosby Show – Bing Crosby (1964)

I guess Bing decided if Gene Kelly could enter television with his old movie, he might also give it a try. He plays Bing Collins a former singer. He is now an electrical engineer married to Ellie (Beverly Garland) with two daughters Janice (Carol Faylen), 15, and boy crazy and Joyce (Diane Sherry), 10, who had a high IQ. It lasted one season. Not surprisingly, this series also attracted a lot of big-name guest stars including Frankie Avalon, Jack Benny, Dennis Day, Joan Fontaine, and George Gobel. Apparently, Garland had a thing for engineers because she would marry aeronautical engineer Steve Douglas on My Three Sons.

 

Mickey – Mickey Rooney (1964)

Mickey plays Mickey Grady who leaves the Coast Guard to manage a posh hotel, Newport Arms in California, with his wife Nora (Emmaline Henry) and two young boys. His real son plays one of his sons on the show. Sammee Tong plays the hotel’s manager. The former supervisor has left a lot of problems for Mickey. The show was cancelled in January airing only 17 episodes.

 

One of the Boys – Mickey Rooney (1982)

After vowing never to work on television again, Rooney tried it again 18 years later. Now he plays 66-year-old Oliver Nugent, rescued from a nursing home by his grandson Adam Shields (Dana Carvey). Adam is a college student who takes him in. Adam’s roommate, Jonathan Burns (Nathan Lane) is not so happy about the situation. Oliver looks for a job and lands one singing in a restaurant. Also appearing in the cast was Scatman Crothers who sang with Oliver and had also left the nursing home.  A young Meg Ryan played Adam’s girlfriend Jane. The show debuted at 18th place in the ratings but by within a month it had dropped to 68th. Even with this cast, the show was cancelled after an unlucky 13 episodes.

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Jimmy Stewart Show – Jimmy Stewart (1971)

Jimmy Stewart jumped to the small screen with great anticipation and excitement by viewers. He  played anthropology professor Jim Howard. Howard teaches at Josiah Kessel College, started by his grandfather.  His house is full with his wife, his son Peter, Peter’s wife Wendy, and his grandson Jake. He also has a young son Teddy, who happens to be the same age as his grandson. His friend Luther Quince often stops by to eat and give advice. Jim talks to the audience during the show and wishes them love, peace, and laughter at the end of each episode. Even beloved Jimmy Stewart was unable to save this show which was cancelled after one season.

THE JIMMY STEWART SHOW, (back row, l to r): Ellen Geer, Jonathan Daly, (front):Julie Adams, Jimmy Stewart, Dennis Larson, Kirby Furlong, 1971-72

 

The Doris Day Show – Doris Day (1968)

Doris Day was the most successful actor moving from film to television. However, I think the reason she managed to keep her show on the air for five seasons was because she changed the format so often that CBS did not realize it was the same show.  In 1968, Day is Doris Martin, a widow with two kids. She moves from the city to Mill Valley, CA to live on her father’s ranch.

The second season she commutes to San Francisco after accepting a job as an executive secretary to Michael Nicholson (MacLean Stevenson), the editor of Today’s Magazine. Rose Marie was Myrna Gibbons and Denver Pyle again played her father Buck Webb.

In 1970, Doris and the kids move to an apartment over an Italian restaurant run by Kaye Ballard and Bernie Kopell. Billy De Wolfe was her neighbor. Now Doris is writing feature stories for the magazine.

When the show returned the next fall, Doris was single and a reporter for a magazine. Her new boss was Cy Bennett (John Dehner) and she had a boyfriend Peter Lawford but later her boyfriend turned into Patrick O’Neal. There was no restaurant.

By 1973, the network caught up with all the changes and cancelled the show.

 

It was interesting that so many actors failed in television when they were such celebrated movie stars. The radio stars seemed to have better luck making the transition. Jack Benny and Burns and Allen had long-lasting and popular shows. It’s hard to imagine actors like Ryan Gosling, Amy Adams, Julia Roberts, or Ben Affleck bombing on a television series today.

I think for now I will continue to choose to watch Pillow Talk, Move Over Darling, Harvey, The Philadelphia Story, Some Like It Hot, Singing in the Rain, and Hope and Crosby’s Road movies and set aside the television DVDs these stars appeared in.

A Bachelor Party For Everyone

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Each month I would like to take a look at one of my favorite sitcoms.  November’s show is Bachelor Father which ran from 1957-1962. Bachelor Father is one of my all-time favorite shows. With its sophisticated writing, realistic relationships, and elegant lifestyle, I can find something new each time a re-watch an episode. Before Steve Douglas (My Three Sons), Andy Taylor (The Andy Griffith Show), Bill Davis (Family Affair), Phil Drummond (Different Strokes), and Danny Tanner (Full House), Bentley Gregg took on the responsibility of raising his niece after her parents were killed in a car accident. Somehow he was a lucrative lawyer in Beverly Hills, raised a respectful and intelligent niece, participated in civic affairs, and never let any of it cramp his dating life, well rarely. Part of his success can be attributed to Peter, his houseboy who was the “Mother” of the family and kept the household running smoothly.

Starring John Forsythe as Bentley Gregg, Noreen Corcoran as Kelly, and Sammee Tong as Peter, the series debuted on CBS in September 1957, airing alternate weeks with The Jack Benny Show.  In 1959, the show moved to NBC, and the final season in 1962 it aired on ABC. The program was based on a radio episode, “A New Girl in His Life,” which was heard on General Electric Theater in May of 1957. During the show’s run, 157 episodes were filmed, all in black and white. While there was a revolving cast of beautiful women on the show, the other regulars were Kelly’s best friend Ginger played by Bernadette Withers, Kelly’s boyfriend Howard Meecham played by Jimmy Boyd, and their dog Jasper.

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The character of Bentley Gregg was based on two well-known Beverly Hills bachelors.  Their names were combined for this character. No serious thoughts were given to creating a steady relationship for Bentley by the writers because he had an aversion to marriage, so Kelly was the only permanent woman in his life.

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John Forsythe was born Jacob Lincoln Freund in Penns Grove, NJ the son of a Wall Street businessman.   He later moved to Brooklyn and went on to school at the University of North Carolina. After college he was hired as the announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He signed a contract with Warner Brothers in 1943. Eventually he moved his family to California in order to give them a stable home life. He starred in two other sitcoms in the 60s, The John Forsythe Show in 1965-66 and To Rome with Love in 1969-71. He is best known as the voice of Charlie on Charlie’s Angels and the role of Blake Carrington on Dynasty. He died April 1, 2010 of pneumonia at 92.

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Noreen Corcoran was suggested by Ronald Reagan for the character of Kelly, because he felt she was believable as a typical 13-year-old. She began appearing in films in 1951 and was on various television episodes before getting the role of Kelly. After the show ended, she made a few appearances on shows including Dr. Kildare, Gunsmoke, and The Big Valley and appeared in the movie Gidget Goes to Rome. In 1963 she released the musical single “Love Kitten.” In 1966 she began an 11-year association with the Lewitzky Dance Company. She passed away January 15, 2016 of cardiopulmonary disease at 72.

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Sammee Tong had been a stand-up comedian. Forsythe insisted that Tong be a major character on the show, and the banter between Bentley and Peter was similar to that of Steve Douglas and Uncle Charlie or Bills Davis and Mr. French. Although “Peter” spoke broken English, Sammee Tong spoke excellent English. Tong’s first film was Happiness Ahead in 1934. He appeared in more than 30 films and 40 television programs between 1935 and 1965. He was a good friend of Mickey Rooney’s and played his friend on the sitcom Mickey which was cancelled in 1965. By that time Tong was deeply in debt due to a gambling problem, and he committed suicide October 27, 1964 at age 63. His last appearance was posthumously as Cook in the 1965 film Fluffy.

Some of Bentley’s women were played by actresses who would go on to become famous including Whitney Blake, Donna Douglas, Barbara Eden, Sally Kellerman, Sue Ane Langdon, Joyce Meadows, and Mary Tyler Moore.

Male guest stars included Jack Albertson, Parley Baer, Jack Benny, Edgar Bergen, Bill Bixby, Ronnie Burns, Richard Deacon, Joe Flynn, Howard McNear, Sid Melton, Ryan O’Neal and Harry Von Zell.

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Harry Ackerman produced the first season and was replaced by Everett Freeman for the rest of the series’ life when Ackerman went on to work for other sitcoms, including Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. The show was sponsored by American Tobacco which made Tareyton cigarettes and American Home Products which marketed Anacin, Dristan, and the Chef Boyardee line.

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The show was filmed at Revue Studios and produced by Forsythe’s Bachelor Productions. The episodes were filmed at 4024 Radford Avenue in Studio City and the exteriors were shot at 120 Colonial Street, Backlot at Universal Studios. The end of Colonial Street was also known as New England Street. In the photo below, the house at the right was the Bachelor Father house.  The Cleaver house from Leave It to Beaver was across the street. The Gregg family lived at 113 Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills.  Bentley’s office was Room 106 in the Crescent Building on Crescent Drive in Los Angeles.

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The theme song, “Bachelor Father” was written by David Kahn and Johnny Williams, today known as John Williams, the famous movie composer.

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Vincent Dee was the costume supervisor, Florence Bush was the hair stylist, and Leo Lotito Jr. was the make-up artist.

Dialogue From Bachelor Father

Season 2 / Episode 1: – Bentley and the Finishing School

Kelly Gregg: Peter, I cleaned my room.
Peter Tong: What you tryin’ to do – ruin your reputation?

Season 5 / Episode 36: – Bentley Takes it Easy

Bentley Gregg: [regarding his upcoming home vacation] First and foremost, I’m going to do absolutely nothing.
Peter Tong: If you get tired doing nothing, I’ll be glad to help out.
Bentley Gregg: It’ll be nice to have an expert around.

Season 4 / Episode 33: – Kelly’s Charge Account

Kelly Gregg: I’ll have you know I walked right through Kessler’s this afternoon, and all I bought was a hair net. I just wanted the thrill of signing for something.
Peter Tong: You be careful. Remember, charge account like ocean. One step too far – you go under.

Season 4 / Episode 2: – Kelly Learns to Drive

Bentley Gregg: Don’t you think that you’ve been vacillating enough?
Peter Tong: That depend.
Bentley Gregg: On what?
Peter Tong: What vacillating mean.

Season 3 / Episode 5: – Kelly’s Idol

Peter Tong: Hello, Mr. Gregg. You’re home early.
Bentley Gregg: Peter, I’ve just spent eight of the most miserable boring hours of my life with one the most beautiful girls in this town.
Peter Tong: Sometime even Mickey Mantle don’t get to first base.

Fun Facts

Jimmie Boyd (Howard) recorded the 1952 Christmas song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”

Ginger’s last name changed three times during the run of the show.  She was referred to as Ginger Farrrell, Loomis, and Mitchell.

Ginger was played by Bernadette Withers. Jane Withers was her aunt, and Jane was best known as Josephine the Plumber.

In Episode 5 of Season 4, Linda Evans (then Linda Evenstad) played one of Kelly’s girlfriends who had a big crush on Bentley. She would later play his wife on Dynasty.

During the five years of the show, Bentley had five different secretaries: Vickie, Kitty 1, Kitty 2, Suzanne, and Connie; could he have been related to Murphy Brown?

Some of the episodes can be seen on youtube.com. Antenna TV had Bachelor Father on its schedule but it was replaced in 2015. We can only hope they will bring it back soon and that the show will finally be given its due and released on DVD so we can once again enjoy the Gregg family and friends.

Below is the list of episodes by season.

Season 1

  1. Bentley And The P.T.A. (9/29/1957)
  2. Bentley versus The Girl Scouts (10/6/1957)
  3. Bentley And The lady Doctor (10/13/1957)
  4. Date With Kelly (10/20/1957)
  5. Uncle Bentley keeps His Promise (10/27/1957)
  6. Bentley And The Baby Sitter (11/3/1957)
  7. Uncle Bentley And The Aunts (11/10/1957)
  8. Bentley And The Revolving Housekeeper (11/24/1957)
  9. Bentley And The Talent Contest (1/5/1958)
  10. Bentley, The Homemaker (1/19/1958)
  11. Bentley And His Junior Image (2/2/1958)
  12. Uncle Bentley Loans Out Peter (2/16/1958)
  13. Bentley And The Social Worker (3/2/1958)
  14. A Sister For Kelly (3/16/1958)
  15. Waiting Up For Kelly (3/30/1958)
  16. Woman Of The house (4/13/1958)
  17. Peter falls In love (4/27/1958)
  18. Bentley’s Prospective Son-In-Law (5/11/1958)
  19. Bentley’s Clubhouse (5/25/1958)
  20. Uncle Bentley And The Matchmaker (6/8/1958)

Season 2

  1. Bentley And The Finishing School (9/14/1958)
  2. Parent’s Night (9/28/1958)
  3. Bentley Leads A Dog’s Life (10/12/1958)
  4. Bentley & the Teenage Siren (10/26/1958)
  5. Bentley & Peter’s Teacher (11/9/1958)
  6. Bentley And The Wedding Bells (11/23/1958)
  7. Kelly’s Mad Crush (11/7/1958)
  8. Bentley’s Big Case (12/21/1958)
  9. Bentley’s Economy Wave (1/4/1959)
  10. Decisions, Decisions (1/18/1959)
  11. Bentley And The Kleptomaniac (2/1/1959)
  12. A Phone For Kelly (2/15/1959)
  13. Bentley, The Proud Father (3/15/1959)
  14. Bentley’s Aunt Caroline (3/29/1959)
  15. Bentley, Man Of Steel (4/12/1959)
  16. Bentley And The Motorcycle (4/26/1959)
  17. Bentley The Star Maker (5/1/1959)
  18. Bentley, The Organizer (5/10/1959)
  19. Bentley And The beauty Contest (5/24/1959)
  20. Bentley, The Hero (6/7/1959)

Season 3

  1. Peter Meets His Match (9/17/1959)
  2. Bentley & the dog Trainer (9/24/1959)
  3. The Case Against Gisele (10/1/1959)
  4. Bentley And The Gullible Guitarist (10/8/1959)
  5. Kelly’s Idol (10/15/1959)
  6. East Meets West (10/22/1959)
  7. Bentley And Grandpa Ling (10/29/1959)
  8. Kelly, The Golddigger (11/5/1959)
  9. The Rescue Of Rufus (11/12/1959)
  10. A Key For Kelly (11/19/1959)
  11. Bentley’s Double Play (11/26/1959)
  12. Bentley And The Brainy Beauty (12/3/1959)
  13. Bentley Plays Cupid (12/10/1959)
  14. Kelly’s Secret (12/17/1959)
  15. Bentley Goes To Washington (12/24/1959)
  16. Kelly, The Politician (12/31/1959)
  17. Bentley, The Gentleman Farmer (1/7/1960)
  18. Bentley And The Combo (1/14/1960)
  19. Bentley And The Bartered Bride (1/21/1960)
  20. The Blonde Issue (1/28/1960)
  21. Bentley And The Majorette (2/4/1960)
  22. Bentley, The Model Citizen (2/18/1960)
  23. The Fishing Trip (2/25/1960)
  24. The Fortune Cookie Caper (3/3/1960)
  25. Kelly And The College Man (3/10/1960)
  26. Kelly, The Career Woman (3/17/1960)
  27. Bentley’s New House (3/24/1960)
  28. Bentley, The Stage Mother (4/7/1960)
  29. The Woman’s Angle (4/14/1960)
  30. Bentley Meets The Perfect Woman (4/21/1960)
  31. Bentley And The Travel Agent (4/28/1960)
  32. The Very Friendly Witness (5/5/1960)
  33. Bentley And The Blood Bank (5/12/1960)
  34. A Man Of Importance (5/19/1960)
  35. Bentley And The Beach Bum (5/26/1960)
  36. Where There’s A Will (6/2/1960)
  37. Bentley’s Birthday Gift (6/9/1960)

Season 4

  1. Kelly, The Matchmaker (8/26/1960)
  2. It Happens In November (9/7/1960)
  3. Jasper The Second (9/15/1960)
  4. Kelly Learns To Drive (9/22/1960)
  5. Trail Separation (9/29/1960)
  6. Mystery Witness (10/6/1960)
  7. A Crush On Bentley (10/13/1960)
  8. Peter Gets Jury Notice (10/20/1960)
  9. Hilda The Jewel (10/27/1960)
  10. How To Catch A Man(11/10/1960)
  11. Bentley Cracks The Whip (11/24/1960)
  12. Bentley And The Big Board (12/1/1960)
  13. Dear Bentley (12/15/1960)
  14. Bentley And The Lost Chord (12/22/1960)
  15. Ginger’s Big Romance (12/29/1960)
  16. Bentley The Angel (1/5/1961)
  17. Bentley Goes To Europe (1/19/1961)
  18. Bentley And The Woodpecker (1/21/1961)
  19. The Greggs In Rome (1/26/1961)
  20. The Greggs In London (2/2/1961)
  21. The Greggs In Paris (2/16/1961)
  22. Encore In Paris (2/23/1961)
  23. There’s No Place Like Home (3/2/1961)
  24. Bentley Swims Upstream (3/9/1961)
  25. A Man Among Men (3/16/1961)
  26. Peter’s China Doll (3/23/1961)
  27. Bentley And The Counterspy (3/30/1961)
  28. Peter Plays Cupid (4/6/1961)
  29. Bentley And The Great Debate (4/13/1961)
  30. Bentley And The Nature Girl (4/20/1961)
  31. Bentley’s Mad Friends (4/27/1961)
  32. Hilda Rides Again (5/4/1961)
  33. Kelly’s Charge Account (5/11/1961)
  34. Bentley Builds A Pool (5/18/1961)
  35. Bentley Slays A dragon (5/25/1961)
  36. A Favor For Bentley (6/1/1961)
  37. Kelly Gets A Job (6/8/1961)
  38. Kelly’s Tangled Web (6/15/1961)
  39. Bentley’s Barbecue (6/22/1961)
  40. Drop That Calorie (7/6/1961)

Season 5

  1. Kelly’s Graduation (9/21/1961)
  2. King’s English (10/3/1961)
  3. Rush Week (10/10/1961)
  4. Kelly And The Free Thinker (10/17/1961)
  5. A Party For Peter (10/24/1961)
  6. Never Steal An Owl (10/31/1961)
  7. Bentley’s Catered Affair (11/7/1961)
  8. House At Smuggler’s Cove (11/14/1961)
  9. Peter’s Punctured Wedding (11/21/1961)
  10. Star Light, Star Not So Bright (11/28/1961)
  11. Bentley And The Time Clock (12/5/1961)
  12. Birth Of A Song (12/12/1961)
  13. Deck The halls (12/19/1961)
  14. The Law And Kelly Gregg (12/26/1961)
  15. How To Throw Your Voice (1/2/1962)
  16. Kelly, The Yes Man (1/9/1962)
  17. Gold In Them Hills (1/16/1962)
  18. How Howard Won His “C” (1/23/1962)
  19. Pinch That Penny (1/30/1962)
  20. Blossom Comes To Visit (2/6/1962)
  21. Bentley And The Homebody (2/13/1962)
  22. Summer Romance (2/20/1962)
  23. Hong Kong Suit
  24. Will Success Spoil Jasper? (3/6/1962)
  25. The Twain Shall Meet (3/9/1962)
  26. Strictly Business (3/13/1962)
  27. On The Old Camp Ground (3/20/1962)
  28. A Visit To The Bergens (3/27/1962)
  29. The Richest Cat (4/3/1962)
  30. Bentley Goes To Bat (4/17/1962)
  31. Kelly’s Engagement (4/24/1962)
  32. Kelly, The Home Executive (5/1/1962)
  33. Blossom Time At The Greggs (5/8/1962)
  34. What Men Don’t Know (5/15/1962)
  35. Marry Thy Neighbor (5/22/1962)
  36. Bentley Takes It Easy (5/29/1962)
  37. Boys Will Be Boys (6/5/1962)
  38. Divided House (6/12/1962)
  39. Peter, The Medicine Man (6/19/1962)
  40. Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight (6/26/1962)