Set Designers: Creating Homes for Our Favorite Characters

October 19, 2026March 10, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

We are continuing to our series, “Behind the Scenes.” Today we are learning a bit about the career of a set designer. When we think of our favorite sitcoms from the past, many of us remember their houses as places we visited and know well. Think about The Brady Bunch and their seventies kitchen or Frasier’s apartment full of elegant things and then Martin’s old chair right in the middle of it.

Set designers have similar jobs as costumers except that they are dressing and accessorizing the places where the characters live, work, and do life. They research specific time periods to get historical details right; they create detailed sketches, 3D models, and blueprints for home design and furniture placement; and they work hard to ensure that every home looks like the character who inhabits it. In addition, they oversee construction, painting and installation of sets, and manage the budget. They study architectural styles, the science of color, and develop an awareness of how rooms and homes flow both for movement of actors and allowing equipment like cameras to be set up.

I thought it was hard to find information about costumers and makeup artists, but set designers are no easier to learn about. Let’s meet a few of them.

📷artdepartmental.com Rob and Laura Petrie’s living room

Ken Swartz was born in Oregon in 1913. He began his career in the 1940s working as a set decorator and he remained in film for a couple of decades, but television is where he made his mark. He took his film experience to the small screen working on many popular shows including The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, The Danny Thomas Show, The Joey Bishop Show, and I Spy in the sixties. In the seventies he worked on The Rookies. I have talked about Sheldon Leonard many times over the years and what a professional he was and his high-quality standards. Swartz’s shows in the sixties were all Leonard shows, so he must have been very good at his job to keep getting hired show after show.

Swartz died in Los Angeles in 1973, putting an end to his career at age 60. The cause of his death was never disclosed. While his career was much shorter than we would have liked, he designed many iconic homes for some of our favorite characters like Rob and Laura Petrie’s suburban home; Aunt Bee, Andy, and Opie’s southern house; and the beauty and grandeur of the I Spy sets.

Audrey Blasdel-Goddard was born in California in 1930. After receiving a Master’s degree from UC Berkeley in 1954, she worked as a social worker for three years. During that time, she transitioned to work as a script supervisor for eight years before deciding she wanted to become a set decorator. From 1965-1988, she designed movie and television sets.

Blasdel-Goddard became a producer at Columbia TV from 1976-1982; however, from 1975 until 1991, she also worked at Columbia heading the TV Property Department. She was the first woman to head a major studio property department. Later in 1991 she moved to Sony Pictures for the final seventeen years of her career at which time she retired.

Audrey had an amazingly successful career in television and film, but it was not easy for her to get established. She spent two years working on the television show Sky King learning to be a set decorator. While working as a script supervisor during the day, she attended art school and interior design classes at night.

When she felt qualified, she applied for acceptance into the Union and was told by a business agent, Ed LeRoy, “We haven’t taken a woman into this union, except seamstresses, since it was called the IA.” When she shared her experiences with Universal Property Head John McCarthy and art director Frank Arrigo, they hired her for decorating jobs on shows like The Munsters. After the required thirty days on the job, she submitted her application and dues for membership. After four months of waiting, the Union called the studio and told them to fire her because they hadn’t received an application or payment. Luckily, she kept her receipt from her money order, and after producing it, her paperwork was suddenly “found.” A year and a half after starting her job as a set decorator, she finally got into the Union.

When Audrey worked at Sony, she was asked to run a prop house, so she built the inventory from scratch. She was also a partner in the Hollywood Central prop house.

📷davidcassidy.com Partridge Family Kitchen

📷davidcassicy.com Partridge Family Garage

In addition to The Munsters, her television work includes Pistols ‘n Petticoats, The Partridge Family, Police Woman, Fantasy Island, Hart to Hart, Crazy Like a Fox, TJ Hooker, and Designing Women.

Blasdel-Goddard is now enjoying retirement, spending lots of time with her family, attending book clubs, doing charity work, and traveling.

I appreciated learning more about these hard-working professionals who help create the shows and characters we fall in love with during our lives. Special thanks to Audrey Blasdel-Goddard for persevering in a hard-to-overcome men’s world in set designing and property supervision. Any of their lives would make an exciting movie. Fun Fact: If you are reading this and thinking about some of your favorite television homes, check out Mark Bennett’s book, TV Sets: Fantasy Blueprints of Classic TV Homes.

The Life of a Makeup Artist: All Made Up and Somewhere To Go

October 12, 2026March 10, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

Welcome to our blog theme for the month, “Behind the Scenes.” We are going behind the camera to check out careers of those people working behind the camera to bring our favorite characters to life. Last week we learned a bit about costumer designers, and today we are heading to the makeup counter.

So, what do makeup artists do? Obviously, they apply cosmetic products to enhance the appearance of the stars, but they do so much more. Artists also fit prosthetics and create the effects of blood, wounds, burns, and general aging; adjust colors and textures to work with high-definition cameras and bright lights; assure consistency for multiple-day filming; manage sweating; and sometimes choose and fit wigs for characters. Let’s look at a few of the best in the field to learn more about their life and careers.

William Tuttle

William Tuttle was the first makeup artist to win an Academy Award. He created many innovative techniques and trained generations of makeup artists.

He was born in Florida in 1912. After dropping out of school early to support his mother and younger brother, he held a variety of jobs including forming his own band. In 1930, he moved to Los Angeles, enrolling in an art school and working as a page at Fox Studios. That younger brother, Thomas Tuttle, would also become a makeup artist working on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Joey Bishop Show, Gomer Pyle USMC, and That Girl among others.

Tuttle was hired at Twentieth Century Pictures to work under Jack Dawn. In 1934, Dawn took a job at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Tuttle moved with him. Tuttle was still working under Dawn but began taking on more responsibilities. He supervised the makeup in many popular movies including The Wizard of Oz and Father of the Bride. Eventually, he became the head of the makeup department.

He received a special Oscar for his work on 7 Faces of Dr. Lao in 1965. In this film, Tuttle transformed Tony Randall into seven different characters including Dr. Lao; an aged, bearded Merlin the Magician; and a Medusa with a feminine appearance. Randall said “he shaved my head and eyebrows . . . gave me an unborn look. But professionally it was a masterstroke.” He went on to say that “all my preconceived notions on how I would play the characters vanished. As soon as Tuttle applied his makeup magic, I felt myself actually become these strange people.”

The Oscar category of makeup artist would not become an official category until 1982. That year Rick Baker won the first Oscar for makeup. He would go on to win another five and he credited Tuttle: “His work greatly influenced me.” He said as a young boy, he often tried to re-create the makeup techniques Tuttle used in The Twilight Zone.

Tuttle was the artist behind one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes, “Eye of the Beholder.” When the episode begins, doctors and nurses are working with a bandaged patient who just wants to look like everyone else. After some time, the bandages are slowly peeled away. We see the beautiful face of Donna Douglas. As she picks up the mirror to look at her new face, she screams, cries and covers her face. Then the camera pulls away and we see all the people Tuttle did makeup on – doctors and nurses with deformed faces and pig snouts.

With 393 credits, most of Tuttle’s work was in the movies, but he contributed to television as well. From 1960-62 he provided all the makeup for National Velvet. He also spent time on Mr. Novak, My Favorite Martian, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as well as The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., The Phyllis Diller Show, and The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, among others.

Later in his career, Tuttle created his own line of makeup, Custom Color Cosmetics. Naimie Ojeil, owner of a beauty supply store in Hollywood said his brand was “the most popular makeup among Hollywood professionals for at least two decades.”

Tuttle would create molds of actors he worked on which allowed him to create their looks beforehand. He donated them to the University of Southern California where he taught from 1970-1995. Herbert Farmer, a USC archivist said Tuttle “was interested in passing on all he could to the students. He had a real following.”

Gene Hibbs

Gene Hibbs was born in Normal, Illinois in 1912.

I couldn’t find a lot of information about him. I did read several times that he was often hired because he had a unique talent for making older actresses look younger than they were with a technique he called “painting.”

His first television series was The Lone Ranger from 1954-1955. He worked on many television shows following that including with Ann Sothern on Private Secretary and The Ann Sothern Show, The Judy Garland Show, Here’s Lucy, and Green Acres.

He was working on Green Acres when Judy Garland passed away. She had stipulated in her will that Hibbs was supposed to do her makeup one last time. Her daughter Liza Minelli phoned Hibbs and he agreed to do that. When the network said no, Eva Gabor said she would not work unless he was allowed to leave for a few days. The producer pleaded with the network, but they held firm and said they would lose $30,000 of time and he could not leave the set.

Ben Lane

Ben Lane was born in 1912 in Chicago, Illinois, the same year as both Gene Hibbs and William Tuttle. Lane was one of the founding members of the Motion Picture Guild, but many of his 236 credits were spent in television.

Lane’s first television series was in 1957 for Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. His career would continue with many popular shows. Get ready to take a long breath because this sample is far from a comprehensive listing of his work. Ready? He was part of the cast for The Lone Ranger, Dennis the Menace, The Farmer’s Daughter, Hazel, Gidget, The Monkees, Bewitched, The Flying Nun, I Dream of Jeannie, Bridget Loves Bernie, The Partridge Family, Police Woman, and Fantasy Island.

In addition to keeping busy with his career, he was involved in several charities: City of Hope and Shriner’s circus. He became a nationwide clown advisor. He also was a consultant for the Los Angeles Police Department, the US Department of Justice, and the FBI for disguises.

Bud Westmore

📷abebooks.com Westmore working on the film The Lost Moment

Born in 1918 in New Orleans, Westmore and his brothers—Ern, Frank, Monte, Perc, and Wally–were all makeup artists in the entertainment business. At one time, there was a Westmore heading up almost every studio makeup department.

After school, Bud was an apprentice under Perc at Warner Brothers to learn hair design and makeup before taking a job at Twentieth Century Fox. He left to serve three years with the Coast Guard. When he returned to Hollywood, he worked for the Eagle Lion before he was hired as the head of the Universal Studios makeup department in 1947. The largest building on the Universal studio back lot is named for Bud.

His marriages and divorces also kept him busy. He was married to actress Martha Raye for four months in 1937. A few years later he married Rosemary Lane, another actress, and they were together for fourteen years. His divorce to Lane was on March 31, 1955, and on April 1, 1955, he married Jeanne Shores, a former Miss California in 1952. They would remain together until his death from a heart attack in 1973.

In 1957 Bud was asked to create makeup for a new doll that was coming on the market. In 1959 Barbie debuted. Bud had based her on a German doll Mattel found named Lili. He modified “the bee-stung lips, heavy eyelashes, and widow’s peak to give her an All-American Girl look” and he rooted her hair.

With more than 600 credits on both the big screen and the small screen, Bud’s first television project was Playhouse 90 in 1957. During the sixties he was involved in quite a few shows including The Jack Benny Program, McHale’s Navy, The Munsters, It Takes a Thief, Ironside, Marcus Welby MD, and The Virginian.

It was fun to learn a little bit about these make-up professionals and the shows they worked on to help create some of our favorite television land characters.

Costumers: Bringing Characters to Life

October 5, 2026March 8, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are going “Behind the Scenes” to learn more about the people who work to make television shows great off the screen. Today we get to learn about costume designers.

Costume designers visually define characters. They break down scripts, research time periods, manage budgets, and collaborate with directors and producers to ensure visual consistency. They also oversee fittings, tailor garments, and supervise the wardrobe department on the set.

Characters’ wardrobes have changed during the years. If you watch shows from the fifties to the early seventies, you will notice that the characters have a clothes inventory for the season. You will see characters wearing these clothes over and over during the year. Gracie Allen used to do her own shopping for the dresses she wore on the set.

Costumer designers can design and create clothing for a character, or they can purchase the wardrobes. Sometimes costumers work with big-name designers like Nolan Miller who design clothes for a television character. On That Girl, Ann Marie wore a lot of clothing designed by Marilyn Lewis. On Green Acres, Lisa Douglas’s negligees were purchased from Lucie Ann.

Starting in the late seventies and eighties, it became more common for characters to have new clothing for each episode. If you watch Dynasty or Charlie’s Angels, you probably never see an outfit a second time.

Costumer designers ensure historical accuracy by doing research into time periods and geographical locations. This is reflected in shows like Mad Men or That Seventies Show.

Designing for specific characters includes knowing their personality, creating color schemes that convey emotions, patterns that reflect a personal style, choosing shapes and forms that express a character’s message or social class. Think about a show like Golden Girls where each character has a very different look.

Additionally, designers must consider the set and background colors to make sure the characters are wearing complementary shades or sometimes wearing a clashing color to stand out.

Let’s meet a few television costume designers.

Harald Johnson

Harald Johnson’s work can be seen on The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Spy, and The Mod Squad. He was a member of the motion picture costumers for more than forty years.

In a 2023 online article by Matt Spaiser (https://www.bondsuits.com/the-stylish-beverly-hills-suits-of-the-dick-van-dyke-show/), he shares the following:

“As Rob Petrie, Van Dyke dressed in bespoke suits, which were known simply as ‘custom’ in America. Though the credits read, ‘Mr. Van Dyke’s Wardrobe furnished by “Botany” 500, Tailored by Daroff’, this was not the case literally. Van Dyke used a Beverly Hills tailor named Harry Cherry for his suits. Harry Cherry was the designer of the clothes and the shop proprietor with his name on the door, but he had cutters and tailors working for him.

The famous wardrobe credit was not entirely truthful. This is from the The Dick Van Dyke Show episode ‘My Neighbor’s Husband’s Other Life’.

Botany 500, an average-quality American clothier, paid for their name in the credits and, according to Vince Waldon’s book The Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book, also paid for Van Dyke’s wardrobe. The credit is cleverly and deceptively worded to mean that Daroff tailored clothes for Botany 500, not for Van Dyke. Botany 500 ‘furnished’ Van Dyke’s suits, in the form of paying his tailor. Van Dyke also appeared in advertisements for Botany 500.

In Waldron’s book, the show’s head of costuming Harald Johnson is quoted, ‘Dick was very, very particular about his clothes … He never wore off-the-rack suits. The only things he ever wore that were not custom-made were sportswear items.’ Johnson also said that the deal with Botany 500 provided the show’s producers Sheldon Leonard and Carl Reiner with suits from the same tailor who dressed Van Dyke.

Botany 500 paid a large sum for the Harry Cherry suits, jackets, and trousers. In a series of advertisements in the Los Angeles Times in 1958 promoting a clearance sale of his ready-to-wear clothes—he was shifting to selling only custom clothes—his ready-to-wear suits originally cost from $125 to $225 and were made of ‘Italian and English imported fabrics in 100% cashmere, cashmere-silk and wool, Italian silks, mohairs, lightweight worsted, silk and mohair, etc.’ “

The clothes worn by Mary Tyler Moore and Rose Marie were provided by various suppliers, most of them based in Los Angeles. In Vince Waldron’s book, The Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book, Harald Johnson “negotiated deals with a variety of California-based women’s clothing designers, most of whom were only too happy to loan samples of their latest fashion lines to the show’s female stars in exchange for the exposure and – of course – a prominent plug in the show’s closing credits.”

Mary refused to wear the typical and unrealistic clothing other housewives were wearing on television. In a 2021 online article https://www.cnn.com/style/article/mary-tyler-moore-capri-pants), she was quoted, “I said, I’ve seen all the other actresses, and they’re always running the vacuum in these little flowered frocks with high heels on, and I don’t do that,” she recalled to NPR. “And I don’t know any of my friends who do that. So why don’t we try to make this real? And I’ll dress on the show the way I do in real life. … Within a few weeks, we were sneaking (pants) into a few other scenes in every episode.

Vincent Dee

Born in Pennsylvania in 1915, Vincent Dee passed away in 2006. With almost 100 credits, he was a prolific designer. According to BackstageAudition.com, his “contributions as a costume supervisor are nothing short of extraordinary. His passion for storytelling, coupled with his unparalleled skill in costume design, has brought characters to life in a way that captivates audiences worldwide. Dee’s legacy as a master of his craft will undoubtedly continue to inspire future generations of costumer designers and enthusiasts alike.”

Dee began as a costumer designer on television from 1954 to 1978. He was part of the cast for many popular series including Tales of West Fargo, Bachelor Father, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave It to Beaver, Wagon Train, McHale’s Navy, The Munsters, and The Virginian.

Bachelor Father is one of my favorites and the characters’ wardrobes are spot on. Bentley Gregg is clad in the tailored suits a wealthy attorney would wear. His teen niece Kelly wears typical high school fashion with a polished, upscale vibe. And Peter switches his clothing from white shirt when working at the house to more casual, informal clothing when he’s out and about.

Then you have Leave It to Beaver. June is often made fun of for her flowing dresses and pearls. Barbara Billingsley often told the story about why she wore pearls. She had a large hollow in her neck which became more obvious on screen, so the pearls covered up that stark look. Ward, the businessman is usually in suits or casual attire for golfing. Beaver and Wally wear the typical clothing for boys their age: jeans, flannel shirts, sweaters. The Cleavers are the poster family for a wholesome, clean-cut, conservative family of that time.

The Munsters were a satire of the typical sixties’ family. However, Eddie Munster dressed nothing like Beaver. He wore the same outfit in every show: a velvet suit with short pants and a shite collar with a jacket and gray knee socks. Poor Fred wore heavy looking clothing as a mortician. He was given build-up shoes to expand his 5”6” frame to 7’. His clothing weighed about 50 pounds so there were fans and lemonade and water for him between takes. Lily gives a nod to The Bride of Frankenstein from 1935 with her black and white hair and long, flowing gown.

An interesting story about Dee concerned Edith Head, an amazing designer who often found herself involved in scandals and unethical behavior toward other designers. In a 7-29-2024 online article (https://www.okcmoa.com/edith-heads-controversies) by Kristen Pignuolo, we learn that Head was responsible for promoting The Sting and making sure the actors were happy with their costumes. However, she did no design work for the film. That fell to Peter Saldutti and Vincent Dee who worked with Paul Newman and Robert Redford and Andrea Weaver who was the women’s costumer. The Sting won Best Costume Design. Head received the Oscar and during her acceptance speech failed to even mention Saldutti, Dee, or Weaver.

I think the world of costuming is fascinating. You have all the creative license, scandal, and intrigue of any television plot. I wish we knew more about these hard-working, creative individuals who made our characters so real for us.

F-Troop: Braving Fort Courage

July 6, 2026January 22, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we start our July blogs, the theme is Military Upended. We’re taking a look at military sitcoms and up first is F Troop. This was a western sitcom set in the 1860s. It debuted on CBS in September of 1965 and ran for two seasons.

If you and your siblings argue about whether this show was in color or black and white, you’re both right. The first season was in black and white, and the second season was produced in color.

The characters lived at Fort Courage, an army outpost. Captain Wilton Parmenter (Ken Berry) runs, or tries to run, the fort. One of the running gags is that Parmenter comes from a long line of military heroes that stopped with him. However, he served during the Civil War. After being told to pick up the general’s laundry near Appomattox, he begins sneezing. Union soldiers think it’s a command to charge which turns the tide of the battle. Then while Parmenter’s father is pinning the Medal of Honor on him for this feat, he pricks his chest, drawing blood for which they gave him a Purple Heart.

Parmenter is sent to Fort Courage where all the captains have failed. Two of the three commanders before him deserted, and one had a nervous breakdown there.

Parmenter is “aided” by Sergeant O’Rourke (Forrest Tucker) and Corporal Agarn (Larry Storch). However, these two are there just to make a quick buck however they can; they often work with Chief Wild Eagle (Frank de Kova) to find the next shady business deal. For example, the government thinks 30 men are at the fort; in reality, it’s 17 and the pay for the other 13 is put into a fund by the two men to fund their plans. However, the two men, while willing to take advantage of his gullibility, do like Parmenter and protect him. Parmenter is kind and well meaning.

What Wil really needs protection from is marriage. The local store owner-postmistress Jane (Melody Patterson) has set her cap for him. She’s a beautiful tomboy who knows what she wants and usually gets it. She is also a telegrapher and is the best sharpshooter in the territory. She often rescues Wil with her good aim.

Patterson auditioned for this role at age 15, lying about her age. The show didn’t find about that till half-way through the first season. When the series started, she was 16 and Berry was 32. During the second season, when she turned 17, the producers allowed a more serious relationship between the two.

Rounding out the cast was Private Dobbs (James Hampton), a bugler who only knows two songs; Trooper Vanderbilt (Joe Brooks), the lookout who is almost blind; and Trooper Duffy (Bob Steele) the lone survivor of the Alamo who is too old to help much.

We also get to know several members of the Hekawis tribe headed by Chief Wild Eagle. They are 50/50 partners with O’Rourke and Agarn. They make souvenirs for sale and produce whiskey. They claim to be a peaceful nation because most of them are cowards like the men at the fort. The Chief has many wise sayings and often gives advice although when asked to explain some of them, he says he has no idea. His second in charge is Crazy Cat (Don Diamond).

Not surprisingly for the time, none of the tribal members are played by Native Americans. There is a lot of politically incorrect dialogue on the show. The Hekawe (pronounced “heck-ow-ee”) tell the story of how they got their name: Two indigenous people fell off a cliff and one asked “Where the heck are we?” which they chose for their name.

A lot of stereotypes exist not only about Native Americans but military heroes and the west in general. History is presented tongue in cheek with characters showing up who never would have been there and sly references to things that were happening in the sixties.

A number of guest stars somehow end up at Fort Courage. These include Jamie Farr, Bernard Fox, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Harvey Korman, Paul Lynde, Lee Meriwether, Julie Newmar, Vincent Price, and Don Rickles.

The popular theme music was composed by William Lava with lyrics by Irving Taylor. Lava had more than 500 television credits for composing. While he worked in animation a lot, he composed for Dr. Kildare, The Twilight Zone, Wagon Train, and 77 Sunset Strip. His collaborators included Henry Mancini and Sammy Kahn.

The series featured a lot of great writers including Stan Dreben who wrote for Green Acres, Seaman Jacobs and Howard Merrill from The Dick Van Dyke Show, and James B. Allardice who wrote for a lot of shows including My Three Sons and Hogan’s Heroes.

Storch was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role. His competition included Brian Keith for Family Affair, Bob Crane from Hogan’s Heroes, and Don Adams from Get Smart who won. I admit I was surprised to see his nomination given the classic television sitcoms that were on the air at the time.

ABC placed the show on Tuesday nights for season one which helped its ratings because there wasn’t a lot of competition. It was up against Red Skelton which was waning in its popularity, and it followed McHale’s Navy, and the same type of audience who enjoyed that show probably liked F-Troop as well.

After the second season, the show was ranked 40^th out of 113 shows. According to Forrest Tucker, Warners Brothers was sold to Seven Arts, and they made the decision to cancel the show because they felt it used too much of the Warner Ranch for its setting and they weren’t thrilled about the added costs of producing this one in color.

Fun fact, a replica of the fort was built in Houck, Arizona on Route 66. The Fort displayed F-Troop props, and they sold F-Troop merchandise. Among the amenities were a coffee shop, gas station, grocery store, pancake house, trading post, motel units, trailer park, and campground.

This show is a tougher one to evaluate now. Like so many shows from this era, Native Americans were not portrayed respectfully. However, truth be told, Natives were often portrayed as smarter than white men on this show. Like The Simpsons, everyone on this show was made fun of. It could be compared to The Phil Silvers Show or Hogan’s Heroes. It does have the military money-making schemes that Sergeant Bilko attempted but that was seen as a small part of a respectable military.

For me there was too much emphasis on slapstick humor apart from some of the uncomfortable dialogue. If you want to check it out and see what you think, which is what I always recommend, the series is available on DVD. It’s also on Prime and Roku.

Ichabod and Me: Critics Were Not Fans

June 29, 2026January 4, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

Today we wind up our Funny Duos theme with Ichabod and Me. The show was on for one season from 1961-1962. Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher served as executive producers for the show. They were also the creatives behind Leave it to Beaver.

Widower Bob Major (Robert Sterling) and his six-year-old son Benje (Jimmy Mathers) relocate from New York City where he worked for the New York Times to Phippsboro in New Hampshire. Bob purchased the newspaper there from its longtime owner Ichabod Adams (George Chandler). Ichabod and Bob don’t see eye to eye very often as Bob tries to move the town to a new progressive direction. However, Ichabod not only owns much of the town, but he is the mayor, the school superintendent, and traffic commissioner. Ichabod tries to advise Bob with fatherly wisdom about navigating local conflicts.

Had the show been more successful, Jimmy Mathers might have become as well known as his brother Jerry Mathers who was the Beaver.

Eventually Bob dates Ichabod’s daughter Abby (Christine White). Rounding out the cast is housekeeper Aunt Livvy (Reta Shaw), high school employee Jonathan (Jimmy Hawkins), townsmen Olaf (Burt Mustin) and Colby (Forrest Lewis), hardware store owner Martin (Guy Raymond). Many of Bob’s conflicts are with Olaf and Colby who are on the City Council and listen in on the town’s party line to many of the phone calls in the town.

The characters of Bob and Ichabod were originally created for a dramatic episode that aired on Robert Montgomery Presents titled “Goodbye, Grey Flannel.”

The opening and closing numbers were performed by Pete Rugolo and His Orchestra.

Unfortunately, the critics were not kind to the show. Associated Press critic Cynthia Lowry wrote that “Ichabod and Me amounted to a pretty tired, clumsy effort” and that it was more likely to offend New Englanders than attract them as viewers. Harriet Van Horne said that “a network that would by Ichabod for prime evening time would buy the Brooklyn Bridge from a tavern drunk—and pay cash.” And Variety said it was “just another run-of-the-mill situation comedy, typically innocuous in its content and wholly bland in its approach . . . there were no surprises and few laughs on its first outing.”

The show aired on Tuesday nights. The series competed against The New Breed on ABC and The Dick Powell Show on NBC. After the miserable reviews, it wasn’t surprising that the show failed to attract viewers and it was cancelled after 36 episodes.

Sometimes critics get it wrong, but it sounds like this show was not a great one. That’s too bad because they had a great cast. There were not a lot of successful shows debuting this year. The only ones that are remembered today include The Dick Van Dyke Show, Ben Casey, Mister Ed, and Hazel.

Angie: Always on the Move

December 15, 2025August 2, 2025 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are learning about sitcoms with one name, and today is Angie. Angie had a short run from February 1979 until September of 1980, producing 36 episodes. It was one of the few Garry Marshall shows not to be a long-running hit. He created it with Dale McRaven. We all know Marshall’s amazing career with Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, not to mention all of his great movies. McRaven also had a prolific career as a producer and writer. He’s listed as producer for The Partridge Family, The Betty White Show, Mork and Mindy, and Perfect Strangers. His writing credits includes all of these shows, as well as The Dick Van Dyke Show, That Girl, Get Smart, The Odd Couple, and Room 222 among others.

The cast was quite talented: Donna Pescow played Angie, Robert Hays was her boyfriend-later-husband, the amazing Doris Roberts was her mother Theresa before Raymond came along, and Debralee Scott played her sister Marie.

Bradley Benson is a young pediatrician who comes from a wealthy family comprised of his stuffy father Randall (John Randolph), his overbearing sister Joyce (Sharon Spelman), and her daughter Hillary (Tammy Lauren). The show is set in Philadelphia.

Angie is a coffee-shop waitress who falls in love with Brad. Many scenes are set in the diner with Angie’s friend and co-waitress Didi (Diane Robin). When their families argue about wedding plans, Brad and Angie elope. Later Angie’s mother plans a small family wedding for the two families to get to know each other, and Brad buys the coffee shop for Angie.

At the beginning of the second season, Angie sells the coffee shop to buy a salon with her mother.

The theme song was “Different Worlds,” written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox. Gimbel is still hard at work and has amassed 494 credits so far while Fox has 131 credits for many impressive television series and big-screen films. Maureen McGovern sang it; she’s best known for her top-forty hit “The Morning After.”

The show was sandwiched between Happy Days and Three’s Company on Tuesday nights, which ensured great ratings. This one was fifth its first week. The show just could not find its fan base. By the end of the season, the Nielsen ratings had fallen drastically, and the show had moved to Monday nights following Monday Night Football. Angie wasn’t the only show to struggle in this time slot. Once it was moved, three other shows—One in a Million, Goodtime Girls, and Laverne and Shirley—all tried this scheduling spot. I’m not sure if the shows were just not very good in 1979, if people were too busy to watch television, or the network heads were inexperienced, but when you look at the schedule from 1979 most prime times had a different show in the slot every season of the year. When it’s not only one show on a network moving, but many shows on a network moving and then all networks having a bunch of shows moving, how are viewers supposed to figure out where anything was? Out of the 54 new shows debuting in 1979, by the next season every network basically had one hit show out of the bunch: ABC-Hart to Hart, CBS-Trapper John MD, and NBC-The Facts of Life. While these are all decent shows, none of them were classics in my opinion. In 1980 another 30 shows were brand new.

The show was put on hiatus. It did return in April on Saturday nights, but it was officially canceled in May.

When you look at this show on paper, it had all the right elements. First of all, we have Garry Marshall and Dale McRaven, very successful creators and writers. The cast was amazing. Even the theme song was composed and sung by extremely talented people. Then you have the fact that there were not a lot of great shows debuting this year; a decent show should have crushed it. So, what happened here?

I think I’m putting the blame for this one on the network. I watched the pilot and while pilots are meant to pull you back for the next one, most pilots aren’t the best of the series. Some of the pilots for shows I love are almost dreadful. This pilot was not dreadful. The characters were likable, the writing was funny, and the theme was not overdone over the years. It was similar to The Mothers-In-Law from a decade earlier but more of a Dharma and Greg (which came two decades later) where they fall in love despite their economic differences.

This series was better than a lot of shows that are currently on the air. I did watch another later episode where the couple elopes. Once again, the writing was good and the characters were a bit eccentric, but the writers knew how far to go to keep them likable and charming rather than odd. If ABC had kept it in a time slot for more than a month or two and given it a bit of time, it might have been a big hit.

If you want to check it out, let me know what you think. For a late seventies/early eighties show, it’s aged very well.

What Do I Spy with my Hawaiian Eye?

July 14, 2025September 4, 2025 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

Welcome to this month’s blog series, “Crime Solvers of the Past.” Before there was Hawaii Five-0 or Magnum PI, there was Hawaiian Eye.

Warner Brothers was looking for possible television series to create. They sent one of their story editors, Jack Emanuel, to Hawaii to get some inspiration for a crime series, and Hawaiian Eye was born.

The show debuted on ABC in the fall of 1959 and continued until April 1963. Like the above-mentioned shows, this one also features a partnership. Tom Lopaka (Robert Conrad) and Tracy Steele (Anthony Eisley) own a detective agency that also provides security services, and it’s called Hawaiian Eye. The Hawaiian Village Hotel is one of their biggest clients and they provide an office/living space for the firm. Rounding out the cast was Cricket Blake (Connie Stevens), a local photographer and singer who helps the guys out; Kim Quisado (Poncie Ponce), a cab driver who plays the ukelele; Greg McKenzie (Grant Williams), a former engineer who helps out and later joins the firm, and Philip Barton (Troy Donahue), the hotel social director. Lt. Danny Quon (Mel Prestidge) also shows up off and on when the boys need help from the local police force.

Sprinkled among the 134 episodes, you’ll find lots of great character actors and guest stars popping up.

Robert Wagner was originally chosen for Lopaka, but he turned it down to continue his movie work. Warner Brothers produced this one, so there was a bit more feel of a movie set.

Ponce was the only cast member actually born in Hawaii, and when the show aired, his entire hometown shut down in order to watch their local boy. Ponce only ended up with 8 acting credits, one in Speedway with Elvis Presley. Most of his career was spent in the music side of the entertainment business singing and playing. While he played a uke on the show, in his personal life this talented guy also played piano, trumpet, sax, and harmonica. In fact, he was seen by William Orr, head of Warner Brothers as a singing waiter. Orr was so impressed he signed him for the show. However, he was not as impressed with his waiting abilities, so he became a cab driver!

Connie Stevens also started and ended her career in the music business. She was part of a cast for three television shows but garnered 72 acting credits during her career.

The opening of the show was a voiced over with a narrator introducing the cast who is frolicking around in the water and on the beach. In the background a chorus sings “Hawaiian Eye” repeatedly.

The plots seem fun for the time. The duo helped a woman who thinks her husband is trying to kill her, chased down a former spy, investigated hotel crime, and there is a bit of a Love Boat feel to the show where one of the partners falls in love, and lots of women are strolling around the island.

It was not shot in Hawaii but in Burbank, in black and white film; the fact that it often takes place at the hotel, it’s not noticeable we’re not on the Island. It’s just missing the lush scenery the later series feature.

The show aired Wednesday nights with its primary competition The Perry Como Show and I’ve Got a Secret which were top thirty shows the first season but had fallen out of the top thirty by season two, so maybe Hawaiian Eye gained some of their viewers. Season three, in addition to Perry Como, the show was up against The Dick Van Dyke Show. For its final season, it moved to Tuesday nights and was on at the same time as The Red Skelton Show and The Jack Benny Show which were in the top twenty and ten respectively. That seemed to end any hopes the show had to continue, and it was cancelled.

Unfortunately, I can’t find anywhere the DVD set was released but there are streaming services with it and a few private sellers with sketchy quality. If you enjoyed Hawaii Five-0 or Magnum, check out some of the episodes on YouTube. From everything I could find, the show had a great cast with a lot of chemistry, some interesting music performances, comic relief from Ponce, and good writing, everything you want to see in a popular series.

My Sister Eileen: Version Five

May 12, 2025April 26, 2025 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we look at a few little-remembered shows from the past, today we are learning about My Sister Eileen. The series was adapted from short stories by Ruth McKenney published in The New Yorker. The stories became a book in 1938, a play in 1940 and two movies in 1942 and 1955.

In the 1955 Hollywood movie, two small-town sisters — an aspiring writer, Ruth (Betty Garrett), and a would-be actress, Eileen (Janet Leigh) — move to New York City. They find lodging in a shabby apartment and struggle to locate promising gigs. Ruth eventually meets magazine editor Bob Baker (Jack Lemmon), who tells her to write about her life experiences rather than fiction. As it turns out, Eileen’s life, with her various romantic encounters, is far more interesting, so Ruth steals the stories for herself.

This show joined the television schedule in 1960 and featured Elaine Stritch and Shirley Bonne (Ruth and Eileen Sherwood), who move to New York City. Like the movie, one is a writer and one is an actress. Living in a Greenwich brownstone, they become friends with a reporter Chick Adams (Jack Weston) and Ruth’s coworker Bertha (Rose Marie). Rounding out the cast is Eileen’s agent Marty Scott (Stubby Kaye), their landlord Mr. Appopoplous (Leon Belasco), Ruth’s boss D.X. Beaumont (Raymond Bailey), and their Aunt Harriet (Agnes Moorehead). The sisters are stereotyped with Ruth being the smart, plain one and Eileen being the beautiful and naïve one.

The pilot was seen on the Alcoa-Goodyear Theater with Anne Helm portraying Eileen.

Earl Hagen who composed “The Fishing Hole” for The Andy Griffith Show composed this theme as well.

Rose Marie talked about being on this sitcom for the Television Academy. She said she was friends with the producer Dick Wesson. She said her character Bertha was a wise-cracking one similar to Sally on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Rose Marie didn’t like working with Elaine Stritch. She felt she was not very professional on this show; she said she came to work late and goofed off a lot.

In 1960 it appeared on the schedule on CBS opposite Hawaiian Eye and Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall. Hawaiian Eye was on the air four years, and this was it’s second season. With Connie Stevens, Robert Conrad and Poncie Ponce, it was about two private investigators in Hawaii, a Korean war vet and a former police detective.

I don’t think the writing helped the show stay on the air too long. During the first season some of the plots included: Ruth’s boss ignores her pleas for a pay increase until he encounters her working as a waitress in a German restaurant — and in a skimpy costume and the Sherwood sisters decide to break their lease with a wild party to which they invite a one-man band, a junior Tarzan, and a fireman with his siren.

I’m guessing part of the problem was that it had appeared in so many versions already. Many people read the book. Lots of people saw one, if not two, of the movies. And the play was being featured around the country. I can see that having a television series which has to expand the hour-and-a-half play and film might not have enough material to draw out the same old plot and keep it interesting for more than a few episodes.

This one is another one that you’re probably better off watching the 1955 silver screen adaptation and skipping the television series.

The Bill Dana Show: Really It Was The Jose Jimenez Show

March 3, 2025March 3, 2025 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month our blog is devoted to The Bill Dana Show which was on the air for two seasons in the early sixties.

Bill Dana is not a name remembered much anymore but, in the sixties, he was a huge celebrity. There is some tough talk about why he was so famous. During the late fifties and early sixties, especially as so many radio shows transitioned to television, there were some politically incorrect shows. This one teetered on the edge of it, in the same ways the show Life with Luigi did.

Bill Dana’s alter ego, Jose Jimenez, debuted on The Steve Allen Show in the late fifties. Jimenez was a Mexican immigrant. He saw the United States through a different lens than people who grew up here. He often was amused by what he saw going on around him. However, he was not the lazy stereotype Mexican. Jimenez was hard working and wise in many ways. He was not offensive in the way Amos and Andy were. Dana was a Hungarian Jewish man playing a Hispanic man so that was not well received either.

While I still love so many programs from the fifties and sixties that hold up well today and have delightful characters, many programs from this time make us cringe and we are embarrassed for the television industry at that time.

There are also many performers that may have bordered on sexual and ethnic political incorrectness, many of their characterizations may not be offensive, but I sure don’t find any humor in them.

📷 Jose Jimenez televisoinacademyawards.com

Remember this was during the Civil Rights Movement era, so things were beginning to get examined more closely in pop culture. Even if Jose was a good guy, his exaggerated accent set him up more of a caricature than a character.

While there was some blowback from the Latino community, many fans adored Jimenez. Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard decided to give Jose his own show after he made a few appearances on The Danny Thomas Show. NBC put the show on its schedule without even seeing a pilot because he was so popular.

While the quick sketches with Jose were in your face humor, putting the character in his own television series gave the writers time to develop him more and make him more dimensional. Leonard made this a workplace sitcom which was different for him since so many of their shows—The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Danny Thomas Show, That Girl, Good Morning World—were all balancing personal and work life. Earl Hagen, who wrote so many great tunes for the Leonard group, wrote this one as well.

The show aired September 22, 1963, and ran for a season and a half, ending January of 1965.

Jimenez is a bellhop at a luxury New York hotel. He lives in a special staff apartment, eats in the hotel kitchen, and interacts with most of the guests. He is surrounded by a great cast which we’ll get to know in more detail this month. Don Adams was Byron Glick, house detective. Jonathan Harris took on the role of Mr. Phillips, the hotel manager. Fellow bellhop Eddie (Gary Crosby) is always trying to get Jose to lose his rose-colored view of life. For season 2. Maggie Peterson plays waitress Susie.

The ratings were not great. Perhaps viewers had a harder time connecting this Jose to the caricature Jose. Certainly, more criticism came from the Latino community as the show went on. In addition to Jose, there was feedback on other shows that used stereotypical Mexican characters and in commercials like the Frito Bandito.

Jose had one cameo role in Batman when he meets the duo and introduces himself as “My name—Jose Jimenez” in 1966. That was the final appearance of the character and a few years afterward, Dana read an obituary that he wrote for Jose at a Latino civil rights meeting in Los Angeles, and he became an activist for the Latino community, so there was some good coming out of the situation.

The show was canceled partway through season two. Another factor in the show’s ratings was the fact that it was on Sunday nights up against Lassie, a family favorite. However, the show did somehow receive an Emmy nomination for outstanding sitcom. No surprise it didn’t win. Despite being a mediocre show with some nugget of greatness here and there, it was up against McHale’s Navy, The Farmer’s Daughter, and the show that won, The Dick Van Dyke Show.

If The Bill Dana Show had just been a show about “a guy” who arrives from Mexico to work in a posh hotel, and we saw life through his eyes, good and bad in America, the concept could have been fun and more accepted. It appears that the writing was pretty good and it had a great cast. Jose was just not the character to build the show around.

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.