Marcia Wallace: What a Character

July 22, 2024March 14, 2024 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

When trying to decide who to include in our Supportive Women blog series this month, Marcia Wallace was a no-brainer. Carol was one of my favorite characters on television on The Bob Newhart Show, and I love the fact that her role carried over into an episode of Murphy Brown.

Marcia Wallace was born in 1942 in Iowa. Her father owned a general store where she and her siblings often worked. After performing in a school play, one of her teachers encouraged her to pursue an acting career. After graduation, Marcia enrolled in Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa where she received a full scholarship. She majored in English and Theater.

Upon her college graduation, Marcia decided to move to New York. The country gal had $148 in her savings. When she arrived in the Big Apple, she took on a variety of part-time jobs including typing scripts and substitute teaching. She joined a summer stock company and did a few commercials. She worked in a Greenwich Village nightclub for a year before creating an improv group, The Fourth Wall, with several friends. While she kept the friends, she lost 100 pounds.

Eventually, Wallace was offered a job with The Merv Griffin Show. When Merv decided to move to LA, he asked Wallace to move with them. She was able to obtain a few roles in series after moving to California. During the sixties and early seventies, she was on Bewitched, The Brady Bunch, Columbo, and Love American Style.

After Bill Paley had seen her on Merv Griffin, Grant Tinker (producer) called her to offer her a role on a new sitcom, The Bob Newhart Show. The role of Carol was written specifically for her.

Marcia loved her time on the sitcom. She said Bob was the Fred Astaire of comedy, making it look so easy. She also praised Bob for being a treasure. Because of the way the scripts were written, the show doesn’t date itself. It was about human relationships and people struggling to make them work and make life better.

When The Bob Newhart Show went off the air six years later, Marcia jumped on the game show circuit. Shecould be seen on Password Plus; Super Password; Hollywood Squares; Crosswits; Hot Potato; The $25,000 Pyramid; Win, Lose, or Draw; Tattletales; To Tell the Truth; Family Feud; Card Sharks; and my favorite, Match Game.

Like so many actresses and actors who perform their role so well, Marcia was typecast after the show ended. In an interview, she said that “I have heard ‘You’re too recognizable for this part.’ I remember once, I desperately wanted to be on the series Nine to Five and they just weren’t going to see me because of that. Every once in a while, something would break my heart.”

Wallace also made appearances on The Love Boat and Fantasy Island in the seventies. During the eighties she would show up on CHiPs, Magnum PI, Taxi, Murder She Wrote, Night Court, and ALF, among other shows.

One of my favorite appearances of Wallace’s occurred in the mid-nineties on Murphy Brown. If you were a fan of that show, you know Murphy could not keep a secretary. There was even a support group that started of her former secretaries. However, when Carol Kester came to work for her, she was overjoyed. Carol was the role Wallace played on The Bob Newhart Show. Unfortunately for Murphy, at one point during the show, Bob Newhart shows up and convinces Carol to return to work for him and Jerry and Murphy lost her perfect assistant.

Most of Wallace’s work after 2000 was for voice work with one exception. In 2009, she had a recurring role on The Young and the Restless as Annie Wilkes for 14 episodes.

In 1985 Marcia was diagnosed with breast cancer. She survived it and became an activist and lecturer on the topic. In 2007, she won the Gilda Radner Courage Award for her work in this area.

In 1986 Marcia married Dennis Hawley in a Buddhist ceremony. Dennis renovated and managed hotels. The couple adopted a little boy, but Dennis passed away three years later.

In 1989, a new type of show debuted called The Simpsons. Marcia was asked to provide the voice of Edna Krabappel, school teacher. She probably did not realize she would be associated with that role for another 24 years. Her role as Edna did not end until her passing.

In addition to her television work, Wallace performed on stage. She produced and starred in “An Almost Perfect Person,” a female version of “The Odd Couple,” “Same Time, Next Year” and many others.

In 2004, Wallace published an autobiography, Don’t Look Back, We’re Not Going That Way. She honestly discussed her breast cancer, the loss of her husband, her nervous breakdown, being a single mother, and the ups and downs of her career.

Marcia died from pneumonia and sepsis in 2013. Her coworkers commented on her passing. Yeardley Smith, who voices Lisa on The Simpsons, said “Heaven is now a much funnier place because of you, Marcia.” Bob Newhart said that “Marcia’s death came as quite a shock, she left us too early. She was a talented actress and dear friend.”

I’m so sad that Marcia was typecast and unable to get the roles that she wanted. The networks were very shortsighted during those decades. They didn’t give television fans enough credit for being resilient enough to love the character of Carol while being able to love another character played by Wallace. You saw the same things happen to Adam West, Alan Alda, and Henry Winkler. If that perspective had continued, we never would have had Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show or Jay Pritchett from Modern Family. If someone could be a hit as Al Bundy and then go on to star in another show, anyone can get beyond being stereotyped. Marcia Wallace proved that anyone could survive life’s disappointments with determination and a sense of humor, and perhaps that was her greatest role for us.

The Simpsons: No One Grow Up in Springfield Here

February 26, 2024February 26, 2024 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are looking at several of our favorite TV families. Last week we talked about the Andersons from Springfield, and I can’t help comparing our show today to that one: The Simpsons are also from Springfield. They both have three children. While you could make some comparisons between Marge and Margaret, Homer and Jim would not have much in common.

Right off the bat, I want to admit that if you are looking for a comprehensive reflection on the show, this blog entry will not be that. I could write about this show for volumes and not cover it truly well. That said, I thought it was an important show in television history and family series that we should still talk about it, even if it is briefly. This show has been on the air so long it is hard to imagine: 2024 is the 37th year the show has been on the air. I got married the year it began, and I now have a teenage grandson. We are looking at almost 800 episodes.

So, let’s go back to the beginning. In 1987, Matt Groening developed an American animated series called The Simpsons to air on Fox Broadcasting Co. It was written as a satire of the Simpson family: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. It was set in Springfield and has caricatured any and everything you can possibly think of.

📷thebounce.com James L. Brooks and Matt Groening

James L. Brooks, of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi fame, was the producer. The first animation shorts appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show and it eventually became its own series. It holds the record for longest-running American animated series and longest-running American sitcom. In 2007 The Simpsons Movie grossed over $527 million dollars. In 2023 it was renewed for its 35^th and 36^th seasons, ensuring it goes through 2025.

I will say that many fans consider the golden age of the show to be from 1989-1995 and feel that the quality has not held up as well; however, the show has won 35 Emmys.

The show is about the Simpson family. Homer, the father, works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant as a safety inspector. Marge, his wife, has beautiful blue hair. (The blue hair was a thing before having blue hair was a thing, and the characters have yellow skin colors, so it would catch the attention of viewers flashing through the channels for something to watch.) They have three children: Bart, a very mischievous ten-year-old; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old; and baby Maggie. Grandpa Simpson lives nearby in the Springfield Retirement Home. Luckily, they never age, or Bart would be a 47-year-old mischievous son and grandpa would be well over 120. Santa’s Little Helper is their dog and Snowball II (after Snowball I died) is their cat.

In addition to the family, we have met many community members during the three decades plus that the show has been on. Just to name a few, we have Homer’s coworkers Lenny and Carl; Seymour Skinner the school principal; teachers Edna Krabappel and Elizabeth Hoover; neighbor Ed Flanders; Mayor Quimby; reporter Kent Brockman; tycoon Charles Montgomery Burns; Burns’ executive assistant Waylon Smithers; and Krusty the Clown.

Throughout the entire run, Groening and Brooks remained executive producers. There have been oodles of writers on the show. Typically, they are a group of sixteen writers who propose ideas and then turn the best into scripts.

I bet none of the voice actors in the late eighties thought they would still be employed on this show in 2024. Dan Castellaneta is Homer, Grandpa, and Krusty the Clown. Julie Kavner is Marge. Nancy Cartwright is Bart and Maggie. Yeardley Smith is Lisa. It has been a lucrative career. Until 1998, they were paid $30,000 an episode. From 1998 until 2004, they earned $125,000 an episode. A strike ensued in 2004. and after negotiations, we know that they make somewhere between $250,000 to $360,000 an episode. It has been up and down since, but right now hovers around $300,000.

I did not have time to get into all the differences in the animation studios that have been part of the show, but Klasky Csupo, AKOM, Anivision, Rough Draft Studios, and USAnimation, and Toonzone Entertainment have all worked on the show.

As I mentioned, everything and anything is up for being satirized on the show: nuclear power plants, education, middle-class Americans, wealthy Americans, conservatives, liberals, religion, atheists, sexuality, homosexuality. If you can name a theme, you can find an episode to fit it.

The show tries to appeal to a variety of generations. I guess they need to, to keep their original viewers which may have switched from 20 somethings then to retired somethings now.

Whether they have ever seen the show or not, many Americans recognize the catchphrases from the show, including Bart’s “Ay caramba!,” “Eat my shorts,” and “Don’t have a cow, man.” Homer’s quip “D’oh” is another as is Mr. Burn’s “Excellent” and Krusty’s “I didn’t do it.”

As you can imagine, critics of the show are legion and from every part of American life. At least they offend everyone. They even make fun of Fox TV.

And with more than three decades of episodes, the merchandising has been over the top; it currently is a billion-dollar industry. There are comic books, board games galore, figurines, t-shirts, etc., etc.

Almost every season is now available on DVD, just in case you have a decade to catch up.

Let’s end with a few fun facts. Several people are banned for life from the comic book store, including Bart, Milhouse Van Houten, Sideshow Bob Terwilliger, Nelson Muntz, George Lucas, and Matt Groening. The most-often parodied films are Citizen Kane, The Godfather, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and A Clockwork Orange. Like Batman, celebrities are so eager to make a guest appearance they are willing to be bad guys. Jasper Johns was portrayed as a kleptomaniac, Gary Coleman was a pathetic has-been, and Tom Arnold was an obnoxious nontalent who gets fired for being a bad actor.

The fact that so many celebrities are enthusiastic to appear on the show probably sums up how popular and how embedded The Simpsons is in our culture. It’s hard to think of another show with such lasting appeal. There are a few Sunday news shows that might have been on the air as long, but their popularity is not comparable. Actually, because the show has been on the air for so many decades, it may have

curtailed its viewers somewhat. I have never been able to become a dedicated fan because I could not devote the weekly time for so many years to watch the show. I will say that whenever I watch an episode, I always find something valuable in it. Even if the show is not one of their better episodes, and with 800 episodes, you know there are a few “klinkers,” there are always some great one-liners.

If you are one of those people who have lived under a rock or been a hermit without a television for more than 30 years, you might want to watch at least a few episodes to see what all the fuss is about. You won’t be disappointed.

Taxi: The Hip Fleet of Sunshine Cab Co.

November 20, 2023November 5, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we continue with our “Work It Out” blog series, today we are taking a long ride with Taxi. This show was created for ABC by James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, and Ed Weinberger and produced by John Charles Walters Co. The show was apparently inspired by an article in The New Yorker, “Night Shifting for the Hip Fleet” by Mark Jacobson in 1975. The article profiled several drivers who worked the night shift for a New York cab company. Taxi was in business from the Fall of 1978 to the Spring of 1982 on ABC and then drove over to NBC for a year.

The show is set primarily at the Sunshine Cab Company in Manhattan. Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito) is the dispatcher that everyone loves to hate. Brooks said that when they went to visit a company as the night drivers were just coming back from their shifts, they saw a dispatcher taking a bribe from a driver for a clean cab. That gave them the idea of Louis. DeVito described Louie as someone who “made life miserable for everyone. The manifestation of what was going on inside of him came out in a mean-spirited way to those around him. Deep down he just wanted people to love him.”

Drivers included Alex Reiger (Judd Hirsch) who considers cab driver his profession as opposed to a temporary get-by job. Elaine Nardo (Marilu Henner) is a single mother who also works at an art gallery. In the first episode when Elaine is hired, Reiger introduces the crew by saying, “You see that guy over there? Now he’s an actor. The guy on the phone? He’s a prize fighter. This lady here: She’s a beautician. The guy behind her? He’s a writer. Me? I’m a cab driver. I’m the only cab driver in this place.”

Tony Banta (Tony Danza) a boxer, and Bobby Wheeler (Jeff Conaway) a struggling actor are other coworkers. We also get to know the Reverend Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd), an aging hippie who gets a job driving and Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman), an immigrant mechanic. Latka was a weird character, and I have to say that I did not enjoy him on the show. Andy Kaufman invented the character for a comedy act. During the show, he met and married Simka (Carol Kane).

The person who probably had the easiest audition was Danza. He said that when he went to read for the show, he had broken his third metacarpal on his right hand and had a black eye from knocking out a guy in the ring in Brooklyn. He had never acted before and didn’t really know what he was doing.

Although the show was a sitcom, there were a lot of important issues tackled during the run of the show including addiction, parenthood, obesity, animal abuse, homosexuality, racism, gambling, grief, divorce, and sexual harassment, among others.

This show had more than its share of important guest stars. Ruth Gordon and Eileen Brennan both were nominated for Emmys for their guest appearances, with Gordon winning hers. Other stars who showed up included Marcia Wallace, Penny Marshall, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Edwin Newman, George Wendt, Ted Danson, Tom Selleck, Tom Hanks, and Bubba Smith.

Brooks wrote for The Simpsons and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Daniels also wrote for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and was best known for The Tonight Show. Davis was one of the writers behind The Bob Newhart Show and Weinberger would go on to write for The Cosby Show. It was no surprise that this show was known for its amazing writing, and the series was nominated for 31 Emmys during its five seasons, it won 18 of them, most impressively it won Outstanding Comedy in 1979, 1980, and 1981. Kane, Hirsch, DeVito, and Lloyd and all won Emmys for acting. James Burrows won two for directing.

Taxi had one of the most-recognized theme songs from the 1980s. “Angela” was written and performed by Bob James.

I did not hear much about conflict on the set, although several performers, including Hirsch, indicated they did not care much for Kaufman. Kaufman had it written in his contract that he only work two days a week, so for most of the filming a guy with a sign around his neck that said “Andy” worked with the cast, so I don’t think there was necessarily a lot of bonding with him anyway.

Conaway was fired after 69 episodes. It was apparently well-known that he had a major addiction problem, and when one of the producers discovered him passed out when he was supposed to be filming, they wrote him out of the episode and then wrote him out of the show.

The cast seemed very happy and like a family. Henner said that they could always express an opinion about their character and thoughts on a scene. Brooks said Burrows was able to bridge the two worlds of writers and actors. He spent time with actors all day and then went to the writers’ room to talk to them and was the liason between the two. Henner agreed and said that Burrows was brilliant at adding memorable moments to a scene. She said in one episode she was losing her mind a bit and someone says the champagne is flat and the producer had her bend over and blow bubbles in the glass. She said it was brilliant.

DeVito also mentioned a scene that was special for him. One night when Louie was all alone in the garage, he took out the mic and sang a song. Then he said, “I always wanted to do that.” It was a very heart-warming moment and made Louie more interesting and gave him more depth.

Burrows said that most of the cast was young and they all bonded so well. Sometimes they went roller skating, to dances, and they even had a softball team. Rhea Perlman was on the show off and on and during one of their lunch breaks, she and DeVito got married.

Henner talked about their weekly parties. She said everyone at Paramount wanted to hang out with them including the cast of Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, Laverne & Shirley, and Bosom Buddies. She said that John Travolta and Frances Ford Coppola stopped by. John Belushi hung out with DeVito a lot and was there for one of their get-togethers and he died the next day.

Hirsch said the group wanted something to do after the show because they didn’t want to go home; they wanted to hang out together more than anything else.

Brooks probably summed up the show the most eloquently. He said that “there’s a lot of things that take a glow in retrospect. The great thing about Taxi was that there wasn’t a moment on the show they didn’t appreciate how lucky there were to have it. That was the show’s energy. I’ve never seen anything like it. . . People show up at the right time and everyone’s lucky enough to have each other at a certain point. It becomes a beautiful team sport.”

Isn’t that the best tribute anyone could give a show? I’m glad they all had an appreciation for it, and I’m glad they included us in their family.

“Mad About You” . . . And Them

August 21, 2023August 10, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

For our blog series this month, we are looking at some of our favorite duos from the eighties and nineties in “Duos to Love.” Today we will meet Paul and Jamie Buchman and their daughter Mabel. Yep, it’s Mad About You. It’s not about you, it’s about them, but I am mad about you too—very thankful you are on this journey with me learning about the golden, and sometimes tarnished, age of television.

In 1992, NBC aired Mad About You. The series was about newlyweds Paul (Paul Reiser) and Jamie (Helen Hunt) Buchman, He was a documentary filmmaker and she worked in public relations. They lived in Greenwich Village for seven years until they were canceled. Both Teri Hatcher and Valerie Bertinelli were considered for the role of Jamie. It’s hard to imagine anyone but Helen in the role. I think the critics agreed; Hunt was nominated for six Emmy Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. In 1993, she lost to Roseanne Arnold for Roseanne; in 1994 and 1995, she lost to Candice Bergen for Murphy Brown; in 1996 and 1997 and 1998 she won. Overall, the show won thirty-four nominations, with twelve wins.

For seasons one through six, the two top stars received $250,000 per episode but in season seven they got a nice raise, landing $1,000,000 per episode.

Before Mabel (Alyssa and Justin Baric) came along, their “baby” was Murray their dog. Paul met Jamie while he was on a walk with Murray. They meet at a newsstand when they are both looking for The New York Times. In real life, the two stars met because Hunt was sharing a house with a good friend of Paul’s wife, Paula. After reading Reiser’s pilot, Hunt changed her mind about concentrating on her film career and wanted the role.

When Reiser pitched the idea to NBC he said it was about the life of a couple in their private moments. He compared it to a couple going to a party but this show was more about what happens when they leave the party and it’s just the two of them in the car talking on the way home. Reiser also compared it to the successful thirtysomething but “shorter and funnier.”

The rest of the cast included Lisa Semple (Anne Ramsay), Jamie’s older sister; Fran Devanow (Lelia Kenzle), Jamie’s best friend; Ira Buchman (John Pankow), Paul’s cousin and friend; Sylvia Buchman (Cynthia Harris), Paul’s mother-in-law who is not in the running for Best Mother-in-Law according to Jamie; Burt Buchman (Louis Zorich), Paul’s father; and Dr. Mark Devanow (Richard Kind), Fran’s ex-husband who is a bit eccentric but not too odd because he wins her back as his wife during the show’s run.

There were a lot of recurring characters on this show. Several showed up more often than others: Debbie Buchman (Robin Bartlett), Paul’s sister; Dr. Joan Golfinos (Suzie Plakson), Debbie’s life partner; Nat Ostertag (Hank Azaria), the Buchmans’ dog walker; Mr. Wicker (Jerry Adler), the apartment building superintendent; Dr. Sheila Kleinman (Mo Gaffney), the Buchmans’ therapist; Maggie Conway (Judy Geeson), their neighbor; Jay Selby (Tommy Hinkley), Paul’s college friend; and Sid (George O. Petrie), Paul’s colleague.

However, there were also a few very famous recurring characters. Mel Brooks showed up as Paul’s uncle Phil in four shows. Cyndi Lauper was Ira’s on/off again girlfriend Marianne in five episodes. Jamie’s mom was in 15 shows but played by three different women: Carol Burnett (10), Penny Fuller (4) and Nancy Dussault (1). Another interesting recurring character was Lisa Kudrow. She was Ursula Buffay, the waitress at their favorite restaurant, Riff’s. She appeared 24 times and when Friends was created, her twin sister Phoebe was written into the show. In one episode after not seeing Ursula much, Paul asks her where she has been and she says “I’ve been hanging out with friends.”

You can imagine how huge the guest star list is for this series. Get ready for auctioneer speed and I will list some of them; just know I am leaving out a lot of famous and fun people. Here goes: We have Ed Asner, Kevin Bacon, Christie Brinkley, Garth Brooks, Sid Caesar, Tim Conway, Ellen DeGeneres, Jamie Farr, Barbara Feldon, Al Gore, Seth Green, Billy Joel, Nathan Lane, Jerry Lewis, Yoko Ono, Regis Philbin, Carl Reiner, Jerry Seinfeld, and Bruce Willis.

Paul Reiser also composed the theme song, “Final Frontier,” with Don Was. Both Andrew Gold and Anita Baker versions of the song were used during the eight-year run. Reiser also played the piano for the theme recording.

In 2019, a twelve-episode revival series debuted. Both Reiser and Hunt returned for the sequel. The Buchmans are now empty nesters after dropping Mabel off at college. Other veterans returning included Ramsay, Pankow, Kind, Harris, Adler, Gaffney, and Carol Burnett. Abby Quinn was Mabel.

This was a popular show that was always discussed around the water cooler. It’s first year on NBC it aired Wednesday nights against In the Heat of the Night and Coach; Coach was in the top twenty. The next season it was moved to Thursdays nights and oddly was still up against In the Heat of the Night but was also on against The Simpsons. Season three found it with little competition and it was ranked eleventh place for the year. As networks do, now that it had a dedicated audience, it was moved to Tuesday nights where it dropped out of the top forty. The show remained in the Tuesday slot, still up against Roseanne but its audience returned and it crept into the top twenty again. It remained in the same spot for its final two years, one year competing with JAG and the next year against Home Improvement which was a top-ten show. I know this was a lot of detail, but I think it helps to think about how much the schedule moving can potentially hurt a show. Fans get used to a certain night and sometimes clear their schedule for that evening and when shows continue to move around, it is frustrating for everyone. Now, we can just DVR shows and it’s not such a big deal.

This was a well-written show, and the producers and writers spent a lot of time on character development. It had some quirky moments and did some fun plot twists that kept it fun and fresh. Of course, both Hunt and Reiser were amazing actors and went on to great success in the movies. I did not see much about how the 2019 reboot was received by viewers. Considering the competition that the show faced as the network moved it around, it did very well for its seven years. The critics loved it and it was certainly recognized by the Emmy committee every year. I am hoping it will come to Antenna or ME TV soon and we can again spend some time with the Buchmans.

Clarissa Explains It All: The Most Fun Kid on TV

June 6, 2022May 30, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 1 Comment

This month’s blog series is all about the Teen Scene. We are going to start and end the series with Melissa Joan Hart.

What Ever Happened to Sam From Clarissa Explains It All? - E! Online — Cast of Clarissa Explains It All Photo: eonline.com

Those of you who grew up in the 1990s or, as in my case, had kids growing up in the 1990s, will remember Clarissa Explains It All. My son Shawn loved this show, and I began watching it with him and actually looked forward to tuning in.

Mitchell Kriegman created this show for the Nickelodeon network. From March of 1991 through October of 1994, 65 episodes were produced. As a personal aside, Kriegman also created Bear in the Big Blue House. With kids growing up in the nineties and 2000s, can I say Clarissa Explains It All, Bear in the Big Blue House, and Arthur were a breath of fresh air compared to most of the kids’ programs on television at that time.

Clarissa Darling (Hart) is a teenager who lives with her brother, Ferguson (Jason Zimbler), whom she finds extremely annoying, and her parents, Janet (Elizabeth Hess) and Marshall (Joe O’Connor), whom she likes a lot. She also has a best friend Sam (Sean O’Neal) who happens to be a boy. Clarissa also has a pet alligator named Elvis.

Like George Burns in his 1950s show, Clarissa often addresses the audience directly. The plots had to do with things all teens are sweating out like first crushes, training bras, getting a driver’s license, cheating at school, etc. Another unusual feature of the show was Clarissa explaining the theme by using a fictional video game or a news segment. Clarissa has pretty liberal parents, so sometimes she has to do her own punishments or life lessons. For example, in one show she mistakenly takes a piece of lingerie from a store. Her parents don’t punish her because it was an accident, so she spends the episode trying to fix the situation.

Clarissa’s character makes the show. Although she is a teenager, she is witty, sarcastic, realistic, and a lot of fun to be around. Kriegman says the role of Clarissa was between two actresses, Melissa and another girl. He thought the other girl really seemed to be “Clarissa,” but he said Hart “was so charming and she just lit up the screen. Because she did that, I could load her up—make her really quirky and different. She could make it play.”

Clarissa also has a creative fashion look. Her unique style was created by Lisa Lederer who came from the magazine industry. Lederer didn’t want Clarissa to look like a tomboy or a weird girl: she wanted her to be able to express herself. She said, “It felt like what we were doing was creating this girl in a more real way, to represent the way that girls—that people—normally dress.” Her clothes were all about expression. She did influence people. Girls’ clothing at the time was pretty matchy-matchy, but an ABC executive told Kriegman that his daughter came downstairs in mismatched items and leggings. He asked her what that was all about and she said “I’m dressing like Clarissa.”

Her brother Ferguson is a mischievous guy who is always trying to spy on her. He loves money and is often trying to come up with schemes to get some. Like Alex on Family Ties, he considers himself a loyal Republican. The show emphasized that sibling rivalry was just part of the family’s life, nothing to make a moral of. Kriegman said writers got extra points if they came up with a good sibling rivalry story.

Sam is very bright and loves skateboarding. His parents are divorced. He lives with his dad, a sports journalist because his mother “ran away” to the Roller Derby. Sam is often seen climbing a ladder to her room introduced by the same guitar chord. Kriegman explained that this was a way to get him into the house to interact with her quicker and there was never any connotation that they were in a relationship.

That bedroom set was the most complex one on the show. On the wall there is a They Might Be Giants poster. In Kriegman’s stylebook for the show, he said there was a science experiment in one corner regarding watering plants with club soda, Perrier, and Evian. There was also a dollhouse made by Marshall for Clarissa, as well as a collection of hats, and hubcaps. Kriegman said that he had a specific idea for the look of the room. The designer wanted it to be a girly room and insisted on painting it pink. So, after it was painted, Kriegman informed the designer that now they were using black car paint to paint checkers all over the wall.

As a funny aside, Kriegman made a rule that no purple could be used on the set. No, he was not anti-Minnesota Vikings. The explanation was odder than that. He said he didn’t mind purple, but he had advice from someone in the business who told him to make an executive rule and stick to it, so that was his executive rule. He said it became a bit of a challenge for set and clothing designers to sneak in purple when they could.

Clarissa’s mom is often sought out by Clarissa for life advice. She works at a children’s museum and is an environmentalist and a proponent of vegan and organic food. Her meals were often mentioned in the episodes. Her dad was an architect who often designs very unusual buildings with creative shapes, often tourist attractions. Like the Keatons on Family Ties, Marshall and Janet were hippies in their earlier life. He typically refers to Clarissa as “Sport” and his advice is not as sage as his wife’s.

Part of the fun that surrounds the show came from Kriegman’s background. He was a short story writer and had worked on a variety of shows including Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live. He wanted the audience to be able to get into a 13-year-old’s mind to understand the events she was experiencing. One of the writers on the show was Suzanne Collins who went on to write The Hunger Games. Some other writers include Michael Borkow who wrote for Roseanne, Malcolm in the Middle; and Friends, Becky Hartman Edwards who wrote for The Larry Sanders Show; Glen Eichler who wrote for the Colbert Report; Peter Gaffney who wrote for The Simpsons; and Alexa Junge who wrote for Friends and The West Wing.

CLARISSA EXPLAINS IT ALL - Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries — Photo: sitcomsonline.com

Rachel Sweet sang the theme song which was a melody singing “na na na na na na” with snippets of “Way cool” or “Just do it,” or “All right! All right!” Perhaps she was a fan of Matthew McConaughey. Kriegman said Sweet was a friend of his and he did not give her any direction for the song.

The show was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1994 for Outstanding Children’s Program. It was beat out by Kids Killing Kids/Kids Saving Kids. Avonlea was also nominated that year, and I would emphasize that neither Clarissa or Avonlea was really a children’s program; it was great viewing for everyone. Also, Hart, O’Neal, and Zimbler all received Young Artist Award nominations; Hart won three Young Artist Awards during the run of the show.

The show continued to have great ratings, but the network canceled the show because they felt Clarissa was getting too old. The cast didn’t have any warning that things were coming to an end. They spent about 70 hours on each episode, so they spent a lot of time together and were very close. Some of the crew helped Melissa with her school projects, and the cast threw a high school graduation party for her. Kriegman said that “adults and kids got together Friday nights after the show was done and had the best party. Everybody was so happy to be with each other.”

I have great memories watching this show with my kids and repeating one-liners from the show. It had realistic but humorous plots, fun and memorable characters, and interesting dialogue. It appealed to both kids and adults and to boys and girls. Kriegman said that “The idea that you do something 20 years ago, and everybody still remembers it–not just remembers it fondly, but passionately, and cares about it—I just love it. It’s the most satisfying thing in my career.”

The show was refreshing and witty. Clarissa once said, “Maturity is a boring state of mind.” If that’s true, no cast members or television viewers were very mature during an episode of Clarissa Explains It All.

Arthur: Entertaining All of Us for 25 Years

March 28, 2022March 28, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

In 1996, one of my all-time favorite kids’ shows debuted. I admit I could only take so much Sesame Street, Caillou made me want to cover my ears with a blanket after 10 minutes, and don’t get me started on Teletubbies; I could not even make it through the theme song. However, one show I never get tired of is Arthur. I may or may not have been known to watch it even when I am the only one home.

Arthur was a 30-minute show, which consisted of two 11-minute stories with a live-action segment in between. The series was based on the books authored by Marc Brown. The series was developed by Kathy Waugh for PBS, and it’s produced by WGBH. Each show began with Arthur talking to the audience about a situation which is then explored in the story. We get to know Arthur, his family, and his friends intimately.

In a Scholastic interview, Brown said the character Arthur was born when his son Tolon asked for a bedtime story about a weird animal. He started going through the alphabet and an aardvark was the first animal that popped into his head. Tolon is now a producer on the show.

The themes are the same ones that kids have to deal with in real life, some big and some small. During the 25 years that it has been on television, the show has covered bed wetting, dyslexia, cancer, autism, sibling rivalry, cheating in school, watching scary movies, divorce, fear of the dark, getting sick, and so many others. In a 2019 episode, Mr. Ratburn, Arthur’s teacher, marries a same-sex partner and Alabama Public Television declined to show the episode.

The series is fun to watch and presents issues kids deal with in a realistic, yet humorous light. Kids and parents can relate to the stories and characters. When Marc Brown described Arthur, he elaborated that “He is an eight-year-old aardvark who is navigating the mud puddles of life. You know, as we all are really. We all have obstacles and it’s how we handle them, and if Arthur can show kids that you can get through problems, solve problems, that’s really a good message for kids, it gives them confidence.” He added, “It’s a good message Arthur has, right, believe in yourself.”

What animal is Arthur? - How To Discuss — Photo: howtodiscuss.com

Arthur Read, age 8, lives with his mother Jane, father David, younger sister DW (Doris Winifred), and his baby sister Kate. His Grandma Thora is also around a lot as is his dog Pal. (Except for one episode, DW always wears a pink dress.)

His best friend is Buster. Some of his other friends include Francine, Muffy, Binky Barnes, Prunella, Sue Ellen, and The Brain. Even though the characters are all animals, they live in human homes and live life like most humans do. They live in Elmwood, which is a suburb of Pittsburgh. Brown grew up in Erie, PA and based many of the stories on his grade school life.

Arthur: PBS children's show to come to an end after 25 years — Photo: usatoday.com

I won’t get into the actors who provide voices for the various characters because there were many; some characters had more than five people playing them over the years. One interesting fact about that though is that DW was always voiced by a male.

**I am not sure why but the first season of Arthur cost $12 million to create which is astounding to me. I tried to find more details about the reasons behind the big price tag, but I came up empty.**

One of the most memorable things about the show is the catchy theme song. Written by Judy Henderson and Jerry de Villiers Jr., “Believe In Yourself” was originally recorded by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers for the show.

The show featured a lot of guest stars over the years. Some of the more fun episodes included Fred Rogers as himself visiting Elwood City, Art Garfunkel as a singing moose, Yo-Yo Ma as a music rival, Alex Trebek as Alex Lebek, game show host, Michelle Kwan teaching Francine to skate, Larry King interviewing Arthur, and The Backstreet Boys in concert.

I truly just picked four of my favorite PBS kids’ shows to learn about this month, but it turns out they were all the longest-running shows on the network. Arthur is the longest-running animated series for kids and is second in animation overall to The Simpsons. The show received a Peabody Award and four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children’s Animated Program.

Last month the last episode of Arthur aired. While I’m sad to see it end, it surely had a great run. My boys read Arthur books and watched the show, my grandkids are reading the books and watching the show, and I’m hoping that my great-grandkids will enjoy the books and reruns of the show.

One of my favorite Arthur books and episodes was aired during Season 1 and is “Arthur’s Chicken Pox.” I think it’s one of my favorites because it is truly an ordinary but delightful look at an everyday event. I remember getting chicken pox at about Arthur’s age.

Thank you Marc Brown for creating such an eclectic group of characters and so many enjoyable stories and moments, and thank you PBS for recognizing what a great series it could be and funding it for two and a half decades.

Meet the Press: The First News Show

December 13, 2021December 13, 2021 / thewritelife61 / 5 Comments

We are in the midst of our “It’s the First” blog series, and today we are talking about a show that debuted in 1947 to bring us the news: Meet the Press (although the show actually began on radio in 1945). Although we hear a lot about Gunsmoke and The Simpsons being on air for so many years, rarely do people talk about the fact that Meet the Press was one of the first television shows and is still going strong. Of course, it looks a bit different than it did when it first began.

The show, which will be celebrating its 75^th anniversary next year, features interviews with national leaders about politics, economics, foreign policy and other critical global topics. Noted journalists and experts provide analysis, discussion, and reviews of the past week’s events. The show began during the second official television season. It was the first live network news show, and was the first live news show that a sitting president appeared on; in this case it was Gerald Ford.

The program has had twelve different hosts during its history beginning with Martha Rountree. The first guest was James Farley who had served as postmaster general, Democratic National Committee chairman, and campaign manager for Franklin D. Roosevelt.

See the source image — *Martha Rountree and Gov. Thomas Dewey* Photo: flowersforsocrates.com

Meet the Press is on the air in most markets on Sunday morning on NBC. It is also on Sirius/XM and syndicated on Westwood One, and is often replayed on C-Span.

For the first forty-five years of its airing, it was a 30-minute program but was extended to an hour in 1992. General Foods was the sponsor for the first television seasons. Rountree, the only female, hosted until 1953 when Ned Brooks took over for 12 years. Lawrence Spivak, who had hosted the radio version was the moderator until 1975. Bill Monroe stepped up to the plate next, hosting until 1984. The next seven years had a revolving door of hosts including Roger Mudd and Marvin Kalb, cohosts; Chris Wallace; and Garrick Utley.

Tim Russert, network bureau chief in Washington DC took over in 1991 and remained with the show until his death in 2008. After his death, Tom Brokaw had a special edition of the show dedicated to Russert, leaving his chair empty on the set.

NBC news anchor Brian Williams hosted the next regularly scheduled show following Russert’s death and Brokaw became interim host through the 2008 general elections. Following the elections, Brokaw continued the first half hour with David Gregory taking over the second half hour. Gregory became the sole host in December of 2008.

In an attempt to gain viewers, a new set and theme song were introduced in 2010. Ratings continued to decline, and in 2013 the show, which had typically been the number one Sunday news program, dropped to third place.

In 2014, Chuck Todd, NBC’s chief White House correspondent took over the reins of the show. The show never regained its former numbers, but its Facebook ratings have skyrocketed.

Some of the most-watched episodes included Elizabeth Bentley, a courier with a Community spy ring, in 1948; Fidel Castro in 1959; and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963.

Every US president since JFK has appeared on the show, although most after their presidencies.

Todd, who is still running the show, shared some of his thoughts about why Meet the Press has been so influential. About the Sunday time slot, he said that “I think that the reason it has survived is because the idea of using Sunday as a day of reflection is sort of ingrained in the news business, too,” Todd said. “We continue to believe that Sunday mornings are when we’re going to sit down and try to figure out what the heck’s going on in the country.”

Todd also discussed Russert’s relevance on the show when he said, “Every moderator leaves an imprint. Tim has two giant imprints. He took Meet the Press to an hour. And he made the round table a vital and regular part of the show. Tim also made it seem less like an insider show. He realized it was at its best when explaining Washington to America but also bringing America to Washington.”

It’s hard to fault the show too much for its decline in ratings. When you consider, how many news choices there currently are, I think it is amazing that any news show has been able to remain on the air for almost 75 years.

The combination of Trump as president and the Covid pandemic has helped the show’s ratings a bit. In March of 2020 Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared on the show. According to Nielsen data, 4.657 million views tuned in making the show the most-watched one on that day. An additional 952,000 people watched rebroadcasts on NBC and MSNBC, the highest-rated show since January 2009.

It will be interesting to learn what celebrations are planned for 2022. If you have not checked in to see what Meet the Press is all about, take a listen this month.

Matlock: Charming but Cantankerous

November 22, 2021 / thewritelife61 / 3 Comments

We are winding down our blog series, One-Named Detectives, and today we have Matlock on the hot seat. In the mid-1980s, Andy Griffith returned to television, starring in Matlock, a legal drama created by Dean Hargrove. The show’s concept was similar to Perry Mason which was also created by Hargrove. During its run from 1986-1995, the show was produced by a variety of companies including Intermedia Entertainment Co., The Fred Silverman Co., Dean Hargrove Productions (which was named Strathmore Productions during the first two seasons), and Viacom Productions.

The show began its life on NBC before moving to ABC from 1992-1995. In 1997, Matlock was featured on a two-part episode of Diagnosis Murder which aired on CBS. During this episode, we learned that early in his career, Dr. Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) had convinced Matlock to invest his life savings in the 8-track tape company and he lost it all. He was forced to buy cheap suits and survive on hot dogs and both things became habits that continued even after he had money again.

Ben Matlock was a folksy and well-liked, but grumpy, attorney. Ben attended Harvard Law School, followed by a few years as a public defender before opening up his own practice in Atlanta. He lives in a contemporary farmhouse and only drives Ford Crown Victorias.

Matlock was apparently based on Georgia lawyer Bobby Lee Cook who was also known for his legal skill and down-home charm. One of his most famous cases was defending former running back Bobby Hoppe. Hoppe was on the Auburn 1957 championship team and three decades later was charged for murder of a bootlegger in 1957; the case ended with a hung jury. Hoppe played for a short time with the Washington Redskins and the San Francisco 49ers. After his football career he returned to school and obtained his BS and Masters in Education. In 2010, his wife wrote that Bobby had indeed killed the bootlegger, Don Hudson.

Matlock - The Thief (1989) - Coins on Television — Photo: BrianRxm.com

Matlock, a widower, is also known for being a bit cheap despite his $100,000 standard fee, the equivalent of about $240,000 in 2021. However, he has been known to waive a fee or let a client pay in by installments. During most episodes, he finds an overlooked clue at the crime site a la Columbo.

Best Matlock Episodes | Episode Ninja — Matlock from Season 1 with Linda Purl and Kene Holliday Photo: episodeninja.com

The cast changed during the run of the show. In season one, his daughter Charlene (Linda Purl) is a partner before moving to Philadelphia to set up her own practice. Tyler Hudson (Kene Holliday) is his private investigator for the first three seasons. Conrad McMasters (Clarence Gilyard Jr.) takes over that job for seasons 4-7, followed by Cliff Lewis (Daniel Roebuck). Season 2 features Cassie Phillips (Kari Lizer), Ben’s file clerk. Michelle Thomas (Nancy Stafford) is an American lawyer living in London, an equal partner of Matlock’s for seasons 2-6. Ben’s daughter Leanne MacIntyre (Brynn Thayer) comes on board for seasons 7-8 as Thomas’s replacement. Finally, Julie March (Julie Sommars) is a district attorney, Matlock’s rival in court, and his good friend of Ben’s from season 3-6. Those are a lot of cast changes to keep straight!

There were also a variety of recurring characters, primarily from the police department. Don Knotts, who worked with Griffith on The Andy Griffith Show, was Les Calhoun, Ben’s next-door neighbor from seasons 3-6.

27 Matlock ideas | matlock, andy griffith, favorite tv shows — Together Again: Knotts and Griffith Photo: pinterest.com

In addition to Knotts, other cast members of the old show who appeared on Matlock included Aneta Corsaut, Jack Dodson, Betty Lynn, and Arlene Golonka.

Daniel de Vise wrote the book Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show in 2015. He relayed that “Andy harbored enormous ambitions for Matlock. He envisioned Ben Matlock as a sort of antihero, more complex than Andy Taylor, vain, uncultured, cheap, and vaguely unlikable.”

Dean Hargrove didn’t like that vision of the character. He felt the character’s darker characteristics were being exposed and wanted Griffith to “humanize” him.

However, de Vise said it was “Andy who imbued Matlock with humor. Over its nine-year run, Matlock became an increasingly whimsical series, with the formality of the early episodes giving way to a looser, warmer more Southern style.” He said Griffith knew his new show was a drama but also understood how to lighten things up just enough. As de Vise explained–“The humor was often subtle: a raised eyebrow or gentle groan when Matlock heard something he didn’t like or a drawn-out ‘Nooo,’ just like Barney Fife used to do it.”

Matlock’s theme song was written by Dick De Benedictis specifically for the show. De Benedictis had more than 90 composing credits and produced music for a variety of genres of shows. He composed music for Perry Mason, Columbo and Diagnosis Murder as well.

The show began life on Tuesdays at 8 pm EST and continued for five years until it moved to Fridays at 8 pm EST. In season one, the show was in the top 20 and up against Who’s the Boss and Growing Pains on ABC which were both in the top 10. In 1991 it dropped out of the top-rated shows and moved to Thursday nights. In 1992 it beat out several shows throughout the year in those time slots and jumped back into the top 30. It stayed in that schedule for the remainder of its run, never cracking the top 30 again and its last year faced the tough competition of Friends.

After nine years on the air, the show ended because Andy wanted to spend more time with his family.

Grandpa Simpson mentions the show on The Simpsons. In “Whacking Day,” he relates “I’m an old man. I hate everything but Matlock.”

The show’s seasons were released on DVD from 2008-2015.

Matlock has been popular in reruns, showing up at various times on TBS, Hallmark, CBS Drama, WGN, FETV, and MeTV.

Andy Griffith | Biography, TV Shows, Movies, & Facts | Britannica — Photo: brittanica.com

With 181 episodes, Matlock had a long and successful run. After playing Andy Taylor for so many years and having the show available in syndication after it went off the air, it would be tough to create a more popular character. Between the two shows, Griffith had three unsuccessful shows in The New Andy Griffith Show, Headmaster, and Salvage 1.

Andy Griffith dies at 86 | MPR News — Photo: mprnews.com

But with Matlock, Griffith was once again able to play a southern character who he made the show his own. You can’t compare the two shows, but on its own evaluation, Matlock is a well-written and well-acted show and deserves to be watched on its own merits.

The Secret Word is George Fenneman

April 15, 2019 / thewritelife61 / 3 Comments

I am cheating just a bit with this post. During this Oddly Wonderful series, I think I can push the envelope enough. You Bet Your Life was a very different type of game show. If ever there was a person who personifies oddly wonderful it was Groucho. But I really wanted an excuse to write about George Fenneman.

George Fenneman is best remembered for his role on Groucho Marx’s quiz show, You Bet Your Life which began on radio in 1947 and transitioned to television in 1950. The show went off the air in 1961, the year I was born. Obviously, I don’t remember the original show, but I saw it in reruns and always had a crush on George; I think it was his smile that always got me.

George was born in Beijing (then Peking), China in 1919. His father was in the importing/exporting business. When he was not quite one, his parents moved to San Francisco where he grew up. After high school, he attended San Francisco State College. He graduated in 1942 with a degree in speech and drama. He took a job with a local radio station KGO for a short time. He married his college sweetheart Peggy Clifford in 1943 and they would stay married until George died. The couple had two daughters and a son.

Poor eyesight and asthma prevented Fenneman from military action in World War II, but he was able to become a broadcast correspondent for the War of Information. In 1946 he was back in California, in the radio industry again. One of the shows he announced for was Gunsmoke. After the episode concluded, he would introduce Matt Dillon (William Conrad) to discuss the sponsor’s products which often was cigarettes such as L&M or Chesterfield.

Some of the other radio shows he announced for included The Orson Welles Show, The Eddie Albert Show, and the Hedda Hopper Show.

He and Peggy were neighbors of Christian Nyby. In 1951, Nyby was hired as director for the film, The Thing from Another World. George joined the cast as in the minor role of Dr. Redding who has an important scene at the end of the film. It took 27 takes for him to get the speech right, and he realized he was better suited for radio. However, he would appear in two additional films, the little-known Mystery Lake in 1953 and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 1967. While his voice was part of several other films, most notably in the original Ocean’s 11 as the man talking on the phone to Sheriff Wimmer.

Jack Webb had worked on broadcasts with George during the war. He hired Fenneman as announcer for his radio show, Pat Novak, For Hire. When Dragnet aired the same year, Jack took George with him. George, along with Hal Gibney took on the role of narrator for the show. They both continued with the show in 1951 when it moved to television. Dragnet was off the air for a number of years and returned to television in 1967. Fenneman was again hired as narrator with John Stephenson for that version. George was the one who was heard saying, “The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.” Stephenson handled the closing narration. Fenneman was also cast as a news reporter in a variety of shows including Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Name of the Game, and on Batman in 1966 in the episode, “The Yegg Foes in Gotham.”

In addition to appearing on Groucho’s show on television, Fenneman was the host or announcer for several other shows. He emceed two games shows during his time with Groucho: Anybody Can Play in 1958 and Your Surprise Package in 1961. In 1963, He hosted a show on ABC titled Your Funny, Funny Films which was a cousin to the later Candid Camera and America’s Funniest Home Videos.

He was usually an unseen announcer on The Ed Sullivan Show, but in 1964, the night the Beatles were on the show for the second time, he did a spot on the air for Lipton Tea. From 1978-1982 he hosted a show on PBS, Talk About Pictures. In this show, Life magazine photographer Leigh Weiner and George interviewed respected photographers and looked at their best photos.

Photo: pinterest.com
With Leigh Weiner on PBS

He also was the voice for Home Savings & Loan commercials from the late 1960s until his death from emphysema in 1997. He also acted as announcer for shows such as Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Donny and Marie, The Jim Nabors Show, and The Life of Riley.

Photo: hollywoodphotographs.com
With Martin and Lewis

In 1993, The Simpsons aired an episode that spoofed Dragnet, and Fenneman can be heard on the show delivering his famous line about names being changed to protect the innocent.

Despite his large cannon of work as an announcer and emcee, Fenneman became a household celebrity when he went to work for Groucho on You Bet Your Life. One day George was standing on the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Robert Dwan, who had hired him at KGO Radio, came up and told him he was holding an audition for a new show for Groucho. Fenneman went up against thirty other announcers and won the job which paid $55 a week. He was hired just to do commercials. At some point, Groucho decided he should also be scorekeeper, as well as his straight man.

When discussing Groucho, George said, “I have to say he was unique, and he was fearless. It was a great privilege to work with him for 15 years and to be his friend for 30.” After Fenneman’s death, Peggy did an interview for an article by Lawrence Van Gelder for the NY Times in June of 1997. She said that George was always a fan of Groucho and the Marx Brothers. She remembered them often going to the Golden Gate Theater when they were in college. They went to watch the Marx Brothers rehearse future movie scenes for comic timing. She remembered watching scenes from A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races.

Groucho, known for his quick wit and acid tongue, found an agreeable and attractive man in Fenneman. When viewers queried George whether the show was scripted or ad-libbed, he always said yes. Actually, it was about 50/50. Groucho was fed some lines from the interviews with the contestants, but he never met them ahead of time and was given the freedom to interject whatever comments he chose.

George often took the brunt of Groucho’s humor. One time he had to inhale helium, one day he came down from the ceiling when the secret word was said in place of the usual duck, or he would be questioned about something on the show. For example, one evening each of the contestants was a very attractive woman and Groucho made it seem that Fenneman had set that up on purpose. One contestant mistakenly referred to George as Mr. Fidderman, and Groucho called him out to discuss his double life.

George never knew what Groucho had in store for him. Often Marx would summon George from behind the curtain, and he always looked uncomfortable which was quite genuine. But Groucho had great affection and appreciation for him, calling him the perfect straight man.

At times on the show, George could also be quite funny, but he knew his main role was straight man, and he usually toed that line carefully.

George and Groucho remained friends long after the show was cancelled. They often got together before Groucho’s death in 1977 at age 87. Groucho never lost his sense of humor. At one of their last visits, Groucho was in very frail health. Helping Groucho get across the room, George lifted him out of his wheelchair and carried him. He had his arms around his torso and began to shimmy him across the floor. Groucho’s rasping voice said, “Fenneman, you always were a lousy dancer.”

Although the shows have never been released in a chronological DVD collection, they are available. The programs were recorded in full and then edited to the desired length. On MP3 discs, some of the unedited tapes are available which provide a very different perspective than the aired show.

There are a few announcers still well known in the business. I think of Rod Roddy, Johnny Gilbert or Johnny Olson who have game show fame, but it is a career that is being phased out. There is something charming about watching the former announcers for shows promoting products and interacting with the stars. Harry Von Zell from the Gracie Allen and George Burns Show comes to mind or Don Wilson from the Jack Benny Show. Like rotary phones, transistor radios, and Polaroid cameras, they are fondly remembered from a slower and less technological period in history.

With this series being Oddly Wonderful, I am stretching it a bit by focusing on George. In our definition of oddly wonderful, he was definitely the wonderful.

The Alliterative Harry Morgan (Famous for saying Horse Hockey and Beaver Biscuits as Colonel Potter)

February 19, 2018February 19, 2018 / thewritelife61 / 5 Comments

When it comes to prolific actors in television and film, few people can equal Harry Morgan’s career. Known for his deadpan delivery, he was in more than 100 films. He also starred in 11 television series and appeared on 6 TV Guide covers.

Born Harry Bratsberg in 1915, he grew up in Muskegon, Michigan. His parents came from Norway and Sweden. Harry went to the University of Chicago, planning on becoming an attorney but got interested in acting instead. In 1937, he began appearing with stock companies, followed by Broadway roles.

His first wife was Eileen Detchon who he was married to from 1940 until her death in 1985. Her photo appears on Colonel Potter’s desk on M*A*S*H. They had four sons: Christopher, Charley, Paul and Daniel. Morgan remarried in 1986 and was married to Barbara Bushman until his death.

He was signed by Twentieth Century Fox in 1942. His screen debut was The Shores of Tripoli under the name Henry Morgan. Later that year he appeared in Orchestra Wives and a few years later was in The Glenn Miller Story with Jimmy Stewart. In 1943, he starred with Henry Fonda in the highly acclaimed The Ox-Bow Incident.

In 1954, he was offered the role of Pete Porter in December Bride which ran until 1959. In the show, he complained about his wife Gladys a lot, but we never meet her. When the show ended, he starred in a spin-off Pete and Gladys from 1960-1962. Pete Porter is an insurance salesman. His scatter-brained, but beautiful, wife is played by Cara Williams.

The next year he was cast in The Richard Boone Show from 1963-1964. This was an anthology series which Richard Boone hosted. A cast of 15 actors appeared in different roles each episode. Morgan appeared in all 25 episodes. The show never captured viewers, probably because it was on against Petticoat Junction.

Almost immediately upon its ending, he was again cast in a television show with a role on Kentucky Jones during 1964 and 1965. Kentucky Jones is a veterinarian and former horse trainer. He and his wife adopted a Chinese boy named Dwight Eisenhower “Ike” Wong. After his wife’s death, the local Asian community and handyman Seldom played by Morgan helps him raise Ike.

Morgan had a couple of years of guest starring in shows such as The Wackiest Ship in the Army and Dr. Kildare, and then he was cast in Dragnet from 1967-1970. He and Jack Webb were friends before the show and continued to be best friends throughout Harry’s life. Webb had directed the previous Dragnet show in the 1950s and revived the show in 1967, convincing his friend to play the role of Officer Joe Gannon who helped Sergeant Joe Friday (Webb) solve crimes in Los Angeles.

Between 1970 and 1972 he would show up in The Partridge Family in two different roles and Love American Style among other shows. 1972 would find him starring in another show, Hec Ramsey, until 1974. This show reunited Morgan with Richard Boone who starred in it and Jack Webb who produced it. Ramsey was a western detective who preferred to solve crimes with his brain rather than his gun. The show only lasted for ten episodes.

From 1974-1983, he was cast in his most famous role, that of Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H. A military hospital staff treating soldiers during the Korean war rely on laughter to get through the gruesome work. The show combined heartache and joy to tell the story of the 4077^th. When the show was cancelled, Harry continued the role in the spin-off, After M*A*S*H from 1983-1985.

On M*A*S*H Morgan painted the portraits attributed to Colonel Potter. He won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 1980, receiving 11 nominations overall during the run of the show.

His description of Colonel Potter was: “He was firm. He was a good officer, and he had a good sense of humor. I think it’s the best part I ever had. I loved playing Colonel Potter.”

When asked if he was a better actor after working with the show’s talented cast, Morgan responded, “I don’t know about that, but it’s made me a better human being.

Morgan also appeared in several Disney movies during the 1970s, including The Barefoot Executive, Snowball Express, Charley and the Angel, The Apple Dumpling Gang, The Cat from Outer Space, and The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again.

In 1986 he was cast in Blacke’s Magic. The show featured a magician and his father, a con man, who solve crimes. Unfortunately, like many of the shows he was a part of, this one only lasted 15 episodes. When it ended in 1987, Harry was immediately given a role in You Can’t Take It with You where he appeared on three episodes during 1987 and 1988. Morgan starred as Martin; the show was based on the original play, but the television series was set in the 1980s. Although Morgan was only in three episodes, he was in the majority of them, because the entire show consisted of four episodes.

In the 1980s, he appeared in commercials for ERA realty and Toyota.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he appeared in six different shows, with recurring roles on The Simpsons and Third Rock from the Sun. In 1996 he retired.

In 2006, Morgan was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

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Many of his western films were done with James Stewart. They did five films together, and Morgan says Stewart was one of the nicest men he ever met and extremely professional.

In addition to Jack Webb, he was good friends with Tim Conway and Don Knotts.

A very interesting man, in his spare time, he enjoyed golfing, fishing, travel, spending time with his family, reading, raising horses, horse riding, painting, and poetry.

He died in 2011 from pneumonia.

Following Morgan’s death, Mike Farrell, who played B.J. Hunnicutt, starring with Morgan in M*A*S*H, released the following statement:

“He was a wonderful man, a fabulous actor and a dear and close friend since the first day we worked together. As Alan [Alda] said, he did not have an unadorable bone in his body . . . He was a treasure as a person, an imp at times, and always a true professional. He had worked with the greats and never saw himself as one of them. But he was . . . He was the rock everyone depended on and yet he could cut up like a kid when the situation warranted it. He was the apotheosis, the finest example of what people call a ‘character actor’. What he brought to the work made everyone better. He made those who are thought of as ‘stars’ shine even more brightly . . . The love and admiration we all felt for him were returned tenfold in many, many ways. And the greatest and most selfless tribute to the experience we enjoyed was paid by Harry at the press conference when our show ended. He remarked that someone had asked him if working on M*A*S*H had made him a better actor. He responded by saying, ‘I don’t know about that, but it made me a better human being.’ It’s hard to imagine a better one.”