Richard Diamond, Private Detective: Living His Best Life

July 7, 2025June 3, 2025 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are discovering some of our favorite “Crime Solvers of the Past.” Up today is a show I listen to on old-time radio quite often: Richard Diamond, Private Detective.

Dick Powell stared on the radio series which began in 1949, and the show ended its run four years later in 1953.

The television show went on the air in the summer of 1957. CBS aired the show through fall of 1959 when it moved to NBC for its final season. It was much more common in the fifties and sixties for shows to shift networks.

David Janssen starred as Diamond, a former cop in the New York Police Department. The television show kept the film noir atmosphere. It also kept the New York City location and showcased Diamond’s wit and charm with the ladies. Rounding out the cast was Diamond’s former superior Lt. Dennis McGough (Regis Toomey).

The third season moved Diamond to Los Angeles, and everything took on a new look. His life became more glamorous, and he lived in the Hollywood Hills and had a swimming pool. Apparently, private eyes earned a much bigger fee in Los Angeles. After taxis in New York, Diamond drove a new convertible which included a car phone, a high-tech feature for that time period. Lt. McGough remained in New York, and the LA police weren’t so fond of Diamond and his interference with their cases.

Diamond’s phone calls are collected by Sam. Often she passes the messages on to Diamond on his phone car. Car phones were pretty cool in this era. We don’t see her face, but we do see her legs on a regular basis. I’ll take their word for it that Sam was played by Mary Tyler Moore for part of season three and Roxane Brooks filled out the rest of year three and season four. No one knew who Sam was until Mary Tyler Moore modeled hosiery in the TV Guide and let the cat out of the bag. She was immediately fired and replaced with Brooks. I also read a version that Moore asked for a raise and was denied it and fired, which prompted her to talk about her identity as Sam on the show.

The theme also took on a contemporary jazz score that was now used for the theme song.

Apparently, NBC demoted Diamond because for the final season, he lost his ranch house with the fireplace and sunken living room. He lived in an apartment and worked from a typical, small office. The show lost a lot of its elegance, and fans probably missed Diamond’s former life after getting used to him in year three. Lt. Pete Kile (Russ Conway) has now found mutual respect with Diamond and the two of them work together on many of his cases. He also has an understanding with Karen (Barbara Bain), his new girlfriend.

Guest stars were plentiful on the show. Some of the appearances included Claude Akins, Ed Begley, Joey Bishop, Whitney Blake, Charles Bronson, Jack Cassidy, Jack Elam, Charles Lane, and Ruta Lee.

ABC aired the show on Thursday nights up against Zorro and You Bet Your Life, both shows in the top thirty. The next season it moved to Sunday nights and took on The Loretta Young Show. NBC moved the show to an earlier time slot on Mondays against The Kate Smith Show and the popular western Cheyenne. I’m guessing most families tuned in to one of its competitor’s series that early in the evening.

Maxwell House sponsored season one and Kent Cigarettes took over for season two. It seems that in the fifties coffee and cigarettes are what kept most detectives going.

From what I’ve concluded, the show didn’t age as well as the radio show. It lost some of its comedy and playful dialogue and became more somber and serious. The fact that Richard’s living conditions changed three times, along with the spot on the tv schedule where the show lived, probably didn’t help viewers stay tuned.

Let me qualify that I read many people’s views of the show who thought some of the seasons as high quality as you could get. However, I am just going to keep listening to the radio show and take a pass on watching Diamond’s more stressed-out, serious side on television.

One Day at a Time

August 26, 2024September 4, 2024 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

For this Reboot series, we are ending with One Day at a Time. This show was about a divorced mom, Ann Romano (Bonnie Franklin) whose father is not in the picture much anymore. She moves her two teenaged daughters, Barbara (Valerie Bertinelli) and Julie (Mackenzie Phillips) from Logansport, Indiana to Indianapolis. Barbara is the funny daughter who is always doing the right thing, while Julie is rebellious and angry. Schneider (Pat Harrington Jr.) is their building supervisor, and he takes on a bit of a parental role with the girls.

In the early seasons, Ann dates her divorce lawyer David (Richard Masur). However, after becoming engaged, Ann realizes David wants children of his own and she is not ready to go down that road again, so they break up. Her ex remarries and he eventually enters their lives again.

Julie marries Max (Michael Lembeck), a flight attendant, and they eventually have a daughter. Barbara marries a dental student Mark (Boyd Gaines). In the finale, Ann decides to take a job in London and Schneider moves to Florida to take care of his niece and nephew.

The series was created by husband-and-wife team Whitney Blake and Allan Manings. Blake was Dorothy Baxter on Hazel. Blake based the show on her experiences as a single mother raising three children. It debuted in 1975 and aired until 1984.

Franklin was not happy with the scripts in the first season. She said that she threatened to quit unless the quality improved for the second season.

Phillips dealt with substance abuse, and she was fired after the fifth season. She did come back later for a few appearances. When she entered rehab in 1980, the plot was that Julie and Max moved to Houston. In the seventh season, she returned for a two-part episode. In the final season, she collapsed on the set. When the producer asked her to take a urinalysis test, she told them not to bother and she was fired for the last time. Lembeck continued with the show, and he raised their daughter after it was said Julie left them. While Phillips was unkind, to put it nicely, to Bertinelli early in the series, they eventually became closer. Bertinelli was one of the few people who stood by her after she released a shocking autobiography. Later Glenn Scarpelli joined the cast as Alex. His father had been Ann’s boyfriend and after his father dies in a car accident, Alex asks to move in with Ann and Barbara.

Family members Nanette Fabray and Shelly Fabares both took roles in the series; Nanette played Ann’s mom and Shelly was a coworker. Howard Hesseman also joined the cast as Sam who would marry Ann.

The show was filmed before a studio audience. That surprised me a bit. I went back to watch a few shows for this blog, and I was surprised how dark the series was for a sitcom. Many of the shows, especially Norman Lear shows, were not very light-hearted. I remember liking this show as a teenager/young adult, but I must admit, they were hard to sit through the second time around, and it is not a show that I would choose to watch again.

The theme song was “This Is It.” Brill Building composed the music with lyrics by Jeff and Nancy Barry. Polly Cutter sang the song.

It is amazing that the show did so well in the ratings because it was moved around on the schedule eleven times during its run. For most of its life, it was in the top 20.

The show still had decent ratings after its nine seasons, but Franklin decided she was ready to be done. Harrington was the only cast member to win an Emmy. A 1984 spinoff was discussed for Schneider, but that show never came to fruition. It seems fitting for Harrington to win the Emmy. He has 166 acting credits, and appeared in movies with Elvis Presley and Robert Redford. He said 100 actors auditioned for the role of Schneider. He said that he was a family man with four kids and needed to put food on the table, so he went for it.

In 2005, there was a One Day at a Time Reunion on CBS. Franklin, Phillips, Bertinelli, and Harrington discussed their time on the show. The documentary featured private interviews with Masur, Fabares, Fabray, Lembeck, and Scarpelli.

At least three seasons were released on DVD, but I have not seen any references to seasons four-nine.

In 2017 a reboot was made of One Day at a Time. Three original cast members showed up on the new series. Phillips appeared as a counselor and former veteran leading a support group with PTSD, Glenn Scarpelli was in season three, and Lembeck directed the season one episode “Sex Talk.”

The remake was developed by Gloria Calderon Kellett and Mike Royce with a Latino cast for Netflix. The stars were Justina Machado, Todd Grinnell, Marcel Ruiz, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Rita Moreno. The Cuban family lives in LA. A single mother and former veteran dealing with PTSD, Penelope Alvarez (Justina Machado) lives with her daughter, Elena (Isabella Gomez), and son Alex (Marcel Ruiz), and her mom Lydia (Rita Moreno). Pat Schneider (Todd Grinnell) is the supervisor. Penelope works for Dr. Leslie Berkowitz (Stephen Tobolwsky). The reboot also focused on some tough subjects including mental illness, immigration, sexism, homophobia, gender identity, and racism. It aired for four seasons.

The critics were all on board. It was listed as one of the best shows of 2017 and received a variety of awards including four Emmy nominations. Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times wrote that it was “lively without being rushed” and David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle felt it “was nicely written . . . and the performances are almost universally engaging.” Verna Gay of Newsday called Machado “flat out terrific.”

This time around, Gloria Estefan sang “This Is It.”

The series was canceled after four seasons. The network said it did not have enough viewers, despite the fact that Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 100% rating for every year. It was praised for dealing with many hard subjects and featuring a matriarchy of three generations of women who make their way through life and support each other even when they don’t agree with each other.

I think that the failure of this show to make it to five seasons is a common factor that we will see in streaming shows. Networks had more of an incentive to keep shows around when there were fewer options. Now there are so many shows available that it’s almost impossible to know what is available to watch. Considering that three networks used to get most of the viewers tuning in, now you can multiply that by hundreds. I’m not sure what it will take to keep a show running more than three years anymore.

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at four reboots that succeeded in bringing back original viewers and building a new fan base for themselves. I’d love to hear if any of these were shows you would root for.

Cannon: The Cultured Detective

November 1, 2021October 31, 2021 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we have a new series, “One-Name Detectives.” Today we are looking at a show that was on for five years in the early seventies: Cannon.

Cannon (TV series) - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia — Photo: alchetron.com

Cannon was produced by Quinn Martin and aired from 1971-1976 on CBS. Edward Hume developed the show and was also known for his creation of Barnaby Jones, The Streets of San Francisco, and Toma. Unlike most detective shows, Frank Cannon (William Conrad) was the only member of the cast. There were a few recurring characters including policeman Jerry Warton (Martin Sheen), Lt Paul Tarcher (Charles Bateman), and Officer Bill Murray (Arthur Adams).

Cannon is a detective in Los Angeles. His backstory is that he was a veteran of the Korean War and a former policeman for the Los Angeles Police Department. He quit the force after his wife and young son were killed in a bomb attack meant for him. He was a man of many talents. Not only was he street-smart, but he had at least one other college degree, knew several languages and studied science, art, and history.

random thoughts for thursday november 10th, 2011 – COUNTRY LEGENDS JUKEBOX — Photo: wordpress.com

Cannon was overweight and often made jokes about his size, but when he couldn’t get out of a bad situation with his quick wit, he could hold his own fighting the bad guys. Cannon was also a gourmet cook and wine expert and often entertained friends.

Most of the plots involved Cannon solving crimes for private clients, insurance companies or former police colleagues. Cannon was known for his mobile phone in his Lincoln Continental. Car phones were not very common then, but I do remember an episode of That Girl from the early seventies that also featured a Motorola car phone. Cannon usually asked an operator to dial his call while he was driving.

TV Det. Frank Cannon and his Mark IV are Still Thrilling Fans | Lincoln and Continental Owner's Club - Western Region — Photo: https://lcocwestern.org/

The show debuted in a two-hour movie. The series was picked up and placed on the Tuesday night schedule, following Hawaii Five-0. Season two found the show on Wednesday nights at 10 ET and then at 9 ET for season three where it remained. The first three seasons the show was in the top 20 but in season five, it came in at 39 and was canceled.

Season one featured a short scene before the opening credits giving a preview of the show. For the remaining seasons, the preview was not included.

A lot of famous people stopped by Cannon’s office during this five-year people. Guest stars included Willie Aames, Whitney Blake, Johnny Cash, Micky Dolenz, Shelley Duvall, Mike Farrell, Joan Fontaine, Dabbs Greer, Mark Hamill, Kim Hunter, David Janssen, Tina Louise, Robert Mandan, Vera Miles, Donna Mills, Leslie Nielsen, Nick Nolte, Stefanie Powers, Denver Pyle, Wayne Rogers, Roy Scheider, Peter Strauss, Vic Tayback, Jessica Walter, Cindy Williams, and William Windom.

The show received three Emmy nominations. The show was nominated in 1973 and Conrad was nominated in 1973 and 1974 (losing to Richard Thomas for The Waltons in 1973 and Telly Savala for Kojak in 1974).

William Conrad Cannon 24x36 Poster on Sailboat Smoking Pipe - Walmart.com - Walmart.com — Photo: walmart.com

Nine novels were published based on the show in the 1970s, the first being Murder by Gemini by Richard Gallagher and the last one being Shoot-Out! by Douglas Enefe.

The show is out on DVD and very reasonable. The entire five-season set can be bought for $32 on amazon. Definitely worth the time to watch a season or two on a week-end.

Getting To Know Pete and Gladys

May 24, 2021 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

In the 1950s, one of the most popular sitcoms was December Bride starring Spring Byington. For five seasons, Henry Morgan, insurance salesman, played her next-door neighbor Pete Porter.

The show was cancelled in 1959, and in 1960 Pete showed up on the air again in a spin-off show titled “Pete and Gladys. He had often referred to his wife on December Bride, but we never got to meet her in person. Cara Williams took on the role of scatterbrained, but beautiful, Gladys. Like December Bride, this show was created by Parke Levy. Harry Morgan said Parke Levy was a very kind and knowledgeable man; he was one of the pioneers of sitcoms.

*Cara Williams and Verna Felton*–Photo: youtube.com

Verna Felton as Hilda Crocker also moved to the new show. Frances Rafferty who had played Ruth on December Bride also shows up on Pete and Gladys, but she is Nancy on the new show. For some reason, producers think we won’t notice missing characters but on December Bride, Pete had a baby daughter named Linda. However, she does not exist in the spinoff. We also get to know Pete’s uncle played by Gale Gordon and Gladys’s best friend Alice (Barbara Stuart). Morgan said not only was Gordon a great actor, but he was a very funny man.

*Gale Gordon and Williams*–Photo: youtube.com

Pete who worked for Springer, Slocum, and Klever which sounded more like a shoddy law firm than an insurance company. He and Gladys Hooper had eloped nine years earlier. Pete told Gladys he had single-handedly capture a Japanese patrol, although it later came to light that he spent his military career as a clerk in the PX. Gladys was a housewife and kept busy as entertainment chair of the Junior Matron’s League of the Children’s Hospital and a member of the Westwood Bowling League.

*Harry Morgan, Williams and Felton*–Photo: dailymotion.com

While December Bride was in the top ten for four of its five years, Pete and Gladys never reached those numbers. Williams was nominated for an Emmy for Leading Actress in a Comedy although she lost to Shirley Booth from Hazel. The show only lasted two years. Whether a blessing or a curse, the show took over I Love Lucy’s spot on Monday nights and viewers probably could not help comparing the two shows. Director James V. Kern moved from Lucy to this show along with writers Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf.

*Morgan, Williams, and Felton*–Photo: sitcomsonline.com

However, for a two-year show, the number of guest stars was pretty impressive. Watching the show you can catch Jack Albertson, Morey Amsterdam, Bea Benaderet, Whitney Blake, Frank Cady, Richard Deacon, Donna Douglas, Sterling Holloway, Ron Howard, Ted Night, Nancy Kulp, Charles Lane, Howard McNear, Cesar Romero, and Reta Shaw. Morgan said that the guest stars got an exorbitant amount of money compared to the regular cast.

Morgan said Cara Williams was very talented, but she was not easy to work with. Often, they had different ideas about how a scene should go. She had a strong personality and was sometimes described as self-centered. Morgan said he admired her even though filming wasn’t always done smoothly. He recalled one time that she was demanding something and director Jack Arnold was tired of arguing, so he laid on the floor on his back, yelled, “Roll ‘em”, and when the scene sounded done, yelled “Cut.” Then he got up and left which was his way of answering her.

*Morgan and Williams*–Photo: nostalgiacentral.com

Not surprisingly, Morgan said he enjoyed his time on December Bride more than on Pete and Gladys, and he thought the former was the better show. However, if you take some time to watch December Bride, you might want to check out a few episodes of Pete and Gladys just to meet the woman Pete was always complaining about. Unfortunately, both were listed on Amazon, but neither one was currently available. I did see a December Bride DVD on etsy for a whopping $170. I do remember Pete and Gladys in syndication when I was younger, but I have never seen December Bride on a network schedule. YouTube does have a number of episodes for both series, but be warned, some of the December Bride episodes have been colorized.

Family: The Perfect Blend of Intelligent Writing, Superb Acting, and Warm Fuzzy Feelings

August 5, 2019 / thewritelife61 / 9 Comments

This month we are doing a 1980s Rewind, looking at some memorable shows from that decade. We start with one of my all-time favorite series, Family. I think this is one of the most disrespected and underrated shows from the past fifty years. It had an amazing cast, and the scripts were intelligent and well written.

The show ran on ABC from 1976-1980, producing 86 episodes. The critically acclaimed show had three well-known producers: Leonard Goldberg, Aaron Spelling, and Mike Nichols. Jay Presson Allen created the series, and she wrote every episode.

Kate (Sada Thompson) and Doug (James Broderick) Lawrence are an upper middle-class couple living in Pasadena, CA. They have three children: Nancy (Meredith Baxter Birney), Willie (Gary Frank), and Letitia (Kristy McNichol), known as Buddy. Doug is a lawyer, hoping to become a judge. He is a warm-hearted person who often finds humor in their family situations. Kate is a practical woman but can come across as a cold woman. She can be quite passionate and loves her family very much but has trouble showing a lot of affection. She always does what she feels is morally right. She has sacrificed her dreams to stay home and raise her family. Later in the show she does go back to school to major in music.

Photo: reelrundown.com
The original cast with Elayne Heilveil as Nancy

In the pilot, Nancy was played by Elayne Heilveil, but Meredith Baxter Birney took over the role once the series began. Cheryl Ladd also auditioned for the part of Nancy. Spelling remembered her and later cast her in Charlie’s Angels. Nancy finds her husband Jeff (John Rubinstein) in the act of cheating on her and moves back to her parents’ home, living in their guest house with her son Timmy. Even though Nancy and Jeff are divorced, they are friends, and he appears on the show often and is involved in Timmy’s life. The Lawrences also had a son named Timmy who died when he was little. Nancy and her mother often butt heads. In the second season, Nancy decides to go to law school and is very successful.

Willie is always trying to find himself and can’t quite decide who he is. He has a high IQ but drops out of school. He dreams of being a writer and later works for a photography studio for a while.

Buddy was a tweenager. Buddy is a tomboy and well liked by her friends and family. She had two famous boyfriends during the show: TJ played by Willie Aames and Leif Garrett. Buddy is much closer to her mother than Nancy is. Nancy and Buddy have a trying relationship too, although they both want to be closer. Willie and Buddy are very close.

Everyone in our actual families could find someone in the show to relate to. I notice myself looking at the show from a different perspective now than I did in my teen years.

There were 24 different directors during the series’ run. Richard Kinon directed almost 25 percent of the shows. Kinon had directed episodes of many classic shows including Bewitched, Hogan’s Heroes, The Patty Duke Show, The Partridge Family, Room 222, and That Girl. After Family, he would direct a quarter of The Love Boat episodes. James Broderick directed four of the episodes. Not surprising for me was learning that Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick also tried their hand at directing. Both of them were also listed as producers and writers of the show. They would later go on to help create thirtysomething, a show we’ll learn about next week. Both men were also involved with Once and Again and Nashville, among other shows.

The storylines were very realistic and handled with delicacy and intelligence. Some of the topics the show tackled included breast cancer, infidelity, senility, divorce, adoption, terminal illness as well as the typical teenage issues faced by most youth.

In the last season, the Lawrences adopt Annie Cooper (Quinn Cummings) after her parents are killed in a car accident. They were her parents’ friends and their choice for guardians if anything happened to them.

Rubinstein who played Jeff composed the theme music. Apparently, he inherited some musical genes from his father, Arthur Rubinstein, the famous classical musician. He has continued his dual career in both acting and composing since the show ended.

A couple other cast members also had famous relatives. Broderick’s son is Matthew Broderick, actor, and Baxter Birney’s mother was Whitney Blake who played Missy on Hazel, among other roles.

The show was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in 1977, 1978, and 1980. Thompson, Frank and McNichol all won Emmys, and Broderick and Baxter Birney were nominated as well.

I could not find a reason for it, but only the first two seasons have been released on DVD and that was in 2006. I have not seen the show in syndication for many years.

Photo: seeing-stars.com
One of my favorite television homes: the Lawrence house

Plans were made for a 1988 reunion movie. James Broderick had passed away, but he rest of the cast was on board. When the writers went on strike, the project was placed on hold and later dropped from production.

I watched a few of the episodes from season one. The show still holds up today. Although it closely mirrored the social issues from its era, those topics are still relevant today. It may have included some melodrama, but it never was about melodrama. It contained enough humor to offset the tragedy just like real life. Doug and Kate had strong moral values and they passed them on to their children but understood life was changing and they could not be close minded.

Jay Presson Allen brought insightful writing to every script, but the incredible acting brought the characters to life.

UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 13: FAMILY – cast gallery – Season Three – 9/13/77, Sada Thompson (Kate), (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

Sada Thompson was not overly affectionate but calmed her children down and could discuss anything with them. They relied on her guidance and wisdom. She embodied class and elegance. I was surprised to learn that Lear had hired her to play Archie Bunker’s blue-collar neighbor, a plumber named Irene Lorenzo for All in the Family. I was not surprised to learn that Betty Garrett replaced her in the role because Sada had too much genuine class and didn’t yell loud enough for Lear. James Broderick discussed working with Thompson. He said he “was only one of her many fans. Sada is about as close as we get in this country to the British super actresses like Dame Edith Evans and Dame May Whitty. I’m sure if Sada lived in England, the Queen would have dubbed her Dame Sada a long time ago.”

UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 21: FAMILY – cast gallery – Season Four – 9/21/78, James Broderick (Doug), (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

Broderick flawlessly captured the fun nature of Doug Lawrence. Doug left the disciplining up to his wife most of the time and was not as serious as his wife. Doug and Kate were also very affectionate with each other.

FAMILY, Meredith Baxter Birney (aka Meredith Baxter), 1976-80
Photo: metv.com

Baxter Birney was the perfect combination of brains and beauty who wanted to be the wife and mother she saw in her mom as well as the respected lawyer she saw in her father.

Frank portrayed the young adult who couldn’t figure out what he wanted from life. He was not a “sit behind the desk kind of guy,” but needed to make a living. Willie was more interested in the humanities and finding meaning in life. He always seemed to be in difficult relationships. Early in his adult years, he fell head over heels in love only to find out she was pregnant before they met and she left him eventually but weaved in and out of his life for years. He later met his soul mate, but she had terminal cancer, so even though they married, they only had a short time together.

McNichol was believable as a young girl moving into her teens and dealing with all the stress and changes teens go through. She was funny, silly and loveable and could be irritating occasionally and whiny, just like teens are. McNichol appeared very mature for her age and seemed to have everything under control, but it was a façade. She said she “was like a miniature adult.” She’d go off to the set “every day with a little briefcase. I really think I grew up backwards.” Dinah Manoff, who guest starred on Family before acting on Empty Nest with McNichol said “Kris was the most adult kid I’d ever met. She didn’t even have to study her lines. They’d hand them to her right before she walked out on the set.” Thompson once remembered that the adults “used to talk about how amazing it was that Kristy didn’t appear to feel any of the pressures of growing up as a successful child actress. The cost is enormous, you know, but Kristy didn’t seem to be paying it.” Unfortunately, she paid it with interest a few years after the show ended. When she was a young adult, she began to rebel and made some very poor choices, trying to recapture the childhood that she never got to experience.

I don’t remember a lot about the role of Annie Cooper. Once Buddy began growing up, she was brought in to continue storylines kids could relate to. She had just been nominated for an Academy award for The Good-bye Girl and seemed to transition into the show easily.

Hopefully the rest of the seasons are released on DVD so we can continue to appreciate the remarkable blend of writing, acting, and directing that was featured on this show.

Family–that says it all: joyful, heart-breaking, boring, exciting. loving, conflict and everything in between.

She Was Maid For TV: Hazel

June 4, 2018 / thewritelife61 / 7 Comments

June 4 is Old Maid Day, and what better way to celebrate than with Hazel, the show that Shirley Booth played an unmarried maid on.

The show debuted in the fall of 1961. The sitcom was based on Ted Key’s cartoons which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post.

Hazel Burke is a live-in maid for the Baxter family who consists of Dorothy (Whitney Blake), who Hazel calls Missy; George (Don Defore), who Hazel calls Mr. B; and their son Harold (Bobby Buntrock), who Hazel refers to as “Sport.” Hazel worked for Missy’s family and helped raise her, so they are very close. As an aside, Whitney Blake had previously been married to a Baxter and her real daughter was Meredith Baxter.

Hazel was on the air for five seasons, producing 154 episodes. Hazel was 4^th in the Nielsen ratings for its first year. By the end of Season 4, the show had fallen out of the top 30. Season 1 was black and white except for one episode. Hazel purchases a color television set. RCA owned NBC, which aired the show for the first four years, and this show seemed to be a blatant commercial for colored televisions. Beginning in Season 2, all the shows were filmed in color. The show moved to CBS for its final year. Shirley Booth won an Emmy Award for Best Actress in both 1962 and 1963 and was nominated again in 1964 when she lost to Mary Tyler Moore for The Dick Van Dyke Show.

In 1963, the NAACP threatened to boycott the show’s sponsor if a black member was not added to the cast and, two months later, the network announced a black production executive had joined the show.

Hazel is more than a maid for the Baxters; she is family. We also get to know several of Hazel’s friends: the postman Barney Hatfield (Robert Williams), taxi driver Mitch Brady (Dub Taylor), and her best friend, Rosie Hammaker (Maude Prickett) who is also a maid. Apparently, there were a lot of maids in the city because Hazel was president of The Sunshine Girls, a club for maids.

Hazel often stuck her nose into issues where it didn’t belong, but she “fixed” the situation in the end. She constantly frustrated George, who would try to put down his foot about an issue. She often would restrict his desserts to get her way or his wife would defend her cause, and he usually gave in.

George had more control at work where he was a successful lawyer at Butterworth, Noll, Hatch, and Baxter. However, Hazel often got involved in issues regarding his clients as well. She pre-empted his authority at work like she did at home, especially when the case involved Harvey Griffin (Howard Smith), one of George’s clients who spent a lot of time at the Baxter house.

When the house and George’s work life were running smoothly, Hazel found issues to battle around the community.

The series was filmed at Columbia Studios in Hollywood. The house façade for the Baxter home was used in several Three Stooges films and was the Lawrence home on Gidget. The house next door was Darrin and Samantha Stephens home on Morning Glory Dr featured on Bewitched.

Sammy Cahn and James Van Huesen wrote the instrumental theme song that played during opening of the show; and The Modernaires sang it at the closing for the first eight episodes in Season 1. Beginning with episode 9, the instrumental was the only version played in both the opening and closing credits. The lyrics were:

People love you everywhere you go Hazel.

Children cross the street to say hello, Hazel.

You charm every Romeo and Casanova,

It’s your personality that wins them over.

You may never be a millionaire Hazel.

Count your friends and you don’t have a care, Hazel.

You’ve got more than wealth untold,

You’ve got a heart of solid gold.

We love you, Hazel,

Just because you’re you.

When NBC ended the show after Season 4, CBS picked it up. They changed most of the cast, keeping only Hazel and Harold. The premise is that Dorothy and George are sent to Saudi Arabia for George’s career, so Hazel and Harold move in with George’s younger brother Steve (Ray Fulmer), his wife Barbara (Lynn Borden), and their daughter Susie (Julia Benjamin). A minor character was also added with Ann Jillian as Steve’s receptionist. The ratings were not high but were acceptable. However, Shirley was ill and required a nurse on set. She decided she could not continue with the show, so Season 5 was its last.

During its first four seasons, Hazel was sponsored by Ford Motor Company. Ford cars were often featured in the shows. The episode was the first show to display the Ford Mustang on television. Bristol-Myers came in as a cosponsor for Season 4, and when the show moved to CBS, Procter & Gamble and Philip Morris were the co-sponsors.

Unfortunately, most of the cast has passed away.

Bobby Buntrock, the youngest member, was the first to die. Only 21, he was in a tragic automobile accident involving a bridge in South Dakota in 1974. That same year, Booth retired to her Massachusetts home. She passed away at age 94 in 1992 after suffering several health problems including blindness and a broken hip. The next year, Don DeFore died from a cardiac arrest at age 80. Whitney Blake died from esophageal cancer in 2002 at age 76, also living in Massachusetts. Lynn Borden passed away in 2015 after an extended illness. Julia Benjamin and Ray Fulmer are still alive.

Hazel gained a younger audience fan base in the 1970s and 1980s when it was seen in syndication. It currently can be seen on Antenna TV. The first season was released on DVD in 2006 and the last season was released in 2014.

Hazel seems to be one of those shows that people love or hate. I enjoyed watching Hazel in reruns, although I didn’t really care for the final year—it seemed to be working too hard to be fun. TV. Although, this show is not one of those that I watch with fond nostalgia, it is not as syrupy as some shows and better than many shows still on the air. I occasionally catch an episode on Antenna TV. If you want to check it out, Hazel is on daily at 11 EST. It also airs Saturday evening at 6:30 EST and at 8 am both Saturday and Sunday mornings.

A Bachelor Party For Everyone

November 14, 2016February 20, 2018 / thewritelife61 / 1 Comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dialogue From Bachelor Father

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

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

Season 5 / Episode 36: – Bentley Takes it Easy

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

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

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

Season 4 / Episode 2: – Kelly Learns to Drive

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

Season 3 / Episode 5: – Kelly’s Idol

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

Fun Facts

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

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

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

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

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

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

Below is the list of episodes by season.

Season 1

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

Season 2

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

Season 3

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

Season 4

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

Season 5

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

“The Ultimate Definition of Success is to Repeat It” says Jeffrey Benjamin

October 3, 2016February 19, 2018 / thewritelife61 / Leave a comment

After reading about That Girl and what a tough time Marlo Thomas and Ted Bessell had finding new roles that did not stereotype them as Don and Ann, I thought about actors who were able to transcend that hurdle. I could think of numerous actors and actresses who were able to have two important television roles. Mary Tyler Moore began as Laura Petrie but Mary Richards was also a strong character. Ron Howard grew up from Opie Taylor to Richie Cunningham. Kristy McNichol lived out her adolescence in Family and then moved to Florida as Barbara in Empty Nest.

I started to do some research and found the following actors who had numerous television series.

Alan Alda – Of course, his iconic role was Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H. From 1972-83 he kept us laughing or crying in Korea. Since M*A*S*H he has taken on roles in several television series including ER (1999), West Wing (2004-06), 30 Rock (2009-10), The Big C (2011-13), and The Blacklist (2013-14).

Fun Fact: He got his start on the Phil Silvers Show in 1957.

Meredith Baxter – Most people remember her as Elyse Keaton in Family Ties (1982-89), but for me it was Nancy in Family (1976-80). Other shows include Bridget Loves Bernie (1972-73), The Faculty (1996), Cold Case (2006-07), The Young and the Restless (2014), and Finding Carter (2014-15).

Fun Fact: Her mother was Whitney Blake, Missy on Hazel.

Sally Field – I think most people will always think of Sally Field as the Flying Nun (1967-70). Her first show was Gidget (1965-66). As we discussed a couple of weeks ago, she had a role in the forgettable Hey Landlord (1967) and she was The Girl with Something Extra (1973-74). Like Alan Alda, she also had a recurring role in ER (2000-06), and her most recent show is Brothers and Sisters (2006-11).

Fun Fact: She won an Emmy for her appearance on ER.

John Forsythe – While younger people only know him as the voice of Charlie on Charlie’s Angels (1976-81) or Blake Carrington from The Colbys (1980-86) which led to Dynasty (1981-89), one of my favorite sitcoms of all is Bachelor Father which John starred as Bentley Greg from 1957-62. Before Bachelor Father, he starred in Lights Out (1951-2), Suspense (1951-52) and Studio One (1949-55). Before Charlie’s Angels, he was in the John Forsythe Show (1965-66) and To Rome with Love (1969-71). His last show was The Powers That Be (1992-93).

Fun Fact: Along with Harry Morgan and Meredith Baxter, he was on episodes of The Love Boat.

Harry Morgan – Harry Morgan is the king of shows, with 12 series to his credit. He is probably best remembered for three of them–Pete and Gladys (1960-62), Dragnet (1967), and M*A*S*H (1974-83). His first sitcom was December Bride (1954-59) which spun off Pete and Gladys. In the 60s before Dragnet he was in Kentucky Jones (1964-65) and Dr. Kildare (1965). The seventies saw him in Hec Ramsey (1972-74) and Gunsmoke (1970-75). After M*A*S*H, he literally was in After M*A*S*H (1983-85), Blacke’s Magic (1986), You Can’t Take It With You (1987-88), and Third Rock From the Sun (1996-97).

Fun Fact: He was in an episode of the Partridge Family in the first season.

Bob Newhart – Bob Newhart gets the award for having the most shows with his name it in. Fans fondly remember The Bob Newhart Show set in Chicago when he played Dr. Hartley (1972-78) or Newhart where he was the inn owner Dick Loudon (1982-90). His first show was The Bob Newhart Show (1961). After Newhart, he tried out Bob (1992-93) and George and Leo (1997-98). Like Alan Alda and Sally Field, he also had a recurring role on ER (2003) and most recently has had a recurring role on The Big Bang Theory (2013-15).

Fun Fact: The 1982-90 show had the best finale ever when the show ended with Bob in bed with his wife from the 1972-78 series thinking Newhart had been a dream.

Ed O’Neill – If any actor should have been stereotyped after a role, Ed O’Neill seemed doomed after Al Bundy in Married. . . With Children (1987-97), yet he now has an even bigger hit in Modern Family as Jay Pritchett (2009-16). In between he was on the Big Apple (2001), Dragnet (2003-4), a remake of Harry Morgan’s show, and John From Cincinnati (2007). Like Alan Alda, he took on a role on The West Wing (2004-05).

Fun Fact: He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969 but was cut in training camp.

Dick Van Dyke – Finally, we have Dick Van Dyke. Before I researched this blog, I thought he and Bob Newhart might have the most sitcoms to their credit. He comes in with only four starring shows overall. Like Bob, he never wanted to stray far from his name: We had the iconic Dick Van Dyke Show as Rob Petrie (1961-66), The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971-74), The Dick Van Dyke Show (1988), and then Diagnosis: Murder (1993-2001). Like so many of these actors who have something in common with Alan Alda, Dick Van Dyke’s first appearance in a sitcom was also The Phil Silvers Show (1957-8).

Fun Fact: He can trace his family line back to the Mayflower.

Why do some stars get locked into a role that they are never able to separate themselves from? Think Henry Winkler as the Fonz, Lucille Ball as Lucy, or Don Knotts as Barney. I think part of it is that we get so attached to these characters we almost want to believe they are real and the actor moving on destroys that image.

The above actors all had different situations that allowed them to move on more easily. Alan Alda never had that hit show again. After M*A*S*H, he took on dramatic recurring roles. Meredith Baxter was in a mixed genre of shows. Of her two hit shows, one was a drama, Family, and one a sitcom, Family Ties. Dick Van Dyke had the same formula: The first Dick Van Dyke Show, a sitcom, and Diagnosis: Murder, an action/mystery series. John Forsythe and Harry Morgan came into show business during the golden days of television. They were able to have extremely successful shows and characters and then start over. Forsythe had 10 series to his credit, Morgan had 12. Sally Field, although starting out in television, was certainly better known as a movie actress. Audiences were seeing her on the big screen as other characters so they perhaps don’t pigeon hole her into one role so much. Ed O’Neill actually had success on two sitcoms about families. Maybe Jay Pritchett is so successful because he shows what Al Bundy may have been like growing up in a more enlightened era where the fathers help parent and run the house. And Bob Newhart, I think, was successful because he actually plays the same character in most of his shows, and we love that character so we keep looking for him, no matter what the show is actually titled.