TV SITCOMS – PT15

TV SITCOMS – PT15

November 13, 2023 Alan Royle 1

  L to R : Shirley Booth, Don Defore, Whitney Blake & Bobby Buntrock HAZEL (1961-66) 154 EPISODES             ‘Hazel’ was the first situation comedy to be broadcast in color. The first season (1961 to 1962) was filmed in black and white (except for one episode), […]

TV SITCOMS – PT 14

TV SITCOMS – PT 14

November 1, 2023 Alan Royle 1

        MY THREE SONS (1960-72) 380 EPISODES                   Fred MacMurray & his three sons – Ernie, Robbie & Chip At three hundred and eighty episodes over twelve years, My Three Sons was the second-longest running (live action) show in American television history. Only The Adventures of Ozzie and […]

TV SITCOMS – PT13

TV SITCOMS – PT13

October 14, 2023 Alan Royle 0

  THE FLINTSTONES (1960-66)      166 EPISODES                                 It might surprise fans to learn that the famous tune ‘Meet the Flintstones’ did not appear until the third season of the series when it went into syndication, when it became necessary to remove all mention of the first season’s sponsor Winston cigarettes. Mel […]

77 SUNSET STRIP

77 SUNSET STRIP

October 2, 2023 Alan Royle 0

77 SUNSET STRIP (1958-64)            The first ‘private investigator’ series to air on TV was probably Richard Diamond – Private Detective in 1957. It lasted until 1960. Another crime-fighting show, M Squad, appeared at the same time, but it was about a squad of detectives operating […]

TV SITCOMS – PT12

TV SITCOMS – PT12

September 14, 2023 Alan Royle 0

      THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS (1959-63)                     148 EPISODES         It may surprise readers to learn that this series served as one of the influences in the development of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series Scooby Doo, Where Are You (1969). In it, the character of Fred Jones is based […]

TV SITCOMS – PT11

TV SITCOMS – PT11

September 5, 2023 Alan Royle 1

  THE BETTY HUTTON SHOW (1959-60)              30 EPISODES                       The talented but erratic Betty stars as Goldie, a showgirl turned manicurist. When one of her regular customers, a millionaire named Mr. Strickland, suddenly dies, he leaves her everything he owns. That includes, not only his $60 million fortune, but also his […]

TV SITCOMS – PT10

TV SITCOMS – PT10

August 21, 2023 Alan Royle 2

  LEAVE IT TO BEAVER (1957-63)             236 EPISODES                     For those of us who were around in the mid-fifties, Leave it to Beaver was the epitome of good, wholesome family entertainment. It seemed to have everything: a cute little kid named Theodore Cleaver (known as ‘the Beaver’ and portrayed by Jerry […]

TV SITCOMS – PT9

TV SITCOMS – PT9

July 31, 2023 Alan Royle 0

  THE GALE STORM SHOW: OH! SUSANNAH (1956-60)           127 EPISODES          Texan Gale Storm had been around in Hollywood since making her screen debut at seventeen in Tom Brown’s School Days (1940). Despite having won national radio talent contest ‘Gateway to Hollywood’ in 1939, she found herself […]

F TROOP (1965-7)

F TROOP (1965-7)

July 1, 2023 Alan Royle 1

F TROOP (1965-7)                             It is hard to believe that this unique (and hilarious) series first came to our television screens more than half a century ago! This writer was still a teenager in 1965 and had enormous […]

TV Sitcoms PT8

TV Sitcoms PT8

June 4, 2023 Alan Royle 1

  THE BOB CUMMINGS SHOW (1955-9) 166 EPISODES                                  Cummings portrays Bob Collins, a bachelor/photographer devoted to the pursuit of beautiful young models in Hollywood, California. The surprising aspect of this un-memorable show lies in its longevity (166 episodes over five years), given the complete lack of charisma of its star, […]