Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Doris Day in the Doris Day Show (1968)

Obscurity factor: 7

Starting in 1968, Doris Day had her own sitcom. She played Doris Martin, a widow with two boys living on a farm with her uncle Buck. The series revolved around her family and their place in the community. Little did we know when it started that this series would radically change and by the end of the fifth year she would be living in San Francisco as a single career girl with no kids. This change was brought on by the upheaval in the culture and television industry during the late sixties and early seventies.

Though the series is a bit uneven, there is lots of fun to be had in it, with great guest stars and regulars, exuberant, if sometimes silly plot lines and sensational production values - several seasons features fashion show episodes with long segments of Doris wearing great, over-the-top outfits from the era. The clip above, uploaded to YouTube by MovieJoe79 was put together by MPI Video to showcase the DVD of the second season. It features Doris and her co-worker (Rose Marie) looking for an apartment for her. They find one above a restaurant owned by Kaye Ballard and Bernie Kopell. Also appearing in the series were Maclean Stevenson, Denver Pyle, Jackie Joseph and Billy DeWolfe. This show did well, if not spectacularly in the ratings, but unlike other shows from the time, never really found a life in syndication. It remained virtually unseen after its initial run until its recent release on DVD. It's worth a look and can be rented on Netflix and bought on Amazon.

Obscurity factor: 7 (known of, but largely unseen since its first airings, on DVD now)

7 comments:

  1. Billy DeWolfe!!!!! For him alone the series is a joy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have read that the many format changes hurt it in syndication. Whether that is true or not I do not know. This show is where I first saw Doris. I was in first grade when it premiered. It was on past my bedtime, so I only saw it when I did not have school the next day, which meant winter break, spring break, summers (if it was on during the summers - I do not remember), and any time there might be no school because of an all day teachers' meeting or I was sick or whatever. By the last season or two I was staying up later so I probably watched it first-run by that time. However, I did not see a lot of episodes until it went into syndication in the mid-1970s. I have the first three seasons on DVD, and still need to purchase the remaining two. I like the first season, and feel they could have developed that scenario better and continued with it. But I do know that Doris was never happy with it, and realized viewers wanted to see her in a more sophisticated setting, which is probably true. When I used to watch it in the afternoon when it was in syndication, I always especially loved the episodes with Rose Marie. I always liked "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and I enjoyed seeing her interact with Doris.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The second season was the most successful, and I think it had the best scripts.

    ReplyDelete
  4. James L. Brooks wrote one of the first season scripts. It would have been interesting if Doris had done a format like "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" with Brooks writing the scripts. Do you have any idea why Fran Ryan left during the first season? I liked her rapport with Doris. Naomi Stevens was also good, but she was gone after the first season. I do not know if Fran left because she was unhappy with doing the show or if it was health reasons or some other personal issue. Do you happen to know why?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was curious about Fran Ryan's departure as well. There's no mention of it in any of the DVD extras for season 1.

    ReplyDelete
  6. IMDb doesn't explain it, either.

    It is indeed odd, how the show kept mutating each season. That type was "reworking" was more accepted in the 60s - "The Lucy Show" also altered it's format, dropping kids before it morphed into "Here's Lucy," with HER own children.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yes, it's like changing Darrins in mid stream...

    ReplyDelete