Thursday, March 31, 2011

Paula Prentiss & Richard Benjamin in He & She (1967)

Obscurity factor: 5

Paula (Prentiss) and Dick (Benjamin) are a young married couple living in a cozy apartment in New York. Paula is a social worker and Dick is a cartoonist. His comic book has been turned into a television series and his superhero is played by very vain, hammy actor, Oscar North (Jack Cassidy). They also have a crazy building super and a crazy firefighter neighbor (Kenneth Mars) who visits them by walking across a plank suspended between their two windows. As with all situation comedies, this troupe of characters came together to make a little magic each week. This situation comedy is said to be the forerunner of the style of comedy featured on iconic 70's sitcoms like Mary Tyler Moore, though it was a bit before its time. It was canceled after only one season. That's a shame, really, because it's a very cute show. Below is the first installment of the episode titled The Phantom of 84th Street.



He & She isn't on DVD, though several full episodes have been uploaded to YouTube. You can however find a DVD set on iOffer.com.

Obscurity factor: 5 (somewhat iconic and remembered by hard core TV fans, mostly unknown otherwise, available on YouTube)

6 comments:

  1. It wasn't until you mentioned the plank between apartments that I had a sudden childhood flash of this show. Do I remember anything else about it? Not really but now I'm anxious to investigate,

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  2. Yes, it's a vivid image... Hope you enjoy it!

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  3. I do not remember seeing this show when it was originally aired, but I do remember my late mother saying she really liked it. I finally saw it thanks to YouTube. It really has the look and feel of an MTM show, but three years before MTM existed! It was part of a very strange lineup on Wednesday nights - "Lost in Space," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Green Acres," "He & She," and "Dundee and the Culhane." The demographic was all over the map! I wonder if it had been placed in a different time slot if it would have made it. Maybe if it had been scheduled back-to-back with "Good Morning, World" both shows would have had better chances. It certainly was one of the most sophisticated sitcoms of the era (along with "Good Morning, World").

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  4. Yes, the Green Acres lead in was a strange choice for a sophisticated urban sitcom...

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  5. I loved this show. And it had a situation that I often remember. At one point Kenneth Mars looks across from the firhouse and sees Fernando Lamas massaging Paula's foot . He is shocked. He relates the incident to Richard Benjamin and says: I was so angry that I opened up my wallet and took out Paula's picture and ripped it up and then I took out Fernando Lamas's picture and ripped it up as well. Richard says: Fernando Lamas? and Kenneth Mars says: "It came with the wallet."

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