My Three Sons - General Discussion

[Gemma Violet]

11 hours ago, Blergh said:

alcoholism was largely considered a joke.

Yeah, I remember the drunk characters on TV shows and in movies.  Dudley Moore in Arthur comes to mind.  And Otis on The Andy Griffith Show.  And Foster Brooks on the '70s variety shows like The Dean Martin Show.  

[Blergh]

'Brotherly Love' (Season One, Episode Five) aired yesterday on ME TV. Long short is that Robbie gets crushed when the girl he thinks is crushing on him turns out to be turned on by Mike so Robbie ambushes Mike upon the latter's return but Mike holds his own. Steve thinks the teen boys can talk out their differences but Bub thinks they just need to duke it out with boxing gloves and the two parental units seeming get on the verge of duking it out themselves. One thing for sure is that Robbie and Mike show off physical and acrobatic prowess  before and during the fight while Chip and Ernie would be rather sedate as teens to the point of being virtually statuesque compared to their dervish older brothers!

  Oh, and the girl in question was played by the already blossoming Cheryl Holdridge who had worked with and befriended Messrs. Considine and Grady on the Mickey Mouse Club and would within four years  first marry Lance Reventlow (Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton's only child). Although they had separated, she would be technically widowed upon his death in a plane crash in 1972 and, after being widowed by her third marriage, she would die of lung cancer in 2009. It should be noted that shortly before her death when she herself could no longer speak due to the cancer, her  onetime co-star Don Grady serenaded  her with his guitar.

Edited August 11, 2018 by Blergh
boldly going

[Gemma Violet]

Thanks, Blergh, for the info.  

[Blergh]

You're welcome, Gemma Violet. I should have also mentioned that Miss Holdridge was born in 1944- the same age as Mr. Grady.

 To say nothing of Mike's friend Russ (who first notices the girl Judy eyeing Mike) was played by a someone named Beau Bridges.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Blergh
knows Beau

[Gemma Violet]

15 hours ago, Blergh said:

was played by a someone named Beau Bridges.

Lol, I noticed Beau right away.  He's one of those people with such a distinctive face, it doesn't really change much, even over several decades.  

[MushMarch]

Since this is the favorite episode thread, I have to nominate "Countdown" from season 1 (recently shown on MeTV).  A really all-around great episode - great writing, directing, acting, the whole package.  The Uncle Charley era of color episodes didn't have any episodes (at least none that I can recall) that were this creative, quirky, and just plain-old outside the box.  The syncing of the family's morning routine with a rocket launch countdown was remarkably creative for that era of TV.  I wonder how viewers then took to this episode, since I suspect that it may have been a bit ahead of its time at that particular time.  For some reason, I had the same sort of feeling watching it that I did with the Breaking Bad episode "Fly" - something at a complete right angle to the standard fare of the show.  

Today's episode "Adjust or Bust" also had an admirably amusing sequence where Steve has to take Mike's car to work and ends up having to drive an Air Force general and his adjutant around in a car much too small for the three of them.  It's played out like a scene in a zany Buster Keaton-like film, with old-timey sound effects and a hectic silent film piano meandering all over the place.

And I solved the mystery of the vehicles in the end credits.  The past several episodes have featured Chevrolets, the first one being a 1961 Impala sedan (I think - it may also be a Biscayne sedan, they looked very similar) and the other (trigger warning:  Avert your eyes if you are Ralph Nader or a Naderite) a 1961 Chevrolet Corvair.  Chevrolet was a major sponsor of M3S, and if you do an online search you can find a promotional film of Bub and the three boys ogling a 1961 Biscayne at a school fair.  I believe that eventually Pontiac became the main sponsor in later seasons (but, hey, it's all GM anyway) - I recall Robbie driving a really cool GTO at some point.

On 8/11/2018 at 7:46 PM, Blergh said:

You're welcome, Gemma Violet. I should have also mentioned that Miss Holdridge was born in 1944- the same age as Mr. Grady.

 To say nothing of Mike's friend Russ (who first notices the girl Judy eyeing Mike) was played by a someone named Beau Bridges.

Gotta love Beau Bridges character in that episode - just like the infamous John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, his name is my name too (at first I thought it might be John Ritter - but then I remembered he would have been only about 12 years old at that time, not quite ready for H.S.).

Edited August 13, 2018 by MushMarch

[MushMarch]

On 7/27/2018 at 12:42 AM, Blergh said:

AND considering that by the time the show ended, Steve himself only had TWO sons left who interacted with him- that meant that at least his daughter-in-law could say she had HER three sons around (even if no one watching thought that she was the star of the show).

Watching the last episode "Whatever Happened to Ernie?", I realized how weird it was that out of 3 biological sons only 1 was still around at that point, and then only sporadically.  So, yeah, they needed the characters badly since they were running out of them otherwise.  

On 8/4/2018 at 1:19 AM, Blergh said:

This is as good a place as any to mention that today (August 4, 2018) is the 75th (!) birthday of Miss Tina Cole- the 2nd oldest but probably friskiest surviving cast member!  She looks about two decades younger and if one sees current footage of her, one can tell that she REALLY held back her spunky nature playing Katie but for a few flashes!  Anyway, if anyone reading this happens to have legit reasons to see her, please wish her a Happy Birthday!

 

If only I had legit reasons to see her!  She is a total shot of pure energy every time I watch an interview with her.  I wonder if she had any issues with William Demarest, since (from what I've heard/read) he seems to have been the exact opposite.  On the other hand, if she did have issues she would handle them with such grace and class that no one would ever be the wiser - Happy Birthday, Tina (sorry, a couple of weeks late)!

Edited August 13, 2018 by MushMarch

[Blergh]

18 hours ago, MushMarch said:

Since this is the favorite episode thread, I have to nominate "Countdown" from season 1 (recently shown on MeTV).  A really all-around great episode - great writing, directing, acting, the whole package.  The Uncle Charley era of color episodes didn't have any episodes (at least none that I can recall) that were this creative, quirky, and just plain-old outside the box.  The syncing of the family's morning routine with a rocket launch countdown was remarkably creative for that era of TV.  I wonder how viewers then took to this episode, since I suspect that it may have been a bit ahead of its time at that particular time.  For some reason, I had the same sort of feeling watching it that I did with the Breaking Bad episode "Fly" - something at a complete right angle to the standard fare of the show.  

Today's episode "Adjust or Bust" also had an admirably amusing sequence where Steve has to take Mike's car to work and ends up having to drive an Air Force general and his adjutant around in a car much too small for the three of them.  It's played out like a scene in a zany Buster Keaton-like film, with old-timey sound effects and a hectic silent film piano meandering all over the place.

MushMarch,

 

 Yes, I liked the 'Countdown' episode for the reasons you've mentioned and I had my fun laughing about how 'high tech' and 'cutting edge' the computerized rocket technology was and how the narrator bragged how 'foolproof' it was but not only does that technology seem understandably dated now but also the episode's climax showed how it failed despite all this progress.  Still, one must remember that manned spaceflight by US Astronauts had not yet happened by the time of the episode and no doubt quite a few viewers shared Chip's eagerness in wanting that to become reality if not maybe hoping to one day become astronauts.  Yes, it was a bit ironic that despite the goof of mixed up Daylight Savings Time, the WORST thing that happened to the Douglases was waking up two hours early  as opposed to all the near disasters that were forecast (and Robbie actually used his smarts to take advantage of that).

 

 Good review of 'Adjust or Bust'. BTW, speaking of Buster Keaton, there's a good Thanksgiving episode coming up which shows a very Keaton-esque performer playing an outcast whom only Chip believes in making things right.  I'll go into more detail after it re-airs, though.

[Blergh]

MushMarch,

 

 According to recent interviews with Miss Cole, she thought Mr.  Demarest was very nice- and even said she liked him better than Mr. Frawley but she only got to work with the latter two times when she appeared in pre-Katie roles before his departure while she got to work the Uncle Charley the entire time she was Katie. I don't think the Uncle Charley/Katie dynamic would have worked if the performers truly disliked working with each other but it seems quite the opposite (though I've never heard of what Mr. Demarest had to say).

[smiley13]

Given the limits to the way MacMurray filmed, I thought the one that aired today with the Lady Engineer was odd.  It featured Steve almost completely.

[Blergh]

14 hours ago, smiley13 said:

Given the limits to the way MacMurray filmed, I thought the one that aired today with the Lady Engineer was odd.  It featured Steve almost completely.

Yes, that's true but I suppose they did that so viewers would know that while Steve was not interested in re-marrying for the foreseeable future, he WAS interested in the opposite gender (and attractive women were interested in him). I thought it was refreshing that not only was she portrayed as levelheaded and shrewd but that she was not eager to do the 'instant family' deal of landing someone with kids but seemed to just want to see where things led with Steve  and seemed to be happy if things only got into a flirtatious stage and nothing more. Not only was it rare to see a woman engineer on television back then ( that profession was considered quite exceptional for women) but it was also rare for a single adult female to either not be a desperate husband-hunter or a comically awkward 'old maid' .

'Chip's Harvest' aired this morning on ME TV. It was a bit how much time it had turned out Chip had spent  with this 'bummy' Johnny Squanto character in his edge-of-town shack despite the fact both of his older brothers and Bub reviling him. In hindsight, it seems a bit careless of a child's guardians to let their child spend so much unsupervised time with an adult who not only was a stranger to them but also whom they disliked via rep. Thankfully, Mr. Squanto was harmless and, in fact, had seemed to have spent his entire life trying to scrape an existence on the edge of the society that reviled him. Yet, this character WAS a great deal like Buster Keaton's characters in that he was stonefaced and silent almost the entire time but when he DID speak up, he was quite eloquent. Yes,  I know that ' Indian regalia' Mr. Squanto wore to the Douglases instead of his usual 'bummy' attire was that of a Hollywood stereotypical Native American (and of the Midwest rather than the New England area where he claimed his tribe had originally been when they'd contributed to the Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving). However; it was interesting how he walked a fine line via saving the Douglas's Thanksgiving by cooking the entire meal in a firepit when their stove failed (and Steve was unable to get a repairman to fix it on said holiday) and talked of the Native American contributions but did NOT spell out how they'd been pushed out from their own land,etc.  And, yes, it was somewhat cathartic to see this reviled character shine and show up the Mike, Robbie and Bub's smallminded dismissal of him but, of course, that was the only time he'd be seen on the show.

[Gemma Violet]

In the first season, Robbie sure over-acted in a screechy sort of way.  

[MushMarch]

19 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

In the first season, Robbie sure over-acted in a screechy sort of way.  

Yeah, he was quite the hothead.  Especially on today's episode on MeTV, "Mike's Brother", he was the middle child reconfigured as a whirling dervish.  Scenery was chewed.

[MushMarch]

On 8/14/2018 at 11:02 AM, Blergh said:

MushMarch,

 

 According to recent interviews with Miss Cole, she thought Mr.  Demarest was very nice- and even said she liked him better than Mr. Frawley but she only got to work with the latter two times when she appeared in pre-Katie roles before his departure while she got to work the Uncle Charley the entire time she was Katie. I don't think the Uncle Charley/Katie dynamic would have worked if the performers truly disliked working with each other but it seems quite the opposite (though I've never heard of what Mr. Demarest had to say).

Blergh, thanks for the spot-on analysis.  The more I think about it, Tina Cole was the best thing that happened to M3S in the post-Tim Considine era.  And the more I reflect on it, she did an especially superb job of portraying Katie's loneliness and frustration in the 12th season episode "Lonesome Katie".  I now think that that episode gives some clues as to where the series might have headed given extra seasons.  One of the most unusual things about that particular episode is that it is the only one I can remember where everything is not wrapped up in a nice, tidy, well-explained bow at the end.  The look on her face as the final scene dissolves into the end credits pretty much says it all.  Easily the best episode of the final season by my accounting.  And, yes, Mr. Demarest's opinion is out there in the ether somewhere, since he hasn't been around for 35 years and counting.  But I have to give him a lot of credit - he made it to 91 (which means he was hitting 80 as the series ended).

[MushMarch]

Just another take on the first season episode "Countdown".  During that episode, Mike is quoting from the opening prologue of Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales", learning them by rote for a school assignment.  Now keep in mind this is roughly the same time period that FCC commissioner Newton Minow referred to television as "a vast wasteland".  I get it that the standard TV fare of the time wasn't exactly in the same league as "Meeting of the Minds" or an Ivy League colloquium with the faculty of the philosophy department, but on the other hand I do have to admit it got me picking up my old college copy and re-reading the prologue (and now I'm reading the whole thing and enjoying it) - so how bad could it have been if a TV character is quoting Chaucer?  Compared to the substantial dreck that followed in the ensuing decades (here's looking at you, 80's and 90's), it was a veritable Academy of Athens.  And I'm really hoping poor Mr. Minow has never taken the time to view "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" - talk about a really vast wasteland!  One final thought:  Maybe he meant "wasteland" in the T.S. Eliot sense?

[Blergh]

15 hours ago, MushMarch said:

Yeah, he was quite the hothead.  Especially on today's episode on MeTV, "Mike's Brother", he was the middle child reconfigured as a whirling dervish.  Scenery was chewed.

Yep -and notice that even Chip and Bub nearly got beaned by his throwing stuff to make his point (even though neither of them had anything to do with his POV).

[Blergh]

MushMarch,

 

 Your post got me to think that it was good that Mr. Minnow was spared having to see that happen but, I looked it and he's STILL with us at age 92 and he's had a very distinguished career and now is worried about how folks overseas view the US via the movies (I have to agree). Anyway, to keep this ontopic, I'd like to think Mr. Minnow has gotten to see this particular episode and considers Mike's Chaucer quote a voice in the wilderness!

[MushMarch]

6 hours ago, Blergh said:

MushMarch,

 

 Your post got me to think that it was good that Mr. Minnow was spared having to see that happen but, I looked it and he's STILL with us at age 92 and he's had a very distinguished career and now is worried about how folks overseas view the US via the movies (I have to agree). Anyway, to keep this ontopic, I'd like to think Mr. Minnow has gotten to see this particular episode and considers Mike's Chaucer quote a voice in the wilderness!

I have to say, it surprised me not only that he is 92 and still firing on all cylinders, but (doing the math) he was FCC commissioner at the age of 34!  At that age, I was still getting my sea legs in what turned out to be my lifelong profession.  Looking at his Wikipedia page, I found that the S.S. Minnow in "Gilligan's Island" was named after him as a dig at the "Vast Wasteland" speech.  I have to agree with Mr. Minow that the worry about how folks view the U.S. overseas vis-a-vis the movies is a legitimate one.  I have lived and worked in Hong Kong and have found that the stereotypes coming from this are disconcerting, to say the least.  I have to remind family and friends there that, hey, it's a big country and instance "X" doesn't represent the majority of Americans.  That is, the entire country is not a "Rock" movie.

[MushMarch]

On 8/24/2018 at 9:56 AM, Blergh said:

Yep -and notice that even Chip and Bub nearly got beaned by his throwing stuff to make his point (even though neither of them had anything to do with his POV).

So far, I've been really impressed by Peter Tewksbury's direction in season one.  From what little I know I would suspect that he was a substantial part of the driving force behind the quality of the episodes.  He seems to have the tone set right for all the characters, except . . . for the one bone I have to pick with him. And that is over how he has Don Grady act out Robbie.  I get it, he's the middle child, he feels ignored, neglected, Mike's so perfect, and so forth and so forth (there's probably some Freudian analysis that would apply here, given that it was the early 60's and that was quite de rigeur at the time), but, hey, I was also in the middle and I don't ever remember having a permanent chip (no pun intended) on my shoulder anywhere near the portrayal of Robbie.  Long story short, a little less of that would go a much longer way.  And when you mention that he was pelting innocent bystanders with his non-friendly fire, that bolsters the case.  Now a little sidebar about Peter Tewksbury:  I have found that he only directed first season episodes, and then disappeared after that (there was one second season episode he directed, but it was an outtake from season one).  Anyone know why he left M3S?

[MushMarch]

One of the weirdest Ernie episodes IMHO is from season 8, "Ernie and Zsa Zsa".  Ernie paired with - you guessed it - Zsa Zsa Gabor, meeting her after going for an adventurous spin on his bike and falling into her swimming pool (hey, it could happen to anybody - who needs star maps when you've got Ernie Douglas and his magic celebrity-detecting bike?).  Of course, no one back home believes Ernie's wild tale until the serial nuptializer herself shows up at the Douglas household.  I wonder how the idea development on this one played out - "hey, that's it, Ernie meets - Zsa Zsa!  They become pals!  What could be more obvious?"  (Ernie probably didn't realize how close he came to being husband #10).

[Cobb Salad]

8 minutes ago, MushMarch said:

  (Ernie probably didn't realize how close he came to being husband #10).

If there was another season that might have been the story for the opening episodes! j/k

[Jacqs]

Zsa Zsa teaching Ernie the *right* way to slap a police officer...?

[Blergh]

While I have to agree with you re the downright rabid portrayal of Robbie in ' Mike's Brother', I think it needs to be said how restrained Tim Considine's Mike was to the point of being a refreshing contrast. He wasn't a saint and he didn't let himself be guilted by Robbie's rants- but he did stand his ground. Moreover; I liked how he subtly but humorously (and believably) blew his chance at the new job by being more flash than substance re overwhelming the customer while the other candidate quietly did the actual job by getting the customer what he wanted!

[Blergh]

4 hours ago, MushMarch said:

One of the weirdest Ernie episodes IMHO is from season 8, "Ernie and Zsa Zsa".  Ernie paired with - you guessed it - Zsa Zsa Gabor, meeting her after going for an adventurous spin on his bike and falling into her swimming pool (hey, it could happen to anybody - who needs star maps when you've got Ernie Douglas and his magic celebrity-detecting bike?).  Of course, no one back home believes Ernie's wild tale until the serial nuptializer herself shows up at the Douglas household.  I wonder how the idea development on this one played out - "hey, that's it, Ernie meets - Zsa Zsa!  They become pals!  What could be more obvious?"  (Ernie probably didn't realize how close he came to being husband #10).

Yes, I agree that was a rather preposterous set up (even for mid 1960's Hollywood) and I have no doubt the late Miss Gabor would have just called the groundskeeper to have him ejected off her grounds without the slightest attempt to see to his welfare! It should be noted that (contrary to other performers Mr. Barry Livingston recalled with affection), Mr. Livingston said that she had zilch to do with him when they weren't actually filming their scenes and they had no actual rapport! Well, Miss Lucie Arnaz confirmed in another interview what I always suspected - that Eva was the nicest of the Gabor sisters! Too bad Ernie couldn't have made a trip to Hooterville because at least on THAT show his interaction with a Gabor would have been believable (and a true hoot)!

[MushMarch]

28 minutes ago, Blergh said:

While I have to agree with you re the downright rabid portrayal of Robbie in ' Mike's Brother', I think it needs to be said how restrained Tim Considine's Mike was to the point of being a refreshing contrast. He wasn't a saint and he didn't let himself be guilted by Robbie's rants- but he did stand his ground. Moreover; I liked how he subtly but humorously (and believably) blew his chance at the new job by being more flash than substance re overwhelming the customer while the other candidate quietly did the actual job by getting the customer what he wanted!

I have to agree, that was nicely played.  Kudos to Tim Considine, the director, and the screenwriter for putting all that together in the best of ways.  In fact, Tim Considine's Mike has had many scenes with similarly understated humor - for example, the episode "Adjust or Bust", after a series of missed connections with his father, he was mistakenly being entertained as a guest (by what appeared to be a Scandinavian family, judging by the accents) and having to endure an endless round of folk dances.

[MushMarch]

30 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Yes, I agree that was a rather preposterous set up (even for mid 1960's Hollywood) and I have no doubt the late Miss Gabor would have just called the groundskeeper to have him ejected off her grounds without the slightest attempt to see to his welfare! It should be noted that (contrary to other performers Mr. Barry Livingston recalled with affection), Mr. Livingston said that she had zilch to do with him when they weren't actually filming their scenes and they had no actual rapport! Well, Miss Lucie Arnaz confirmed in another interview what I always suspected - that Eva was the nicest of the Gabor sisters! Too bad Ernie couldn't have made a trip to Hooterville because at least on THAT show his interaction with a Gabor would have been believable (and a true hoot)!

For some reason, you just jogged something loose from my memory on a second-hand Gabor recollection.  I went to graduate school with a fellow grad student from LA whose parents were immigrants from Hungary.  His family liked to host big get-togethers for the Hungarian expat community in the LA area, and the Gabor sisters were occasional visitors at his home.  He said he didn't have any interaction with Zsa Zsa, but Eva was very charming, friendly, and wonderful to be around - which pretty much backs up what Barry Livingston and Lucie Arnaz said in your comment.  The reason we started talking about all this was that we were in the same teaching assistant office area and I happened to mention to him that I liked to unwind every evening after a hard day of studying by watching Green Acres on Nick at Nite (yes, there was a time when that channel had programming that people actually watched).  "Ernie in Hooterville" would have been a great crossover episode - I can just see Ernie behind the wheel of Oliver Wendell Douglas' (hey, maybe they were distant relatives?) broken down tractor.  And I wonder what Ernie would have made of Billie Jo Bradley over at the Shady Rest looking exactly like his sister-in-law Sally Douglas?

Edited August 26, 2018 by MushMarch

[MushMarch]

More on the "vast wasteland" theme-front (I just can't let this go!).  The latest season 1 episode shown on MeTV, "Domestic Trouble", had Steve Douglas quoting from Shakespeare's MacBeth at the end of the episode as he was trying to fall asleep (and seemingly losing the foot covering battle with his bedsheet for the umpteenth time).  It was the "sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of care" line, which he got wrong several times and finally appeared to get right (although I think some of the words in what was the supposedly "correct" quote were off a bit).

Edited August 26, 2018 by MushMarch

[Jacqs]

6 hours ago, MushMarch said:

 I wonder what Ernie would have made of Billie Jo Bradley over at the Shady Rest looking exactly like his sister-in-law Sally Douglas?

I'd like to see more of the "double crossover" - one actor's character in one series meets the same actor's character from another series. It would challenge the actor to keep the characters different and distinct during their interactions.

[MushMarch]

17 hours ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

I'd like to see more of the "double crossover" - one actor's character in one series meets the same actor's character from another series. It would challenge the actor to keep the characters different and distinct during their interactions.

Thar be the mother lode of comic gold yonder way - if handled properly, that is.

[Blergh]

MushMarch,

 

 Perhaps they could have written a crossover in which Arnold the Pig saw Tramp on TV (having won a contest) with Ernie who told Lisa who then was convinced that Ernie was her long lost cousin Erno from Hungary- and the rest of the episode they could have had him visit Hooterville with Uncle Charley  who Oliver initially clashed with but by the episode's end hated to see leave because he'd then have to eat Lisa's Hotscakes again.  Meantime Tramp could have caused mischief with the Petticoat Junction dog and Robbie could have done the same with the Bradley girls by flirting with all of them before Katie showed up to put a stop to both dogs' antics!

[Gemma Violet]

This past week, there was an episode where Steve's sister comes to stay a while and implements an efficiency policy in the house to lessen the chaos.  I noticed on the credits she was played by Joan Tewkesbury.  She must be related to the show's director Peter Tewksbury.  They spell their name differently, but maybe one of them changed it.  I was looking around on Wikipedia and saw that Joan Tewkesbury wrote the screenplay for Robert Altman's Nashville.  

[Blergh]

Gemma Violet,

 

 Miss Joan Tewkesbury was the sister of the director Mr. Peter Tewsbury but evidently the latter decided to (slightly) streamline the family surname. She played this character who literally turned the Douglas household upside just this ONE episode and not only never returned (not even for her brother's and nephews' weddings) but also was never referred to again. I wonder if its possible that not making her even a semi-regular character may have contributed to her brother quitting the show after just the first season.

 It should be noted that she was born in 1936 and was 28 years younger than the late Mr. MacMurray so it would have made better sense for her to played his niece, cousin or even half-sister rather than full sister. Oh, and besides her being a taller than average woman, she didn't have the slightest resemblance to him!

 

Did anyone catch the episode 'Other People's Houses' in which Robbie initially envied the well-ordered, quiet household of his new friend Hank Ferguson but he and his parents seemed to have more tension and underlying issues than Peyton Place and Hank was applying to boarding school as way out? David White (Bewitched's future Larry Tate) played Mr. Ferguson who was so uncomfortable in his own house that he admitted he worked on extra projects to avoid going home as much as possible. Thankfully, the tensions seemed defused by the episode's end (and  Robbie as well as even the Ferguson parents were grateful to have  the boisterous, loud but warm Douglas household as a contrast) . This episode introduced Robbie's towering, awkward best friend (for the next three seasons) Hank Ferguson who would never display a hint of dramatic angst over his own household again (nor would his parents be seen again) but would be comic relief -especially considering how he let the much shorter Robbie dominate things!

[Jacqs]

@Blergh @Gemma Violet @MushMarch Off-topic slightly but should they have had Dawn Lyn match Beverly Garland, either with a blonde wig or blonde hair dye? mis-matches like that always remind me of Ruthie Camden (Seventh Heaven) and how she's probably the daughter of the ethnic guy across the street...

[MushMarch]

49 minutes ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

@Blergh @Gemma Violet @MushMarch Off-topic slightly but should they have had Dawn Lyn match Beverly Garland, either with a blonde wig or blonde hair dye? mis-matches like that always remind me of Ruthie Camden (Seventh Heaven) and how she's probably the daughter of the ethnic guy across the street...

Dawn Lyn playing Beverly Garland's daughter made less than no sense at all (unless she had been adopted, which is clearly not the case as established in the series).  There wasn't a whole lot of familial resemblance in the Douglas household to begin, but that development dragged it down to a previously uncharted level of non-recognition.  This family screams out for a knockout round of DNA testing.  I have to give Dawn Lyn a lot of credit, however, for being a trooper and dealing as best she could with a difficult situation (not to mention those awful dresses they had her wear).

[MushMarch]

And yet again more on the "vast wasteland" front:  In the episode "Mike in a Rush" (at least I think it was that one, I could very well be mistaken), Mike is quoting from "The Old Man Dreams" by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (the poet, the father  the Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.).  All I can say is that Mike must have had a real tyrant for an English teacher over there at Bryant Park Senior High School - this guy is memorizing/reciting all the time, or so it seems!  I had to read and analyze many poems in senior english way back in the day (not to mention in sophomore lit in college), but we didn't do very much in the way of memorization/recitation. 

[Blergh]

4 hours ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

@Blergh @Gemma Violet @MushMarch Off-topic slightly but should they have had Dawn Lyn match Beverly Garland, either with a blonde wig or blonde hair dye? mis-matches like that always remind me of Ruthie Camden (Seventh Heaven) and how she's probably the daughter of the ethnic guy across the street...

Since you've specifically asked me my POV along with these others. Here goes:

Inasmuch as children CAN take after their opposite-gender parent, I was willing to consider that Dodie may have taken after her late father, a Mr. Larry Harper. They did briefly show a studio glossy of some middle-aged man who did look as though he could have vaguely contributed to her DNA in 'The Littlest Rebel' However; since they later had  an episode("Mister X') in which the Douglases met her surviving paternal grandfather Professor  Harper was played by the legendary Lew Ayres (and she did NOT resemble him). I guess she may have been a dead wringer for her presumably deceased paternal grandmother since she also didn't resemble her living maternal one.

  The problem is that ,at least in the beginning, Miss Lyn had a barely tolerable delivery but I will say that her diction did improve enough to actually act/react believably re being a member of the Douglas family.

 

Regardless, Miss Lyn's  lack of resemblence to the performer playing her mother was far from being as blatant as Marlo Thomas's was to the fair haired, blue eyed performers playing her parents in That Girl!

[MushMarch]

11 hours ago, Blergh said:

Did anyone catch the episode 'Other People's Houses' in which Robbie initially envied the well-ordered, quiet household of his new friend Hank Ferguson but he and his parents seemed to have more tension and underlying issues than Peyton Place and Hank was applying to boarding school as way out? David White (Bewitched's future Larry Tate) played Mr. Ferguson who was so uncomfortable in his own house that he admitted he worked on extra projects to avoid going home as much as possible. Thankfully, the tensions seemed defused by the episode's end (and  Robbie as well as even the Ferguson parents were grateful to have  the boisterous, loud but warm Douglas household as a contrast) . This episode introduced Robbie's towering, awkward best friend (for the next three seasons) Hank Ferguson who would never display a hint of dramatic angst over his own household again (nor would his parents be seen again) but would be comic relief -especially considering how he let the much shorter Robbie dominate things!

I haven't watched the episode yet - it's sitting in my DVR queue waiting to go.  But I am going to respond to Larry Tate, who must have been one of the most overbearing bosses ever portrayed on a TV show.  I have never liked watching Bewitched, and his character was 90% of the reason why (Darrin was the other 10% - York or Sargent, it doesn't matter).  First of all, it seemed as if the guy didn't have a home of his own to dine at, as he was always demanding to eat over at the Stephens house (my father worked for 40+ years and I don't recall the boss ever eating over at our home - in fact, I have no idea who my father's boss ever was.  Needless to say, no boss of mine has ever dined at my home, nor would they care to).  Furthermore, he tyrannized Darrin into becoming a white-collar slave that flinched and cowered over every attention the boss sent his way.  I wish Darrin had grown a spine at some point and told Tate to "take this job and shove it" a decade before Johnny Paycheck.  Which is all a real shame, since I really enjoyed the only other TV appearance I recall seeing David White in, playing the father in the Twilight Zone adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "I Sing the Body Electric".  But the Larry Tate character - Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi.

[MushMarch]

On 8/27/2018 at 6:23 AM, Blergh said:

MushMarch,

 

 Perhaps they could have written a crossover in which Arnold the Pig saw Tramp on TV (having won a contest) with Ernie who told Lisa who then was convinced that Ernie was her long lost cousin Erno from Hungary- and the rest of the episode they could have had him visit Hooterville with Uncle Charley  who Oliver initially clashed with but by the episode's end hated to see leave because he'd then have to eat Lisa's Hotscakes again.  Meantime Tramp could have caused mischief with the Petticoat Junction dog and Robbie could have done the same with the Bradley girls by flirting with all of them before Katie showed up to put a stop to both dogs' antics!

Oh, my mortal sin of omission!  How could I have forgotten Arnold Ziffel!  A totally natural pairing with Ernie!  And Lisa's hotscakes - whiffed on those as well.  Tramp would have been kind of big for Dog, but I can see Robbie and Chip going for the Bradley girls.  They could have all gone skinny dipping in the water tower together.

[Gemma Violet]

12 hours ago, Blergh said:

I wonder if its possible that not making her even a semi-regular character may have contributed to her brother quitting the show after just the first season.

Lol.  Good theory.  That sounds very plausible.  

[Blergh]

11 minutes ago, MushMarch said:

Oh, my mortal sin of omission!  How could I have forgotten Arnold Ziffel!  A totally natural pairing with Ernie!  And Lisa's hotscakes - whiffed on those as well.  Tramp would have been kind of big for Dog, but I can see Robbie and Chip going for the Bradley girls.  They could have all gone skinny dipping in the water tower together.

Quite imaginative there! Still considering that Steve Elliot,  who literally came crashing down from the sky after trying to see Bradley sisters' figures below the waterline then romanced Billie Jo before marrying her baby sister Betty Jo, NEVER got invited to skinny dip with them, I somehow doubt Robbie much less Chip would have had much luck . However; imagine them trying (especially Robbie) AND maybe the Bradley girls would have taught them a lesson via letting them think they were going to get them alone in the water tower but somehow sending them up there to vainly wait for them -only to have Steve Elliot abruptly show up and ask the middle Douglas brothers what they were doing there and Robbie would   try to buy time by pulling Steve E. into the water fully clothed. Before Steve E. could do anything, Betty Jo would fly his plane above them with her sisters as passengers in tow then Bobbie Jo would take a picture of the three of them in the water which would be printed in the 'Hooterville World Guardian' under the heading 'Sorehead's Cousins Got Into Our Water Supply ' (with Oliver vainly trying to tell Sam Drucker and the others that he's not related to these other Douglases but Lisa happily spoiling 'Cousin Erno' who was laughing with Arnold over his older brothers' jam until they threw both of them into the Ziffels' pig pen which didn't stop Ernie laughing but horrified Arnold).

[MushMarch]

54 minutes ago, Gemma Violet said:

Lol.  Good theory.  That sounds very plausible.  

Does anyone know the real story behind Peter Tewksbury leaving the show after one season?  

[Gemma Violet]

It always grossed me out that the Bradley girls went swimming in the water tower.  I mean, who does that?

[Blergh]

10 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

It always grossed me out that the Bradley girls went swimming in the water tower.  I mean, who does that?

Folks who want to swim in the altogether but don't want to chance anyone on the ground seeing them in that state (like network censors)- and are completely oblivious as to how this could effect their community's drinking water! Also,   having them hang their petticoats out on the outside of the water tower was the only ostensible reason to call the show Petticoat Junction- despite the Shady Rest only being by a rail line but miles from any railroad junction.  I suppose any crossover episode with M3S with the scenario I posted might have been called 'BVD Junction'!

[MushMarch]

11 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

It always grossed me out that the Bradley girls went swimming in the water tower.  I mean, who does that?

The water tower didn't contain water for human consumption - it was for the boiler of the Hooterville Cannonball.  The train would pull in underneath a spout connected to the water tower and fill up so the boiler could produce steam and power the train.  I wonder how close the Bradley girls ever came to becoming more intimate with the Cannonball than they would have cared to?

[Blergh]

MushMarch,

Even rewatching the opening credits on a certain site, I'm not entirely sure that the Petticoat Junction water tank supply was completely meant for the Cannonball alone or whether it may have been partially diverted to the Shady Rest if not the rest of Hooterville.

One can be sure that Ernie would have made it his business to trace exactly where the outake pipes went to!

[MushMarch]

Blergh,

Here is the relevant entry from Wikipedia:

"Regarding the show's title, Petticoat Junction, the hotel is located at a water stop, not a junction (where two or more railroad lines meet).[3] The train stop is nicknamed "petticoat junction" because the Bradley sisters often go swimming in the railway's water tower and leave their petticoats draped over the side.[4] The opening titles of the series show their petticoats hanging on the tower[5] while they are swimming offscreen.[6][7]"

And this is the entry on what exactly constitutes a "water stop":

"A water stop or water station on a railroad is a place where steam trains stop to replenish water. The stopping of the train itself is also referred to as a "water stop". The term originates from the times of steam engines when large amounts of water were essential. Also known as wood and water stops or coal and water stops, since it was reasonable to replenish engines with fuel as well when adding water to the boiler."

If you look closely at the side of the water tower, you'll see the spigot that would be maneuvered over the boiler intake to fill it up with water.

Bottom line:  More than I ever wanted to know about steam-powered trains.  There's many a good reason they are mostly gone.

I'm supposing that the title "Petticoat Water Stop" wouldn't have had the same zing as what they went with.  And I'm sure the producers of the show didn't mind in the least if most everybody watching entertained Benny Hill-style thoughts of the Bradley girls swimming au naturel in Hooterville's water supply.

[MushMarch]

3 hours ago, nan said:

I always enjoy when the "guest" characters are someone known in a different context before they were known in another role.

On METV this week "the deadline" had Charotte Stewart (aka miss beadle from little house on the prairie) as Agnes, a poetry writing HS student, in a very bad black wig.

later season had Jon Walmsley (Jason Walton) as Ernie's friend who needed a haircut.

Charlotte Stewart married Tim Considine in 1965 (the same year his character Mike married Meredith Macrae's Sally on M3S).  They were divorced in 1969.  She went by the name Charlotte Considine during their marriage (including professionally in film/TV appearances), and reverted to Charlotte Stewart from 1969 onward.  I remember looking up Jon Walmsley after that episode and finding out he was one of the sons on The Waltons.

[Blergh]

15 hours ago, MushMarch said:

Charlotte Stewart married Tim Considine in 1965 (the same year his character Mike married Meredith Macrae's Sally on M3S).  They were divorced in 1969.  She went by the name Charlotte Considine during their marriage (including professionally in film/TV appearances), and reverted to Charlotte Stewart from 1969 onward.  I remember looking up Jon Walmsley after that episode and finding out he was one of the sons on The Waltons.

The 'Deadline' one was a good showcase for Mr. Considine here with Mike trying to juggle all these chaotic chainsaws of that newspaper and that dance at the very same time! If it was any consolation, with him winding him up dancing in the newspaper office with his date in his track uniform   and barefoot (after she insisted he take off his spikes), Mike easily was the most comfortable guy during the formal dance!

 Oh, and one could see that Miss Stewart didn't have to stretch at all playing the lovesick wannabe reporter who hoped Mike would notice her even after all her dumb stunts had put the paper behind schedule and he was dancing right in front of her with his date! To the writer's credit, they didn't have her make a humiliating open play (and Mr. Considine didn't cross the line from Mike being oblivious to the reporter's charms to being deliberately, meanly ignoring them). Yes, Miss Stewart had had a crush on Mr. Considine from when they were both young teens via watching him on the Mickey Mouse Club's 'Spin and Marty' and she considered a dream come true to be able to work with him on M3S and hoped it would lead to something more permanent..Yeah, they got married before separating in 1969 (and the divorce being final two years later)- and one of the more poignant parts of her autobio detailed her bond with him from teen crush to boyfriend to fiancee to husband then ex before they eventually worked out their misunderstandings and wound up being current friends (with Mr. Considine himself photographing her for the contemporary back cover shot). One can hope that the day will arrive when Mr. Considine decides to detail HIS side of the story as well as his journey from child performer to his current interests.

[Gemma Violet]

I'm not really enjoying the first season of MTS.  The writing is just not up to par with the later seasons.  Of course I know most shows don't hit their stride until the second season or so, but when I compare the first season of MTS with the first season of a show like, for example, The Andy Griffith Show, there's just no comparison.  The writing on Andy Griffith is superior in every way.    

[smiley13]

On 9/12/2018 at 11:46 PM, Gemma Violet said:

I'm not really enjoying the first season of MTS.  The writing is just not up to par with the later seasons.  Of course I know most shows don't hit their stride until the second season or so, but when I compare the first season of MTS with the first season of a show like, for example, The Andy Griffith Show, there's just no comparison.  The writing on Andy Griffith is superior in every way.    

It was kind of a different show at the start, with the slap stick stuff and the music to go with it.  And at least two of the shows that aired last week had similar formats with the comparisons of what Steve was doing and what the family was doing.