Teevee Reverie

We learned sadly of the death of Ken Weatherwax (59) this week.  And if you have not been following the news you probably have no idea of his relevance to the world of pop culture.  But if you are a Baby Boomer, as I am, you would certainly recognize the name Pugsley Addams.

For those of you not familiar with this fictional television character, he was a member of The Addams Family, the ABC sitcom premiering in September of 1964.  Pugsley was the juvenile son of Gomez and Morticia Addams.  The Addams Family portrayed a rather ghoulish household based on the satirical comic strip art of Charles Addams.  The television show had a run of three seasons producing 64 episodes.  It was one of my favorites.  But this post is much broader in scope than one television show.  It is about my recollections as a TV viewer in the 60’s.  I am sure that my impressions were somewhat skewed by my level of maturity (or lack thereof) but I have fond memories of those evenings lying on the floor basking in the gray scale aura (there were shows produced in color but my family did not purchase its first color TV until 1968) of some of the cheesiest entertainment ever offered.

You must remember that television in the Sixties was the product of the Greatest Generation.  And their consciousness was all about two experiences; the Great Depression and World War II.  So quite naturally the quest for humor quite often flowed from the fountainhead of the war and things military.

One exception was The Andy Griffith Show (CBS-Oct. 1960 to Apr. 1968) which dealt with the day-to-day life of a small town community in rural America.  Although the setting was contemporary, the bucolic, Southern motif gave the show more of a 1930’s (Depression era) feeling.  Andy Griffith played Mayberry sheriff Andy Taylor, whose homespun approach to all things served to mollify the hysterics brought on by each week’s sitcom emergency.  The energy of the show was really driven by Don Knotts as Deputy Barney Fife and the rest of the town’s eccentric characters.  While Sheriff Andy rarely carried a gun, Deputy Barney certainly did; unloaded, a single bullet in his uniform shirt pocket. Among the cast was Ron Howard who played Andy’s son, Opie.  Yes, the Ron Howard who grew up to be one of the boomer generations greatest film directors.  To avoid any confusion, syndicated reruns are generally titled Andy of Mayberry.

Although that show bore no military motif, one of the funnier characters was spun off into its own series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (CBS-Sept. 1964 to May 1969).  Pyle, played by Jim Nabors, was a Mayberry gas station attendant whose lifelong dream was to become a Marine.  Gomer was an affable sort whose joyful, homespun approach to all things aggravated his drill sergeant, Vince Carter (played by Frank Sutton) to dyspepsia. Such was Sergeant Carter’s distress that at the end of season one, he gave up his billet as a drill instructor to return to platoon sergeant duties.  You guessed right, despite all odds being against it, Carter’s platoon was the assignment of one new boot camp graduate, Gomer Pyle.  Although this show played through the worst years of the conflict, Viet Nam was never mentioned.  Ah, the magic of television.  An interesting side note:  In 1964, ABC aired a one-season loser to compete with Gomer Pyle titled No Time for Sergeants.  It was the story of a U.S. Air Force recruit Will Stockdale whose homespun approach to the military was a constant source of aggravation for his sergeant.  The irony is, No Time for Sergeants was a novel (1954 Mac Hyman) which was adapted into a Broadway play and motion picture (1958) starring… Andy Griffith as Will Stockdale.  (If you didn’t go “Hmm!” reread the previous paragraph… we’ll wait for you here).

Such copycat competition was common in the sixties.  I guess the mantra of television scheduling executives was, “If a bad idea worked for them, how can one worse lose for us?”

To wit, The Munsters (CBS Sep. 1964 to May 1966) was a counterpoint to ABC’s The Addams Family.  Unbelievably, The Munsters outperformed The Addams Family in the Nielsen ratings and episodes produced (70).  The Munsters relied on cheap visual gimmicks and pratfalls for its humor.  Let’s face it, seeing a seven foot tall, green, unwitting moron scare people into double-speed running only makes one laugh… maybe once.  The Addams, on the other hand, were a bit sinister and the humor carry over from Charles Addams comic strip strengthened the sense of the macabre.  I have admired Fred Gwynne’s (Herman Munster) work as an actor (see My Cousin VInny, 1992, 20^th Century Fox) but John Aston (Gomez Addams) is naturally hilarious, always.

Another example of dueling sitcoms was couched in the world of the supernatural.  In 1964, ABC launched Bewitched starring Elizabeth Montgomery (Samantha) as a witch who agreed to forsake all her powers so she could marry a mortal, Darren Stevens (originally played to perfection by Dick York, unfortunately replaced due to illness by a less talented Dick Sergeant in the final three seasons).  In 1965, in response to the success of Bewitched, NBC offered I Dream of Jeannie (Barbara Eden); the story of a genie trapped in a bottle discovered by wayward astronaut Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman… yeah that’s right, the evil J. R. Ewing of Dallas began his TV career as a good guy!) whose space capsule had landed on a desert island.

The overarching plot of both shows was the same.  Supernaturally endowed sex kitten promises to live a “normal” life for sake of their beloved.  Funny thing how such a simple goal can be so hard to achieve in the world of situation comedy.  Each episode followed a template: Samantha/Jeannie cheats on vow to forsake magic; unforeseen consequences cause angst and probability of discovery for Darren/Tony; powers used just one last time to rectify situation; everyone lives happily ever after… ‘til next week.

The truth is, the viewing audience tuned into the respective shows for different reasons.  While the story lines of Bewitched were no better than I Dream of Jeannie, the gem was in the supporting characters.  Bewitched offered familiar supporting and guest actors such as Agnes Moorehead (Samantha’s mother), Alice Pearce (nosy neighbor Gladys Kravits), Alice Ghostley (Esmeralda) and Paul Lynde (Samantha’s uncle Arthur), who all made numerous, hilarious appearances.  We tuned into I Dream of Jeannie to watch Barbara Eden’s bare midriff.

Now I, for one, never could understand this devotion to living the simple, normal life.  If your oversexed, immortal (never to age, guys, never to age) paramour had the powers to provide a life of luxury and excess free of work and consequences, why would you choose to be Joe Lunchbox.  It didn’t ring true to me then, it doesn’t today, “Conjure up the yacht, baby… we’re wintering on the Riviera!”

Don’t panic, there’s still more come.  But as this is panning out to be a bit longer than I expected, I will continue next week.  Here’s a tease:  Think cold war spies!