Nagging TV Show Mysteries

[onairb]

Schulz and Keane were definitely friends, as photos of them playing tennis (a hobby they shared) appeared in annivesary anthologies for both strips. Schulz contributed a foreword (or, perhaps, had one ghost-written) for a 25th-anniversary 'FC' collection, noticeably using the word 'niceness' a theme in his praise for Keane, personally and professionally.
Granted, they were 'competitors' in the sense they worked for different syndicates, and didn't socialize often, but there is nothing to suggest there was any personal or professional animosity between them.

As for Bill Melendez's daughter, she sounds like she just wants her name out there...I prefer to remember her dad's work, and forget her:.

Actually it was Melendez's grand daughter...but I totally agree with you. She reminds me of some of country great Patsy Cline's family I had known over the years. They just love to get their name out there even though sometimes the result is egg in the face LOL

Thanks for the info..for some reason I had always throught there was this "feud" between Schulz and Keane, looking back now I wish I could remember where I heard that. I do remember that forward the Schulz had wrote for Keane's book though. But those Family Circus TV cartoons...I wonder why more weren't made?

Keane had a running gag where he was sometimes interviewed for back-cover blurbs on his cartoon collections(or longer segments in the anniversary book), and he would give joke answers-for instance, one that went something like:

Q: How much of yourself is in the character of 'Daddy' in your cartoon? Other cartoonists have used that approach. For example, some say that in 'Peanuts', Charlie Brown is really Charles Schulz. Do you do that?

A: No, Schulz does that. I draw 'The Family Circus'.

He also commented here and there about Schulz being 'a nice guy, who doesn't mind working for peanuts.'

 

[mleach]

-Julie London (Nurse Dixie McCall), in 2000, age 74 (apparently, Emergency! was her final acting role ending in 1979)

Interesting thing about Julie London that I had found out today from a friend of mine who some years back had worked for Phillip Morris...back in the 50's Julie had done ads for Marlboro Cigarettes ( Julie's ads are available online thanks to Archive.org ). The ads of her doing the "Marlboro song" were so successful that Phillip Morris had not only paid her a salary for doing those ads but even gave her stock in the company. Perhaps the reason why Julie stopped acting after Emergency could very well be a case of "I don't need to work..I have my money". Heck I bet she was loaded even BEFORE Emergency. Maybe she did the show out of boredom or she wanted a chance to work beside her husband Bobby Troup...and maybe she still had a torch for ex-hubby Jack Webb ( though she denied that back then saying the role was nothing more than a business relationship ). But regardless, as I remember reading in some bio on Webb a few years back, it seems London was very proud of her role as Dixie McCall. Maybe Emergency is considered "camp" and "outdated" now but I myself have met many in the field of paramedics and nursing who decided to get into the line of work because they were such fans of Emergency as kids. Sure Julie London would have been proud if only she knew.

 

[RicoGregg]

-Julie London (Nurse Dixie McCall), in 2000, age 74 (apparently, Emergency! was her final acting role ending in 1979)

Interesting thing about Julie London that I had found out today from a friend of mine who some years back had worked for Phillip Morris...back in the 50's Julie had done ads for Marlboro Cigarettes ( Julie's ads are available online thanks to Archive.org ). The ads of her doing the "Marlboro song" were so successful that Phillip Morris had not only paid her a salary for doing those ads but even gave her stock in the company. Perhaps the reason why Julie stopped acting after Emergency could very well be a case of "I don't need to work..I have my money". Heck I bet she was loaded even BEFORE Emergency. Maybe she did the show out of boredom or she wanted a chance to work beside her husband Bobby Troup...and maybe she still had a torch for ex-hubby Jack Webb ( though she denied that back then saying the role was nothing more than a business relationship ). But regardless, as I remember reading in some bio on Webb a few years back, it seems London was very proud of her role as Dixie McCall. Maybe Emergency is considered "camp" and "outdated" now but I myself have met many in the field of paramedics and nursing who decided to get into the line of work because they were such fans of Emergency as kids. Sure Julie London would have been proud if only she knew.

Hmmph! And I thought that people got into that field because of "Mother, Juggs, and Speed". 8)

 

[Stanislav]

Schulz and Keane were definitely friends, as photos of them playing tennis (a hobby they shared) appeared in annivesary anthologies for both strips. Schulz contributed a foreword (or, perhaps, had one ghost-written) for a 25th-anniversary 'FC' collection, noticeably using the word 'niceness' a theme in his praise for Keane, personally and professionally.
Granted, they were 'competitors' in the sense they worked for different syndicates, and didn't socialize often, but there is nothing to suggest there was any personal or professional animosity between them.

As for Bill Melendez's daughter, she sounds like she just wants her name out there...I prefer to remember her dad's work, and forget her:.

Actually it was Melendez's grand daughter...but I totally agree with you. She reminds me of some of country great Patsy Cline's family I had known over the years. They just love to get their name out there even though sometimes the result is egg in the face LOL

Thanks for the info..for some reason I had always throught there was this "feud" between Schulz and Keane, looking back now I wish I could remember where I heard that. I do remember that forward the Schulz had wrote for Keane's book though. But those Family Circus TV cartoons...I wonder why more weren't made?

Keane had a running gag where he was sometimes interviewed for back-cover blurbs on his cartoon collections(or longer segments in the anniversary book), and he would give joke answers-for instance, one that went something like:

Q: How much of yourself is in the character of 'Daddy' in your cartoon? Other cartoonists have used that approach. For example, some say that in 'Peanuts', Charlie Brown is really Charles Schulz. Do you do that?

A: No, Schulz does that. I draw 'The Family Circus'.

He also commented here and there about Schulz being 'a nice guy, who doesn't mind working for peanuts.'

[SARCASM ON]Wow, it's clear to see he has the same sharp, cutting-edge, rapier wit in real life as is routinely displayed in his work...[SARCASM OFF]

 

[ixnay]

Re Family Circus... in the summers of 1980 and 1983, I visited my (now deceased) stepuncle and his family in Canada. They had a whole collection of FC paperback collections. I remember one of my cousins saying that FC was so like what went on in their household. Except that there were six offspring in it, not four.

Back to topic... regarding TV sibs who don't look alike... a glaring example can be seen in the form of Juan Miguel* (William Levy) and Rocio (Sherlyn Gonzalez, though Sherlyn just uses her first name) on the Mexican telenovela Cuidado con el Angel, currently airing M-F 8:00-9:00p ET on Univision.

*The show deals with the relationship between Juan Miguel and Marichuy (Maite Perroni, who was a member of the singing group RBD).

ixnay

 

[cspotrun]

"Leave It To Beaver"- to show you how miserable tv is, i saw an old beaver episode last week in which the Rutherfords and the Cleavers all head to the lake for a picnic, but there was NO LUMPY RUTHERFORD, the only child was a daughter, who kissed "The Beev" at the picnic caught on camera by Richard Deacon (Mr. Rutherford).. hey Sam! where's the LUMP?

 

[searadiofreak]

The "lump" was probably unavailable during that week of taping. This has been occurring since the invention of the sit-com. For whatever reason, an actor is doing some other project, is sick, or whatever, and they write the actor out of the script. Not unusual at all.

Leave It To Beaver is an interesting show in that it seemed funnier and more edgy in its first few seasons. I believe it switched networks at some point, and became more tame. Also interesting is that both Barbara Billingsly and Hugh Beaumont were former feature film performers who moved to TV.

 

[radioman148]

"Leave It To Beaver"- to show you how miserable tv is, i saw an old beaver episode last week in which the Rutherfords and the Cleavers all head to the lake for a picnic, but there was NO LUMPY RUTHERFORD, the only child was a daughter, who kissed "The Beev" at the picnic caught on camera by Richard Deacon (Mr. Rutherford).. hey Sam! where's the LUMP?

That would've been Violet Rutherford who I believe was played by Veronica Cartwright.

 

[Bob1370]

"How did Kramer afford a New York apartment in Seinfeld?"

While George on the show simply says Cosmo Kramer "fell ass-backwards into money" and says nothing more specific than that, the real Kramer--Kenny Kramer, a friend of Larry David on which the character is based--made a big chunk of money inventing and marketing a couple of novelty items they sell in the dollar stores (I forget what they are, he told me once about 10-12 years ago). He made more money running those Seinfeld reality tours in Manhattan, on which the 'Peterman reality tours' in an episode of the show were based--he's still running them now.

 

[BaltimoreJack]

"Leave It To Beaver"- to show you how miserable tv is, i saw an old beaver episode last week in which the Rutherfords and the Cleavers all head to the lake for a picnic, but there was NO LUMPY RUTHERFORD, the only child was a daughter, who kissed "The Beev" at the picnic caught on camera by Richard Deacon (Mr. Rutherford).. hey Sam! where's the LUMP?

Maybe he's hanging out with the Cunningham's oldest son Chuck! ;D

 

[radioman148]

"Leave It To Beaver"- to show you how miserable tv is, i saw an old beaver episode last week in which the Rutherfords and the Cleavers all head to the lake for a picnic, but there was NO LUMPY RUTHERFORD, the only child was a daughter, who kissed "The Beev" at the picnic caught on camera by Richard Deacon (Mr. Rutherford).. hey Sam! where's the LUMP?

Maybe he's hanging out with the Cunningham's oldest son Chuck! ;D

That's right, Chuck Cunningham who always had a basketball in his hands for the 2 or 3 episodes he appeared in.
Maybe he was drafted into the NBA. That would explain why we never heard from him again. ;D

 

[cspotrun]

The "lump" was probably unavailable during that week of taping. This has been occurring since the invention of the sit-com. For whatever reason, an actor is doing some other project, is sick, or whatever, and they write the actor out of the script. Not unusual at all.

Leave It To Beaver is an interesting show in that it seemed funnier and more edgy in its first few seasons. I believe it switched networks at some point, and became more tame. Also interesting is that both Barbara Billingsly and Hugh Beaumont were former feature film performers who moved to TV.

The Beev was on CBS for about 2 seasons then moved to abc. i actually enjoyed the show in the later years better, except for the fact that jerry mathers was bigger and geekier and still acted like he was a 6 year old. the interaction between wally and eddie and his teeage buddies became more entertaining to me, because at the time i was about wally's age. Eddie Haskell is STILL "Da Bomb"!

 

[mleach]

The "lump" was probably unavailable during that week of taping. This has been occurring since the invention of the sit-com. For whatever reason, an actor is doing some other project, is sick, or whatever, and they write the actor out of the script. Not unusual at all.

Leave It To Beaver is an interesting show in that it seemed funnier and more edgy in its first few seasons. I believe it switched networks at some point, and became more tame. Also interesting is that both Barbara Billingsly and Hugh Beaumont were former feature film performers who moved to TV.

The Beev was on CBS for about 2 seasons then moved to abc. i actually enjoyed the show in the later years better, except for the fact that jerry mathers was bigger and geekier and still acted like he was a 6 year old. the interaction between wally and eddie and his teeage buddies became more entertaining to me, because at the time i was about wally's age. Eddie Haskell is STILL "Da Bomb"!

The funny thing about Leave it to Beaver is that I can remember back in the late 70s-early 80s when Beaver became popular all over again. At the time DC's WTTG were airing the reruns and they actually had higher ratings than Phil Donahue. Of course the reason for that..well a LOT of it was due to the rumor going around at the time that Eddie Haskell..well Ken Osmond was really...porn actor John Holmes. Amazing how many people back then bought that rumor. Ken Osmond I seem to remember thought it was a hoot and made a joke out of it. Now as for John Holmes take on this...I bet chances are he had never heard the rumor but then again that man did so many drugs and was so high most of the time, who knows.. one wonders if he even knew who John Holmes was.

 

[radioman148]

The "lump" was probably unavailable during that week of taping. This has been occurring since the invention of the sit-com. For whatever reason, an actor is doing some other project, is sick, or whatever, and they write the actor out of the script. Not unusual at all.

Leave It To Beaver is an interesting show in that it seemed funnier and more edgy in its first few seasons. I believe it switched networks at some point, and became more tame. Also interesting is that both Barbara Billingsly and Hugh Beaumont were former feature film performers who moved to TV.

The Beev was on CBS for about 2 seasons then moved to abc. i actually enjoyed the show in the later years better, except for the fact that jerry mathers was bigger and geekier and still acted like he was a 6 year old. the interaction between wally and eddie and his teeage buddies became more entertaining to me, because at the time i was about wally's age. Eddie Haskell is STILL "Da Bomb"!

I agree that the later shows were better. I was about Beaver's age so I could relate. Also, Eddie Haskell & Lumpy's antics seemed even funnier in later years.

 

[LKellerIII]

The funny thing about Leave it to Beaver is that I can remember back in the late 70s-early 80s when Beaver became popular all over again. At the time DC's WTTG were airing the reruns and they actually had higher ratings than Phil Donahue. Of course the reason for that..well a LOT of it was due to the rumor going around at the time that Eddie Haskell..well Ken Osmond was really...porn actor John Holmes. Amazing how many people back then bought that rumor. Ken Osmond I seem to remember thought it was a hoot and made a joke out of it. Now as for John Holmes take on this...I bet chances are he had never heard the rumor but then again that man did so many drugs and was so high most of the time, who knows.. one wonders if he even knew who John Holmes was.

When this rumor was getting around, Ken Osmond was a working policeman on the LAPD. I remember hearing that Ken was investigated by Internal Affairs, who was afraid that one of their officers was making money on the side as a porn star. I doubt seriously that Osmond was amused by that.

There was a facial resemblance between the two men, but if you remember, Holmes was known for the size of his...um..endowment. It's somewhat amusing to wonder what turns that IA investigation might have taken.

Also interesting is that both Barbara Billingsly and Hugh Beaumont were former feature film performers who moved to TV.

But you have to remember that most veteran actors in the 1950s and 60s who were in their 30s and older had to have worked in movies or on stage when they were younger. Early TV was full of actors who were never big stars, but had played secondary parts in movies - you know, the ubiquitous "buddy" roles. As they got older, and those roles became scarcer, television was their ticket to steady work and a decent standard of living. Included in this category were Hugh Beaumont, Robert Young, and a guy named Ronald Reagan.

 

[radioman148]

The funny thing about Leave it to Beaver is that I can remember back in the late 70s-early 80s when Beaver became popular all over again. At the time DC's WTTG were airing the reruns and they actually had higher ratings than Phil Donahue. Of course the reason for that..well a LOT of it was due to the rumor going around at the time that Eddie Haskell..well Ken Osmond was really...porn actor John Holmes. Amazing how many people back then bought that rumor. Ken Osmond I seem to remember thought it was a hoot and made a joke out of it. Now as for John Holmes take on this...I bet chances are he had never heard the rumor but then again that man did so many drugs and was so high most of the time, who knows.. one wonders if he even knew who John Holmes was.

When this rumor was getting around, Ken Osmond was a working policeman on the LAPD. I remember hearing that Ken was investigated by Internal Affairs, who was afraid that one of their officers was making money on the side as a porn star. I doubt seriously that Osmond was amused by that.

There was a facial resemblance between the two men, but if you remember, Holmes was known for the size of his...um..endowment. It's somewhat amusing to wonder what turns that IA investigation might have taken.

Also interesting is that both Barbara Billingsly and Hugh Beaumont were former feature film performers who moved to TV.

But you have to remember that most veteran actors in the 1950s and 60s who were in their 30s and older had to have worked in movies or on stage when they were younger. Early TV was full of actors who were never big stars, but had played secondary parts in movies - you know, the ubiquitous "buddy" roles. As they got older, and those roles became scarcer, television was their ticket to steady work and a decent standard of living. Included in this category were Hugh Beaumont, Robert Young, and a guy named Ronald Reagan.

I think all that attention helped them get that new series going in the 80s "Still the Beaver".
BTW: Barbara Billingsley is in her 90s now.

 

[LKellerIII]

"I think all that attention helped them get that new series going in the 80s "Still the Beaver".
BTW: Barbara Billingsley is in her 90s now."

93 to be exact, and may she celebrate many more birthdays.

Ms Billingsley had an absolutely hysterical cameo in the movie Airplane (and even that was 28 years ago!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-xHPU6NulM

 

[mleach]

When this rumor was getting around, Ken Osmond was a working policeman on the LAPD. I remember hearing that Ken was investigated by Internal Affairs, who was afraid that one of their officers was making money on the side as a porn star. I doubt seriously that Osmond was amused by that.

There was a facial resemblance between the two men, but if you remember, Holmes was known for the size of his...um..endowment. It's somewhat amusing to wonder what turns that IA investigation might have taken.

I can see that. Over the years I have worked beside many of people both female and male who were rumored to have done "other things" on the side from being in porn, attending sex parties, being a nude dancer on the weekends, bartending at strip clubs and the like. At first they found the rumors to be laughable, made jokes about it or even giving the impression that the rumor "could" be true...then after a short while they realize ( usually thanks to work, family or even the local laws of the community ) that what was funny earlier..well it isn't anymore and they could end up paying the price thanks to that "silly rumor".

 

[onairb]

I agree that the later shows were better. I was about Beaver's age so I could relate. Also, Eddie Haskell & Lumpy's antics seemed even funnier in later years.

When TV Land was running 'Beaver' in the evenings earlier this year, I was surprised (after not having seen the show for years) to see how the awkward teenaged 'Beav' was more of a supporting character in that last season. The more 'Wally-centric' episodes were better than I'd remembered(from watching reruns in the early '80s).
Even though it was clear Jerry Mathers was too old and awkward(almost freakishly so) by the 6th season, the writers did a good job, IMO, of coming up with good scenes for Wally, Eddie, Lumpy, and even Fred Rutherford.
I think TV Land skipped most of season 5, though, when Mathers had already outgrown his 'cuteness'.

 

[bpatrick]

"Beaver" lasted one season on CBS (1957-58) and
proved to be a poor fit for sponsor Remington Rand;
it then spent five years on ABC.

I, too, like the later shows best; like many of you
I think Jerry Mathers is acting about half his age,
plus he's become both fat and self-conscious by
1962. The Wally/Eddie/Lumpy interactions do get
better.

BTW, "Beaver" wasn't canceled. The last year
(1962-63) it was running in a block with "Ozzie
And Harriet," Donna Reed, and "My Three Sons"
on Thursday nights and doing just fine. Producers
Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, however, decided
that Jerry didn't have it anymore (even Barbara
Billingsley recognized it) and asked ABC
to drop the show. Perhaps it was a good thing;
"Beaver" ended two months before JFK's assassination
and all the changes in society which followed. I
just can't see Wally and the Beaver dealing with drugs,
long hair, hard rock, or (in Wally's case) whether to
protest the Vietnam war. (Side note: on her show
in 1966, Patty Duke went out with a guy from a military
school--probably the last time for a long time that that
was acceptable.)