They Don't Make Them Like This Anymore
Not every TV show gets remembered forever. They can't all be The Flintstones or I Love Lucy! From My Mother The Car to The Ugliest Girl In Town, do you remember seeing any of these mostly-forgotten 1960s TV comedies?
ABC Television/Wikimedia Commons
Car 54, Where Are You?
Before Fred Gwynne became forever linked with The Munsters, he co-starred in this black-and-white NBC sitcom. Car 54, Where Are You? followed Bronx police officers Gunther Toody and Francis Muldoon through one oddball call after another. The show ran from 1961 to 1963 and packed plenty of New York flavor into just 60 episodes.
Mister Ed
A talking horse sounds like a sketch idea, but Mister Ed somehow turned it into a long-running sitcom. Alan Young played Wilbur Post, the only human who could hear the wisecracking horse speak. The show began in syndication in 1961 before moving to CBS, where it stayed until 1966.
The Farmer’s Daughter
The Farmer’s Daughter gave Inger Stevens one of her best-known television roles. She played Katy Holstrum, a Swedish governess working for Congressman Glen Morley, played by William Windom. The ABC sitcom ran from 1963 to 1966 and was loosely based on the 1947 film.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Grindl
Imogene Coca was already a comedy legend from Your Show of Shows when she starred in Grindl. The NBC sitcom followed a temporary worker who bounced from job to job and brought chaos wherever she landed. It lasted one season from 1963 to 1964, which may explain why it rarely turns up in casual classic-TV conversations today.
The Baileys Of Balboa
The Baileys of Balboa had Paul Ford as Sam Bailey, a charter boat captain surrounded by snooty marina types. Sterling Holloway co-starred as his shipmate, which gave the show a familiar comic voice and face. CBS aired the series during the 1964–1965 season, the same season that Gilligan’s Island launched.
CBS Uploaded by We hope at en.wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons
Wendy And Me
Wendy and Me brought George Burns back to sitcom television after the death of Gracie Allen. Connie Stevens played Wendy Conway, while Burns appeared as the apartment-building owner who commented on the action. ABC aired the show for one season from 1964 to 1965.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
The Cara Williams Show
The Cara Williams Show built its comedy around a workplace secret. Cara Williams and Frank Aletter played a married couple who had to hide their relationship because their employer prohibited interoffice marriage. CBS aired the show from 1964 to 1965, and its premise feels like a time capsule of old office rules.
Screenshot from The Cara Williams Show, CBS (1964-1965), Enhanced
The Tycoon
Walter Brennan starred in The Tycoon as Walter Andrews, the head of Thunder Corporation. The comedy came from watching a powerful businessman handle family and office problems with the same stubborn confidence. ABC aired the sitcom for one season from 1964 to 1965.
Screenshot from The Tycoon, ABC (1964-1965), Enhanced
My Mother The Car
My Mother the Car remains one of the strangest sitcom premises of the decade. Jerry Van Dyke played a man whose late mother was reincarnated as a 1928 Porter automobile, voiced by Ann Sothern. NBC aired 30 episodes during the 1965–1966 season.
Screenshot from My Mother The Car, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1965-1966), Enhanced
Hank
Hank followed a young orphan who tried to sneak his way into a college education. Dick Kallman played Hank Dearborn, a resourceful student who audited classes while supporting his younger sister. NBC aired the series for one season from 1965 to 1966.
Screenshot from Hank, NBC (1965-1966)
Camp Runamuck
Camp Runamuck took the summer-camp setting and leaned into disorder. The show centered on the chaotic staff and campers at Camp Runamuck, with Camp Divine nearby for extra complications. NBC aired 26 episodes during the 1965–1966 television season.
NBC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Please Don’t Eat The Daisies
Please Don’t Eat the Daisies adapted Jean Kerr’s book and the 1960 Doris Day film into a family sitcom. Pat Crowley and Mark Miller played Joan and Jim Nash, parents raising four sons with a very large sheepdog in the household. NBC aired the series from 1965 to 1967.
NBC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Occasional Wife
Occasional Wife had one of those premises that could only come from 1960s office comedy. Michael Callan played a junior executive who persuaded Patricia Harty’s character to pose as his wife to help his career. NBC aired the Screen Gems sitcom from 1966 to 1967.
Screenshot from Occasional Wife, Screen Gems Television (1966–1967), Enhanced
The Pruitts Of Southampton
The Pruitts of Southampton starred Phyllis Diller as a supposedly wealthy widow trying to maintain appearances after her family’s finances collapsed. ABC later retitled the series The Phyllis Diller Show during its run. The sitcom aired during the 1966–1967 season.
Screenshot from The Pruitts Of Southampton, ABC (1966–1967), Enhanced
Love On A Rooftop
Love on a Rooftop followed newlyweds Dave and Julie Willis as they tried to survive on a modest income in San Francisco. Pete Duel and Judy Carne starred, with Rich Little appearing as a neighbor. ABC aired the show for one season from 1966 to 1967.
ABC Television Network., Wikimedia Commons
The Double Life Of Henry Phyfe
The Double Life of Henry Phyfe put Red Buttons in a spy-comedy setup. He played a mild accountant recruited to impersonate a dead foreign agent because they looked alike. ABC aired the Filmways sitcom in 1966.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Captain Nice
Captain Nice arrived during the same superhero-craze moment that made Batman a hit. William Daniels played Carter Nash, a police chemist who created a formula that turned him into a very nervous superhero. NBC aired the Buck Henry comedy in 1967.
Screenshot from Captain Nice, NBC (1967), Enhanced
He & She
He & She starred real-life married couple Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss as a New York couple. Benjamin played a comic-book artist whose superhero creation became a television show, giving Jack Cassidy room to steal scenes as the actor playing that hero. CBS aired the sophisticated sitcom during the 1967–1968 season.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
The Second Hundred Years
The Second Hundred Years had a wild science-fiction twist for a sitcom. Monte Markham played a prospector thawed out after decades in an Alaskan glacier, then also played the man’s modern grandson. ABC aired the Screen Gems series from 1967 to 1968.
Fred Guiol, Wikimedia Commons, Enhanced
The Mothers-In-Law
The Mothers-in-Law paired Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard as neighbors who became relatives when their children married. Desi Arnaz executive produced the NBC sitcom, and I Love Lucy writers Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis created it. The series ran from 1967 to 1969.
Screenshot from The Mothers-In-Law, United Artists Television (1967-1969), Enhanced
The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
The Ghost & Mrs. Muir adapted the 1947 film into a gentle fantasy sitcom. Hope Lange played widow Carolyn Muir, while Edward Mulhare played the ghostly Captain Gregg. The show aired on NBC for its first season and ABC for its second, running from 1968 to 1970.
NBC Television, Wikimedia Commons
The Ugliest Girl In Town
The Ugliest Girl in Town had a premise that would be handled very differently today. Peter Kastner played Timothy Blair, a man who disguised himself as a female model in London to stay near the woman he loved. ABC aired the Screen Gems sitcom from 1968 to 1969.
Screenshot from The Ugliest Girl In Town, Screen Gems (1968–1969), Enhanced
The Queen & I
The Queen & I starred Larry Storch as an officer aboard the aging cruise ship Amsterdam Queen. The crew kept chasing get-rich-quick schemes to stop the ship from being sold for scrap. CBS aired the sitcom in 1969.
Screenshot from The Queen & I, United Artists Television(1969), Enhanced
The Good Guys
The Good Guys reunited Bob Denver with sitcom television after Gilligan’s Island. He played Rufus Butterworth, a cab driver and friend of diner owner Bert Gramus, played by Herb Edelman. CBS aired the series from 1968 to 1970.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
My Living Doll
My Living Doll mixed domestic comedy with early television science fiction. Julie Newmar played Rhoda, a robot placed in the care of a psychiatrist played by Bob Cummings. CBS aired the sitcom for one season from 1964 to 1965.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
