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Return With Us Now To Those Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear...

A trip down memory lane when the TV controller was a knob on the front of the set.

My mind tends to wander a bit lately, especially when I least want it to. Today, as a hard driving rain blown by a cold north wind beats against the windows here at Carten Manor, my thoughts drift back to an earlier age. This may be because I seem to have much clearer memories of the forties and fifties than I do of what I had for breakfast this morning.

You younger readers may want to drag your cursor back up to the arrow at the top left of your screen and click on it, since I’m headed back to a time long before many of you were born. You know how boring that can be from listening to your elders ramble on about "the good ‘ol days" for hours on end. Then again, you may have been tipped off by the title of this article and skipped right past it in the first place, in which case you can ignore the above instructions.

What I’m referring to here is a time when parents could sit down in the living-room with their young children and watch TV without turning several shades of crimson. In those halcyon days comedians knew how to be funny, I mean really funny, without resorting to smut and innuendo. This is the kind of talent that seems to have been largely lost over the years. Thinking back, without any effort at all, I can recall many dozens of shows that were good clean family entertainment and still kept you laughing out loud for a half an hour.

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One that comes to mind is "Mr. Peepers," starring Wally Cox as a timid science teacher at Jefferson High. Playing opposite such classic stars as Tony Randall and Marion Lorne the shy Mr. Peepers would somehow always manage to untangle every situation and come out on top by the end of each episode.

And speaking of teachers, how about "Our Miss Brooks" starring Eve Arden, as Connie Brooks, who never seemed to be able to land a date with that shy biology teacher, Mr. Boynton. Their gruff principle, Osgood Conklin, was played by Gale Gordon who went on to play many other supporting characters over the years, even playing the stingy banker, Mr. Mooney, next to Lucille Ball on the "Lucy" show.

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One of my favorite shows of all times was "My Little Margie" starring Gale Storm. Right off the bat you just have to love the name Gale Storm. Margie was the vivacious daughter of the staid businessman Vern Albright who worked for the firm of Honeywell and Todd. I don’t recall anyone ever saying just what type of business he was in, but Margie’s antics were always enough to give her poor old dad an ulcer.

While on the topic of staid businessmen, how about the poor beleaguered banker by the name of "Topper," Played by Leo G. Carroll. Cosmo Topper bought a house only to find it already occupied by the ghosts of the former owners, George and Marion Kirby and their alcoholic Saint Bernard, Neil. The fun-loving Kirbys did everything in their power to liven up Topper’s dull life, much to his discomfort and our laughter.

Of course everyone remembers "I Love Lucy," but how many remember "I Married Joan." This show followed almost exactly the same format as "Lucy" with Joan Davis as Joan Stevens starring opposite Jim Backus as Judge Bradley Stevens. Each week, Joan’s zany escapades would drive the quite serious judge almost to distraction. The only thing missing was the Cuban accent and the bright red hair. Jim Backus went on to star as the millionaire, Thurston Howell III, on "Gilligan’s Island," and the voice of "The Nearsighted Mr. McGoo" among other roles.

Then, of course, there was "December Bride" starring Spring Byington as Lily Ruskin, a spry widow who was not a December bride but very much wanted to become one. She lived with her daughter and son-in-law while she waited, and prowled, for the right man to come along. I remember this as a softer, not so slapstick, comedy that truly showcased Spring Byington’s talent as an accomplished actress.

Back then almost any situation could lend itself to comedy. Even being a secretary, as in the show "Private Secretary" with Ann Sothern as the out-of-control girl Friday, Susie MacNamara. Susie worked for a noted and quite good looking talent agent, Peter Sands. Her efforts to help the bumbling receptionist, Violet, and her boss in matters of the heart as well as business, always led to a half hour of hysterical laughter.

Getting back, for a moment, to Gale Storm, there was another sitcom ,in which she starred, that I made it a point never to miss. That was "Oh! Susanna" where Gale played Susanna Pomeroy, the social director aboard the cruise ship Ocean Queen. She starred next to the hilarious ZaSu Pitts, as Elvira Nugent, as they teamed up to outsmart Captain Huxley at every turn. Susanna’s shrill whistle, when she wanted to get people’s attention, never failed to get a laugh.

Fibber McGee and Molly, among others, was a show that was transplanted directly from radio. At some point in every show, much to Molly’s chagrin, Fibber would open the door to his overstuffed hall closet and cause an avalanche of stuff to fall noisily onto the floor. Their pompous next door neighbor, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve would often show up to add even more confusion to the scene. This character proved so popular that a spin-off called "The Great Gildersleeve" proved to be a popular show in it’s own right.

There were so many more of these wonderful old shows that I could go on for hours. However, I want to wrap this up for today by bringing you back to "Duffy’s Tavern," another program that got it’s start on the radio. Who, from my era, (the Jurassic) can forget the opening of each show. A phone would ring and a voice would answer, "Duffy’s Tavern, Duffy ain’t here, this is Archie speaking." The inhabitants of the tavern where the type of souls you can find hanging our at every neighborhood bar in America to this very day. I still know people who would fit right in. You know who you are!

As I said, I could go on and on, but before I loose any more readers perhaps I should call it a day. If you should perhaps drive by the Manor and look in to see me laughing hysterically while staring at a blank TV screen, you’ll know that I’m playing re-runs of these great old shows in my head. Either that or I just realized I forgot to put my pants on that morning.

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