Life with Elizabeth

I was only a little kid, but this was one of my favorite shows. One device was used to end each episode. The last "vignette" or sketch in each show always degenerated into a big squabble in which all the characters were talking at the same time--nothing could be understood. At that point, Jack Narz, the announcer, would come on as a voice over, exclaiming something like, "Hey! Listen to me!" The squabbling would stop and the characters would look straight into the camera, breaking the "fourth wall." Narz would then say, "Say goodnight to the people." The cast would then say, "Goodnight everybody!" and resume their bickering until the scene dissolved. It was a trademark of the series.

My memories are not exact; after all it HAS been over 50 years.

Thankfully, episodes of this program are available on YouTube so I watched several of them. They exceeded expectations. Betty White and Del Moore had great chemistry; their banter was natural, almost seemed improvised at times. They navigated their scenes together with fine physical comedic skill and cleverly executed exchanges. White, as Elizabeth, was playfully funny, whether miming responses to the narrator (and on screen announcer, Jack Narz) or teasing Moore, who portrays her happily exasperated and expressive husband, Alvin. Writing wasn't bad, actually quite amusing at times, penned in part by veteran screenwriter George Tibbles (best known for his work on My Three Sons). This is clearly a lower budget program, which is to its advantage; there is more reliance on White and Moore to anchor the show. A lone harpist provides the theme music and cute soundtrack moments. Keep in mind that the show was broadcast in the early to mid-50's and has to be appreciated in the context of its time. But it holds up pretty well thanks in no small part to its stars.

This is a classic sitcom. The characters are limited in number, and the plot is always simple, but the acting and writing are very good. Most of the episodes revolve around Elizabeth's sense of humor. Her husband is the straight man usually. It is worth watching, unlike many shows today. Some of the characters are never seen including:

* the nosy next door neighbor who watches Elizabeth and Alvin from over the fence.

* Elizabeth's obese mother.

Main characters: Elizabeth: Housewife who is almost always in a good mood. Alvin: Husband who puts up with his wife's constant practical jokes.

Some of the best skits:

Elizabeth buys a lobster, but doesn't have the heart to kill it. Together they release it back into the wild.

Elizabeth schemes to get a new vacuum. She convinces Alvin that the door to door salesman is afraid they are going to kill him, so he buys a vacuum.

Elizabeth agrees to babysit a neighborhood boy, sight unseen. When he arrives he is a college student with a serious crush on Elizabeth.

An old schoolmate drops by making Alvin jealous.

Alvin is out practicing his golf swing in his front yard. He accidentally hits it through a neighbor's car windshield.

Elizabeth makes the local gopher into her pet.

Elizabeth gives Alvin a women's magazine test only to find he fails it. She is worried she is married to a dunce. Turns out Alvin has a trick up his sleeve.

This was basically a sitcom, told in brief vignettes rather than a full regular sitcom style. There was some similarity to the Jack Benny Program, with an announcer and Betty White talking to the audience at the end of the show. The story was about Elizabeth (White), her husband Alvin, and a few friends and coworkers. The stories were simple, mostly domestic tales, but the tone was rather silly, with much of the comedy centered on certain characters' stupidity. If you see it now, you're unlikely to be bowled over by comedic genius, but it's nice to see a young Betty White.

Elizabeth appeared to be an ordinary, everyday housewife of her time(the early 50s), and so she was . . . er, aside from the fact that an off-camera announcer regularly led forays to check into the goings-on around her house, of course. And then, come to think of it, she wasn't exactly the docile, unassuming "little woman" that husband Alvin always hoped (against all reason) she'd turn out to be, either.

In a word, she was an imp. She delighted in puncturing Alvin's pomposity, always lovingly, but invariably disastrously.

Introduced each week by harp music, which gave a deceptively tranquil lead-in to what was to follow, "Life With Elizabeth" wasn't a 'situation comedy' -- indeed, that concept had barely been formed at the time; instead, it was a comedy of situations, usually two to each show, individual and unrelated, each of them introduced by the off-camera announcer who then just let events unfold. Once chaos had yet again been firmly established as the order of the day, his voice would be again heard, this time presumably as her conscience: "Elizabeth!" (pause) "Aren't you ashamed?"

She usually gave it a moment's thought before shaking her head impishly.

As with the harp music, the show itself was deceptive in its simplicity, the writing, production and, not least of all, the performances of Betty White and Del Moore who were letter-perfect. Produced by a local Los Angeles TV station (at which White and Moore had been staffers), "Life With Elizabeth" seems to have lived its entire life in syndication.

And Elizabeth kept life from ever becoming dull!