The Joey Bishop Show

During the 1960's color boom,many television programs that were on the air at the time went from black and white to color,and there was one series in particular where the switch occurred during its entire four season run of Joey Bishop's early sitcom series. Interesting points about Joey Bishop's sitcom by the way..."The Joey Bishop Show" was one of three spin-offs that was based on Danny Thomas' classic television series "Make Room For Daddy"(that also spun-off The Andy Griffith Show, The Bill Dana Show,and Make Room For Granddaddy)that was created by Danny Thomas and Louis F. Edelman where Danny Thomas served as the show's executive producer along with producer Milt Josefburg and was produced and filmed at Desilu Studios under Danny Thomas Enterprises and Bellmar Productions. A total of 123 episodes were produced.

The series lasted four seasons on the air and was on two major television networks running from September 20,1961 until March 30, 1965. First it ran for three seasons at NBC from September 20,1961 until May 30,1964 for 97 episodes. Then moved to CBS in its final season for 26 episodes from September 27,1964 until March 30,1965. Season One of The Joey Bishop Show was in black and white for 34 episodes airing from September 20,1961 until May 9,1962 where it was on Wednesday nights in prime time opposite "Checkmate" and the animated "Top Cat". The first season saw Joey Bishop's character as Joey Barnes who worked as a Hollywood public relations firm and was living with his parents and his younger sister(Marlo Thomas),and younger brother(Warren Berlinger) along with his older sister (Virginia Vincent),and her unemployed husband(Joe Flynn). Marlo Thomas appeared on just only 19 episodes of Season One and was dropped after the first season ended along with the supporting cast.

The show's second season saw numerous changes as the series was moved from Wednesday nights to Saturday nights with a new format and new cast for 34 color episodes airing from September 15,1962 until May 11,1963. In this new format Joey Barnes is the host of a New York City talk/variety show with his new wife Ellie(Abby Dalton)and there new child. Also added to the cast were Corbett Monica as Joey's head writer, Joe Besser(of Three Stooges fame) as the henpecked superintendent of their apartment building and Guy Marks who played Joey's manager along with Mary Treen as the Barnes' housekeeper and head nurse with whom Joey frequently trades insults. The third season which was also on Saturday nights would be the last at NBC in color where it produced 31 episodes airing from September 21,1963 until May 30, 1964.

After it was abruptly canceled by NBC in the Spring of 1964 the series was picked up by CBS in it's fourth and final season where the series was reverse back to black and white for 26 episodes on CBS' Sunday night line up airing from September 27, 1964 until March 30,1965. Only Joey Bishop was with the series throughout its entire run in all 123 episodes. Actress Abby Dalton appeared in 90 episodes from 1962- 1965. Corbett Monica appeared in 73 episodes from 1962- 1965. Mary Treen appeared in 67 episodes from 1962-1965.

Interesting note about "The Joey Bishop Show"...that it featured several celebrity guest stars who appeared as themselves ranging from The Andrews Sisters to Jack Benny, Bill Dana, Don Drysdale, Milton Berle, Jack Carter, Andy Williams, Jack Paar, Bobby Rydell, Don Knotts, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Junior, Jerry Lewis, Edgar Bergen, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Goulet, Danny Thomas, Sheldon Leonard to Zsa Zsa Gabor, Frank Howard, Vic Damone, and Jack Jones just to name a few of celebrities that were on the show. Not to mention special guest stars ranging from Nancy Kulp, Raymond Bailey, Joi Lansing, Lee Van Cleef, Dawn Wells, Burt Mustin, Jack Albertson, Henry Gibson, Dick Martin, Sterling Holloway, Rusty Hamer, Marjorie Lord, Neville Brand, John Astin, Vivian Vance, Jackie Coogan, Sue Ann Langdon just to name a few of the guest stars not to mention walk on cameos as well(which included Bing Crosby and Bob Hope and the members of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team in another episode).

The fourth and final season saw a dramatic change as it was moved to Sunday nights where it was opposite television's Number One show "Bonanza" that clobbered it in the ratings. When it was canceled in the Spring of 1965, CBS replaced it along with another sitcom "My Living Doll" with the hour long courtroom drama "Perry Mason"(which was in its ninth and final season) in which in the fall of that year CBS programming made the jump to color.

Starring Joey Bishop as comedian Joey Barnes, this series allowed its star to basically play himself. While quick quips make the grade for guest hosting "The Tonight Show", they have almost no place in a scripted show like TJBS. I would argue that many of the most successful comedy series of the early 60s were stale and lacking (when compared to other top comedy series), but that is no excuse for the lackluster efforts of any one show.

The additions of (the wife) Abby Dalton and the hilarious idiosyncracies of (the building super) Joe Besser certainly helped, but the deadpan comedy misfirings of star Joey cannot be overlooked. Many times his schtick works against the comedic efforts of his costars. For example, in one scene Corbett Monica is demonstrating his impersonation of a housefly. Joey ridicules the routine throughout, eventually tossing Corbett out of the apartment.

Though Joey had talents--- comedic and musical--- this series did not showcase them in the best light. Compare this show with "The Jack Benny Show", for example, which always felt fresh and creative. To those who think "Son of a gun" is waggishly amusing, I wryly reply, "Well!"

This show was truly "a breath of fresh air." At a time when turmoil was beginning to shape things to come in this country, this program was nothing but a barrel of laughs. Joey Bishop's deadpan deliveries were nothing short of hilarious. The times that he did break up on camera were classics. Guy Marks was my all-time favorite sidekick compared to Corbett Monica. One thing that confused me, though - Abby Dalton was pregnant during both seasons, but when the series moved to CBS they identified the child-to-be as their first. I remember her son Matthew David Smith playing the baby in the second season. Anyone know what was up with that? It's still fun to watch on the TV Land network with all the original laughs intact.

During the mid-1960's color boom, many TV programs on the air at the time went from black-and-white to color. But there was one program where the reverse happened: Joey Bishop's early 1960's sitcom. Here's the bit: During most, if not all, of the show's run on NBC-TV, it was filmed and aired in what the Peacock Network called "living color". However, for what turned out to be its final season when the series went to CBS-TV, it went from living color to drab black-and-white (the "Tiffany Network" didn't start "going color" until after the Bishop show left the air for good in 1965). One other detail should be noted: During the NBC years, Mr. Bishop wore his hair parted to the right, however in the program's last season on CBS, his hair part shifted to the left, as indeed it would be set on his 1967-69 ABC-TV talk show (and, for that matter, to this day).

Enjoyable, nostalgic humor. Great guest stars and cast. And I love Joey, Joey, Joey...that son of a gun! 😁