My Favorite Martian

Long before the special effects department established the forefront of future shows like Bewitched,I Dream of Jeannie,or other shows that gave us the magical effect,no other show can topped off the hilarious hijinks of "My Favorite Martian". During its run the show had in my book some of the best special effects ever devised for TV,and for good reason. It may have been hokey or rather silly,but in turn Ray Walston was the genius behind Uncle Martin,who was in fact an alien from another planet who crash lands on Earth only to be discovered by a newspaper man Tim O'Hara,played by Bill Bixby who was after fame and fortune with this.

However,Tim was the only one who knew of Uncle Martin's secret identity,but other folks thought Tim was paranoid since Martin was REALLY a martian! There was other folks who knew what went on including the really nosey neighbor Lorilee Brown(Pamela. Britton) and the detective Bill Brennan(Alan Hewitt) who was always snooping around for answers,but Uncle Martin knew how to take care of them since Uncle Martin always dislikes.

Uncle Martin was always experimenting on stuff. He could defy gravity,and in one episode walk through walls,and the best part make a antenna come out of his head and many more. There were times when Martin lost his powers(in one episode dealt with a bracey kid who zapped his telekinetic powers-funny!)but as always gain them back. Uncle Martin also had the capability to bring up scientific powers in which no one understood but he explained his theory in ways that someone knew how but didn't know themselves.

Basically,all Martin wanted to do was get his spaceship repair and get home,but he never made it although he made several attempts. "My Favorite Martian" lasted three seasons on CBS' Sunday night prime time schedule producing 107. Episodes airing from September 29, 1963 until May 1, 1966. The first two seasons produced 75 episodes in black and white from September 29, 1963 until June 27, 1965 and were filmed at Desilu Studios Hollywood. The third and final season of the series produced 32 episodes in color from September 12, 1965 until May 1, 1966 and was filmed at MGM Studios. However,during the three seasons that it ran on CBS(which came on Sunday nights after Lassie and faced strong competition against NBC's The Wonderful World Of Disney) Tim and Martin had some interesting adventures and it did very well to make the transition to bring some of the color episodes during its final season. The show ended in the Spring of 1966 after 107 episodes.

The show had a Saturday morning cartoon spin-off during the 1970's titled "My Favorite Martians" that aired on CBS' Saturday morning schedule from 1973-1974. A live action theatrical feature starring Christopher Lloyd based on the 1960's television series was released by Disney in the mid 1990's. Revised on July 1, 2023.

I have recently started watching this show again since it airs every afternoon on the Vision channel. At first it looked so old and the special effects were not so special anymore, but it still has a certain charm. Having a 'Martian' looking at the world of the 1960s, let viewers see their world thru fresh eyes. I found it very interesting that back in that era when the Cold War was still active, that we got to see and cheer on someone trying to thwart the authorities and fool people. Most people would not be supporting an 'alien' at that time. Great show and a good trip back to the early sixties. Bixby and Walston were perfect in their roles.

I first saw this series when I was 12 years old and I have dearly loved it ever since because it's full of good laughs and is a great deal of fun to watch. Uncle Martin is hilarious with his Martian antics as well as Tim as the newspaper reporter who took him in after his space ship crash landed on Earth. It's always highly enjoyable to watch their adventures together. It's easily one of my favorite TV comedies of all time.

I recently came across episodes of this show on Youtube. It is especially memorable for me because it was telecast during the same years I was in college, starting in 1963.

The overwhelming feeling watching these old episodes again is "how easily we were entertained back in the 1960s." It was a different time, shows were more family oriented, sexual references were very indirect, and there was no objectionable "blue" language.

Ray Walston was the title character who became known as Uncle Martin to avoid revealing where he really was from. After his Martian craft crashed, he was found by Bill Bixby as columnist Tim O'Hara who took him and his damaged spacecraft in. Much of Martin's thrust is to get his craft repaired so he can return home. Other than that each of the 107 episodes was acting out some humorous situation.

Fun TV series, brings back good memories.

From personal opinion, the 1960s was a great decade for television, seeing shows with creative concepts and memorable characters that fascinated and appealed at the time and still hold up now ('The Addams Family', 'The Munsters', 'Doctor Who', 'Bewitched' and 'I Dream of Jeannie' are just a few examples, have a soft spot for 'Batman' too).

'My Favourite Martian' is another one of those shows. When it comes to sci-fi and comedy, individually and meshed together, 'My Favourite Martian' is a landmark and still holds up as enormously enjoyable. The third season sadly doesn't live up to the high quality of the first two, with story lines that were predictable, repetitive, disjointed (with them having one half of something and then a second half of something else entirely) and got overboard with the silliness to the point of redundancy, also relying on a formula that got stale too early.

With the first two seasons, the story lines were the complete opposite. They were engrossing, imaginative and clever, succeeding as entertainment and provoking thought. Likewise with the hilarious and intelligent writing, with dialogue that makes one laugh and think. The chemistry between the well-defined, the titular character one would go as far to say is iconic, characters is simply magical.

It is impossible to think of anybody else so well suited to the title role than Ray Walston, a role he was born to play. Bill Bixby shows remarkable and perfectly pitched comic timing and works so well with Walston. All the supporting cast are very good, J. Pat O'Malley is particularly fun and Pamela Britton is charming.

Production values don't look too primitive. Although 'My Favourite Martian' does look pretty good in colour, it fares to me better in black and white where things look smoother and more atmospheric. The sets and effects are pretty inventive. The music is a good fit and it is hard to forget the theme music.

Overall, a genre landmark and a near-classic if it weren't for its disappointing last season. The 1999 film that bases itself on this is not worth bothering with, the only emotions one will feel watching it are sheer disappointment, anger and questioning the point of it. 9/10 Bethany Cox