My Mother the Car

I was 12, and know I liked the show, but don't really remember much of the detail... however, it's one of the few television theme songs that I still remember the lyrics too (go figure)...

"Everybody knows, in the the second life we all come back sooner or later.."

I have not seen this show since it was first aired on T.V. back in the mid sixties. I was around seven years old at the time and I don't recall it being all that bad. Then again I was only seven, but most people I have spoken to who remember it and who are older than me don't recall it being that bad either. I can still can hum the shows theme song and I remember vividly Jerry Van Dyke talking to the car and his "mother" talking back through the radio. I remember the show didn't last long and afterwards hearing all kinds of bad things about. The shows name became a buzz word for bad T.V. Jokes about this show sometimes popped up in some sixties sitcoms including "The Munsters".

I think it would be interesting to see this show again after all these years. Perhaps seen through todays eyes it might not look as bad as it did to critics back in the sixties. While I don't think it would turn out to an unsung TV classic, perhaps todays viewers might find things to like about this TV show that viewers and critics back in the sixties did not appreciate. However, its unlikely this show will ever turn up on T.V. again, if only because there were not enough episodes shot to make it worthwhile for syndication. As far as I know, it is not available on video, legally or illegally. Maybe this show is not as bad as it looked to people when it was first on. On the other hand maybe "My Mother The Car" is as bad as critics said it was. Until this show turns up again somewhere, only then can an objective reevaluation be made.

There's been scores of bad TV sitcoms (due to bad writing, bad acting, bad production values), but this is not really one of them. The premise (a man's mother is rein-CAR-nated) can hardly be considered out of the norm in a world of Jeannie, Samantha, the Flying Nun, Herman Munster, Lost in Space's robot, and Gilligan. Jerry Van Dyke (who chose this role over the Gilligan role) does the same humor he always does and Ann Sothern's voice as "Mother" adds class and talent. Wacky premise, wacky character, wacky car...should have worked. Nick at Nite should put this on the air where it belongs.

Nothing bad said about this show is true. One of the shortest running TV shows? Nope. Many, many have been canceled after 13 weeks (a usual trial run), and many fine shows after six. There have even been a few after just one or two episodes! "My Mother The Car" ran for a full season...30 episodes to be exact, which is more than most shows give us in a year now days. One of the strangest concepts for a TV show? Nope. Do you remember these scenarios? A flying nun befriends a casino playboy, a sexy female genie lives with her astronaut "master," a sexy female witch lives with her ad executive husband, a family of vampires, werewolves, and their Frankenstein's monster of a father live in a middle class neighborhood, three gorgeous supermodels are detectives working for a playboy millionaire named Charlie...these are strange concepts! Not to mention talking horses, talking chimps, talking dogs, robotic cops, and comedies about dead people (from "Topper" to "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," and my personal favorite, "Jennifer Slept Here" with Ann Jillian). Those are strange concepts! Do you remember "Pink Lady and Jeff?" "The Howard Cosell Variety Hour?" Now THOSE were strange concepts! One of the worst TV shows ever? Nope. Turn on your TV now and turn the channels. Point made. Jerry Van Dyke is funny, always has been, always will be. He hasn't changed his style of comedy at all. Ann Sothern was perfect as the voice of "mother" and I don't think her talent needs defending. What guy didn't have a relationship with his car in the sixties? It's called satire! It's just that not a lot of people watched. That's all. So goes programming, advertising, and the whim of the people. Now if Nick at Nite or TV Land will only have a "My Mother the Car/Jennifer Slept Here" hour I will die a happy person...and come back to life in a TV sitcom as a supermodel's bicycle seat...now that's a concept!

I was one of the writers for this series. I wrote one episode ("The Blabbermouth" was the title.) It is quite true that at the time the series was on the air, it was considered one of the worse sitcoms in the history of TV. However, over the years, MY MOTHER, THE CAR has achieved something of a cult status. It is broadcast every Mother's Day on TV Land.

I have always been proud of my contribution to this much-maligned and underrated series.