The Doris Day Show

Doris Day was like a ray of sunshine, a breath of fresh air, warm and wonderful, and that's how she is in this show, and from all reports that's how she was in real life! I love Doris Day and I love this show, it's as simple as that, think the first two seasons were probably the best, I loved Denver Pyle as her Father, even though in reality he was only two years older than Doris, how many viewers know that I wonder? It's just a sweet gentle fun show, like the lady herself, They probably wouldn't make a show like this today, but then they couldn't, there's no one to replace Doris Day!

"Raysond" wrote this in his/her review: "due to low ratings and a sorry time slot) to let it go and from there "The Doris Day Show" was canceled by CBS. Also during this time the career of singer/actress/producer Doris Day was over and to this day in 1973 officially retired from the entertainment industry where she is living peacefully somewhere in her private estate in Hollywood."

Nothing could be far from the truth. Yes, CBS dealt Doris Day a "Ft. Knox Hand" (that's what VARIETY called it) to Miss Day for her to do a TV series. But, unlike what was reported by Raysond, the series was consistently in the Top 20 it's entire run. Doris Day called it quits with CBS. She had never wanted to do television in the first place: her husband secretly signed her to the CBS contract without her permission. He died, and as Day has said, "I was delivered to CBS." From what I have read, CBS wanted Doris to re-sign and continue the show, but she declined. She did, however, live up to her contract and did the two musical specials that her late husband promised.

Most people are not aware, but Doris' film career was far from over in 1968. Her three films that year ("Ballad of Josie," "Where Were You When The Lights Went Out" and "With Six You Get Eggroll") should have landed her among the top ten box office stars, but with the news that she would be doing a TV show, Quigley's Poll didn't bother. The fact is, Doris Day's 1968 films out-grossed several of the stars who made the list.

I didn't watch much of the Doris Day Show when it was on, I hated the idea that America's top female movie star was forced to do TV. Because I'm a Doris Day collector, I purchased THE DORIS DAY SHOW First Season.

Now, I remember. I saw the first couple of shows and quit watching. Now watching the later shows from the first season, I can't believe how good this is! Leave it to Doris Day to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Her acting is incredible -- she doesn't miss a trick. As Jack Lemmon said about Day, "It was elevating to act with her." AND THAT BODY! Doris Day had the best figure in Hollywood. Don't get me wrong, I thought that Marilyn Monroe was voluptuous, but Doris' figure was perfect. She could wear anything and look terrific.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the seasons. On this collection, there are some fun extras, including Doris' two appearances on the TV classic, What's My Line?"

Looking back, Doris Day was robbed. She never got nominated as Best Actress in a comedy by the Emmys. Clearly, she was better than Lucille Ball in the messy and overplayed, "Here's Lucy" and as good or better than the actresses that WERE being nominated during this period. But I must point out, this series was done during the "I hate Doris Day" period in the USA. Everybody frowned on Day as being "too clean" and "a virgin." Of course all of that was nonsense and looks silly today, but that was the atmosphere in which Doris filmed this series.

The Emmys often ignored the best. Remember, the marvelous Esther Rolle was never nominated for her formidable work on "Good Times."

When I was a kid this was my first exposure to Doris Day. I was only two when this show first aired and I used to watch it every week. However, it was fairly confusing due to the fact that it changed situations almost every season. In the first season she was the typical widowed mom raising her two kids in an almost carbon copy of "Green Acres", but without the surrealism of that show. In the second season we see her become a writer for a magazine, which she would remain, with slight variations for the next few years. However, in the final season, the show pretty much becomes another version of "Mary Tyler Moore" with her now playing a single girl and without the kids that she had for the first few years. However, despite these changes Doris Day retained the charm and grace that made her one of the most popular stars in television.

Also, one thing that is quite ironic is the fact that this show was set in San Francisco, which was the same locale as her former co-star, and close friend, Rock Hudson's series "McMillan and Wife". That fact could have led to all sorts of guest star possibilities.

How this show lasted five years is amazing considering each year the show was about something else. Her trademark theme song said it each week: 'What ever will be will be!' The show aired between 1968 and 1973, a time when women's roles changed in society and on television. "The Doris Day Show" reflected these changes beginning with Doris as a "modern housewife:" a widowed mother of two living in the country, and evolved into a pre-Mary Richards role model for single women in the work place (the first ever on television!) Because each year brought a different look (and different cast) to the show, it is difficult to sell in syndication but perhaps Nick-at-Night which prides itself in the evolution of such shows will have fun with it some day. (My suggestion: Do one of those five nights a week summers where Monday has the first year, Tuesday has the second year, and so forth...each year really was an entity unto itself.) The bottom line is that it features America's sweetheart Doris Day and that's really all that it needed. What ever will be will be.