Too Close for Comfort

Oh, I remember this great series very well. I remember Henry Rush, and his fictional cartoon creation "Cosmic Cow", his upstair's neighbour Monroe, his two beautiful daughters, his wife, and his much hated mother-in-law. I remember how much this series made me laugh. This show was the perfect sitcom, it had good laughs, a great cast, and a very sucessful series run. But by 1985, I had lost interest in this show after re-tited "The Ted Knight Show" because the setting moved from Apartment to house, and the two daughters were nowhere to be seen. All, and all, a great series that will live on forever!!!

I used to watch this show back in the 80's, then watched all the re-runs, and still to this day watch it on video. The acting was great as Henry (Knight) was the over protective father with the ego who always clashed with clumsy Monroe Ficus (Jim J Bullock). This show dealt with lots of subjects and was very entertaining.

My favorite on the show was the daughters, both Sara (Lydia Cornell) and Jackie (Deborah Van Valkenburg). Both are beautiful and would steal any mans heart. Sara the blonde ditz is the one that most men would want, but I was intrigued by Jackie as a kid. She is smarter, more confident, more mature, and honestly prettier. Her black hair, pretty smile, and voice were very alluring. Her character as Jackie Rush was the prototype of the type of woman I dreamed about be married to when I got older. The blonde bimbo act can get dry after a while, but it was only an act as Lydia Cornell is a very bright woman in real life. Both these daughters were alway rebelling with their parent to be independent of them, yet always lived in the basement.

I truly miss this show as it was an all time 80's great in the ranks of Threes Company, Silver Spoons, Diff'rt Strokes, and others. How I miss the good old happy 80's. The show may be outdated, but the story lines are still good even in this day and age. Scary how we haven't really progressed by that much. Cell Phones and Internet don't really make the world go round and round.

Finally Ted Knight got a hit show, the last Mary Tyler Moore alum to do so. While hardly top-notch, this sitcom was nonetheless a great 80s memory for me. Sure Jim J. Bullock was annoying as hell, but Ted Knight was good for a chuckle as Henry Rush, and watching his two on-screen daughters jiggle around didn't hurt either. The only drawback is that I now always refer to the memory of Ted's on-screen wife as "Murual" ...and only recently realized the actress had a real name: Nancy Dassault. And that theme song is just oh-so-80s.

This was probably Ted Knight's second most famous role behind that of Ted Baxter. This show allowed him to pretty much play a role that was totally the opposite of that character. While Baxter was an annoying and vain dim bulb, Henry was more or less a very intelligent man who had a hard time dealing with the changing world around him. Also, the running gag on the show was that he was still trying to get over the fact that his daughters were growing up and that even though they technically didn't live in "his" house, they still were under the same roof. Also, Nancy Dussault was great in the role of Muriel. She pretty much was the middle ground between Henry's conservatism and the girl's more liberal attitude. The only thing that keeps it from being more fondly remembered is Jm J. Bullock as Monroe. He and the character of Steve Urkel were two of the most annoying characters ever created for television.

I notice most of the negative reviews,based on dates posted come from a generation of those not use to what quality television was.. Don't get me wrong,shows like Friends to Big Bang Theory are enjoyable in their own right.. I'm sure kids years later will find it,as lame or lacking in some regards too.

I feel the(overall)casting & acting was fine,as was the cinematography & although outdated in some aspects it does continue to be as enjoyable when it first started airing.. Only thing that made me curious & although siblings can be different which did get used in episodes,it never made sense as neither were adopted into the family was Jackie's ethnicity.

Also why do people feel when a baby enters the picture,that means a show is dying & so forth? In this instance on the show it was prevalent because it shows an average family & a couple becomes parents again,at a later age with all that unfolds versus a younger couple just starting off in life.

Have seen it said in reviews also a poor version,trying to be another Three's Company? Really! Not even close,lol.

Enjoyed this years back & still watch reruns today,worth checking out.