My Little Margie

I was born in 1953, so I was not old enough to watch the series when it originally aired from 1952 to 1956, yet I remember most of the episodes, so I must have seen them in reruns in the late 50's and early 60's.

I've watched about a dozen of them this week since hearing that Gail Storm passed away last week. I've been surprised by the variable quality. Some of them are ridiculous and poorly written, while others are masterful gems, as clever and inventive as any comedy series that has been on television.

So far I've noticed that one episode is almost the pilot for the Beverly Hillbillies (including the use of the name Ellie Mae for the daughter), while other episodes seem to play riffs on crime, detective, Captain Midnight and quiz shows.

When we are children, we don't know what the world outside our home and school is really like (at least that was the case growing up in the 1950's). I found the world on "My Little Margie" to be quite realistic when I was a child. She wasn't famous, she wasn't rich, and nobody ever got killed or died. So it was like the real world to me. Although people got punched in the world of Margie more frequently than occurred in the real world (generally about two times per episode).

Margie was easily able to fool people with virtually any disguise she chose from episode to episode. However, that seemed realistic to me. For some reason I figured the world would be that way when I grew up. I would put on disguises to fool and trick people into doing things they would ordinarily refuse to do. I am sorry that I grew up and found that the world is not like the world in "My Little Margie". People are not easily tricked and I have never found an occasion to pretend to be anything but what I am.

When I watch the show now, I remember myself being 5 or 6 or 7 and watching and enjoying it. It brought much joy to me then and does so now 50 years later.

Everybody in the cast is a delight and has great comic timing, which I suspect is to the credit of the director Hal Yates.

Of the three top women stars of 1950's American television, Lucille Ball, Joan Davis and Gail Storm, we should remember that Lucy and Joan were in their 40's, while Gail Storm was only 30 when her show started. While I thought that Lucy and Joan would make great moms, Gail was the woman who I really wanted as a wife-girlfriend-playmate. She was my first crush. She often acted the wild child, but could also play sophisticated and sexy really well.

I would love it if someone came out with the full series on DVD. I think it would be the only full series that I would want to watch all 140 episodes again.

Ohmygosh! Am I ever old now! But then, of course, we must also consider the alternative. You know, Schultz; if it's getting old that bothers you try just thinking about this premise. And pray tell, just what is this alternative? Yeah, that's it, Schultz! The opposite is NOT getting old; which is dying young. One of the "perks" of getting old is that of being to remember occurrences of a relatively long time ago.

That brings us down to (or up to, for those on the West Coast & Pacific Islands) today's "victim", MY LITTLE MARGIE (1952-55). Who or What, you might be saying if you're say under 55.

As hard as it is to believe, MY LITTLE MARGIE sitcom, at the time of its original running on CBS (later NBC), was right up there with all time perennial favourite TV Classic, I LOVE LUCY; which, ironically, the MARGIE Show originated as a "Summer Replacement" Series. (Remember them?)

SIDE BAR! A Summer Replacement Series was just what it sounds like. A series that would be shown in June, July August and maybe the 1st two weeks in September; during which time the regular show would actually go on sabbatical during the Summer vacation! And as a further example of the "stranger than fiction" category, MY LITTLE MARGIE came on as a temporary Summer replacement for I LOVE LUCY! Unbelievable, ain't it?

Now back to our regularly scheduled dissertation!

As for background on the MARGIE Series, it is extensive and well connected to many fine and close relatives on its family tree. The Series was a co-production of Roland Reed Productions with Hal Roach Studios. Mr. Hal Roach the Greater (Sr.) was listed as Producer. Hal Roach's association with film comedy dated back to ca. 1908, when Mr. Roach had worked as an extra, freelancing all around Hollywood. It was during this period that Hal became acquainted with another aspiring Actor by the name of Harold Lloyd. The 2 became fast friends and when Hal came into a small inheritance, which he was to use as the start-up fund$ for opening his own Studio, he remembered Lloyd's ambition, his determination, his talents and his potential.

So, from this humble beginning Hal Roach Studios became the A#1 place to create comedy. Besides the early Harold Lloyd, Roach gave us funny business from Will Rogers, Laurel & Hardy, Charley Chase, 'Snub' Pollard, Patsy Kelly, Thelma Todd, Zasu Pitts, the TOPPER feature films with Roland Young, The Sgt. Doubleday & Sgt. Ames Series with William Tracy and Joe Sawyer.

Now, Television commanded the attention of Roach Studio with Series such as RACKET SQUAD (1951-53), TROUBLE WITH FATHER aka THE STU ERWIN SHOW (1950-55) and AMOS 'N' ANDY (1951-53). It was to this early TV scene that MY LITTLE MARGIE was born.

The premise was simple, but effective. Vern Albright (Charles Farrell) was a widower of about 50ish. He has this 21 year old girl, Margie (Miss Gale Storm), whom he has had to raise all by his self for some years. They live in a luxury Apartment Building, one with elevators and all. Both felt that they had problems, one with the other. For while Vern worried about raising his little girl, Margie had apprehensions about her Pop's being an attractive, youthful and very eligible Male.

A typical episode involves interplay between the Albrights and neighbors, the lovely Roberta Townsend (Miss Hillery Brooke) as Vern's love interest. Some other plots involved interplay with the octogenarian with the 16 year olds attitude, Mrs.Odetts (the amazing Gertrude Hoffman), Margie's beau Freddie Wilson (Don Hayden), Charlie the Elevator Operator (Willie Best) or with Vern Albright's company, the Investment Firm of Honeywell & Todd with Mr. Honeywell (Clarence Kolb) and Mr. Todd (George Meader). As we said an episode would involve one or perhaps all of these elements. And, just for good measure, a lot of physical comedy, consisting of prat-falls and assorted other bits of slapstick, was injected into the proceedings.

The remarkable thing is that a little, snot-nosed, Red-headed kid of then 5 years old (Me) can still recall the announcement and preview that was shown at the conclusion of that week's I LOVE LUCY episode. I recall that it would have to have been either a Monday or a Thursday evening, because theses were the old Shopping Nights in Chicago in those pre-Shopping Mall days. The stores in the shopping areas stayed open until 9:30 or 10:00 P.M., with even the Parking Meters ran until 9! Well, me Pop was home, but busy watching the 3 youngest Ryan kids, Rose Mary (2 ¾ ) , Jim (1 ½ ) and the nearly month old, little Bobby. Mother Ryan and older sister, Joanne (9) had gone out for the weeks major shopping with our Uncle Wal & Aunt Fran, who had the "luxury" of owning a car then.

When they returned with the weekly supply of vittles and various odds & ends, I proudly announced of the coming, new show of MY LITTLE MARGIE (I even got the title right!), both Ma and Joanne thought me to be making that up. And being that Dad was busy watching, bathing and getting the younguns ready for beddy-bye, he was of no help! The old man was just too damn busy!

Now Doctor, tell me please, just what was the cause of my being like this today? Was it my being a Redhead, being born a Scorpio, the Holy Cross Nuns at St. Theodore School, that so-called Little League "Coach" or was it my Mother and Sister's disbelief in MY LITTLE MARGIE?

Have to give My Little Margie a 10 as I find myself laughing out loud several times per episode. Something about a top notch cast of talented / seasoned veterans willing to take prat-falls, being chased by monkeys and donning disguises strictly for the sake of laughter that brings out a refreshing charm. Every character is genuinely funny and love the way each one at times can be pivotal to the storyline or just appear supplying funny fuel to the shenanigans. Plus the show features a multi-generational cast of silly heads who eventually all get into hot water, eat crow and make situations worse by trying to be smart. Even though these characters may be stereotypical, knucklehead father, grouchy cheapskate boss, goofy unemployed boyfriend, feisty old neighbor (the amazing Gertrude Hoffman as Mrs. Odettes), suspicious girlfriend and Margie (always in need of money and a larger allowance) I find these characters and the show itself more honest and well rounded than most TV shows broadcast today .....including dramas. Seems many shows today are focused on it lead stars, same age group, with little character support from others. My Little Margie mixes it up and provides laughter from a creative ensemble of goof-balls and high spirited interaction amongst them. Priceless joy and enjoying these airings on RTV.

I watched this program as a 9 year-old or so and remember just a wonderful fuzzy warm feeling. It had a distinctive quality theme. Gale played a well meaning happy daughter to Charles Farrell. Every one in the cast portrayed really NICE PEOPLE, above all the lunacy that developed. Not a mean spirited act in the whole program so 'as a kid' this just made me feel good and secure and positive. Fortunately the show is available on video, almost all 126 episodes. Gale has a wonderful website and she's as young and perky as ever. I watch the episodes with the same enthusiasm today as before.

The 126 episodes of the screwball situation comedy "My Little Margie" originally ran from 1952-1955 CBS and NBC. The "Vci Video" release "My Little Margie-Vol. #1" contains six of these episodes (150 minutes). I have listed them below with their original airdates. Rather than six consecutive episodes these span the entire time period that the show ran.

The characters are somewhat strange for the period as back then sitcoms were almost entirely about traditional nuclear families (Ricardos, Nelsons, Rileys, Andersons, etc.). This is a notable exception as it features Gale Storm as 21-year old Margie Albright who lives with her widowed father Vern (Charles Farrell). Vern is the standard ineffectual dad of the 1950's. He works for an investment firm and is very much under the thumb of his boss George Honeywell (Clarence Kolb). Their working relationship is very much like the Darrin Stevens- Larry Tate one in "Bewitched" as Vern panders shamelessly to Mr. Honeywell and to the firm's perspective clients. This dynamic makes for some nice comic moments.

Vern also spends a lot of time searching for romance and when Margie is not causing him embarrassment she is trying to keep him out of trouble with the ladies. Some of the best episodes have Margie teaming up with Mrs. Odetts (their busybody neighbor played by Gertrude Hoffman) to keep Vern from falling for the legion of wily widows in their town.

Margie has a boyfriend, Freddie Wilson (Don Hayden) but if there ever was a romantic side to their relationship the spark went out when the series began. Part of the problem is that Storm was 30 years old when the series started and dressed like a teenager trying to affect a grown-up look. This got worse with each year and I did not really appreciate Storm until she started acting her age in her next series, "The Gale Storm Show" (a/k/a "Oh, Susanna").

Volume # includes: Margie's Phantom Lover 28 Oct 1953, The Missing Link 25 October 1952, Hillbilly Margie 12 Feb 1953, Vern's Mother-In-Law 2 Feb 55, Trapped Freddy 12 March 1953, Buried Treasure 2 April 1953.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.