The Hathaways

WE HAD ALL but forgotten this series completely; when we were reminded of it several years ago. The occasion was the publication of a news item about 1930's & '40's TARZAN Series co-star,. Cheetah, was still living and enjoying life at a Hollywood home for retired simian performers.

IT STARTED A WEIRD chain reaction that brought THE HATHAWAYS back from being buried deep in the gray matter.

THERE HAVE CERTAINLY been some very strange premises for building a sitcom; but surely none were this bizarre. Even a 'clunker" like Jerry Van Dyke in MY MOTHER, THE CAR, couldn't measure up to all the references made by Peggy Cass about "the Children!"

AND CONCERNING THOSE "children", the Chimpanzees were played by real life Chimpanzees, "The Marquis Chimps"; which was a very well known animal act of its day. During this same period, the MARQUIS Clan was prominently featured with ventriloquist Paul Winchell, Jerry Mahoney & Nucklehead Smith along with archival Three Stooges footage in Columbia Pictures' cheapie ripoff, STOP, LOOK AND LAUGH!

BUT MEMBERS OF the Animal Kingdom weren't the only actors who found work on this series, for its cast contained many of those of 'familiar face' and unknown name variety. Among those appearing, we find: Joe Flynn (future Capitan Bingamton, McHALES'S NAVY), Robert Q. Lewis (TV/Radio personality), Frankie Darro (perennial film juvie tough & sometimes jockey), Mary Grace Canfield, George Ives, Joe Devlin and Harvey Lembeck.

IT ALSO GUEST starred the comedy team of Wally Brown & Alan Carney, who a decade or so earlier had been touted as RKO Radio Pictures' answer to Abbott & Costello!

UPON FURTHER REVIEW and In giving this animal/human thing a little further consideration, maybe it's not so outlandish a series after all. We mean, just look at that incident of a few years ago where that woman had her face mutilated by the pet ape; who slept with her. Or in Show Busines, remember what happened in Las Vegas with Siegfried and Roy and their trained Big Cat act?

WE OFTEN WONDER if those two called their Tigers "chil;dren" also?

I had totally forgotten this show which I used to watch as a child until word of Peggy Cass's death a few days ago made me think of it again. I remember the enjoyment of seeing the Marquis Chimps do their thing weekly, but wonder how hard it must have been for Ms. Cass and Mr. Weston to film with notorious upstagers each week!

As a kid I even hated this awful excuse for TV fare. Weston and Cass are pretty good actors, but this drivel couldn't be saved by Streep and Olivier. In a sick, twisted way, I'd like to see these again just to remind me of how putrid the show was/is. The producers surely learned quickly that this tripe made Beverly Hillbillies look like Shakespeare. It lasted one worthless season and was mercifully euthanized before it could propagate.

I remember this show. I was about 10 years old at the time and we were stationed in Pensacola, Florida at the naval air station at Saufley Field. I use to watch this show and I remember liking it. I didn't realize it only lasted 1 season. The only show I remember had something to do with a neighbor's car being accidentally painted the wrong color, then painted back again only to be done a 3rd time because the 2nd job was too cheaply done. I can still remember the neighbor complaining to Mr. Wesson outside the garage about the situation. We loved watching the chimps perform in the show. Another show we watched about this time was "Mckeever and the Colonel" a comedy about a military school. This too was a 1 season show. Oh well when your 10 you enjoy the simple things. I still remember these shows to this day.