Fair Exchange

"Mum, can I have five shillings?" "Whatever for, Neville?" "I need to buy a doll."

One exchange I remember. Neville was doing some science project. Other episodes: Eddie was treating his English friends to a Christmas present of central heating, something very rare, apparently, in the London of the time.

The American girl practicing the Weird Sisters' chant at the beginning of Macbeth.

A sniffy Englishman admitting to one of the Walkers that that there was one American he approved of: "Benedict Arnold."

A rave smash if it could be rerun today.

Desilu, the studio that produced this mini-classic, didn't know what to do with this show. It was one of the first one hour comedy/dramas ever to be a weekly series. When the one hour version didn't take off as they had hoped, they re-tooled it into a 1/2 hour situation comedy. And when that didn't go over either. The canceled it. Too bad, because the casting was great, the stories real, and everything about it just fantastic. One of the first series I ever remember seeing that really meant something to me. Wish someone would release this, as I would love to see these shows again. Oh, and does anyone remember that other 1/2 season TV classic....IT'S A MAN'S WORLD?

I was only 11 when this show was on but I loved it. I was fascinated by it's view of Britain. In the Christmas show. The families go to visit each other and the Americans wind up in England and the Brits in the US. In England, it was a big issue for the Finchs to get "central heating." I realized that they were different. Was especially amused by the character of Willie Shorthouse. Who hated Americans. His interactions with Patty were hilarious! I identified with the boys, of course and found Neville's life fascinating. I was always interested in the cast members afterwards, especially Victor Maddern, who was on shows as varied as Bonanza and Doctor Who. I know Dennis Waterman became a big star so I got a Region 2 DVD of the first season of Minder as I am also a big George Cole fan.

I was 15 when this show was on TV and I loved it. I remember the show and the cast as being completely charming and innocent -- so different from today's shows. It would be great to see it again to see if it was as good as I remember -- although I'm sure (I hope) my taste has changed considerably in the 42 years since that series was on TV. Does anyone have any ideas on where I might be able to find a copy of this TV series?

Fair Exchange could have been a good vehicle to show the cultural differences between Americans and Britons. Two families deciding to exchange daughters experiencing culture shock in what was the innocent 60s of TV land. It was a fun show, but hardly trend-setting or innovative. Still, it was nice to see (in one episode) an Asian man dressed in a suit and cane, talking perfect English in an impeccable British accent. Ah, an early piece of Americana with no stereotype Asians!