The Patty Duke Show

Teenage actress Patty Duke,fresh from her riveting motion picture triumph in the 1962 film "The Miracle Worker",co-starring Anne Bancroft for which Duke won an Academy Award for her brilliant performance was ready to make the jump from feature films to starring in her own weekly television series. Patty Duke plays a dual role in this light-hearted family comedy titled "The Patty Duke Show",which was on ABC-TV from September 18,1963 until the final episode of the series on April 27,1966 with repeated episodes airing until August 31,1966. In all,a total of 105 episodes were produced all in classic black and white and produced through Miss Duke's own production company(the youngest person ever to be an executive producer in charge of production)Chersaw Productions in association with United Artists Television. The show ran for three seasons on the air in prime-time and it survived the network's transformation years as some of the programs that were in black and white were about to make the jump to color in the show's final season. However,this series was still in black and white in its final season and never got the chance to make the change to color,and it was there that ABC pulled the plug on the series in the spring of 1966 after four seasons. Under the creation of Sidney Sheldon and William Asher(who also served as executive producers of this series),this was a show that was patterned after the classic 1961 Disney film "The Parent Trap" starring Hayley Mills(who also played dual roles in the film)and here on "The Patty Duke Show",Miss Duke plays dual characters. As Patty Lane she was a perky,bubble-gum chewing loudmouth teenager who digs Paul Anka tunes,worships The Beatles,dances to the latest teen-oriented musical tunes,and has "slumber parties",with her girlfriends.

As Cathy Lane,she was Patty's intellectual Scottish cousin,newly arrived from overseas to live with the Lanes,complete with bagpipes and burr. The girls confused everybody in their middle-class Brooklyn Heights,New York neighborhood by mischievously switching personalities at critical moments. Since they were exact look-alikes,no one could tell them apart. The rest of the family consisted of the father figure Martin Lane(William Schallert),who was Patty's harried father, a newspaper editor for the New York Times;Natalie Lane(Jean Byron),the mother was the stay-at-home housewife who basically kept the kids at bay while daddy was away at work or whatever he was implied to doing. The 12-year old Ross Lane(Paul O'Keefe)was the younger brother,who was constantly at war with the girls and basically got blamed for everything that he didn't do but in just about every episode the girls get away with their mischief while poor Ross gets severely punished for something he didn't do,but was forgiven for it. Richard Harrison(Eddie Applegate)was Patty's boyfriend who was a part-time Western Union messenger(she liked men in uniform). If that is not all,Patty also had a rival who was always after the affections of Richard too,the underhanded Sue Ellen(Kitty Sullivan). The show itself was hilarious to boot with Patty coming up with one hair-brained scheme after another and of course always got in some kind of trouble with Cathy or Dad for help her out of a tight situation.

The show was so good that several guest stars made appearances. One episode I do recall had two of the hottest British musical acts of their day which was the hit recording duo of Chad and Jeremy. The others featured Bobby Vinton,teen heartthrobs Fabian and Frankie Avalon and not to mention appearances by Sammy Davis,Jr. really help the show's popularity among the teenage audience too. In filming some of the episodes for the show however was difficult since having one actress play two parts did present many problems during production especially when both girls were in the same scene. The young woman who served as Patty/Cathy's double,and was seen from the back as one girl while Patty Duke faced the camera as the other was Rita McLaughlin,who was the exact look-a-like complex of Miss Duke herself. In perspective, "The Patty Duke Show",brought out some of the things that teens in the 1960's faced especially when dealing with football games,parties,and other things of interest and this show handled that very well. However,a reunion of the original cast came back in 1999 for ABC however in a two hour television movie based on the hit series from the 1960's with Patty Duke again in the dual roles that made her a household name.

The Patty Duke Show stands as a testament to the acting ability of Patty Duke, who truly created two completely different characters as Patty and Cathy Lane. The stories, written in the main by Sidney Sheldon are heartwarming and typical of early 1960s sitcom scripts. William Schallert and Jean Byron were wonderful as Martin and Natalie, and wasn't Jean Byron one of the most gorgeous of all sitcom moms? Paul O'Keefe was suitably mischievous as little brother Ross, and Eddie Applegate was fine as the slightly oafish Richard Harrison, Patty's boyfriend (most of the time). Patty Duke herself was going through some really rough times during the filming of this show, and only in recent years has she been able to embrace what a good show it was and how truly good her performances were in it. How she escaped winning a best-actress Emmy for this show is beyond me. To this day there are those who still think that two actresses played these roles. Other actresses tried to emulate playing dual roles on their series, but Patty was absolutely the best at it. It must have been grueling work to essay two parts on a week-to-week basis. The series was filmed in New York for it's first two seasons because of the more relaxed child labor laws which allowed the producers to work Ms. Duke more hours than would have been possible if the show were filmed in California. The Patty Duke Show is fondly remembered by those who grew up watching it. It certainly holds up better than the current crop of sitcoms will in the future. And the theme song is maybe one of the all-time best.

I grew up on the Patty Duke show. I looked forward to coming home from school and watching it with my friends. We would take turns watching it at each other's houses. It had everything. It was funny. Some of the pranks were hilarious. It taught family values and, even if you didn't always see eye to eye all the time, how important your family was. The Patty Duke Show also taught morality. It showed kids how to have a good time just being with friends and family without any of the vices that kids unfortunately rely on today. It basically showed just how to enjoy being young. I have three teen-age boys. They love old music and old shows, and I just wish I had the opportunity to share this very special show with them. I would really appreciate it if you could bring it to TV Land.

This is a very good classic sit-com and gives a real sense of the mid 1960s America. The writing, direction and cast are superior to more famous shows from the same time. These episodes hold up surprisingly well. The writing is fairly intelligent and easy to take. Until now, only a few episodes have been available to see. THIS TV seems to be running the entire series right now. The films look excellent. This series is a real testament to Patty Duke's incredible acting. Her Cathy and Patty characters are so believably different. This is probably the finest performance of one actor portraying 2 different people in the same movie. This show was not highly regarded when it was first produced. Seeing it now, one must acknowledge that it was among the best of its time. William Schallert also deserves recognition for his wonderful, pivotal performances.

I was born in the middle of this show being in its heyday, but thanks to syndication, I got to see it and grow up with it as a child, and again as an adult on Nick At Nite. Patty Duke has always been among my favorite actresses, and the sheer simplicity of this show was a relief in and of itself. Surrounded today as we are by base violence and drug problems and other things, the simplicity of the Patty Duke Show is a welcome respite from all that. It wouldn't win any awards for compelling writing, possibly, but its a cherished and loved show from my younger days all the same and I hope TV Land resurrects this gem of a show as well.

In contrast to today's world, where TV revolves around inane writing and situations, this show truly showcased the acting talent of the actors and actresses within it, especially the fabulous Anna Marie "Patty" Duke-Pearce. Though the vehicle itself was simplistic and even somewhat "childish" in nature at times, she used the talent she had to forge two very distinct and different personalities, so distinct and different that you actually catch yourself believing there ARE two cousins, instead of one actress in two parts. The stories were very situation and character driven, without the absurdity of some of the things that we see in modern TV today. They actually had a plot, even if it was over the top and hare brained at times.

The true joy of the show was the subtle morals and family and personal values the show portrayed. Like good television of any era, and especially of that time period, lessons were brought to us by wonderful fictional characters that we could identify with, that we felt we knew, recognized and loved dearly. How many times have you watched the show and wished your parents were as understanding and easy to get along with as Martin and Natalie Lane were? That your parents showed you the sort of interest that they did their daughter, son and niece? Life today is much faster and much more hectic, and often we miss out on the simplistic idea of our parents taking time out as this particular set did.

The entire show was one filled with good, solid values and a lot of pure, real fun, portrayed in a very realistic, but also very funny, way. We learned to laugh at ourselves and keep ourselves going from watching this show. We learned that while life is serious, we shouldn't be overly serious with it, and that just because we laughed at a situation or ourselves, it didn't subtract from the seriousness of it.

In my personal opinion, you'll find very little TV today with similar merits, honestly. The casting and acting of the show was brilliant, and I think the writing was excellent, perfect for what it was intended to be: life lessons delivered in a contemporary and fun way. I think everyone should be exposed to this show, and ones of its caliber to relearn what real, honest, good and just plain fun really is. You'd probably find yourself surprised.