Occasional Wife

When this show debuted, I was all of 8 years old. I loved it! Firstly, I would've married Michael Callan in 1966, if he'd only asked! I thought he was gorgeous. And Patricia Harty? Adorable.

The premise of the show sounds ridiculous now, but back then, there really wasn't any fuss and bother about discrimination in the workplace (or sexual harassment - just watch "Mad Men"!). If a boss said you had to be married to receive a promotion in his company, then you had to be married. Now, of course, if your boss laid down such a condition, you'd engage a lawyer and sue. But in 1966, you couldn't. What you could do was find a female friend, and pretend to be married, as far as your boss was concerned.

Luckily for Callan's character, he earned enough money to pay for an apartment in his building to house his "occasional wife". This not only helped to seal the deal - it also ensured that she was close at hand when needed. And having the apartments two floors apart gave us the opportunity to see the comic facial expressions of the guy who lived in between, as the Occasional Spouses ran up and down the fire escape.

The show was pretty racy for its time. The characters appeared to have sexual relationships without intending for them to end in marriage. Woooooooo....

In the pilot, Callan's mother nagged him about still not being married. She said, "You're not... 'eccentric'... are you?" (what a funny way of enquiring about his sexuality!), which he exasperatedly and quickly denied. It cracked me up.

I wouldn't mind seeing more episodes of this show, but I think it really was a bit of a one-trick-pony. There would've been only so many times where the boss showed up uninvited, or one or the other partner was seen with someone else... I don't see how it could've gone on longer than a year, now that I think about it.

Still, I thought it was a fun show to watch, and enjoyed seeing the pilot again.

"Occasional Wife" ran for one season on NBC from September 13, 1966 until May 9, 1967. The series was one of the first to forego the use of a laugh track. Its narration is by legendary sportscaster Vin Scully. "Occasional Wife" got off to a good start, tying at 18 in the Nielsen ratings with "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.". It began facing tougher competition from rival networks, dropping to 64 and was cancelled after 30 episodes.

The show centers around Peter Christopher (Michael Callan), a happy bachelor who is pressured to find a wife to please his family and to advance his career. His boss Max Brahms (Jack Collins) of Brahms Baby Food Company is a firm believer in family men. Peter enlists the help of a young hat check girl Greta Patterson (Patricia Harty), in exchange for paying for her art lessons and setting her up with an apartment two floors above his, to play the role of his wife whenever needed. The series rides this plot with the complications of hiding the fact they aren't married from their colleagues, friends and family.

Reflecting upon the series, after watching each episode, "Occasional Wife" is a rather farcical sitcom featuring an outlandish premise. Early on, I found many episodes struggled to maintain flow with plots feeling somewhat strained. As such, I think the series would have had much more success as a feature film expanding upon the pilot with elements of other episodes. The plot of hiding the "occasional wife" routine became overplayed in my eyes. As the series progressed, I feel the best episodes are those that doesn't depend on this premise.

Michael Callan and Patricia Harty developed a very comfortable chemistry (they married months after the series ended). However, their comedy style was more of that of a straight man, forcing the comedy to come from interactions with others. I like the casting of Jack Collins as Peter's pushy, family-first boss Mr. Brahms.

The series was at its best with the comedy of talented guest stars: John Astin in "I Do, We Don't", Dick Wilson in "One Plus One Equals Too Many", Don Penny in "My Occasional Brother's Keeper", etc.). Stuart Margolin's meek Bernie could engage the viewer and provide comedy. The series would have benefited greatly if he was a regular in some capacity. It was also fun to watch Jack Riley as Peter's snake-in-the-grass office rival, years before he became a treasured deadpan scene stealer in "The Bob Newhart Show".

Among subpar offerings, there are some good episodes in the series.

Peter Christopher was the lead man . He played a bachelor (Michael) who was determined to never marry in spite of his bosses family values Peters boss baby food mogul Max Brahms was controlling and Michael had to ask a beautiful hat check clerk (Greta Patterson) to pose as his wife and the charade became out of control and the antics off the wall. Yet they continued to fool Michaels boss.

What Michael did not realize is that his neighbor (Bryan Obyrne) was a peeping Tom because he watched the comings and goings from the Sixth floor where Michael lived to the eighth floor where Greta lived.

There may have been a few sparks of love but cupids arrow did not hit its target in the first season and cupid had no other seasons to score . So the possibility of them marrying was left hanging

It seems there were a LOT of 11 year old people (who are all, as of this writing in June, 2019, in their SIXTIES!) who remember series TV from fifty years before. Personally, I believe one of the best and most clever things about "Occasional Wife" (a clever premise in itself) was the casting of a man who not long ago had an L.A. street named after him - the road to Dodger Stadium - the great Vin Scully. Vinnie was "The Voice Of The Dodgers" since The Brooklyn Dodgers became The Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of the 1950's, and he did that better than just about anyone who is the Team Announcer for just about ANY Major League Baseball team. Scully's wry delivery during the opening of the show should have won an Emmy all by itself. "...And so they set up housekeeping. Peter, in his apartment on the 7th floor, and Greta, in her apartment on the 9th floor... to the lasting confusion of the fellow in between!" If you're a real die-hard for this show, please forgive my memory if I messed up a word or two there. At any rate, "Occasional Wife" was a comedy that was actually funny! And that's something many of today's sitcoms only wish THEY were.

This was my favorite show when I was in the sixth grade, and I was heartbroken when it was canceled.

Michael Callan and Patricia Harty had terrific chemistry (they would later marry, although not for long). Jack Collins was also perfect as Callan's boss, and the reaction shots of the Man In The Middle (i.e. the guy who had the apartment in between those of Callan and Harty) were priceless.

Back in the 60s, we accepted absurd premises on TV shows without giving it a second thought -- the beauty of Occasional Wife was that the actors performed as if there was nothing at all absurd in their situations.

Sure would love to see it again!