The Doris Day Show

I didn't watch much of the Doris Day Show when it was on, I hated the idea that America's top female movie star was forced to do TV. Because I'm a Doris Day collector, I purchased THE DORIS DAY SHOW First Season.

Now, I remember. I saw the first couple of shows and quit watching. Now watching the later shows from the first season, I can't believe how good this is! Leave it to Doris Day to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Her acting is incredible -- she doesn't miss a trick. As Jack Lemmon said about Day, "It was elevating to act with her." AND THAT BODY! Doris Day had the best figure in Hollywood. Don't get me wrong, I thought that Marilyn Monroe was voluptuous, but Doris' figure was perfect. She could wear anything and look terrific.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the seasons. On this collection, there are some fun extras, including Doris' two appearances on the TV classic, What's My Line?"

Looking back, Doris Day was robbed. She never got nominated as Best Actress in a comedy by the Emmys. Clearly, she was better than Lucille Ball in the messy and overplayed, "Here's Lucy" and as good or better than the actresses that WERE being nominated during this period. But I must point out, this series was done during the "I hate Doris Day" period in the USA. Everybody frowned on Day as being "too clean" and "a virgin." Of course all of that was nonsense and looks silly today, but that was the atmosphere in which Doris filmed this series.

The Emmys often ignored the best. Remember, the marvelous Esther Rolle was never nominated for her formidable work on "Good Times."

"Raysond" wrote this in his/her review: "due to low ratings and a sorry time slot) to let it go and from there "The Doris Day Show" was canceled by CBS. Also during this time the career of singer/actress/producer Doris Day was over and to this day in 1973 officially retired from the entertainment industry where she is living peacefully somewhere in her private estate in Hollywood."

Nothing could be far from the truth. Yes, CBS dealt Doris Day a "Ft. Knox Hand" (that's what VARIETY called it) to Miss Day for her to do a TV series. But, unlike what was reported by Raysond, the series was consistently in the Top 20 it's entire run. Doris Day called it quits with CBS. She had never wanted to do television in the first place: her husband secretly signed her to the CBS contract without her permission. He died, and as Day has said, "I was delivered to CBS." From what I have read, CBS wanted Doris to re-sign and continue the show, but she declined. She did, however, live up to her contract and did the two musical specials that her late husband promised.

Most people are not aware, but Doris' film career was far from over in 1968. Her three films that year ("Ballad of Josie," "Where Were You When The Lights Went Out" and "With Six You Get Eggroll") should have landed her among the top ten box office stars, but with the news that she would be doing a TV show, Quigley's Poll didn't bother. The fact is, Doris Day's 1968 films out-grossed several of the stars who made the list.

Doris Day was like a ray of sunshine, a breath of fresh air, warm and wonderful, and that's how she is in this show, and from all reports that's how she was in real life! I love Doris Day and I love this show, it's as simple as that, think the first two seasons were probably the best, I loved Denver Pyle as her Father, even though in reality he was only two years older than Doris, how many viewers know that I wonder? It's just a sweet gentle fun show, like the lady herself, They probably wouldn't make a show like this today, but then they couldn't, there's no one to replace Doris Day!

THE DORIS DAY SHOW (CBS, 1968-73), stars Doris Day in her only weekly comedy series. An actress whose screen career lasted twenty years (1948-1968), ranging from musicals, comedies and heavy dramas, at this point. By 1968, her career was virtually over, until finding herself working for the little screen called television.

THE DORIS DAY SHOW, premiering on CBS in September of 1968, opens with her signature theme song, "Que Sera Sera." The first season finds the widowed Doris Martin (Doris Day), living with her white haired, bearded father, Buck Webb (Denver Pyle) on the family ranch with her two blond-haired sons, Billy (Philip Brown) and Toby (Todd Starke), the little guy with a buck tooth. With similarities to the recent TV show, GREEN ACRES, Doris is a city girl now back on the farm. Supporting her father is the hired hand country boy, LeRoy B. Simpson (James Hampton). There's also a housekeeper, Aggie (Fran Ryan), and later Juanita (Naomi Stevens). The first season followed the tradition of other sit-coms of that time, sugar sweetness with country humor, never rising above the number one TV show of that time, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW. The second season found Doris Martin still living on the farm, but now commuting to San Francisco and working as a secretary for Mr. Nicholson (MacLean Stevenson) at TODAY'S WORLD MAGAZINE. Also in support is Myrna Gibbons (Rose Marie, best known as Sally Rogers in THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW). Rose Marie became an added plus in the show, although her character, a single woman always looking for the Mr. Right, was actually no different from her role on Van Dyke's show. Myrna and Doris were given a second banana character in the carnation of Ron Harvey (Paul Smith), a bachelor co-worker on the trail of beautiful female companionship. With this change, the show was slowly finding itself. For season three, Doris moves from her father's farm, taking her the boys and their sheepdog, Lord Nelson, to an apartment in San Francisco over an Italian restaurant run by Angie and Louie Palucci (Kaye Ballard and Bernie Kopell). Doris continues to work at TODAY'S WORLD MAGAZINE. Denver Pyle, no longer a series regular, appeared occasionally mostly in guest spots. While still working woman, Doris manages to find quality time with her boys. Up to this time, THE DORIS DAY SHOW improved, showing both humor and heart to the character and plots, but it was still trying to find itself.

As a youngster growing up during this period, I always enjoyed programs like this, especially whenever they included kids. The big change came with seasons four and five when Mrs. Doris Martin, still working at TODAY'S WORLD MAGAZINE and living in the same apartment on top of Palucci's Italian Restaurant, becomes Miss Doris Martin, a bachelor girl. The format shifted gears, eliminating the Martin boys, their dog, and contradicting everything from the previous seasons. Regardless, the show finally found itself. Of course there were occasional characters reprising their roles from the previous seasons, namely Kaye Ballard, Van Johnson and Billy DeWolfe (hilarious as Mr. Jarvis), so obviously this is the same character and same show with different format. Another difference, being true to life, is Doris now working as a staff writer for a new boss, Cy Bennett (the mustached John Dehner), supported by new co-worker pal, Jackie (Jackie Joseph). Changing her employer from a handsome and easy-going man to a stuffy middle-aged miser was a fine change, which found Doris at wits with her stingy boss. The final two seasons is the format that lasted the longest.

This new format would have worked had Doris Martin remained what she has been previously. Having the boys mentioned as being sent away to boarding school would have explained the emptiness of her apartment. It's surprising it wasn't renamed THE NEW DORIS DAY SHOW. What did happen was Doris Day succeeded in making this dramatic change work. For most, the working girl/family episodes from the second and third seasons are the best. The worst episodes are those with Doris as the only model in the annual fashion shows. A musical show showcasing Doris's fine singing voice would have been preferable, almost as nostalgic as the two Christmas episodes (1970 and 1971) which made them so enjoyable. One episode I remember most but like the least is "Young Love" from Season Three, where Doris appears in the opening segment, comforting a troubled teen named April (played by Meredith Baxter), who tells her story via flashback, taking up the entire episode. In Seasons Four and Five, Doris Martin found a romantic love interest, a middle-aged doctor, played by silver-haired Peter Lawford.

An episode, which I feel might be the one closest to Doris Day's heart, is the one in which she goes on trial for releasing a group of dogs locked in an automobile parked in the hot sun with shut windows. After being taken to court by the owner, she, of course, gets acquitted following her plea in the courtroom for the safety of dogs and other creatures, and her willingness to do what she did again even if it meant serving jail time. No doubt this could be Doris Day's personal favorite since it's more Doris Martin being Doris Day, an animal rights activist.

All episodes of THE DORIS DAY SHOW were produced on film and in color. Interestingly, seldom revived in syndication. Unseen on cable since the 1980s, all 128 episodes are currently available on DVD.

I don't think this generation realizes how successful an actress and singer Doris Day was in the 50s and 60s (for starters). She starred in movies with some of the greatest leading men of the day. She was a talented jazz singer. She was a fashion icon. She seemed to have no 'dark side' or addictions. And then she had this television series.

From what I've read in scattered reviews of books about her, she didn't want to be a television actress. However, the ineptitude of her husband's managing her career put her so deep in debt that she had to perform in a television series because he had signed a contract obligating her to do so. Such is the danger of power of attorney!

Scriptwriters veered toward the sickeningly sweet dialogue and plots sometimes. When I watched the old 'Doris Day Show,' season 1, there was not much of that defect in the stories. Later, I think the writers fell into bad habits, but early on, Doris just seems to play Doris. That person is just a really nice person, one you love and want to know.

I enjoy seeing these old episodes of Season 1. Doris loves her animals and she loves her family! You would think these themes would be enough. Less talented writers forgot these important things but for a while, the series had the actress coming through as a very natural self, with high aspirations for her parenting role and a commitment to live on the ranch with her family. Nostalgic? Yes. But it's that lovely nostalgia that doesn't prompt you to laugh but instead miss all those 'family values' that used to rule television.