Down to Earth

I barely remember this show, given that I moved in 1986 from a place that didn't have cable, and subsequently missed half the show's run. I also was only about 8 years old at the time. I haven't much else to add to the previous person's summary, except that she WASN'T the only person who saw it, that the premise

was very clever and original, and despite having the world's worst actor (the late Dick Sargeant), I remember the show being awfully charming and, oddly

enough, the credits being especially interesting. I also remember asking my

mom what "23 skidoo" meant. I credit the show for sparking my personal interest in 1920s history. So if you were a writer for this sitcom, bravo for hitting at least one kid on the head! Let's hope more interesting premises as such come forth in TV in the future! Vive le flapper! (Question: did she actually get her wings? And did a bell ring?)

I reminisce about "Down to Earth" because I see "Ethel" frequently in TV commercials. I also was about 7 or 8 when the show aired. In response to the other comments, I don't remember "Rocky Road", but I do remember "Small Wonder" and another sitcom called "Check It Out!" starring Don Adams in which all the story lines took place in a supermarket (I think Don Adams was the manager of the supermarket). Does anyone else remember that show? I loved "Down to Earth" and I never missed it. I have a memory of going out to eat with my parents to a barbecue joint that had small televisions on each table, and for a quarter or two you could watch TV while you ate. We happened to be there at the time "Down to Earth" was coming on, and I begged and pleaded and threw a fit because I wanted to watch "Down to Earth" and of course my mom and dad said "I don't think so, you can live without TV for 30 minutes" and that was just one more strike against my dad because I wanted to be just like Lissy Preston--her clothes, her hair, her rebel attitude--and my dad said that she looked like Boy George. I will never forget that.

I cannot believe it. I thought that I was going crazy. No one that I've spoken to remembers this show. I loved it. My favorite part of this show was the song. I don't remember much about it except that it mentioned Rudolph Valentino, she was struck by a trolly, golly and that now she is an 80's lady. I was beginning to loose hope that i would ever find out about this show. I know it has been many many many years since i last saw it but i know that i would love to see re-runs of this show any time. Seems to me that even as cheesy as it was, it was a real family show. and you know you don't see many of those anymore. Doesn't anyone enjoy wholesome shows anymore??????

I also fondly remember watching this show as a child. I used to watch it every day at 4:30 on TBS after school while everyone else was watching ABC afterschool specials. I remember the opening sequence was in the style of an old 1920's newsreel with the theme song being a little like a swing song and saying something about Valentino. It's horrible that this show is not too familiar, because with Hollywood remaking the Dukes of Hazzard, The Addams Family and other old TV shows, this would seem like the perfect premise for a Hollywood remake. There was another show that used to show after it that I can only remember had Louis Arquette as a dirty old man. Maybe someday, TV will come back to what it used to be, instead of reality shows.

I saw this show a few times in the 1980s when it was new. First I heard the theme song as I was going to sleep. About the next day I watched the show (I had to stay up to do that, and it it was because of the theme song!) I saw an episode where Ethel tutored the older son in Algebra and I was most impressed by the honesty of that story. I also enjoyed seeing Dick Sargent again because I remember the "Darrin Switch" on "Bewitched" when it originally happened and I have admired him in other roles. This brief show should be produced on DVD just so we can examine it fully. I had to figure out after only one or two episodes that apparently the living people did not know that Ethel was an angel.

See This Show, John Martin, 44