Life with Elizabeth

This show felt like it was just a step ahead of the times when it was filmed. A bit slow at times but Betty and Dels wit brings it up. With then breaking the fourth wall, something not seen in those days and her not acting like the nimrod some housewives did on tv back then, I feel like she was pushing boundaries. Not to mention she helped create and produce it like a true Maverick she was. And a respectful note to the person who said without her current icon status no one would know about Golden Girls; in 1985, that was the favorite show in our town in our childhood. And you must've missed Mary Tyler Moore show as well. She had a career most only dream of with non-stop fun and creative roles!

Elizabeth appeared to be an ordinary, everyday housewife of her time(the early 50s), and so she was . . . er, aside from the fact that an off-camera announcer regularly led forays to check into the goings-on around her house, of course. And then, come to think of it, she wasn't exactly the docile, unassuming "little woman" that husband Alvin always hoped (against all reason) she'd turn out to be, either.

In a word, she was an imp. She delighted in puncturing Alvin's pomposity, always lovingly, but invariably disastrously.

Introduced each week by harp music, which gave a deceptively tranquil lead-in to what was to follow, "Life With Elizabeth" wasn't a 'situation comedy' -- indeed, that concept had barely been formed at the time; instead, it was a comedy of situations, usually two to each show, individual and unrelated, each of them introduced by the off-camera announcer who then just let events unfold. Once chaos had yet again been firmly established as the order of the day, his voice would be again heard, this time presumably as her conscience: "Elizabeth!" (pause) "Aren't you ashamed?"

She usually gave it a moment's thought before shaking her head impishly.

As with the harp music, the show itself was deceptive in its simplicity, the writing, production and, not least of all, the performances of Betty White and Del Moore who were letter-perfect. Produced by a local Los Angeles TV station (at which White and Moore had been staffers), "Life With Elizabeth" seems to have lived its entire life in syndication.

And Elizabeth kept life from ever becoming dull!

This is a classic sitcom. The characters are limited in number, and the plot is always simple, but the acting and writing are very good. Most of the episodes revolve around Elizabeth's sense of humor. Her husband is the straight man usually. It is worth watching, unlike many shows today. Some of the characters are never seen including:

* the nosy next door neighbor who watches Elizabeth and Alvin from over the fence.

* Elizabeth's obese mother.

Main characters: Elizabeth: Housewife who is almost always in a good mood. Alvin: Husband who puts up with his wife's constant practical jokes.

Some of the best skits:

Elizabeth buys a lobster, but doesn't have the heart to kill it. Together they release it back into the wild.

Elizabeth schemes to get a new vacuum. She convinces Alvin that the door to door salesman is afraid they are going to kill him, so he buys a vacuum.

Elizabeth agrees to babysit a neighborhood boy, sight unseen. When he arrives he is a college student with a serious crush on Elizabeth.

An old schoolmate drops by making Alvin jealous.

Alvin is out practicing his golf swing in his front yard. He accidentally hits it through a neighbor's car windshield.

Elizabeth makes the local gopher into her pet.

Elizabeth gives Alvin a women's magazine test only to find he fails it. She is worried she is married to a dunce. Turns out Alvin has a trick up his sleeve.

When I noticed this show on Betty White's IMDb filmography, I had to see it. Even though I've never been a huge Betty White fan, I've always had to admire her range. I was surprised to find Life With Elizabeth available from Netflix, so I watched three episodes on a DVD. While those three were plenty – at least for one setting, I did get some enjoyment out of the show. Everyone seemed to be eager to follow the I Love Lucy formula for success in the 1950s: A kooky, mildly attractive housewife, her buddy next door and an ever-suffering husband to shake his head knowingly when the wife's schemes inevitably backfired. It worked for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez and for George Burns and Gracie Allen. Joan Davis and Jim Backus also had some success with the formula in I Married Joan. Here, too, it proved effective. Like Burns and Allen, the narrator (Jack Narz) stepped through the "fourth wall" and discussed the "plot" with the characters. While this may seem very disconcerting to modern audiences, it was not at all unusual for the 1950s. White, who turned 30 the show's first season, was a lovable enough young wife, who sometimes used her devilish sense of humor to jab husband Del Moore. Moore and White made a believable and likable young couple, grappling with ordinary everyday situations like whether to plant a tree on the patio, going to a drive-in movie, buying a new vacuum, entertaining an old college friend, etc. I see that she also starred in another, similar sitcom, Date With the Angels, a few years later. I'll have to see if I can find it, too. For anyone interested in the history of the American sitcom or for any big Betty White fans, Life With Elizabeth is a must-see. Just don't expect I Love Lucy.

I was only a little kid, but this was one of my favorite shows. One device was used to end each episode. The last "vignette" or sketch in each show always degenerated into a big squabble in which all the characters were talking at the same time--nothing could be understood. At that point, Jack Narz, the announcer, would come on as a voice over, exclaiming something like, "Hey! Listen to me!" The squabbling would stop and the characters would look straight into the camera, breaking the "fourth wall." Narz would then say, "Say goodnight to the people." The cast would then say, "Goodnight everybody!" and resume their bickering until the scene dissolved. It was a trademark of the series.

My memories are not exact; after all it HAS been over 50 years.