Bachelor Father

The easy natural charm of young John Forsythe and the essential sweetness of his "getting into problems" teenage niece Kelly Corcoran, caused this series to be a hit, and made Forsythe a beloved fixture in America. I remember it very fondly though I haven't seen it since it was originally broadcast.

Unlike one later series with a similar premise (The Courtship of Eddie's Father), both Forsythe and niece whom he was raising were people you'd like to know - the very definition of gentility, charm, restraint - even Kelly whose problems were never due to her own outrageousness, but simply her age.

Unlike another later series (Family Affair), Forsythe had a gentleness rare for paternal figures in television dealing with teenagers. (Brian Keith was curmudgeonly and would rail at fate!). It made the program tremendously reassuring.

Forsythe's well-dressed handsomeness, his restraint, his distinguished voice, his very movement, and the affluence of his character and home, gave this series an urban and upper middle class reassurance that was unlike most other series of the day (or any day for that matter).

E.g., Donna Reed (father a doctor) or My Three Sons (MacMurray an aircraft engineer) were suburban, patio barbecue and swimming pool sorts of series. "Father Knows Best" and "Leave it to Beaver" seemed to take place in a sort of mythical small American town. "The Life of Riley and "the Honeymooners" had dads going to the bus depot, the sewer or the "plant". Although "Make Room for Daddy" took place in New York, but the life of a nightclub comic (and the Danny Thomas character) was frenetic - voices constantly shrieking.

In contrast, Bachelor Father was set in a penthouse - and seemed to be in a large Eastern or Midwestern city - probably New York, definitely not southern California. It was lovely and I thank all those involved for presenting it so very well to create such fond memories.

I hadn't seen Bachelor Father on TV in probably 45 years until recently a local affiliate cable station started running it on weekdays in the late morning. It's enjoyable, rather amusing and very innocent. No bad language or sexual innuendo. Set in southern California, Bentley Greg (John Forsythe) is a wealthy attorney who resides in his Beverly Hills home with his orphaned niece, Kelly and houseboy, Peter. Most of the plots seem to revolve around seemingly trivial events, but that is more reflective of the 1950's and early 60's before the "sexual revolution" and wide spread drug use became common. Performances by the regular cast members are usually very satisfactory, although sometimes exaggerated to make a point. Episode plots are light-hearted if not particularly memorable, but I enjoy viewing a TV show first broadcast when I was in elementary school.

Bachelor Father (1957-1962) was a rare show that was produced during the late fifties. John Forsythe starred as "The Bachelor Father". An unwed father who lived in a house with his young niece and Chinese manservant. An interesting show when I was a young lad and it was one of my favorites because the manservant served as a comic foil and he would make me laugh. I saw quite a few of these episodes because they would air late at night on a local independent television station. the intro of the show would show the mack daddy John Forsythe, his niece and the manservant tooling around in the family automoblie. Not a great show but a different look at life in the mid to late fifties. A break from the staples like Leave it to Beaver. I'm Mike Tee Vee, keep it on this station!

perhaps the original "single parent" television comedy. rich, handsome Uncle Bentley (forsythe) raises his orphaned niece Kelly (corcoran). series is loaded with mid-50s teenage angst, capers & madcap stunts. Uncle Bentley always had the sage wisdom & big buck$ to solve the problem, even though quasi-rebellious Kelley would never admit it till the end of show .the episodes were always sappy, saccharine & predictable. easy to watch for modicum of insight into what the era was like, or what is was supposed to be like. rent it, don't buy it

I generally agree with the other poster's comments here, but as one who grew up in the relative same era in which the series' story lines existed, who saw the series in first-run syndication, may view it from a slightly different perspective.

"tvpdean's" comment that Brian Keith's character on "Family Affair" was always "railing against fate," implying he was somehow brash or hard-nosed with his juvenile charges, strikes me as way off base. In fact, what was so appealing & endearing about Keith's portrayal of engineer/playboy "Uncle Bill (Davis)" was that he WAS a "tough guy" who was very gentle and reasonable with his two nieces and nephew, albeit with the help of his manservants, "Giles French" (and, briefly, "Niles French"). Not that Keith's character was above sometimes shouting in frustration, but that's only human in any situation. Keith's "Bill Davis" was a helluva lot more realistic than Forsythe's "Bentley Gregg" on this series, though actually Forsythe would play the sort of character "tvpdean" implies Forsythe was on this series in another, later sitcom, "To Rome With Love," which was produced by Don Fedderson, the same guy who created "Family Affair" and "My Three Sons" (and who also produced Betty White's first series, "Life With Elizabeth").

Also, it was certainly not "apparent" this series' family lived in an Eastern or Midwestern city. What with "Gregg" running around with all sorts of starlets and their driving in an open convertible all the time (as "Mike Tee Vee" so duly noted), I'd say it was rather suspiciously like sunny, Southern California. It would also make sense that it would be West Coast, where in those days there was much more an influx of Asian persons, such as houseboy "Peter Tong," than on the East coast or in the Midwest.

"tvpdean's" assertion this series was an ancestor of single father figure dating shows is right on the mark, however, and "The Courtship Of Eddie's Father" is a good analogy, although Bill Bixby's character on that show was an actual father, not an uncle (as Forsythe is here); and also, Bixby's character was a widower, whereas Forsythe's "Gregg" was, presumably, never married. But "Bentley Gregg" and Bixby's "Tom Corbett" (not to be confused with "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet") did have one, other trait in common--Asian servants; the aforementioned "Peter" on "Bachelor Father" & "Mrs. Livingston" as housekeeper to "Mr. Eddie's Father" (and babysitter/governess to master "Eddie" himself).

So actually, "Bachelor Father" has much more in common with "Family Affair"--a single uncle, with a manservant of foreign ethnicity, who adopted his niece and is leading an active romantic life. Although, in the later years of "Family Affair," Keith's "Uncle Bill" became much more domestic, less the globe-trotting playboy (except when his jobs took him out of NYC).

By the way--Noreen Corcoran, who played "Kelly" on this series, was part of a large family of kid actors that included Disney ensemble regular Kevin Corcoran ("Moochie" on the "Spin & Marty" episodes of "The Mickey Mouse Club," Tommy Kirk's younger brother in "Old Yeller" & "The Shaggy Dog," and himself star of Disney's circus boy film, "Toby Tyler." And since I brought him up, Sebastian Cabot was not, as commonly believed, British. Rather he was a Canadian citizen--which, I realize, would still make Cabot a British subject, but would hardly explain his British-sounding accent. I think that was "cultivated" for effect, much as William F. Buckley's upper crusty inflection.