Pete and Gladys

Pete and Gladys gave the American public finally a look at just what Harry Morgan had been complaining about lo these past five years. On December Bride where Morgan was a regular, we never got to see Gladys, all we knew about her is Morgan's regular one liners about her. She was the distaff equivalent of Phyllis Diller's never seen husband, Fang.

Anyway the Pete and Gladys show opened the year after December Bride shut down with Peter Porter moving away from the neighborhood where he lived next to Dean Miller, Frances Rafferty and Spring Byington. And we finally got to meet Gladys who was played by Cara Williams.

Desilu Productions had split the way Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had split, but creators Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf who wrote I Love Lucy and December Bride created another kookie wife to get into constant trouble to the annoyance of her harried husband.

Cara Williams was very funny as Gladys Porter, but the cycle had really run its course by the time Pete and Gladys made its debut. Harry Morgan was an Americanized version of Ricky Ricardo. Later on we saw how exasperated he could get with the 4077 MASH unit.

Still I wouldn't mind seeing some of those today.

The thing I remember most about this show is that the character I loved so much from December Bride, Pete Porter (played hilariously by Harry Morgan), was not featured enough in the spin off. "Pete and Gladys" was almost all Gladys (played by a very funny Cara Williams.) Sadly, when Pete did appear, he wasn't the same wacky guy from December Bride. He seemed frustrated, serious, somewhat somber. It was disappointing since the point of the show was not only to reveal Gladys but to capitalize on Harry Morgan's wonderfully comic Pete. Not necessarily a bad situation comedy from the era but disappointing and a letdown to Pete fans.

Here's a blast from the past. This was one of television's earliest spin-offs before spin-offs became a dynamic commodity of television. This show was spun-off from another memorable comedy, December Bride, reruns of which were broadcast in the late 1950's to early 1960's, during the winds of change in American society.

Two of the players, Helen Kleeb and Shirley Mitchell, went on to play The Baldwin Sisters on The Waltons.

December Bride had a neighbor Pete Porter played by Harry Morgan (later featured in Dragnet and M*A*S*H) but Gladys, his nagging and sloppy wife, was never seen. Here she was featured as well as some of the supporting cast from Bride, as that show had just ended. Gladys proved to be neither nagging nor a slob but was kind of wacky in the Lucy vein. This was probably Morgan's funniest role, as audiences loved his sarcastic humor on Bride that fueled the spin-off. Morgan and Cara Williams were veteran actors from TV and movies so they performed well together and the comedy chemistry clicked. Williams had a short-lived show of her own (The Cara Williams Show) after this one ended.

This show is a real blast from the past. Not having seen this show since I was a little boy, I wondered if it would hold up to my memory of it. It did. Cara Williams was very funny playing a housewife not unlike Lucy Ricardo. Harry Morgan plays a sort-of Americanized version of Ricky in this. Why this series has been off the air for so many years remains a mystery to me. Cara Williams was a very talented actress who was not appreciated in her day.I would like to say to her "Thank you" for the wonderful performances she has given us, not only in television, but her film appearances as well. Pete and Gladys is a fun show that unfortunately has not been seen or heard of by the majority of today's television audience.