The Nancy Dussault Show

I've seen Nancy Dussault on a variety of TV shows over the years, though her name is heardly a household one. But apparently, some important folks thought she was very talented and could anchor a weekly series, as Carl Reiner directed the show. But the network never approved the pilot as a weekly series.

Nancy plays a kooky understudy for some Broadway show. I say kooky because after dating a doctor for 2 1/2 years, she meets some guy and marries him the same day!! So, because of this, she's excited...but also excited because the leading lady in the play is sick and it's her big chance to star in the show. After the show is over, she'll have to break it to her old boyfriend.

The show has some singing and dancing to show off Dussault's skills though it's mostly a sit-com. My aunt watched it with me and laughed a few times...but also felt, as I did, that the show was weak and she could undertand it not being a TV series. My problem with it was chemistry...and perhaps given a few episodes they could have worked this out.

By the way, the IMDB page is missing a lot of info and a few of the supporting actors also in the program are Burt Mustin (who is excellent as usual), Noam Pitlik (a very familiar face...and also a guy who directed a lot of familiar TV shows), John Byner and Rip Taylor.

By the way, it's not important but I was suprised that a few scenes were not re-shot, as Nancy's ladyfriend had a minor dressing mishap...with a missing button or severely gaping shirt. It's pretty obvious.

In "planktonrule's" review, which I thought was excellent, he addresses the wardrobe mishap of Nancy's friend, describing it as a mistake deserving of a retake. The mishap was intentional as it was part of the storyline.

Nancy, a musical's understudy, is given the lead role at the last moment due to the star's illness. The friend, played by actress Karen Morrow, is a cast member who is now thrust into Nancy's normal role and must wear Nancy's costume which accompanies that role. Karen is larger than Nancy, so the costume is noticeably smaller on her. Thus, we see Karen in unintentionally short pants and a tight shirt with buttons popping off.

As plankton's review noted, IMDB is missing much cast information in its data on "The Nancy Dussault Show." However, also on IMDB, the same show can be found under the title, "Starring: Nancy Clancy." (Clancy is the last name of Dussault's character.) There, one can find the missing information.

For those interested in watching the show, it's not bad, though certainly not great. Miss Dussault is multi-talented, comes across as likeable, and probably would have benefited from better scripts and more interesting storylines.