bartsboy

I, too, have fond memories of this program. I was under the impression that Hey Teacher was actually an unsold pilot for a proposed new series for Dwayne Hickman. In the early and mid-60s CBS frequently aired the pilot episodes it had ordered in a summer anthology. This was a way to recoup at least a part of the cost of making the pilot. I always thought Hey Teacher would have made a great series for CBS. It would have fit in nicely with the network's other family-friendly comedies. In 1964 it was indeed unusual to have male teachers in many elementary schools, thus providing for the comedy set-up in the show. I remember another cast member looking at the teachers' mailboxes in the fictional school, and commenting that someone had "misspelled" the name of the newest teacher (Hickman) as "Mr." instead of "Mrs." The show co-starred Reta Shaw, a noted TV, film, and stage character actress. Her most remembered TV role was as the housekeeper in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir alongside Hope Lange.

As a child of 10, I thoroughly enjoyed Imogene Coca's performances in this classic Sunday night comedy series. It wasn't until I was much older that I learned of Ms. Coca's long affiliation with Sid Caesar and his shows. I thought the premise of this show, in which the title character held a series of temporary jobs, gave Ms. Coca a chance to shine in different situations each week and with a different supporting cast to play off of. I've always felt this was a classic show which should have run much longer than just one season. If I remember correctly, the show aired on Sunday nights on NBC, at 8:30 p.m., between the Wonderful World of Disney and Bonanza. I would think any show could have been a hit in that time slot, but I guess the audience never caught on or else never found the show. Perhaps someday we'll get to see some of the episodes on DVD.

This movie chronicles the story of a new young teacher (Majel Barrett) in her first job in a rural California town. On the drive there, her car breaks down. She is helped by a young man who later takes her to dinner and dancing. She enjoys her dates with the young man, but, on the first day of school is shocked to find that he is one of her students. Complications ensue, naturally, leading to a dramatic climax. It's great to see Majel Barrett in a leading role instead of a featured player (as she is usually seen in "Star Trek"). The conflict of a young teacher and her attraction to her not-very-much younger students is still very relevant today. A decidedly different view of teachers, as opposed to the "Our Miss Brooks" type more commonly seen in movies of the era.