Outtakes #3: Eve Arden

If you could add up the combined hours these six people spent in front of a TV camera, you'd have...well, a whole lotta TV to watch. In this 1978 photo, another I acquired for my collection while doing a book on Eve Arden, she's at far right. Joining her are (l-r) her Our Miss Brooks featured player Richard Crenna, along with Bonnie Franklin (One Day at a Time), Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.), Linda Lavin (Alice), and Bert Convy (Tattletales). The occasion was a 50th anniversary special for the Eye Network, called CBS: On the Air.

Another 35 years have slipped by since then (yikes!), and with the recent passing of Bonnie Franklin, only Nabors and Lavin are still with us. The former singing waitress at Mel's Diner starred in an off-Broadway show in 2012, while the scourge of Sergeant Carter's existence made headlines earlier this year with his marriage to longtime partner Stan Canwallader. There's a surprising amount of musical chops among this sextet, so their song-and-dance number probably sounded pretty good. Would you believe me if I told you I was too young to stay up and watch this show in 1978? Nah, didn't think so.