Morning Merriment

Fans of classic comedy are in for a treat! Decades, the digital broadcast TV network, is giving its viewers plenty of laughs, with a double dose of morning comedy. Two of the best comediennes of the 1950s are brightening Decades' morning lineup, with the revival of I Married Joan (above), starring Joan Davis, and Our Miss Brooks (below), starring Eve Arden.

And if, after admiring their comic gifts, you find yourself wanting to know more about the lives and careers of these two very funny ladies, I have a suggestion or two for you about that.

Happy Labor Day!

In honor of our national holiday celebrating hard-working Americans, here are a few gainfully employed folks from classic TV:

Enjoy your weekend!

Eve's Big Day

Happy birthday to one of my favorite performers. Born as Eunice Quedens on April 30, 1908, in Mill Valley, California, Eve was stagestruck from her youth. She went on to build an impressive career in theater, radio, film, and TV. Whether you know her from Our Miss Brooks, her Oscar-nominated turn in Mildred Pierce, or one of her other many credits, you aren't likely to forget this distinctive performer once you've encountered her. Though she left us in 1990, many of her best performances can still be enjoyed today.

Researching and writing a book about her professional accomplishments was a labor of love. I hope it encourages others to discover her, or check out some of her lesser-known credits. Some of my favorite Arden films include Stage Door, The Voice of the Turtle, and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs. And have you seen her feature film version of Our Miss Brooks? Does it finally turn her into Our Mrs. Boynton? Watch and see.

A Feline Occasion

Happy National Cat Day from Samantha Stephens and all the other feline fanciers of classic TV and movies! Remember Minerva, Mrs. Davis' cat from Our Miss Brooks?

TV Lessons

It's that time of year when I'm glad I'm old enough that I don't have to go back to school. Remember that "uh-oh" feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realized summer vacation was almost over, and it was time to return to the classroom? But if I had to be in school this fall, I wouldn't mind being enrolled with one of these beloved TV teachers.

My #1 choice would be English instructor Constance (Connie) Brooks, as played by Eve Arden, from the hit radio and early TV sitcom Our Miss Brooks. Although Miss Brooks was Madison High's best-loved English teacher, here she seems to be getting an impromptu geography lesson from fellow faculty member Mr. Philip Boynton, as played by Robert Rockwell. Between radio and TV, Miss Brooks' class was in session for 8 years.

I also enjoyed visiting the video classrooms of Walt Whitman High, as seen in ABC's comedy-drama Room 222. Did you know there was a Room 222 comic book? I didn't, but here it is, with stars (left to right) Lloyd Haynes, Karen Valentine, and Michael Constantine pictured. This series, which ran from 1969 to 1974, had what I think is one of the most beautiful musical themes of any weekly show, composed by the great Jerry Goldsmith. If you don't know it, you can check it out here. This was also a trendsetting show for its day, with its relaxed presentation of a culturally diverse student body and faculty.

Who was your favorite TV teacher?

Gales of Laughter

Gale Gordon with Lucy.

Happy birthday to that consummate character actor of radio and television, Gale Gordon, born February 20, 1906 in New York City as Charles Thomas Aldrich, Jr. Best-known for his long association with Lucille Ball, which encompassed regular roles on radio's My Favorite Husband and three of her TV series -- The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, and Life with Lucy, he also enjoyed great success supporting Eve Arden's title character as school principal Osgood Conklin on both the TV and radio versions of Our Miss Brooks.

In a 1973 interview with journalist Don Freeman, Gordon said, "To me, acting is a job, a nice way of making a living, something I've managed to do now with some measure of success for a total of 50 long years. But I would no more think of 'acting' in front of friends than a plumber would thread a pipe on a social visit to a friend's home. When I'm finished acting, I leave Gale Gordon at the studio and I immediately become Charles Aldrich, Jr., which is still my legal name."

Always in demand to play the kind of boss no one wanted to have (unless you were producing a comedy show), Gordon said, "Although I have always played bossy types, going back to my radio days as Mayor LaTrivia in Fibber McGee and Molly, I am probably the least bossy man in the world. But for the money they pay me, I'm only too delighted to play the bossy, sputtering blow-hard..." And did anyone do it better?

Happy Holidays!

Best wishes to all of you for a happy holiday season. Here's what Christmas looked like at Eve Arden's house in 1953, celebrating with husband Brooks West and their family.

Thanks for helping me launch this blog, and please keep reading in 2014!

Our Mr. Crenna

Happy birthday to Richard Crenna, born November 30, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. Some fans might most readily recognize him as Luke from the long-running sitcom The Real McCoys (1957-63), or from his appearances with Sylvester Stallone in three "Rambo" movies, but to me he's first and foremost the nerdy teenager Walter Denton from radio and TV's Our Miss Brooks.

Crenna as another teenager on I Love Lucy.

A busy radio actor throughout his teen years, Crenna was already in his early twenties when he joined the ensemble cast of Eve Arden's radio comedy as the gawky high school student with the squawky voice. When Our Miss Brooks transferred to TV in 1952, Crenna tried to bow out of the role he'd outgrown, but acquiesced when Miss Arden implored him to help get the video version off to a solid start. He would ultimately spend three more years as Walter on TV -- "I had a very delayed puberty," he would later say with a laugh -- before being written out of the series in 1955.

Unlike many child performers, Crenna (who changed his professional name from Dick to Richard as he aged), was equally successful as an adult, enjoying a career notable both for its longevity and its variety. It took time to change his image from gangly teen to leading man, but he managed to do so, and would be in demand for the next several decades. He won an Emmy for his role in the 1985 TV-movie The Rape of Richard Beck, and had a recurring role on CBS' Judging Amy at the time of his death in 2003. Interviewed by syndicated columnist Gene Handsaker in 1967, Crenna gave a clue to his success as a performer when he said, "Everything you do can't be great. But you have to go in feeling you can make a 100 per cent contribution of your talent. An actor just doing a part for the money isn't giving the producer his money's worth."

You can find more information on the history of Our Miss Brooks, both on radio and television, in my book Eve Arden: A Chronicle of All Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances. Unfortunately, the TV show hasn't had a proper DVD release, but you can catch Walter in all his ear-bruising glory on YouTube.

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.