The Paul Lynde Show

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Paul Lynde Show was a short-lived ABC television series starring Paul Lynde from 1972 to 1973. The show featured Lynde starring as the father of a family which consisted of a daughter and a housewife. It is perceived that the sitcom was created in order to hide the fact that Lynde, then best known as the highly flamboyant center square on The Hollywood Squares, was a homosexual thus they decided to give him a show in which he played father to a family. However, Lynde's over-the-top comedic talents were largely wasted in a too-conservative and straightforward role. Chemistry between the main characters was somewhat lacking and many episodes had the misfortune of ending with the predictable crescendo of someone falling into Paul's pool, an event somehow funnier the first five times they used it. The Paul Lynde show lasted only one season (26 episodes), but Lynde continued as center square with great success on The Hollywood Squares for years to come.