Pete and Gladys
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Pete and Gladys was an American situation comedy broadcast by CBS on Monday night at 8:00pm Eastern and Pacific time for two seasons, beginning on September 19, 1960. The last episode aired on September 10, 1962.
In the popular 1950s Spring Byington sitcom December Bride, Pete Porter (Harry Morgan) was the next-door neighbor who spent most of the time complaining about his scatterbrained wife Gladys, who never was seen. In this spin-off series, she was seen, and heard, in the form of redheaded comedian Cara Williams. Not only was the show occupying the time slot that once belonged to another wacky redhead, Lucille Ball, but its premise was a variation on that of I Love Lucy, focusing on a level-headed, wise-cracking, and often sarcastic husband (combining elements of both Ricky Ricardo and Fred Mertz) and his sincere, ingenuous, and frequently in-hot-water wife.
Aside from leading man Pete, the character of Hilda Crocker, played by character actress Verna Felton, was the sole carryover from the Bride series. The older woman was a close equivalent of Ethel Mertz. Gladys' Uncle Paul, seen on occasion in the first season and as a regular in the second, was portrayed by Gale Gordon, a Ball crony and sometime guest star (who went on to become a regular in her subsequent series). Even series director James V. Kern was a Lucy vet. If the producers thought all the similarities and/or connections to the highly successful Ball sitcom would draw viewers to its old Monday night berth, they were mistaken. Pete and Gladys never made it into the Nielsen ratings Top 25 during the course of its run.
Williams was nominated for a 1962 Emmy Award for Outstanding Continued Performance by a Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, but lost to veteran Shirley Booth in Hazel.
Pete and Gladys was followed on the CBS schedule its first year by the Frank Aletter sitcom Bringing Up Buddy. While Pete and Gladys survived for a second season, Bringing Up Buddy was not renewed beyond its original thirty-nine episodes.
