| He & She | |
|---|---|
Dick Benjamin, Paula Prentiss, and Jack Cassidy, 1967. |
|
| Genre | Situation comedy |
| Created by | Leonard Stern |
| Starring | Richard Benjamin Paula Prentiss Jack Cassidy Hamilton Camp Kenneth Mars |
| Theme music composer | Jerry Fielding |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Leonard Stern |
| Producer(s) | Arne Sultan Arnie Rosen |
| Production company(s) | Talent Associates, in association with CBS |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 6, 1967 – March 13, 1968 |
He & She is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network as part of its 1967-68 lineup, originally sponsored by General Foods and Lever Brothers. This landmark sitcom is widely considered to be ahead of its time by broadcast historians. Its sophisticated approach to comedy was viewed as opening doors to the groundbreaking MTM family of sitcoms of the 1970s, beginning with The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. The character of Oscar was openly the pattern for the Ted Baxter character, for which creator Leonard Stern granted permission.
Contents |
He & She starred real-life married couple Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss as Dick and Paula Hollister, a successful cartoonist and his wife, a social worker. Hollister's cartoon "Jetman" had in fact been so successful that it was now a network television series starring egomaniacal actor Oscar North (Jack Cassidy) as Jetman. North constantly argued with Hollister over the interpretation and direction of the Jetman character. Folksinger/actor Hamilton Camp played the role of handyman Andrew Hummel at the apartment building where the starring characters lived, and Kenneth Mars played firefighter Harry Zarakartos, who would often drop in on the Hollisters' apartment by a plank connected to the firehouse across the street.
Writers Chris Hayward and Allan Burns, who created the series The Munsters, were hired by executive producer Leonard Stern (co-writer and producer of Get Smart) as story editors for He & She, for which they won the 1968 Emmy Award for comedy writing.[1] The show received four other Emmy nominations that year. Burns would go on to be a writer and co-creator (among others) of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, of which He & She is considered a major forerunner. The show also earned three of the four Writers Guild nominations for Best Writing in a Comedy.
Despite the strong lead-in of Green Acres (a Top 25 primetime show that season), He & She was cancelled after one season, although selected episodes were later rerun as a summer replacement series by CBS in 1970. USA reran episodes and later in 1998 TV Land ran selected episodes of the series, but it has not been seen since then. Cast members, such as Richard Benjamin, felt that the Green Acres lead-in actually hurt the show because the two series were so different in their rural and urban approaches.
This series was also a pioneer in the portrayal of the working wife, which was not yet in vogue on television. Furthermore, it is the first sitcom to show the husband and wife sharing the same bed. This is two years prior to The Brady Bunch, which tries to claim this credit.
| Series # | Episode title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Old Man and the She" | Leonard Stern | Leonard Stern & Arne Sultan | September 6, 1967 |
| Paula enlists the help of Dick in aiding the cause of an elderly Greek gentleman who faces deportation. | ||||
| 2 | "The Second Time Around" | Leonard Stern | Arnold Margolin & Jim Parker | September 13, 1967 |
| On their sixth anniversary, Dick and Paula plan a big second wedding, but confusion ensues with the presence of two best men. | ||||
| 3 | "How to Fail in Business" | Leonard Stern | Martin Ragaway | September 20, 1967 |
| Dick and Paula decide to purchase their apartment building but are soon inundated with complaints from their neighbors. | ||||
| 4 | "The Phantom of 84th Street" | Jay Sandrich | Arnold Margolin, Jim Parker & Leonard Stern | September 27, 1967 |
| Oscar's $65,000 painting is stolen from Dick & Paula's apartment, while a friend inexplicably gives Paula a herd of goats. | ||||
| 5 | "One of Our Firemen is Missing" | Jay Sandrich | Austin Kalish & Irma Kalish | October 4, 1967 |
| Instead of working at the firehouse, Harry decides to help Dick and Paula, but is then dismissed from his job as a result. | ||||
| 6 | "Before You Bury Me Can I Say Something?" | Jay Sandrich | Arnold Margolin and Jim Parker | October 11, 1967 |
| After undergoing his routine physical, Dick mentions to Paula that he is having his will drawn up, leading to frenzied explanations that he is in good health. | ||||
| 7 | "Dick's Van Dyke" | Jay Sandrich | Allan Burns & Chris Hayward | October 18, 1967 |
| As part of a bet stemming from a 10-day vacation, Richard and his friends sport beards upon their return and see who can keep their facial hair the longest. | ||||
| 8 | "The Background Man" | Jay Sandrich | Allan Burns & Chris Hayward | October 25, 1967 |
| Dick hires an attractive, but klutzy woman to help him draw his comic strip, and Paula develops pangs of jealousy over the new business arrangement. | ||||
| 9 | "Vote Yes or No" | Jay Sandrich | Allan Burns & Chris Hayward | November 1, 1967 |
| Dick and Paula are at odds when he and his boss campaign against an increase in pay for firemen, causing Paula to picket his offices. | ||||
| 10 | "He and She vs. Him" | Jay Sandrich | Allan Burns & Chris Hayward | November 8, 1967 |
| Suffering from writer's block, Dick is subsequently sued for plagiarism by a comic book rival, who also happens to be a former boyfriend of Paula's. | ||||
| 11 | "The Coming-Out Party" | Jay Sandrich | Allan Burns & Chris Hayward | November 15, 1967 |
|
Paula's friend Dorothy begins dating Dick's dentist, Dr. Krillman, but the two end their relationship the night before Dick's tonsilectomy. Note- In 1968 this episode won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing Comedy Series.[2] |
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| 12 | "Deep in the Heart of Taxes" | Jay Sandrich | Joseph Bonaduce | November 22, 1967 |
| Dick and Paula are audited by the IRS with Dick unaware that Paula has kept him in the dark about her undeclared horse racing winnings. | ||||
| 13 | "Don't Call Us" | Jay Sandrich | Allan Burns, Chris Hayward & Leonard Stern | November 29, 1967 |
| After Dick and Paula get an unlisted phone number, Paula forgets it, which makes them unreachable in an emergency and prevents their attendance at a party for a princess. | ||||
| 14 | "North Goes West" | Jay Sandrich | Allan Burns & Chris Hayward | December 13, 1967 |
| After Oscar decides to move to California for the Jetman TV show, Dick and Paula make plans to move until Oscar throws a going-away party for himself. | ||||
| 15 | "The Easy Way Out" | Jay Sandrich | December 20, 1967 | |
| Paula's poker party is unexpectedly raided by the police, resulting in Oscar running away to protect his reputation. | ||||
| 16 | "Poster Boy" | Jay Sandrich | Allan Burns & Chris Hayward | December 27, 1967 |
| When a wanted poster of a neighborhood burglar closely resembles the apartment handyman Andrew, he becomes the chief suspect in Oscar's eyes. | ||||
| 17 | "45 Midgets From Broadway" | Jay Sandrich | Jim Parker | January 3, 1968 |
| When Jetman is made into a Broadway musical, Oscar is cast in the lead, but is a disaster, resulting in Dick, Paula and the show's backers brainstorming to fix the show. | ||||
| 18 | "A Rock by Any Other Name" | Jay Sandrich | Milt Rosen & Arne Sultan | January 10, 1968 |
| After Harry loses a rock that Paula gave Dick the day he proposed on Cape Cod, Dick has a copy made, but then the original is found in the same place. | ||||
| 19 | "Goodman, Spare That Tree" | Jay Sandrich | Chris Hayward | January 24, 1968 |
| Paula's cousin from Texas arrives with an olive tree that she insists will make a fortune, but authorities have other plans. | ||||
| 20 | "The White Collar Worker" | Jay Sandrich | Chris Hayward | January 31, 1968 |
| After a penniless, uninsured minister hits Dick and Paula's new car, he offers to do handiwork for the couple, which leads to disaster. | ||||
| 21 | "Along Came Kim" | Jay Sandrich | Milt Rosen & Arne Sultan | February 7, 1968 |
| Dick and Paula's Korean foster son comes for a visit, but he confuses Harry for his foster father, leading to havoc. | ||||
| 22 | "What Do You Get for the Man Who Has Nothing?" | Jay Sandrich | Chris Hayward | February 14, 1968 |
| Oscar entertains Harry for three days so that Dick and Paula can redecorate Oscar's apartment for a surprise birthday party. | ||||
| 23 | "Dog's Best Friend" | Jay Sandrich | Milt Rosen | February 21, 1968 |
| Dick and Paula agree to watch a couple's dog after the latter's marriage breaks up, but the dog proceeds to drive Dick crazy. | ||||
| 24 | "It's Not Whether You Win or Lose, But How You Watch the Game" | Jay Sandrich | Peggy Elliott & Ed Scharlach | February 28, 1968 |
| After a misunderstanding, Dick and Paula forfeit 30 tickets that were reserved for the Northwestern-Michigan game, causing them to scramble for replacements. | ||||
| 25 | "Knock, Knock, Who's There? Fernando, Fernando Who?" | Jay Sandrich | Chris Hayward & Allan Burns | March 6, 1968 |
| While Dick is out of town, Harry jumps to conclusions when he sees Fernando Lamas massaging Paula's leg. | ||||
| 26 | "What's in the Kitty?" | Jay Sandrich | Milt Rosen, Arne Sultan, Leonard Stern & Paul Mason | March 13, 1968 |
| Dick and Paula host his boss for a dinner party, but the trio endures a sick cat, a poison scare and a mouse. | ||||
Smith, Tracey, "He & She", Television Chronicles magazine, July 1997.