Pete and Gladys | |
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Harry Morgan and Cara Williams from Pete and Gladys |
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Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | Parke Levy |
Written by | Alan Lipscott Bob Fisher Larry Rhine Bob Schiller Bob Weiskopf Devery Freeman |
Directed by | Leslie Goodwins James V. Kern Sidney Lanfield |
Starring | Harry Morgan Cara Williams |
Theme music composer | Parke Levy Lee Wainer |
Ending theme | Wilbur Hatch |
Composer(s) | Jerry Goldsmith (multiples) Wilbur Hatch (1.1, "For the Love of Pete", others) Lucien Moraweck Carl Brandt |
Country of origin | United States |
Language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 72 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Parke Levy |
Producer(s) | Devery Freeman |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 22–24 minutes |
Production company(s) | El Camino Productions CBS Television Network |
Broadcast | |
Picture format | Black-and-white |
Audio format | Monaural |
Original run | September 18, 1960 | – September 10, 1962
Chronology | |
Related shows | December Bride |
Pete and Gladys is 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.
Contents |
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 comedienne Cara Williams. Not only was the show seen on Monday nights, which had 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. (By coincidence or not, this show was produced in the 2-year period after the end of production of The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show and before the premiere of The Lucy Show.)
Aside from leading man Pete, the character of Hilda Crocker, played by character actress Verna Felton, was the sole carryover from the Bride series during the first season. The older woman was a close equivalent of Ethel Mertz. Barbara Stuart appeared nine times in the first season as Alice, a friend of Gladys's. Gale Gordon portrayed Gladys' Uncle Paul, seen on occasion in the first season and as a semi-regular in the second. Gordon was a Lucille Ball crony and sometime guest star, who went on to become a regular in her subsequent series, The Lucy Show. Even series director James V. Kern was a Lucy veteran, as were the series' head writers, Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf (in fact, when they returned to Lucille Ball to write The Lucy Show after Pete and Gladys was cancelled, she angrily told them, "You gave my best material to that other redhead!"). Bill Hinnant frequently appeared during the second season as Gladys' nephew Bruce Carter, who stayed with his aunt while attending a nearby college. If the producers thought that 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. However, it was used in weekday morning reruns for several years after it ceased production.
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 in 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.
Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
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1-1 | "For Pete's Sake" (pilot) | September 19, 1960 |
1-2 | "Crime of Passion" | September 26, 1960 |
1-3 | "The Bavarian Wedding Chest" | October 3, 1960 |
1-4 | "The Handyman" | October 10, 1960 |
1-5 | "Movie Bug" | October 17, 1960 |
1-6 | "Oo-La-La" | October 24, 1960 |
1-7 | "The Goat Story" | October 31, 1960 |
1-8 | "Pete's Personality Change" | November 7, 1960 |
1-9 | "Camping Out" | November 14, 1960 |
1-10 | "Bowling Brawl" | November 21, 1960 |
1-11 | "Pete Takes Up Golf" | November 28, 1960 |
1-12 | "Gladys and the Piggy Bank" | December 5, 1960 |
1-13 | "No Man For Japan" | December 12, 1960 |
1-14 | "Misplaced Weekend" | December 19, 1960 |
1-15 | "Gladys Rents the House" | January 2, 1961 |
1-16 | "Gladys' Political Campaign" | January 9, 1961 |
1-17 | "Cousin Velvet" | January 16, 1961 |
1-18 | "The House Next Door" | January 23, 1961 |
1-19 | "The Insurance Faker" | January 30, 1961 |
1-20 | "The Great Stone Face" | February 6, 1961 |
1-21 | "The Six Musketeers" | February 20, 1961 |
1-22 | "Panhandler" | February 27, 1961 |
1-23 | "Gladys Opens Pete's Mail" | March 6, 1961 |
1-24 | "The Garage Story" | March 13, 1961 |
1-25 | "The Orchid Story" | March 20, 1961 |
1-26 | "Secretary For A Day"" | March 27, 1961 |
1-27 | "The Fur Coat Story" | April 3, 1961 |
1-28 | "Peaceful in the Country" | April 10, 1961 |
1-29 | "Junior" | April 17, 1961 |
1-30 | "Gladys Cooks Pete's Goose" | April 24, 1961 |
1-31 | "A Study In Gray" | May 1, 1961 |
1-32 | "Pop's Girl Friend" | May 8, 1961 |
1-33 | "Ring-A-Ding-Ding" | May 15, 1961 |
1-34 | "The Mannequin Story" | May 22, 1961 |
1-35 | "The Projectionist" | May 29, 1961 |
1-36 | "Gladys Goes To College" | June 19, 1961 |
Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
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2-1 | "Crossed Wires" | September 18, 1961 |
2-2 | "Fasten Your Seat Belts" | September 25, 1961 |
2-3 | "The Hoarder and the Boarder" | October 2, 1961 |
2-4 | "The Second Car" | October 9, 1961 |
2-5 | "Uncle Paul's New Wife" | October 16, 1961 |
2-6 | "Money, Money, Who's Got the Money?" | October 23, 1961 |
2-7 | "Uncle Paul's Insurance" | October 30, 1961 |
2-8 | "Down With Togetherness" | November 6, 1961 |
2-9 | "Eyewitness" | November 13, 1961 |
2-10 | "The Three Loves of Gladys" | November 20, 1961 |
2-11 | "Sick, Sick, Sick" | November 27, 1961 |
2-12 | "Christmas Shopping" | December 4, 1961 |
2-13 | "The Live-In Couple" | December 11, 1961 |
2-14 | "Lover, Go Away" | December 25, 1961 |
2-15 | "Hero In the House" | January 1, 1962 |
2-16 | "Pete's Hobby" | January 8, 1962 |
2-17 | "Who Was That Man?" | January 15, 1962 |
2-18 | "Garden Wedding" | January 22, 1962 |
2-19 | "Follow That Skeleton" | January 29, 1962 |
2-20 | "Will the Real Michelle Tabour Please Stand Up?" | February 5, 1962 |
2-21 | "The Prize" | February 12, 1962 |
2-22 | "Yak, Yak, Yak" | February 19, 1962 |
2-23 | "Never Forget A Friend" | February 26, 1962 |
2-24 | "Office Wife" | March 5, 1962 |
2-25 | "The Chocolate Cake Caper" | March 12, 1962 |
2-26 | "Sleepy Time Wife" | March 19, 1962 |
2-27 | "Maternity House" | April 2, 1962 |
2-28 | "Pete's Party Dress" | April 9, 1962 |
2-29 | "The Top Banana" | April 16, 1962 |
2-30 | "Go Help Friends" | April 23, 1962 |
2-31 | "The Lame Excuse" | May 7, 1962 |
2-32 | "Step On Me" | May 14, 1962 |
2-33 | "The Case of the Gossipy Maid" | May 21, 1962 |
2-34 | "The Arrival" | May 28, 1962 |
2-35 | "The Expectant Gardener" | June 4, 1962 |
2-36 | "Continental Dinner" | September 10, 1962 |