| The Ann Sothern Show | |
|---|---|
Ann Tyrell and guest star Joe E. Brown, 1960. |
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Written by | Tom Adair James B. Allardice Phil Davis John Kohn Terry Ryan Bob Schiller Robert Van Scoyck Marvin Worth |
| Directed by | James V. Kern Richard Whorf |
| Starring | Ann Sothern Don Porter Ann Tyrrell Jesse White Jack Mullaney Ernest Truex Reta Shaw |
| Theme music composer | Bonnie Lake Ann Sothern |
| Opening theme | "Katy" |
| Composer(s) | Tom Adair |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 92 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Arthur Hoffe |
| Cinematography | Robert Pittack |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Anso Productions Desilu Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | October 6, 1958 – September 25, 1961 |
The Ann Sothern Show is an American sitcom starring Ann Sothern that aired on CBS for 93 episodes. The series began on October 6, 1958, and ended on September 25, 1961. The Ann Sothern Show was Sothern's second sitcom for CBS. Her first series, Private Secretary, ended in 1957 after a contract dispute occurred between Sothern and Secretary's producer Jack Chertok.
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Katy O'Connor (Sothern) is the assistant manager of the Bartley House, a swank New York City hotel. Katy's boss, Jason Macauley (Ernest Truex), was a timid, elderly man who was constantly bullied by his overbearing wife, Flora (character actress Reta Shaw). Katy's secretary, roommate, and best friend Olive was played by Ann Tyrrell, who had also appeared in Sothern's first series, Private Secretary, in a similar role. Other characters included Johnny Wallace (Jack Mullaney), a bellboy who had a crush on Katy, and Paul Scott (Jacques Scott), a suave, French room clerk.
After twenty-three episodes, the show was retooled. Katy's boss, Mr. Macauley was transferred to the Bartley House hotel in Calcutta, along with wife Flora. Don Porter, who had also appeared in Private Secretary as Sothern's character's boss, portrayed James Devery, Mr. Macauley's replacement. Mr. Devery was a younger, somewhat stubborn manager who tended to get carried away with some new, far-fetched idea. After Porter joined the cast, several other characters were written out.
In 1960, the series changed again with the addition of three new recurring characters. Jesse White, another Private Secretary alum, appeared as Oscar Pudney, a dishonest newsstand owner who was Katy's nemesis. Child actor Jimmy Fields joined the cast as Richy Gordon, a child prodigy who Katy helped, along with Dr. Delbert Gray (Louis Nye), a humorous dentist who became Olive's boyfriend and eventually, her husband.
Storylines usually revolved around the personal lives of the staff and guests of the Bartley House. Throughout the three-year run, a storyline of potential romance between Katy and Mr. Devery lingered. The romance of Katie and Jim Devery was finally brought to fruition at the conclusion of The Ann Sothern Show. On the original CBS broadcast, after the sponsor's commercial for Johnson's Wax (Glo-Coat and Pledge wax), the scene returns to Katy and Mr. Devery, who were kissing, where the scene was left off before the sponsor's tag appeared. The fourth wall was broken as Sothern turns to the audience and says, "Well, good night everybody. Stay happy". The two began to kiss yet once again. This leaves a final scene showing the airplane the two were on, accompanied by a tag "The End?". This was intended to be a cliffhanger sequence, but the series was canceled, so this was considered the final episode.
During its first two seasons, The Ann Sothern Show was seen on Monday nights at 9:30 P.M. on CBS immediately following The Danny Thomas Show (Make Room For Daddy). It received decent ratings, however, at the start of the 1960-1961 season, the series moved to Thursday nights at 7:30 P.M. The ratings plummeted and CBS canceled the show in the spring of 1961.
In 1957, after her first television series ended its prime-time run, Ann Sothern guest-starred on the first Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (later retitled The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour - the successor to I Love Lucy), as her character from Private Secretary, Susie MacNamara, the best friend of Lucy MacGillicudy Ricardo (It was one of the earliest examples of a television character "crossing over" from one series to another). That episode, "Lucy Takes a Cruise To Havana" (which was actually seventy-five minutes), told the story of how Lucy and Susie, two stenographers, met Ricky Ricardo (Arnaz) and the Mertzes (Vivian Vance and William Frawley). Ball, one of Sothern's close friends and part owner of Desilu Studios (where The Ann Sothern Show was produced), reciprocated two years later, guest starring on a 1959 Ann Sothern episode entitled "The Lucy Story". This time, Ball's character (Lucy Ricardo) is an old friend of Katy O'Connor (Sothern), who checks into the Bartley House Hotel after having an argument with Ricky. The Ricky character was mentioned throughout the episode, but did not appear. Between 1965 and 1966, Sothern appeared in seven installments of The Lucy Show on CBS playing The Countess Framboise (a.k.a. Rosie Harrigan), a long-time friend of Lucy Carmichael (Ball).
Other notable guest stars on The Ann Sothern Show include: Jackie Coogan, Van Johnson, Cesar Romero, James Millhollin, Sal Mineo, James Philbrook, Eva Gabor, Connie Stevens, Darryl Richard, Joe Besser, Joel Grey, and Constance Bennett. The episode in which Bennett appeared, "Always April", aired on February 23, 1961, during the last season of The Ann Sothern Show. "Always April" was also the pilot for a program starring Bennett as Guinevere Fleming, but the proposed series never came to fruition.
The original opening sequence of the show featured a view of New York City, the show title's name, followed by still shots of Sothern, animated stop-motion views of her, the rest of the cast and then scenes featuring Sothern, who again, shows stop-motion views of her as she makes her way to the Bartley Hotel. Immediately after this, the sponsor's ad product for either General Foods, or S.C. Johnson, which was for Glo-Coat for its alternate sponsor was aired. In syndication, the show original opening sequences was replaced with the title's name appearing on the screen before showing Sothern appearing into view from the Bartley House. She would then bow and signal the viewer to come with her as she turns and heads back into the hotel. To the tempo of the opening theme, Sothern would then swing her head once again toward the viewer as she continues to walk in, opening the revolving doors of the hotel as the scene closes. The closing credits were altered for syndication. The sponsor's product, which appeared on the lower-left hand side of the screen accompanied by the closing theme with sung lyrics, were phased out. The lyrics for the theme were also replaced by an instrumental version of the theme. The series was originally distributed by Metromedia Producers Corporation (which is now owned by News Corporation), and handled rights to syndicated prints of the show.
Cable channel Nick at Nite ran The Ann Sothern Show from 1987 to 1990. To date, no plans for a DVD release have been announced. CBS owns the rights to the program at present.
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Recipient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Emmy Award | Nominated | Best Actress in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series | Ann Sothern |
| Golden Globe Award | Won | Best TV Show |
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