Guestward Ho!

[Handel2]

In my youth, I vaguely remember a half hour tv sitcom in the early 60s or late 50s. Perusing the summary of the plots of series of that time, the series Guestward Ho! comes closest to what I remember. What I remember was the male lead wearing a plaid shirt or jacket and he had as a neighbor an Indian chief. Someone, perhaps the Indian, had a large car, probably a Cadillac with a huge hood ornament. That is about all I can remember now. Is that in this series? Anyone have any copies to refresh my memories? Unfortunately, I don't remember Joanne Dru in this series, but I would recognixe her now, of course. Any of these episodes on video, or do they survive in any form? I did download the neat theme song, but alas it didn't exactly revive any lost images in my head.
Thanks for nay info.
Alan

[TV Guy]

I do know that the show was originally developed by Desilu to be a post-"I Love Lucy" followup for Vivian Vance (Ethel), and they even shot a pilot in 1959 with Vance in the Joanne Dru role. The network didn't like the first version, so it was reshot and recast. It ran for 38 episodes in 1960-61, and was based on a book by the real life "Babs" Hooten. Here's the description from "Harry and Wally's Favorite TV Shows":

"Guestward Ho!" sounds a lot funnier on paper than it is. The Hootens, Bill and Babs (honest!) decide to leave the tensions of life in Manhattan behind, so they buy a dude ranch called Guestward Ho in New Mexico. Husband, wife, and son Brook move out west and discover that the ranch is a run-down mess, sorely in need of refurbishing. The local character they befriend is Chief Hawkeye, local Indian bigwig who runs the region's eneral store. The Chief reads Wall Street Journal and sells cheap souvenirs made in Japan.

"Guestward Ho!" could be a modern "F-Troop", but it's not. The writing is very silly and the characters, mostly the Hootens, are much too straight-laced to be interesting. Chief Hawkeye is fun, but a little too fake, even for TV sitcom standards. Ethincally ambiguous J. Carrol Naish, who plays the chief, played an Italian in the lead role of "Life with Luigi" and Oriental sleuth Charlie Chan in "The Adventures of Charlie Chan".

[Jimbo]

I don't remember this one - based on the description above, it sounds like a cross between "F-Troop" and "Green Acres"!

[EmpressDR]

Guestward Ho! was based on a novel by Patrick Dennis ( Edward "Pat" Tanner ) author of "Auntie Mame" which I just read, and LOVED and recommend. It is so contemporary in attitude.

[snl 70s show fan]

there are some eps that do exsist ive seen one and its an ok show not all that great but not all that bad ether

[TV Knowledge Fan]

....does exist. Unfortunately, the negatives are in "the vault" at Paramount [and probably most of their archivists don't even know it]. All of the "Desilu" properties (and series) were acquired by Paramount after they bought the studio in 1967. There are at least a half-dozen short-lived Desilu comedies, including "GUESTWARD HO!", that are gathering dust in the Paramount catacombs...who will retrieve them for a new generation of viewers to see?

:tv:

[Bob's TV Treasures]

I have three episodes of GUESTWARD HO. A decent
sitcom. I have the first episode on which the Hootens
first move to New Mexico, I have a nice (direct from film)
transfer of the BABS AND THE LION episode and the
ultra-rare THANKSGIVING STORY episode.

www.bobobrien.tv/videos/