A Romantic Guy, I: Five From THE BOB CUMMINGS SHOW

[TMC]

http://jacksonupperco.com/2014/02/26...cummings-show/

Welcome to another Wildcard Wednesday! I hinted to my followers about six months ago that I was going to do a post on The Bob Cummings Show (1955-1959), and today I’m finally getting around to it. For those who are unaware, The Bob Cummings Show was a sitcom that premiered in January of 1955 on NBC. It starred Bob Cummings as Bob Collins, an aviator bachelor and Hollywood photographer. He lived with his widowed sister, Margaret (Rosemary DeCamp) and her teenaged son Chuck (Dwayne Hickman). Also in the cast was Bob’s homely secretary Schultzy (Ann B. Davis), who was smitten with her playboy boss. Schultzy’s recurring friends were played by Kathleen Freeman, Rose Marie, Elvia Allman, and most memorably, Nancy Kulp. Other frequent guests included Bob’s old Air Force buddy and the object of Margaret’s affection, Paul Fonda (Lyle Talbot), Bob’s henpecked friend Harvey (King Donovan) and his wife Ruthie (Mary Lawrence), and Chuck’s on-again-off-again girlfriend Francine (Diane Jergens).

After the abbreviated first season, the show spent Seasons Two and Three on CBS, before returning to NBC for its final two years. Paul Henning, of future The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres fame, was the creator, and the series bears structural similarities to the later shows — namely with ongoing story arcs and a continuity that’s almost absurd for 1950s television. Though often silly, the scripts were MUCH more mature than most of the other programming at the time, with horny Bob becoming involved in many risque and adult hijinks. This character had sex, and the audience knew it. Yet, there’s always a bit of tongue-and-cheeek involved, and nothing is ever taken too seriously.

You may know the show as Love That Bob, which was the series’ title in syndication (to avoid confusion with Cumming’s later attempted comeback series). Several episodes from the last seasons have entered the public domain and have been made available and various cheap PD sets. I personally have a collection of approximately 50 episodes that includes about 25 episodes from the first three seasons, and 25 from the last two. In today’s post, I want to share with you five of my favorite episodes. (Remember, this isn’t a “best of” list, since I have’t even seen half of the total produced installments.)

01) Season 1, Episode 13: “Mrs. Montague’s Niece” (Aired: 03/27/55)

Busybody Mrs. Montague tries to trick Bob into marrying her portly niece.

Written by Paul Henning & Bill Manhoff | Directed by Rod Amateau

This early episode features Elvia Allman as an obnoxious friend who tries to fix Bob up with her overweight niece. The script is very funny, though often at the expense of Bob’s date. The objectification of women provides much of this series’ humor, and though sexist and dated, there’s a certain honesty and courage in the storytelling — anything for a laugh. And there are plenty here!

02) Season 1, Episode 18: “Choosing Miss Coffee Break” (Aired: 05/01/55)

Bob plays a trick when he’s asked to judge a beauty contest where first prize is a date with Bob Cummings.

Written by Paul Henning & Bill Manhoff | Directed by Rod Amateau

Many collectors have confused this episode for a fifth season public domain episode in which Bob judges a beauty contest. But this is, in fact, a first season installment that introduces the character of Pamela Livingstone (Nancy Kulp) — a hysterical foil for Bob and whose merits can not be told by mere words. This is an uproarious early episode, and Miss Kulp is superb.

03) Season 3, Episode 19: “Bob Tangles With Ruthie” (Aired: 02/14/57)

Bob tries to keep Ruthie from dominating Harvey when she insists that Chuck stop seeing her niece.

Written by Paul Henning, Shirl Gordon, Phil Shuken, & Dick Wesson | Directed by Bob Cummings

This fascinating episode features a unique take on the “battle of the sexes” — typical sitcom fodder — by having the war occur between a bachelor and his buddy’s domineering wife. The choosing up sides scene is a riot, and the extended dream sequence is funny in its kooky sophistication. Bob is certainly a male chauvinist, but Cummings makes him likable. Plus the script is ripe with laughs!

04) Season 3, Episode 29: “Bob Meets Miss Sweden” (Aired: 04/25/57)

Bob is left alone with Miss Sweden and her chaperones: Schultzy, Margaret, Bertha, and Pamela.

Written by Paul Henning, Shirl Gordon, Phil Shuken, & Dick Wesson | Directed by Bob Cummings

There were lots of great one-liners in this episode, but I think hands down the funniest moment occurs when bird-watching Pamela Livingstone ferociously makes out with Bob on the plane. Davis, Freeman, and Kulp make quite a trio, and even Miss Sweden (future recurring character) gets to shine as she bests Bob by pretending not to speak English. Great fun!

05) Season 5, Episode 13: “Bob Plays Margaret’s Game” [a.k.a. "Margaret Plays Bob's Game"] (Aired: 12/23/58)

Bob brings a model home for dinner, only to learn that Margaret cleaned out the kitchen before she left on her date.

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Could you maybe take a moment to consider what you're doing? You're posting multiple links from a blog where the blogger has routinely been posting the same links here for quite some time. This exact same link was posted previously, and no one responded to it. It's only a few lines down in the subforum.

Thank you!