Will the Real Joey Barnes Please Stand Up - Page 2 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Bonniegirl · 03-24-2017, 02:37 PM

@ Little Ricky

I found this on Wikepedia ! This might explain it a bit! Focus on the second paragraph! I am going to copy and paste it!!!

The series was conceived as a vehicle for Joey Bishop by Danny Thomas and Louis F. Edelman in 1960. At the time, Thomas was starring in his own show, Make Room for Daddy (later known as The Danny Thomas Show), airing on CBS. Thomas' show was then a top-20 hit and served as a launching pad for The Joey Bishop Show.[1] The series' pilot episode, entitled "Everything Happens to Me", aired on March 27, 1961, during the eighth season of Danny Thomas.[2] In the pilot, an incompetent Hollywood "public relations man" named Joey Mason (Bishop) forgets to make proper accommodations for an exhausted Danny Williams (Thomas) after he arrives in Los Angeles to play a show. Joey is then forced to put Danny up in the home he shares with his colorful parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mason (played by Billy Gilbert and Madge Blake) and two unmarried sisters, Betty (Virginia Vincent) and Stella (Marlo Thomas).[3][4]

By the time the series was picked up by NBC, Bishop's character's name was changed to Joey Barnes (Bishop had insisted his character and he share the same initials)

1960'sTVfan · 03-24-2017, 02:56 PM

I haven't seen the pilot episode but I know about Joey Bishop wanting his characters last name on his show to start with the letter B. I mentioned that fact in this thread, post #14.

Bonniegirl · 03-24-2017, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

I haven't seen the pilot episode but I know about Joey Bishop wanting his characters last name on his show to start with the letter B. I mentioned that fact in this thread, post #14.

Oh wow , you sure did!

I just went back and read! Sorry I overlooked that in your post!

He wanted to have a name with his real initials, but his name could have been changed to Joey Baker or something in the new format!

But IMO it really doesn't matter that his name was the same even if the character was different!

1960'sTVfan · 03-24-2017, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonniegirl

Oh wow , you sure did!

I just went back and read! Sorry I overlooked that in your post!

He wanted to have a name with his real initials, but his name could have been changed to Joey Baker or something in the new format!

But IMO it really doesn't matter that his name was the same even if the character was different!

The 1st season of the show ended with Joey Barnes being given his own TV show. This carried over into the 2nd season, so it was basically the same Joey Barnes character from end of season 1 to start of season 2. I don't really see any reason for his name needing to be changed. The big difference in the show's 2nd season was the change in Joey's personal life, he no longer was a single man living with his mom and siblings, he was now married and had a hot looking wife. Then in real life, Abby Dalton turned up pregnant, first in season 2 then again in season 4, her husband at the time was a fellow named Jack Smith, so obviously her pregnancies had to be written into the show.

Hazel Anyday · 03-24-2017, 10:19 PM

I suppose the reason I like season 1 better is I like the actors in season 1 more. Marlo Thomas & Madge Blake make all the difference to me. Marlo was much sexier in That Girl, and I believe her Joey appearances were pre-nose job Marlo, but she was still cute. And my all time favorite character actress is Madge BLake. I've never seen her in a role I didn't like, my favorite is her "Florrie" character on Real McCoys and also her Mrs. Mondello role on Leave It To Beaver. She was perfect and sorely missed in the rest of Joey's mess of a series.

Bonniegirl · 03-24-2017, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hazel Anyday

I suppose the reason I like season 1 better is I like the actors in season 1 more. Marlo Thomas & Madge Blake make all the difference to me. Marlo was much sexier in That Girl, and I believe her Joey appearances were pre-nose job Marlo, but she was still cute. And my all time favorite character actress is Madge BLake. I've never seen her in a role I didn't like, my favorite is her "Florrie" character on Real McCoys and also her Mrs. Mondello role on Leave It To Beaver. She was perfect and sorely missed in the rest of Joey's mess of a series.

I agree with you about Madge Blake!

A wonderful lady!

I never watched The real McCoys, so I never saw her on that! But I'm sure she was really good. I loved her as Mrs. Mondello and also as Aunt Harriet on Batman!

But I don't agree with you that The first season was the best of the Joey Bishop show!

But like I said before it would have been so cool to keep Madge on the show as Joey's Mom!

LittleRickyII · 03-25-2017, 02:51 AM

Yes, Bonnie, I knew Joey Bishop wanted his character's last name to begin with B. And I have the Danny Thomas Show pilot for this series on DVD. My question was why didn't they change the name of the character from season 1 to season 2 as the format was so radically different it didn't seem like it could be the same character. Why not Joey Benson, Joey Baker, Joey Barton, Joey Baxter, Joey Berlinger? But as Retro pointed out, the last episode of the 1st season, which Antenna TV showed today, was actually sort of a transition to the new format. I wasn't expecting that. But in the episode, titled "The Image," Joey is still living in L.A. with his family but suddenly he has his own TV show and is a new star in town. So this set the show up for the new 2nd season format. And it's now clear that this is the same Joey Barnes in all four seasons.

There is still a lot left unexplained, like how did this public relations guy suddenly wind up hosting a TV show? Maybe one of these other eight S1 episodes they haven't aired yet will address that. I just checked IMDB and that appears to be the case: The episode that aired right before "The Image" was titled "A Show of His Own." That episode title says it all. I look forward to seeing it as that will surely explain how Joey goes from working in public relations to getting his own TV show.

Still, moving into S2, there is nothing explaining the move to Manhattan, although it was pretty common back in those days for TV shows to relocated from L.A. to Manhattan, or vice versa. But what I'd really like to know is how and why Mr. Jillson ended up in Manhattan as an apartment superintendent. Also, Joey's got a steady girlfriend in this final S1 episode who is NOT Ellie.

Something that intrigued me about this episode today, "The Image," is that it featured both Nancy Kulp and Donna Douglas who a few months after this was filmed would be starring together on The Beverly Hillbillies. I wonder if this is mere coincidence or if, perhaps from this experience in the same show (even though they didn't appear in the same scenes), one of them recommended the other to Paul Henning when he was casting The Beverly Hillbillies?

03-24-2017, 10:19 PM	#20
Hazel Anyday Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 12, 2002 Posts: 2,131	Florrie & Ann Marie together? What's not to like? I suppose the reason I like season 1 better is I like the actors in season 1 more. Marlo Thomas & Madge Blake make all the difference to me. Marlo was much sexier in That Girl, and I believe her Joey appearances were pre-nose job Marlo, but she was still cute. And my all time favorite character actress is Madge BLake. I've never seen her in a role I didn't like, my favorite is her "Florrie" character on Real McCoys and also her Mrs. Mondello role on Leave It To Beaver. She was perfect and sorely missed in the rest of Joey's mess of a series.
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03-25-2017, 02:51 AM	#22
LittleRickyII Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 22, 2009 Location: California Posts: 2,246	Yes, Bonnie, I knew Joey Bishop wanted his character's last name to begin with B. And I have the Danny Thomas Show pilot for this series on DVD. My question was why didn't they change the name of the character from season 1 to season 2 as the format was so radically different it didn't seem like it could be the same character. Why not Joey Benson, Joey Baker, Joey Barton, Joey Baxter, Joey Berlinger? But as Retro pointed out, the last episode of the 1st season, which Antenna TV showed today, was actually sort of a transition to the new format. I wasn't expecting that. But in the episode, titled "The Image," Joey is still living in L.A. with his family but suddenly he has his own TV show and is a new star in town. So this set the show up for the new 2nd season format. And it's now clear that this is the same Joey Barnes in all four seasons. There is still a lot left unexplained, like how did this public relations guy suddenly wind up hosting a TV show? Maybe one of these other eight S1 episodes they haven't aired yet will address that. I just checked IMDB and that appears to be the case: The episode that aired right before "The Image" was titled "A Show of His Own." That episode title says it all. I look forward to seeing it as that will surely explain how Joey goes from working in public relations to getting his own TV show. Still, moving into S2, there is nothing explaining the move to Manhattan, although it was pretty common back in those days for TV shows to relocated from L.A. to Manhattan, or vice versa. But what I'd really like to know is how and why Mr. Jillson ended up in Manhattan as an apartment superintendent. Also, Joey's got a steady girlfriend in this final S1 episode who is NOT Ellie. Something that intrigued me about this episode today, "The Image," is that it featured both Nancy Kulp and Donna Douglas who a few months after this was filmed would be starring together on The Beverly Hillbillies. I wonder if this is mere coincidence or if, perhaps from this experience in the same show (even though they didn't appear in the same scenes), one of them recommended the other to Paul Henning when he was casting The Beverly Hillbillies?
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03-24-2017, 02:37 PM	#16
Bonniegirl AKA Hazel Horvath Forum Addict Join Date: Jul 10, 2014 Posts: 65,399	@ Little Ricky I found this on Wikepedia ! This might explain it a bit! Focus on the second paragraph! I am going to copy and paste it!!! The series was conceived as a vehicle for Joey Bishop by Danny Thomas and Louis F. Edelman in 1960. At the time, Thomas was starring in his own show, Make Room for Daddy (later known as The Danny Thomas Show), airing on CBS. Thomas' show was then a top-20 hit and served as a launching pad for The Joey Bishop Show.[1] The series' pilot episode, entitled "Everything Happens to Me", aired on March 27, 1961, during the eighth season of Danny Thomas.[2] In the pilot, an incompetent Hollywood "public relations man" named Joey Mason (Bishop) forgets to make proper accommodations for an exhausted Danny Williams (Thomas) after he arrives in Los Angeles to play a show. Joey is then forced to put Danny up in the home he shares with his colorful parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mason (played by Billy Gilbert and Madge Blake) and two unmarried sisters, Betty (Virginia Vincent) and Stella (Marlo Thomas).[3][4] By the time the series was picked up by NBC, Bishop's character's name was changed to Joey Barnes (Bishop had insisted his character and he share the same initials)

03-24-2017, 02:56 PM	#17
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,045	I haven't seen the pilot episode but I know about Joey Bishop wanting his characters last name on his show to start with the letter B. I mentioned that fact in this thread, post #14.