Why did Don DeFore and Whitney Blake leave the show?

[Duster76]

TMC said:

There are several theories that I've heard regarding what happened behind the scenes during the final season. The consensus seems to be that when the show changed networks, a younger family was desired by the brass. Don DeFore was considered too old to attract younger viewers whereas the more attractive and "hunky" Ray Fulmer was a draw. Consequently, Whitney Blake was out, too.

Other theories include the fact that Lynn Borden and Fulmer were cheaper than DeFore and Blake. Also, there's a rumor that rumor that Whitney Blake got wind the 1965-66 season would be the series last, so she refused to renew her contract in retaliation. Of course, that meant the end of Don DeFore too".


The evidence seems pretty convincing that DeFore and Blake were replaced for economic reasons. Booth owned the right to the series, in changing networks after NBC dropped the show CBS was in the stronger negotiating position, in all likelihood this would have led to a reduced fee for a 5th season. This of course would mean cuts, and the easiest place to start was on salaries. Fulmer and Borden weren't just younger, they were both getting their first major roles, so the salary savings were significant. In addition, Shirley Booth was Hazel, and Booth was 68 years old, and there is no getting around that. The series was on CBS, of the three major networks the CBS audience tended to be older and more rural, so the series with its 68 year old star fit in pretty well. The show was Monday's, so let's take a look at that line-up. First hour of prime-time featured two game shows that had been on since the 50's (To Tell The Truth and I've Got A Secret). Next at 8:30 was Lucy who had been part of the Monday line-up since the early 50's, then came the rural comedy smash, The Andy Griffith Show. With all that coming before Hazel,I doubt anyone at CBS was that concerned about the age of Hazel's employer.

[Vintage1947]

I am glad the Hazel is on Antenna TV and FETV. Shirley Booth was a comic genius. I agree that her chemistry with Don Defore and Whitney Blake was better than with Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden, but she still stole the show.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by Vintage1947

I am glad the Hazel is on Antenna TV and FETV. Shirley Booth was a comic genius. I agree that her chemistry with Don Defore and Whitney Blake was better than with Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden, but she still stole the show.

She didn't steal the show, it was her show to begin with, the show's name is Hazel, and the show revolved around that character.

"Shirley Booth was a comic genius".

Shirley Booth was an outstanding talent, one of the most talented actresses of all time, she won an Oscar for a dramatic role, a Tony for a dramatic role, she appeared in musicals, she was as they say in baseball a 5 tool player.

"her chemistry with Don Defore and Whitney Blake was better than with Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden"

I know what you are saying but you have to cut Fulmer and Borden some slack, DeFore and Blake were seasoned pros, you can imagine the challenge for relative newcomers to have to play off one of the greatest actresses of all time.

[Vintage1947]

Originally Posted by Duster76

She didn't steal the show, it was her show to begin with, the show's name is Hazel, and the show revolved around that character.

"Shirley Booth was a comic genius".

Shirley Booth was an outstanding talent, one of the most talented actresses of all time, she won an Oscar for a dramatic role, a Tony for a dramatic role, she appeared in musicals, she was as they say in baseball a 5 tool player.

"her chemistry with Don Defore and Whitney Blake was better than with Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden"

I know what you are saying but you have to cut Fulmer and Borden some slack, DeFore and Blake were seasoned pros, you can imagine the challenge for relative newcomers to have to play off one of the greatest actresses of all time.

I in no way meant that Shirley Booth stole the show because Fulmer and Borden were lesser talents. It was because she was just a comic genius and at least as a viewer of the show I gravitated to her even in the earlier episodes with Defore and Blake. It has already been established on this thread that the show did not go downhill and eventually was cancelled not because of poor rating after Fulmer and Lorden joined the show, but because Booth could not perform any longer due to an illness. Fulmer and Lorden were fine actors and it is a shame that the show could not have gone on for more years. The thing is there are not many actors that are the quality of a Shirley Booth.

[Duster76]

Vintage1947 stated:

"It has already been established on this thread that the show did not go downhill and eventually was cancelled not because of poor rating after Fulmer and Borden joined the show, but because Booth could not perform any longer due to an illness".

I know Commander Benson provided this information in a post done in early 2003, but I don't think it holds up under close examination. The series had steadily lost audience over the years, in season 4 the series dropped out of the top 30 for the first time, the result, it was cancelled. CBS was willing to keep the show alive and scheduled it on Monday nights at 9:30. This is timeslot where it was expected the show would perform well, all three of the shows that preceded it were in the top 20 for the season with The Lucy Show (#3), and The Andy Griffith Show (#6) on at 8:30 and 9:00 respectively being two of the most popular shows on TV. Hazel had an excellent timeslot, a lot of firepower leading into the series, but the program did not rebound. There is no evidence to suggest the health of the star factored into the final decision. Family Affair which replaced Hazel finished number 14 its first year on the air.

[someguy23475]

I’ve tried to watch the Fulmer and Borden episodes, but they’re just not that good to me. George has always been my favorite character, and his interactions with both Hazel and Mr. Griffin made the show. Whatever the reason for DeFore and Blake being written out of the series, it was a big mistake.

[Schmo]

People mention Shirley Booth having health problems in the 1960s. However, she lived to be 94.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Booth

[Hazel Anyday]

Shirley also went on to do another excellent TV series in 1973, "A Touch Of Grace". I also loved that series but it only lasted one year. A real shame, it was very well written. I'd like to be able to get DVDs of that series, it seems to have disappeared from Earth. Probably locked in a vault somewhere. Good show. Hazel though in real life did go blind in her later years. Living to be 94 ain't all it's cracked up to be.

[Schmo]

Originally Posted by Hazel Anyday

Shirley also went on to do another excellent TV series in 1973, "A Touch Of Grace". I also loved that series but it only lasted one year. A real shame, it was very well written. I'd like to be able to get DVDs of that series, it seems to have disappeared from Earth. Probably locked in a vault somewhere. Good show. Hazel though in real life did go blind in her later years. Living to be 94 ain't all it's cracked up to be.

Hazel didn’t go blind.

[Hazel Anyday]

Sorry, I don't make these things up, but Hazel did go blind in her later years. I had heard this on a talk show, perhaps it was Tom Snyder's radio show, he had Whitney Blake as a guest, but I'm not sure if that's where I heard it and I read it also. "The actress Shirley Booth did have a grave visual problem- she was legally blind in her later years and probably totally so at the time of her death."

[Schmo]

Originally Posted by Hazel Anyday

Sorry, I don't make these things up, but Hazel did go blind in her later years. I had heard this on a talk show, perhaps it was Tom Snyder's radio show, he had Whitney Blake as a guest, but I'm not sure if that's where I heard it and I read it also. "The actress Shirley Booth did have a grave visual problem- she was legally blind in her later years and probably totally so at the time of her death."

The point I was making is that “Hazel” didn’t go blind because she was a character in a TV series. The actress who played her, Shirley Booth, went blind.

[Hazel Anyday]

Oh brother. Well, least I know how you got your moniker.

Yes, as I was saying, in the end Hazel was bumping into the Baxter's walls as she went from the dining room to the kitchen. Then when she hopped into her used car, both of them, she really was a hit on the road. Mr. Griffin had to jump out of the way. Then the day Hazel put salt in Missy's coffee was finally the last straw. Mrs. B fired the blind Hazel on the spot and she lived out her days with Deidra. Now make something of that, Mr. Literal.

[Toofunny]

Originally Posted by peppypacer

Why did the Baxters even need Hazel or a maid? They had one school age kid and they lived in a regular size house. I guess Mr B hired Hazel because of his wife who worked at decorating once in a blue moon and I guess she didn't want to be bothered with housework. You'd think Hazel would have been a bit nicer to Mr B, he gave her a place to live, a salary and yet she still rudely criticizes him about all sorts of things like his weight, not taking his son to some lame event, etc.

Peppypacer probably wrote that post a decade ago but it is so funny & interesting I have to comment. Is peppypacer trying to tell the Baxters they don't need a maid? If so, it's too late. If peppypacer is suggesting that the scenario is not realistic because there wouldn't be a maid in a household with only one child, peppypacer probably didn't encounter families with similar demographics to those portrayed in Hazel in the 1960's. I know that demographic well. So, I registered for this site just to write a comment. It touches on a very interesting issue. Buckle up-here goes:

peppypacer,
The issue wasn't whether someone needed a maid. In the early to mid 1960's married white upper middle class women simply didn't do housework regardless of number of children or other responsibilities. They also didn't work outside the home. That fact will leave a lot of people from more recent generations scratching their heads about what the women did (the answer is charity work, society events, country club activities, copulating to catch up to those with kids). I'm sure readers will generate instances they know about where an upper middle class woman they knew worked or didn't have a maid.

Of course there were exceptions. I'm a product of such a household. But, I'm talking about the prevailing culture of the average upper middle class family. Men like Mr Baxter (or my father) would not even consider "allowing" their wives to work or do housework. Most of the women had some college if they grew up in a middle (or wealthier) class family but many wed instead of finishing college. Starting in 1950 extending to 1960 the average age women married plummeted (to the youngest age ever). There was an old expression about women attending 7-Sister Colleges (Smith, Mt Holyoke, Wellesley, Barnard, Radcliffe, Bryn Mawr, Vassar) that went "Wellesley to bed; Smith to wed" (choice of college dependent upon who was reciting the ditty-yet only of 7-Sister Colleges-cause those were the schools on dad's list). At least those at Wellesley stood a shot at getting a degree. But those were the failures. The winners caught a (soon to be) nice doctor or lawyer before graduating. Happily each of the 7 sisters had a corresponding men's college offering up men with good future earning potential; the overwhelming majority had family money to boot.

For upper middle class women like Mrs. Baxter, there was even less reason to work than there was to have a maid. Further, without a degree and certainly without any specialized training, the only work available to such women was low paying low prestige jobs. Upper middle class (therefore professional) men viewed women working as a sign of their own failure. More importantly, most thought it signaled their failure to the neighborhood. For those unfamiliar with this mentality, pay attention to plots of 1960's sitcoms. Many center on conflict between husband and wife about this very issue. By the late 60's and early 70's a convergence of economic, social and political factors changed things markedly. But, when Hazel was being filmed, married upper middle class women (even those without children yet ) had maids and didn't work even if it meant they sat and twiddled their thumbs. I add "yet" because the expectation was that they would soon have children. Of course, education about birth control was illegal at the time so most complied with social expectation purposely or not.


And that is all she wrote, for now.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by someguy23475

I’ve tried to watch the Fulmer and Borden episodes, but they’re just not that good to me. George has always been my favorite character, and his interactions with both Hazel and Mr. Griffin made the show. Whatever the reason for DeFore and Blake being written out of the series, it was a big mistake.

The first few Fulmer/Borden episodes aren't too good (except a funny scene where Mr. Steve is going to lay the law down to Hazel ["George didn't know how to handle her--I do."] and she turns the tables) but they had some pretty funny episodes as the season went on.

For a recurring actor part, Mr. Griffin really made the show in the first four seasons. He was a classic curmudgeon. He started with a bang (dismissing Hazel, who ended up putting him to bed with his cold) and he stole the show in any episode he was in.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by TV Guy

Don DeFore and Whitney Blake didn't quit -- they were dropped from the show to save money (as you guessed). It wasn't uncommon for successful shows to drop cast members back in the 50s and 60s in order to cut the budget (for example, "Mr. Ed", "The Lucy Show", "77 Sunset Strip"). Don DeFore was interviewed for the book "Written Out of Television" and stated that he got a letter from the studio telling him his option was not picked up for the fifth year.

Hazel's ratings were on the decline at that point, and CBS probably didn't object to any efforts to freshen up the show. With the network switch, the producers decided to use that opportunity to revamp the show and save money. They ended up ruining it, though.

Agreed, it was an awful plan.

What were they thinking?