My review of Hazel's final season

[1960'sTVfan]

Hazel has her buttinsky ways, however it doesn't bother me because that's how she's supposed to be, that's how her character was written for the TV show. She's the lead character of the show and she needed to have a boisterous/snoopy personality. If she had been written as a quiet, obedient servant to Mr. B. and family, that would have been dull, I imagine few viewers would have watched and the show probably wouldn't have made it past the 1st season.

Season 5 is not a bad season, not quite as good as seasons 1-4 with Mr. B. and Missy but I still enjoy season 5 with Mr. Steve and Barbara. I've always liked Lynn Borden anyway, she was a cute looking lady.

On the subject of the season 5 DVD from Shout Factory, does anyone notice the video quality of those episodes looks a little dark? Seasons 1-4 are fine but the season 5 episodes have a darker/tinted look to them, it just looks like the picture should be brighter. On the plus side at least the episodes are uncut.

[1960'sTVfan]

In reference to The Joey Bishop Show, I don't care all that much for the 1st season. Some episodes are good but I prefer seasons 2-4 where Joey is a married man with wife Ellie/Abby Dalton. Joe Besser adds a lot to the show with his zaniness, this series needed someone like him as a contrast from Joey's style which is more subdued. I also prefer Corbett Monica over Guy Marks as Joey's writer/manager, whatever he is. I think seasons 2 and 3 are the best ones with season 3 being my overall favorite.

[Hazel Anyday]

I agree, Season 5 is not so bad at all. It's different, for sure, but it's not terrible. Of course, I liked the George & Dorothy shows more but the Steve & Barbara shows are also enjoyable to me. But like Oh Nuts, the only Season 5 Hazel show I really didn't like was when they turned Hazel into a total helpless moron who breaks down in idiotic tears when she joins an exercise club run by Barnaby Jones' secretary. Seeing Hazel act like a simpleton was really an insult to the show and I'm surprised Shirley Booth didn't object to this script.

[1960'sTVfan]

The season 5 weight loss episode is titled How To Lose 30 Pounds In 30 Minutes. It's true this isn't the greatest episode with Hazel out of character and not her usual self.

[stevea]

Interesting recipe. I never thought of Raisin Bran as being loaded with sugar. Cinnamon would add a nice flavor to it.

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by Hazel Anyday

I agree, Season 5 is not so bad at all. It's different, for sure, but it's not terrible. Of course, I liked the George & Dorothy shows more but the Steve & Barbara shows are also enjoyable to me. But like Oh Nuts, the only Season 5 Hazel show I really didn't like was when they turned Hazel into a total helpless moron who breaks down in idiotic tears when she joins an exercise club run by Barnaby Jones' secretary. Seeing Hazel act like a simpleton was really an insult to the show and I'm surprised Shirley Booth didn't object to this script.

Hazel portrayed as a simpleton was disappointment to me too. S5 was a disappointment overall and that early S5 ep is where it really JTS for me.

Glad they kept character of Diedre on. She was fun and always loved seeing her get taken down a notch.

[Hazel Anyday]

Yeah, Raisin Bran when bought just like "Raisin Bran" by Post or Kellogg or any store brand has the raisins "sugar coated" that come with the cereal. As if raisins aren't sweet already. But when you buy the raisins separate straight from the box or bag and add to just Bran Flakes there's no additional sugar added. There is still some sugar in the Bran Flakes too, baked in, but at least they're not coating the raisins with sugar when you just buy raisins alone and add to bran flakes. I'm not as good as Oh Nuts in calculating carbs and the like the main thing I pay attention to is sugar content. Anything over 5 grams is a no-no. My brother pays attention to sodium content the way I do for sugar. I don't care about sodium.

On other days I like bacon, egg, cheese frozen biscuits or flatbread (not as good but less calories) along with 1/2 of a Hash Brown frozen patty that I cook up and add garlic and onion and parsley to. Other days I'll have frozen waffles and a fake Morning Star sausage. On Fridays, as long as you're asking, I have a nice bowl of hot gruel. Well it's really oatmeal I add cinnamon and raisins to that too. Then on rare occasions when I feel like really cooking I'll pour some fake eggs made with red and green peppers into a pan add slice of cheese on top along with garlic and onion powder and parsley and 2 slices of either real or fake Morning Star bacon. That's it, those are all my different choices I use for breakfast. Except Fridays is always oatmeal day as I then watch Bachelor Father as I eat.

Mmm, that's cookin'.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

Hazel has her buttinsky ways, however it doesn't bother me because that's how she's supposed to be, that's how her character was written for the TV show. She's the lead character of the show and she needed to have a boisterous/snoopy personality. If she had been written as a quiet, obedient servant to Mr. B. and family, that would have been dull, I imagine few viewers would have watched and the show probably wouldn't have made it past the 1st season.

Season 5 is not a bad season, not quite as good as seasons 1-4 with Mr. B. and Missy but I still enjoy season 5 with Mr. Steve and Barbara. I've always liked Lynn Borden anyway, she was a cute looking lady.

On the subject of the season 5 DVD from Shout Factory, does anyone notice the video quality of those episodes looks a little dark? Seasons 1-4 are fine but the season 5 episodes have a darker/tinted look to them, it just looks like the picture should be brighter. On the plus side at least the episodes are uncut.

"Hazel has her buttinsky ways, however it doesn't bother me because that's how she's supposed to be, that's how her character was written for the TV show".

Yeah, I agree with you. To me it's like saying the only bad thing about Green Acres is the fact that it takes place in the country.

Season 5 is not a bad season, not quite as good as seasons 1-4 with Mr. B. and Missy but I still enjoy season 5 with Mr. Steve and Barbara. I've always liked Lynn Borden anyway, she was a cute looking lady.

I agree with you on this also. I think many fans of the series are disappointed because of the exit of DeFore and Blake, but there really was no choice. Booth put in some of her own money to produce the series an additional season. For Booth this was as they say in showbiz her winter, her nuts and berries. She knew this would be her last big project and the residuals and the extra season were very important to her. She had to squeeze the budget as much as she could get away with. Fulmer and Borden were not as experienced as the two performers they replaced, but they both did a good job.

[jehobden]

Originally Posted by TV Knowledge Fan

...in fact, it went off NBC after the Ford Motor Company dropped their option to sponsor a fifth season (the alternate sponsor during the 1964-'65 season, Bristol-Myers, also passed on sustaining another season as well). Fortunately, CBS had a 9:30pm(et) "hole" in their Monday night schedule for 1965-'66: they were supposed to fill that time period with a Polly Bergen mystery series, "SELENA MEAD", but Jim Aubrey, the CBS executive who had tentatively "pencilled it in", was fired at the end of February, and the network decided to erase as much of his influence upon their upcoming fall schedule as much as possible [including "CORONET BLUE", a "FUGITIVE" clone that was eventually seen in the summer of '67]. The new president of the network, John Schneider, discovered that "HAZEL" was available, and decided it would be a perfect combination with "THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW" that fall. The network found new co-sponsors for it- Phillip Morris and Procter & Gamble- and the fifth season appeared on CBS.

However, because of tighter production budgets at Screen Gems {and they were always cheap- they wouldn't allow Sidney Sheldon to film the first season of "I DREAM OF JEANNIE" in color primarily because the special effects cost too much money....in fact, Screen Gems wouldn't have bothered to film "HAZEL" in color if Ford hadn't been their sponsor; they wanted their commercials to be seen in color, and they put out the extra money for color filming, when very few color programs were on network TV in 1962}, Don DeFore & Whitney Blake's contracts weren't renewed- and that's why Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden (on Shirley's suggestion) became the new "Baxters". That's also why Donald Foster & Norma Varden no longer appeared as the "Johnsons" after the move to CBS. And if you take a good look at certain episodes....well, did you notice that "Tony Nelson's" living room from 'I DREAM OF JEANNIE" was redressed as an empty living room in a home waiting to be sold, in one episode?

In a sort of reversal on your last comment, anyone here who's seen the IDoJ S1 episode "What House Across the Street?" would recognize the house that Jeannie blinked across the street to be Steve & Barbara Baxter's house. Also the living room where Roger met Jeannie & her phony "parents" was the Baxter living room w/ the curved staircase & all.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by TV Knowledge Fan

...in fact, it went off NBC after the Ford Motor Company dropped their option to sponsor a fifth season (the alternate sponsor during the 1964-'65 season, Bristol-Myers, also passed on sustaining another season as well). Fortunately, CBS had a 9:30pm(et) "hole" in their Monday night schedule for 1965-'66: they were supposed to fill that time period with a Polly Bergen mystery series, "SELENA MEAD", but Jim Aubrey, the CBS executive who had tentatively "pencilled it in", was fired at the end of February, and the network decided to erase as much of his influence upon their upcoming fall schedule as much as possible [including "CORONET BLUE", a "FUGITIVE" clone that was eventually seen in the summer of '67]. The new president of the network, John Schneider, discovered that "HAZEL" was available, and decided it would be a perfect combination with "THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW" that fall. The network found new co-sponsors for it- Phillip Morris and Procter & Gamble- and the fifth season appeared on CBS.

However, because of tighter production budgets at Screen Gems {and they were always cheap- they wouldn't allow Sidney Sheldon to film the first season of "I DREAM OF JEANNIE" in color primarily because the special effects cost too much money....in fact, Screen Gems wouldn't have bothered to film "HAZEL" in color if Ford hadn't been their sponsor; they wanted their commercials to be seen in color, and they put out the extra money for color filming, when very few color programs were on network TV in 1962}, Don DeFore & Whitney Blake's contracts weren't renewed- and that's why Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden (on Shirley's suggestion) became the new "Baxters". That's also why Donald Foster & Norma Varden no longer appeared as the "Johnsons" after the move to CBS. And if you take a good look at certain episodes....well, did you notice that "Tony Nelson's" living room from 'I DREAM OF JEANNIE" was redressed as an empty living room in a home waiting to be sold, in one episode?

Fascinating explanation as to why the show moved to CBS. Another season 5 episode also used the redressed Donna Reed Show LR. Interesting to see it in color.

Also interesting that they had Hazel move. If they were looking to save more money they could have had Steve and Barbara house-sit while George and Dorothy were "away."

One explanation might be that the sets had been disassembled--at the beginning of the first season 5 episode they were using different camera shots of the kitchen, making one think that the full original set was at least partially gone.

[Hazel Anyday]

Well, a couple of comments. The reason they couldn't have had Steve & Barbara living in Hazel's old house was that the old Hazel house in 1965-66 was now being used as Gidget's house, the living room slightly changed but the kitched remaining almost exactly as it was in Hazel. The house itself was the same Hazel house used as Gidget's in '65-66.

Also that Gidget/Hazel house was right next door to the Bewitched house used in seasons 2 thru 8. And that house was the same house used as the Hazel next door neighbor's house with Elliott Reid the father and his 3 kids, the teen girl who was hot and the dopey teen boy who had a crush on Missy in the first season.

Also the house zapped up by Jeanie mentioned previously was also the same Steve & Barbara house zapped up by Endora now supposedly across the street from Sam's house in Bewitched when she & Uncle Arthur were feuding.

Also the I Dream of Jeanie Tony Nelson house & living room is the same house & living room used in season 1 of Bewitched as Sam & Darrin's 1st house. This was supposed to be their first house before they moved away in season 2. Season one of Bewitched came a year before Jeanie started. Probably why Darrin "moved" away in season 2 as that house was then the house for Jeanie in her season 1.

Also just watched a Hazel a couple days ago "New Man In Town" s2.12 and in that show Hazel walks over to Rosie's house and you see Hazel walking in front of a white house which is next door to Mr. Wilson's house which is now supposed to be where Rosie lives. Hazel then goes to the Wilson house to see Rosie. By the way the "New Man" is played by Robert Lowery (a sort of Clark Gable lookalike) and he played Batman in the 1940's serials.

ALSO I just saw a 3 Stooges episode with Curly "A Bird In The Head" and in it you see Barney Hatfield the mailman in Hazel and in Dennis The Menace playing a guy who hires the Stooges to wallpaper a room. "You'll never recognize the place." In the Stooges short Barney has slicked black hair on top of his head. I've seen him in western movies and he is actually bald, he never had hair when he was doing Hazel either.

Also Gus, Hazel's cab driving boyfriend, was actually toothless and looked like a real old man without his choppers. He was also the real life father of "Newly" on Gunsmoke. Come to think of it I don't think Barney had teeth either as I've seen him playing old men in westerns toothless.

Also, never mind that's enough illusion popping for today.

[stevea]

Screen Gems had a lot to keep track of with houses. Mr. Wilson's house in Dennis the Menace--which started in 1959--was also the Father Knows Best house--which didn't end until 1960. The interior sets on both shows were totally different.

I think the Mitchells' DTM house was also the Stones' house on Donna Reed (which was on until 1966) but I'm not totally sure on that. Again, different interior sets, but SG made heavy use of the Donna Reed LR set, mostly for one-time uses--the poor Kravitzes lived there once, and probably on other sets in other episodes. Their song could have been Ain't Got No Home. The Bellowses also lived in different house sets. The scene where Mrs. Bellows yelled, "Alfred, DO something about this!" was edited out.

[biffbronson]

Thanks for the analysis! As I've mentioned several times, Gidget's closet was Donna Reed's bedroom closet, though I don't know anything other than the distinctive doors were clearly the same.

I don't think I've mentioned before that the Bewitched house, both exterior and interior entrance area, appears in the 1971 Screen Gems ABC made-for-TV movie "Brian's Song," the story of NFL Chicago Bears Brian Piccolo. Of course they redecorated some, but it's still very obvious. Shelley Fabares played Brian's wife.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

Thanks for the analysis! As I've mentioned several times, Gidget's closet was Donna Reed's bedroom closet, though I don't know anything other than the distinctive doors were clearly the same.

I don't think I've mentioned before that the Bewitched house, both exterior and interior entrance area, appears in the 1971 Screen Gems ABC made-for-TV movie "Brian's Song," the story of NFL Chicago Bears Brian Piccolo. Of course they redecorated some, but it's still very obvious. Shelley Fabares played Brian's wife.

The Bewitched interior set was one of the Bellows' homes on IDOJ. The exterior shows on a lot of on-location shots on Screen Gems shows.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by dahur1

I had watched "Hazel" when it originally ran, but I'm sure I never saw the last season. So these episodes I'm watching now are a first for me.
Just finished the 6th one. I've read that Shirley Booth's health wasn't so great the final year of 1965-66. What I've noticed is there is less smiling, less cheerfulness, less joking around. That's my perception anyways. I even went back and watched the first couple episodes from season 1. Yes, as soon as they start, she's smiling, singing, it just kind of confirmed for me there was a change.
And who doesn't like Don Defore? I miss the Crazy Johnsons'. I miss looking at Whitney Blake. It's just different, this last season. I know it's just me, because the last season had good ratings. It probably would have been picked up again, had Shirley been feeling better.
So for me, I hold dear those first four seasons. It doesn't look like I'm going to care much for this last one. Not so far anyways, and I've got 23 more episodes to watch.
Then I'll start back on the first four years again.

I'll watch the final season in a similar way I watch most color episodes of Andy Griffith.

The talk here of a less enthusiastic Shirley Booth reminds me of how dour Andy Griffith often was in later episodes... burnout?