Irene Ryan

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by Mr. Television

The Beverly Hillbillies was my favorite sitcom of the 1960's followed by TAGS and Get Smart. Green Acres was good too. I liked just about every sitcom of the 1960's.

I like 1960's sitcoms also. Of course I like some shows better than others, but I think the 60's was definitely the best decade for sitcoms.

[Scrabjan1]

Except My Three Sons what a lousy idea. Now there's a show that jumped the shark.

[ILuvCarolBurnett]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Irene was nominated in 1963 and 1964, both times as best actress in a comedy series. That's interesting in itself, because I've always thought that Buddy Ebsen was the star and that everyone else was supporting.

Anyway, best actress 1963 (not just comedies) went to Shirley Booth. Other nominees were Irene Ryan, Mary Tyler Moore, Lucille Ball, and Shirl Conway (some medical show).

Supporting actress in 1964 lumped together all types of shows. Rose Marie was the only nominee from a sitcom, and didn't win.

Best actress in a comedy 1964 went to Mary Tyler Moore. Others nominated were Irene Ryan, Shirley Booth, Inger Stevens, Patty Duke.

Supporting actress in 1964 lumped together all types of shows. Rose Marie again was the only nominee from a sitcom, and didn't win.

I don't think there's any comparison between what Irene Ryan was doing in the mid-sixties and what Shirley Booth or Mary Tyler Moore, or Lucy or Inger Stevens, or Patty Duke, or Rose Marie were doing. The competition is a bloodbath.

And I know I am in the minority here, but I never understood the big deal about Mary Tyler Moore or "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Moore was annoying in that show... "RRRROOOBBBB.........." Like fingernails on a chalkboard. TBH was brilliant, but for some reason, the critics chose Dick Van Dyke. But what do critics know anyway.

[Scrabjan1]

I'm in that minority with you. I never understood what was soooo wonderful about MTM. Actually The Dick Van Dyke Show was nothing special. I agree about the way she always said Oh RRRRROBBB! I guess she was pretty but hated the singing and dance numbers. Dick was good in Mary Poppins but was never a DVD fan. I thought Elizabeth Montgomery and Barbara Eden far more appealing. Yes TBH was brilliant.

BTW loved Lucy in ILL didn't like her in Lucy Show or Here's Lucy. She had lost her ability by then.

[ILuvCarolBurnett]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

One of the weirder Emmy facts is that Hope Lange ends up being handed the Emmy for best actress in a comedy in both 1968-69 and 1969-70. I realize the Hillbillies were on the downside then, but Hope Lange just wasn't funny at all and they could have slipped Irene one of those just to recognize her work for the run of the show.

1968-69: Lange over Montgomery, Feldon, and Carroll (Agnes Moorehead for Supporting actress, aqainst dramatic shows)
1969-70: Lange over Montgomery and Thomas (Supporting: Karen Valentine wins over Moorehead and Lurene Tuttle)

Emmys..Oscars...it is all largely political anyway, not really a measure of talent.

[Hazel Anyday]

It's always been a guarantee (at least for the past 50 years) that WHATEVER movie/TV show the critics like it's always going to be a stinker. Unwatchable, boring, and filled with oh so enlightening liberal messages to the vast unwashed rabble, namely everyone who isn't them.

[Scrabjan1]

For the record I love watching The Hillbillies at 4:00pm and having a great time. Really who was funnier Granny or Jed??

[Willbo]

Granny.

[omg65]

Originally Posted by Hazel Anyday

It's always been a guarantee (at least for the past 50 years) that WHATEVER movie/TV show the critics like it's always going to be a stinker. Unwatchable, boring, and filled with oh so enlightening liberal messages to the vast unwashed rabble, namely everyone who isn't them.

You nailed it Hazel.

[CosmicCharlie]

long long time ago - Granny

[QTMcWhiskers]

I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall during rehearsals because it must have taken the cast forrever to stop breaking up in laughter. Rewatching the 5th season episode where Granny deals with her newfound condition, "Granny's Complaint" - how did Irene NOT manage to win awards because she nailed the character with such conviction. In an earlier scene, she's conversing with a doctor about medicines and he talks about penicillin while she talks about wood bark and stuff. Later, talking to Jed, she laments that this quack she's dealt with prefers to deal with "moldy old bread" and it's impossible to NOT burst out in laughter because she's so fantastic with this role. The whole cast is simply perfect or what could be better - it's no wonder the show ran for as long as it had and easily could have longer had the genre not take a turn at the beginning of the 1970s as the network nixed all the "old bumpkin shows" for more modern fare - but Irene gives every last syllable of material such panache. She's a natural, to say the least, with a wide range of material. I still remember the season 6 episode where she's dealing with hippies, who think she's way out because she smokes crawdads, and in a later scene when a cop comes by she straight-faced tells them how she wants to smoke a few but first needs to get a little pot... ROTFL, this show is truly timeless.

[QTMcWhiskers]

Originally Posted by Hazel Anyday

Only a bit of the Irene Ryan episode is on youtube (I just discovered) and the bit that's there isn't the part where Irene transforms herself. I saw the complete episode on DVD, it also had Van Johnson and Paul Lynde and Barbara Feldon, but that part with Granny becoming Granny is what I still remember best. This isn't a DVD that's available commercially though, the video quality of what I have isn't the greatest either, but good enough to enjoy.

From the Dean Martin show? I think I saw the clip of those actors on YouTube. Hysterically funny! Reminds me of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, though I'm not sure which show innovated from the other the most. They're both great, that's all that matters. I hope that show does get out on DVD, restored - the videotape elements look a bit fuzzy but modern restoration methods can help mitigate that somewhat.

[crispysdad]

Originally Posted by Scrabjan1

I can't believe Irene never took home an Emmy as Granny. Funnier than Archie Bunker in his prime.

I loved The Beverly Hillbillies! Irene Ryan was a hell of an actress! But funnier than Archie Bunker in his prime? UH......sorry, but no. Carroll O'Connor won 4 Emmys playing the role of Archie Bunker. There is a reason for that.

[Scrabjan1]

Yeah you’re right. Very different characters but Carroll O’Connor created a character that so far hasn’t been surpassed. Only first 5 seasons, though. After that the character wasn’t fresh.

[MrCleveland]

Both Irene Ryan and Buddy Ebsen were veteran actors...they acted before television! So they can portray characters well, there's even an Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship for student theater actors at the Kennedy Center.

And Beverly Hillbillies helped both Ryan and Ebsen, since Buddy Ebsen's acting career went stagnant after an incident using aluminum powder for his role as The Tin Man in The Wizard of OZ...Ebsen almost died in 1939!