Was Ann Sothern a truly overlooked actress? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

seventies_sitcoms · 06-20-2005, 04:31 PM

When Ann Sothern passed away I read different articles about her like how she was very underrated and that she should've a lot bigger than what she was.

Didn't TV Land or Nick at Night show her sitcom at one time? I can remember seeing it somewhere several years ago, but I never watched an entire episode really. Was her show any good?

Coffeecup · 07-04-2005, 06:14 PM

Yes I do believe it ran on Nick at Nite I would say a good 15 years ago. I saw several episodes of Private Secretary and the Ann Sothern show. Both had Don Porter as her boss. I thought it was pretty good. I had a few laughs. Ken Berry played a bellman in the last season where the show took place in a hotel. If the show was shown again I would watch it.

RTususian · 08-15-2005, 09:46 PM

Yes years ago Nik at Nite and (maybe) TV Land showed it, in fact in 1995 or so my local station in NY polled viewers for different reruns they wanted to see and they showed an episode of Private Secretary and one of The Ann Sothern Show. I have lots of both series on DVD.

Markxxx · 09-08-2006, 10:50 PM

Ann Sothern was a great example of a great actress that is an unknown today because she go NO publicity.

Every single review I read about Ann says what a great actress she was. Even in "My Mother The Car," the reviews always said the only saving grace was the "charming voice" of Ann Sothern.

I'll give you another example, Jo Stafford, I bet not one of you has heard of her. Yet from 1900 - 1950 she sold more records and was the number one female recording artist of the first half of the centrury. She's best known for her 1955 hit "You Belong To Me."

But Jo NEVER wanted publicity. She just sang. She was on every radio show and during WWII was known as GI Jo for all the help she gave the war effort. Her voice is amazing. She was named by greats like Ella Fitzgerald as being the best female artists alive. Yet no one has heard of her.

So publicity is the key

Another example is Shirley Booth, TV's Hazel. How man you realize she was one of the most respected actresses in Hollywood. The critics killed her when she did Hazel. Her doing Hazel would be like if Meryl Streep did Hazel today.

Women were not really given opportunitites unless they really went after them and asked for the publicity.

TV Knowledge Fan · 09-20-2006, 03:14 PM

....she was one of the original members of the "Pied Pipers" vocal group that sang with Tommy Dorsey's band before they struck out on their own during World War II...and she went solo by war's end. She was married to her #1 arranger/conductor at Capitol records, Paul Weston. Eventually, they moved on to Columbia records by 1950, where she collaborated with Paul on a lot of great singles and albums before retiring in the early '60s.

Ann Sothern was a "tough cookie"....even with her "dear friend" Lucy. She could be just as stubborn over personal and business matters. "No publicity"? Her marriage to Robert Sterling (which ended in divorce) and her fight with Jack Chertok over the fate of "PRIVATE SECRETARY" in early 1957 was publicity enough.

As for Shirley Booth....she was a "private person". I'm certain most critics were puzzled as to why, after being a celebrated dramatic actress, she would accept the lead role in a TV sitcom about a MAID? But Shirley first appeared as a variation of "Hazel" in a short-lived NBC radio series she starred in during the summer of 1949 called "HOGAN'S DAUGHTER". "Miss Hogan" was just as pushy and scheming as "Hazel" was, judging from the two episodes I've heard. And there was her perennial radio character, "Dottie Mahoney", who appeared on a number of radio's key variety shows during the '40s; again, a "distant cousin" of "Hazel".

That about enough, 'Markxxx'?

Kris48 · 09-05-2011, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seventies_sitcoms

When Ann Sothern passed away I read different articles about her like how she was very underrated and that she should've a lot bigger than what she was.

Didn't TV Land or Nick at Night show her sitcom at one time? I can remember seeing it somewhere several years ago, but I never watched an entire episode really. Was her show any good?

They were both shown between 1987-1990. They were wonderful and yes Miss Ann was very much underrated and a very dear person.

09-20-2006, 03:14 PM	#5
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	Sure, I remember Jo Stafford... ....she was one of the original members of the "Pied Pipers" vocal group that sang with Tommy Dorsey's band before they struck out on their own during World War II...and she went solo by war's end. She was married to her #1 arranger/conductor at Capitol records, Paul Weston. Eventually, they moved on to Columbia records by 1950, where she collaborated with Paul on a lot of great singles and albums before retiring in the early '60s. Ann Sothern was a "tough cookie"....even with her "dear friend" Lucy. She could be just as stubborn over personal and business matters. "No publicity"? Her marriage to Robert Sterling (which ended in divorce) and her fight with Jack Chertok over the fate of "PRIVATE SECRETARY" in early 1957 was publicity enough. As for Shirley Booth....she was a "private person". I'm certain most critics were puzzled as to why, after being a celebrated dramatic actress, she would accept the lead role in a TV sitcom about a MAID? But Shirley first appeared as a variation of "Hazel" in a short-lived NBC radio series she starred in during the summer of 1949 called "HOGAN'S DAUGHTER". "Miss Hogan" was just as pushy and scheming as "Hazel" was, judging from the two episodes I've heard. And there was her perennial radio character, "Dottie Mahoney", who appeared on a number of radio's key variety shows during the '40s; again, a "distant cousin" of "Hazel". That about enough, 'Markxxx'?

06-20-2005, 04:31 PM	#1
seventies_sitcoms * Senior Member Join Date: Jan 09, 2005 Posts: 2,243	Was Ann Sothern a truly overlooked actress? When Ann Sothern passed away I read different articles about her like how she was very underrated and that she should've a lot bigger than what she was. Didn't TV Land or Nick at Night show her sitcom at one time? I can remember seeing it somewhere several years ago, but I never watched an entire episode really. Was her show any good?

07-04-2005, 06:14 PM	#2
Coffeecup coffeecup. Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2003 Location: snoozeville Posts: 3,175	Yes I do believe it ran on Nick at Nite I would say a good 15 years ago. I saw several episodes of Private Secretary and the Ann Sothern show. Both had Don Porter as her boss. I thought it was pretty good. I had a few laughs. Ken Berry played a bellman in the last season where the show took place in a hotel. If the show was shown again I would watch it.

08-15-2005, 09:46 PM	#3
RTususian Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jul 12, 2003 Posts: 96	Yes years ago Nik at Nite and (maybe) TV Land showed it, in fact in 1995 or so my local station in NY polled viewers for different reruns they wanted to see and they showed an episode of Private Secretary and one of The Ann Sothern Show. I have lots of both series on DVD.

09-08-2006, 10:50 PM	#4
Markxxx Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 08, 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 5	Ann Sothern was a great example of a great actress that is an unknown today because she go NO publicity. Every single review I read about Ann says what a great actress she was. Even in "My Mother The Car," the reviews always said the only saving grace was the "charming voice" of Ann Sothern. I'll give you another example, Jo Stafford, I bet not one of you has heard of her. Yet from 1900 - 1950 she sold more records and was the number one female recording artist of the first half of the centrury. She's best known for her 1955 hit "You Belong To Me." But Jo NEVER wanted publicity. She just sang. She was on every radio show and during WWII was known as GI Jo for all the help she gave the war effort. Her voice is amazing. She was named by greats like Ella Fitzgerald as being the best female artists alive. Yet no one has heard of her. So publicity is the key Another example is Shirley Booth, TV's Hazel. How man you realize she was one of the most respected actresses in Hollywood. The critics killed her when she did Hazel. Her doing Hazel would be like if Meryl Streep did Hazel today. Women were not really given opportunitites unless they really went after them and asked for the publicity.