TAGS and First Season of "Doris Day Show"

[JaneTVFan]

Someone mentioned similarities between the first season of "The Doris Day Show" and "The Andy Griffith Show." In watching these first season episodes on the recently released "Doris Day Show" DVD set, I'm finding those similarities to be quite extensive. In fact, in several episodes, they even have Hal Smith (Otis Campbell on TAGS), as the town drunk in Doris's mythical town of Cotina. There's also a character (Mr. Foley) who reminds me in some ways of Ernest T. Bass. What's more, Bob Sweeney is credited as director of many of these TDDS episodes. He was also a TAGS director. And there is at least one writer that came from TAGS, Sid Morse. In fact, one episode is a remake of an episode of TAGS. In this episode, Doris is in charge of putting on a school play. The principal refuses to allow the play to go on after seeing the rehearsals and observes the children doing modern day dancing, which he considers immoral. To try to get a point across to the principal, Doris rewrites the play with a 1920's theme and a storyline in which parents of that generation are complaining that the "current" dances are immoral. This very script was produced two years earlier for TAGS (and also written by Sid Morse), with Helen Krump in the Doris role of trying to put on the school play over the objections of the old-fashioned principal.

[treky]

that episode of TDDS you mention was originally based on an episode of "THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW/MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY! I THOUGHT that plot sounded familer as I was reading your post!

In the TDDS/MRFD episode, it was his daughter and a friend of hers who were in charge of putting on a play, but the new high school principal (played by Richard Deacon-Mel from "The Dick Van Dyke show") who objected, because he thought it was "immorall".

I remember one scene where Danny said "He was probably sitting up in his crib in the nursery wearing his horn-rimmed glasses and reading "The book of knowledge" while all the other babies were playing!"

[JaneTVFan]

Originally Posted by treky

that episode of TDDS you mention was originally based on an episode of "THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW/MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY! I THOUGHT that plot sounded familer as I was reading your post!

In the TDDS/MRFD episode, it was his daughter and a friend of hers who were in charge of putting on a play, but the new high school principal (played by Richard Deacon-Mel from "The Dick Van Dyke show") who objected, because he thought it was "immorall".

I remember one scene where Danny said "He was probably sitting up in his crib in the nursery wearing his horn-rimmed glasses and reading "The book of knowledge" while all the other babies were playing!"

That's VERY interesting. I wonder if Sid Morse wrote that Danny Thomas Show episode as well, or if he just got the idea from that show. It's amazing how many sitcom episodes are just recycled plots from other series.