Was the season without Gillis in syndication? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Joeytrom · 10-14-2006, 05:15 PM

I remember seeing both version back in the 70's. I remember seeing the first season of the William Bendix Riley with the opening shot of the house and the actors faces presented over the house. I have seen the last two seasons with the cartoon still opening and different theme song.

The season in which Gillis and his wife are not on the show (as Tom D'Andrea got his own show) featured neighbors Calvin and Belle Dudley instead. Calvin was played by George O'Hanlon (the voice of George Jetson) and Belle was played by Florence Sundstrom. In all the times I have watched this show over the several years it was rerun here in NYC, I never saw these particular episodes and was wondering if anyone remembers this season. I believe it was 1955-1956.

TV_on_the_Porch · 11-26-2006, 09:16 AM

I first caught this show on CBN in 1981. Only the first season episodes (and maybe not all of them) from 1953 and the fifth and sixth season episodes from 1956-58 were shown--over and over. The later episodes began with the one in which the Rileys and Gillises moved into the condo, so at least that made sense, but Junior going from prepubescent smart mouth to mumbling post-adolescent from one day's airing to the next was impossible to ignore. The last time I caught LOR was on channel 19 in Cleveland in the late eighties. I saw many episodes on 19 that had been missing from CBN's package. That's how I learned that Gloria Blondell assumed the role of Honeybee very early on--immediately after those 1953 episodes seen on CBN, possibly before the end of the first season. Not surprisingly, there are several variations of the opening credits in seasons two, three and four. And I did indeed see 1955-56 episodes featuring the Dudleys as the next-door neighbors. Also appearances by Sterling Holloway as Waldo. Most remarkable was the inclusion of even the Jackie Gleason-Rosemary DeKamp episodes from 1949-50! So why CBN (or whichever other outlet you caught it on) ran a package of the series which omitted a large chunk of episodes I have no clue, but rest assured that those missing episodes do exist and have been syndicated all together in the not-terribly-distant past.

TV Knowledge Fan · 12-08-2006, 05:57 PM

...moved production from Hal Roach Studios to NBC's "California National" facilities in the fall of 1955. Hence, the Rileys' move from "Blueview Terrace" to their "new duplex" {I forgot the name!}. And new neighbors "replaced" the Gillises [George O'Hanlon's "Calvin Dudley" not TOO different from "Jim Gillis"],
until the producers decided to bring back the Gillises by having THEM move into the duplex in the fall of 1956!

TV Knowledge Fan · 01-10-2007, 05:39 PM

...NOW I remember the name of the duplex the Rileys moved into, in the fall of 1955...it was "Del Mar Vista".

TV_on_the_Porch · 01-10-2007, 09:06 PM

Gotta disagree with you here (first time for everything

) TVKF, I saw that 1956 opener w-a-y too many times on CBN for there to be even the remotest remote possibility that I'm remembering this wrong:

As the episode opens, the Rileys and Gillises are together in a single car, driving around looking for a place to live (!!) when they come upon the vacant condo. Chester and Jim get into a heated dispute over which family gets the downstairs unit. Definitely Riley and Gillis, not Riley and Dudley.

TV Knowledge Fan · 11-06-2009, 04:25 AM

...and you're absolutely right, 'TD'. Permit me to explain:

When Irving Brecher began reissuing his 26 "RILEY" episodes with Jackie Gleason in early 1977, he also re-released 91 of the Bendix episodes later that year [he owned both versions of the TV series after his 15 year licensing deal with NBC for them to produce the show ended in 1967; however, he had to wait several years until legal matters with Gleason over his episodes were settled]- only the first, fifth and sixth seasons were available, in "used" 16mm film prints. Apparently, he didn't want to distribute all of the 217 Bendix episodes...

The series was originally filmed at Hal Roach Studios from 1953 through '56. Then, NBC set up its own facilities- "California Studios, Inc".- and moved production there in the fall of '56. Hence, the storyline where the Rileys and the Gillises moved into the "Del Mar Vista" duplex. That was also the season when Tom D'Andrea & Gloria Blondell returned as the Gillises....

10-14-2006, 05:15 PM	#1
Joeytrom Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 03, 2002 Posts: 60	Was the season without Gillis in syndication? I remember seeing both version back in the 70's. I remember seeing the first season of the William Bendix Riley with the opening shot of the house and the actors faces presented over the house. I have seen the last two seasons with the cartoon still opening and different theme song. The season in which Gillis and his wife are not on the show (as Tom D'Andrea got his own show) featured neighbors Calvin and Belle Dudley instead. Calvin was played by George O'Hanlon (the voice of George Jetson) and Belle was played by Florence Sundstrom. In all the times I have watched this show over the several years it was rerun here in NYC, I never saw these particular episodes and was wondering if anyone remembers this season. I believe it was 1955-1956.

12-08-2006, 05:57 PM	#3
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	"THE LIFE OF RILEY"... ...moved production from Hal Roach Studios to NBC's "California National" facilities in the fall of 1955. Hence, the Rileys' move from "Blueview Terrace" to their "new duplex" {I forgot the name!}. And new neighbors "replaced" the Gillises [George O'Hanlon's "Calvin Dudley" not TOO different from "Jim Gillis"], until the producers decided to bring back the Gillises by having THEM move into the duplex in the fall of 1956!

01-10-2007, 05:39 PM	#4
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	Okay.... ...NOW I remember the name of the duplex the Rileys moved into, in the fall of 1955...it was "Del Mar Vista".

11-06-2009, 04:25 AM	#6
TV Knowledge Fan Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 29, 2006 Location: Long Branch, N.J. Posts: 2,577	Here it is, two years later... ...and you're absolutely right, 'TD'. Permit me to explain: When Irving Brecher began reissuing his 26 "RILEY" episodes with Jackie Gleason in early 1977, he also re-released 91 of the Bendix episodes later that year [he owned both versions of the TV series after his 15 year licensing deal with NBC for them to produce the show ended in 1967; however, he had to wait several years until legal matters with Gleason over his episodes were settled]- only the first, fifth and sixth seasons were available, in "used" 16mm film prints. Apparently, he didn't want to distribute all of the 217 Bendix episodes... The series was originally filmed at Hal Roach Studios from 1953 through '56. Then, NBC set up its own facilities- "California Studios, Inc".- and moved production there in the fall of '56. Hence, the storyline where the Rileys and the Gillises moved into the "Del Mar Vista" duplex. That was also the season when Tom D'Andrea & Gloria Blondell returned as the Gillises....

11-26-2006, 09:16 AM	#2
TV_on_the_Porch anything good on? Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Posts: 879	I first caught this show on CBN in 1981. Only the first season episodes (and maybe not all of them) from 1953 and the fifth and sixth season episodes from 1956-58 were shown--over and over. The later episodes began with the one in which the Rileys and Gillises moved into the condo, so at least that made sense, but Junior going from prepubescent smart mouth to mumbling post-adolescent from one day's airing to the next was impossible to ignore. The last time I caught LOR was on channel 19 in Cleveland in the late eighties. I saw many episodes on 19 that had been missing from CBN's package. That's how I learned that Gloria Blondell assumed the role of Honeybee very early on--immediately after those 1953 episodes seen on CBN, possibly before the end of the first season. Not surprisingly, there are several variations of the opening credits in seasons two, three and four. And I did indeed see 1955-56 episodes featuring the Dudleys as the next-door neighbors. Also appearances by Sterling Holloway as Waldo. Most remarkable was the inclusion of even the Jackie Gleason-Rosemary DeKamp episodes from 1949-50! So why CBN (or whichever other outlet you caught it on) ran a package of the series which omitted a large chunk of episodes I have no clue, but rest assured that those missing episodes do exist and have been syndicated all together in the not-terribly-distant past.

01-10-2007, 09:06 PM	#5
TV_on_the_Porch anything good on? Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Posts: 879	Gotta disagree with you here (first time for everything ) TVKF, I saw that 1956 opener w-a-y too many times on CBN for there to be even the remotest remote possibility that I'm remembering this wrong: As the episode opens, the Rileys and Gillises are together in a single car, driving around looking for a place to live (!!) when they come upon the vacant condo. Chester and Jim get into a heated dispute over which family gets the downstairs unit. Definitely Riley and Gillis, not Riley and Dudley.