Red Bricks for Hazel

[Hazel Anyday]

Also look here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKPKBcnkovY

This is the last season opening with the umbrellas, notice how this recording from this particular older vintage showing, maybe it was a 16mm film?, anyway notice how this one is all tinged yellowy and red! The version I'm so used to seeing from the WOR and CBN days onward thru the ANT TV showings has always been tinged blueish and purple and very faded. Isn't it great to see at the end of the opening, Hazel running thru the rain on actual RED bricks instead of the black and blue bricks she runs on in the later syndicated "restored" versions. This red version is probably an original film copy not a TV recorded copy, hence the red tinge, it's still aged and not correctly colored but at least this one has a more favorable red tinge instead of the cold faded and purple-blue tinge of the broadcasts of the '90's forward.

[Leslie Eckhardt]

When I saw Hazel rerun in the 80s on CBN, I noticed that seasons 2 thru 4 (they didn't run season 1) were clear 35mm copies similar to the ones being shown currently on Antenna TV. When they ran season 5, all the copies of this season were taken from faded 16mm prints as if this was all they could find. Now on Antenna TV they are mostly 35mm for this season, with a few 16mm still remaining. I've also noticed that on my I Dream of Jeannie season 2 and Flying Nun season 1 sets there are several 16mm prints on these DVDs. I don't think that Sony or Columbia took very good care of their older series. When Antenna TV wanted to show The Farmer's Daughter, they couldn't because Sony couldn't find the program masters. This is sad since, in my opinion, Screen Gems produced many fine series in their heyday, and I shudder to think that some of these may be gone for good.

[Hazel Anyday]

I'm currently watching ANT TV's broadcasts of Flying Nun, I'm still in Season 1, (haven't seen the rest yet) but I noticed one episode whose color was off and faded, compared to the rest of the seemingly excellent versions (so far). That one faded greenish Flying Nun must have been a 16 mm version.

[Hazel Anyday]

Yes, I used to record CBN's Hazel's and I too was struck by how excellent they looked. As compared to a TBS Hazel I saw a year or less earlier whose color was terrible, green and faded. The CBN versions appear to be the first time that the restored Hazel's were shown. Yes, I remember how frustrating it was, CBN only showed about 3 or 4 at the most b/w Hazel's. So I never was able to get the b/w series till some years later when WOR showed it. BUT they consistently skipped "Dorothy's Birthday" and instead showed the original pilot of Hazel that used the same storyline of "Dorthy's Birthday" only the house interiors were different and Mr. B was played by Edward Andrews. Hazel also did not wear a fluffy red wig in the pilot, she used her real hair which was thinner and shorter. You can still see bits of the pilot when you watch the Don DeFore version, they carefully edited it and replaced only the Edward Andrews shots with Don Defore but kept the rest of the pilot's film of the story. Notice Hazel's hair is thinner and smaller looking in this one.

Also it wasn't until Sony released the first season that I finally was able to see the Don Defore version of "Dorothy's Birthday" This was truly a lost episode till Sony released S.1. BUT now it seems the real lost episode is the original pilot with Edward Andrews, the one WOR used to always show and I fortunately taped.

[Leslie Eckhardt]

I've never seen the original pilot version of "Dorothy's Birthday" with Edward Andrews. The Don DeFore version ran on WGN-Channel 9 here in Chicago back in the late 60s, and I saw it, but until I saw the season 1 DVD, I didn't notice the differences in the interiors or Hazel's hairdo. To me, the "alternate" kitchen with it's built-in appliances looked more modern and I liked the curving staircase as opposed to the straight staircase as well. I think the original pilot would have been a good extra for the first season set as well as a couple of promos that channel 9 ran in the late 60s. These were two original NBC promos narrated by Don DeFore with clips from "Hazel's Mona Lisa Grin" interpolated: "This is Don DeFore speaking on behalf of Hazel. A wonderfully warm human being...who loves animals.(cut to Hazel trying on Deirdre's mink coat). Sings happily at her work: "I've Been Working On The Raaaiiiiiilroad!" And is kind and helpful to others. So too, are others helpful to her: Hazel:"Thanks for comin' , you sure got here in a hurry" Charlie: "I didn't run, I flew--my feet became wings." Hazel:"Just a minute. Wipe the mud off your wings before you fly into my kitchen". I'm forgetting the next part, but it ends with George saying "When I do something wrong---when I do something wrong I hope I have a friend just like you". Hazel: "Oh you have, Mr. B. you got me!" Freeze-frame and Hazel title appears. The other, shorter promo went as follows: "This is Don DeFore speaking on behalf of Hazel. Whether she's upside-down (picture of Hazel upside-down) or rightside-up (picture flips) Hazel keeps things humming in our house. Harold speaks for the entire family when he says: 'you're a doozy'!" Freeze-frame and Hazel title appears. These were shown on channel 9 from the time they first reran Hazel in 1968 until they took it off around 1972.

[Milkamplifier]

I've never seen the original version of "Dorothy's Birthday" with Edward Andrews either. He was one of those omnipresent character actors with a very impressive body of work. You've got a rare piece of TV history there, Hazel Anyday.

I keep reading about all these promos, commercials and sponsor openings, many of which can't be seen anywhere... They would all sure make a great collection of bonus features on one of the DVDs.

I doubt will ever see them, but if I were Shout! Factory I'd put them on the season 5 DVD just to make it extra special for those fans who might be tempted not to get the final season (of course, I'll get all Hazel DVDs regardless).

[Hazel Anyday]

Leslie, I am continually impressed by your memory for detail of shows shown so long ago. I watched these shows years ago too, but darned if I could ever quote commercials for shows the way you do. Do you have recordings of these? Back in those days, late '60's I used to make audio reel to reel recordings of TV shows or movies. I used to hold the mic in front of the speaker of my b/w TV in my room and record. I got some nice recordings of Wild Wild West's exciting background music and I remember recording Laurel & Hardy sound and commercials and TV themes. At any rate, if you have any recordings of these Hazel Don Defore commercials I'd like to know. They sound great.

[Leslie Eckhardt]

Thanks for the compliment. Unfortunately, I don't have any recordings of these two spots. I remember them because Channel 9 saturated the airwaves with them back when they were re-running the series. I too used to record soundtracks from the TV back in the 60s. In fact, when the Hazel reruns started back in 1968, I was in high school and couldn't see them since they were being shown Mon-Fri at 1:00pm. However, I talked my Mother into taping the soundtrack of 1 episode for me: "How to Lure an Epicure" and I listened to it when I got home from school. I no longer have all the shows and movie soundtracks I made back then, but I did think of my late Mother when I watched "How to Lure an Epicure" on my Hazel season 2 DVD set. I also got her to tape an episode of Pete and Gladys for me in 1967 when CBS ran this very briefly during an AFTRA strike. (Pete and Gladys was another favorite of mine as a kid). "A boy's best friend is his Mother".

[Hazel Anyday]

You must be about the same age as my Aunt who was also in high school in '68. I was 7 years younger but she was more like a fun older sister to me and we'd listen & pretend to sing to our '45's that we collected. She even had a pole in her basement that we'd swing around. Pole dancing & Kari Yoki long before it was well known and had a name.

Your story of your favorite shows being on while you were in school hits an empathetic note with me too. I felt the same way, I'd think how I'm missing all my shows that were on every single weekday while I was stuck in school. From Real McCoys to Hazel to Bev. Hillbillies and yes, my favorites too Pete 'n' Gladys & I'm Dickens, He's Fenster. I was always happy on the rare occasion when I had a fever and my Mom let me stay home so I could then watch all my shows in bed. No matter if I was sick or not, I'd have to go to school, but if I had a fever I had a "Get out of Jail" card and could stay home. Yesshh, Hazel & Dennis The Menace would be mine that day. I don't think my Mom could have figured out how to tape a TV show, I never asked her, now I think I should have. She's still alive, thank goodness. Now I record things from her cable service with one of my DVD recorders at her house. Things don't change all that much do they?

[Leslie Eckhardt]

I'll be 60 in November. My Mother was the daughter of the chief engineer of Zenith radio back in the 30s and 40s. They had tape recorders and wire recorders back around 1950, when my Mom was on an amatuer program called The Morris B. Sachs Amatuer Hour, a program simulcast on radio and television. My grandfather made an audio tape of her performance on that show, in which she came in third place. She sang "The St.Louis Blues" on Christmas Eve 1950. her appearance was postponed from an earlier date, or she would have chosen something more suitable for the season. As it happened, a trio called the Mello-ettes won the competition by singing "Our Lady of Fatima". I would kill to get that old tape back, but, like many things, it has been lost to time. My Mom was pretty damn good though. A beautiful woman and professional model, she gave it all up to marry my Father and have my Sister and I. I remember leaving her instructions on how to operate my Sears Silvertone reel-to-reel tape recorder with the microphone on a little stand propped next to the speaker on my 1955 vintage Admiral black-and-white TV. This was a family set which I inherited when we moved from the city to the suburbs in 1963.

[Hazel Anyday]

Your Mom sounds like a great lady, the kind they don't make anymore. My Mom stayed home for us kids too. It was always comforting to know while we were at school that Mom was home, a phone call away if you needed her.

[Hazel Anyday]

I had a small 12 inch b/w TV in my room from about the time I was 10 or 11. I think it was a Zenith. That little TV was great and lasted for years. We didn't get a color set for the living room until 1967. I remember the first color show I ever saw, the color Superman cartoons that were on Sat. mornings. How great it was to see Superman in color on TV and see that he matched my comic books.

[Leslie Eckhardt]

Whenever I read about shows from the past painting an unrealistic picture of real family life, I think of my own family which, while not quite as ideal as that on a sitcom, it was a lot closer than you might think. My Mom cooked every night, we all sat down to dinner when my Father came home from work, which was about 6pm in those days. We'd go on little vacation trips nearly every year in the summertime. I realize that not every family was a blessed as mine to have been like this. And my Mother and Father split up after 38 years of marriage, but while it lasted it was great. With both my parents gone now, I do have some wonderful memories to look back on. Maybe part of the reason I enjoy these old TV series so much is that it reminds me of those nice days of my childhood.

[Hazel Anyday]

I think you and I must have lived double lives. My family description is practically the same. My Mom also made dinner every night, we all sat at the table and ate together, she vacumed and picked up "fuzzies" from the rug when she wasn't vacuming them. We went to Wildwood N.J. every summer for 2 weeks. I loved the trick shops and scary rides on the boardwalk. Hated the beach, it was too hot and boring. While I wished my Dad was like Hugh Beaumont, he was a yeller and a hitter, though he was always in control, my Mom was more like June Cleaver. I had a friend just like Eddie Haskel who would get us all in trouble and I had a younger brother. We were a lot like the Leave it To Beaver shows. We went outside every day and would play. We didn't have structured classes and activities that we had to attend. We made up our own fun and explored the neighborhood and walked into town to look at comic books at the newspaper stand and buy gum and candy. I too have fond memories of my childhood in the '60's and I know that's the reason I like shows from this era so much. It does indeed remind me of my days as a kid. My parents also split up after either 38 or 39 years. Odd but true.

[Hazel Anyday]

Leslie, what happened to your Danny Thomas speech? It was a nice post, you should have kept it.