Fair Exchange -- Bad Timing - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

sbwalker53 · 03-16-2002, 09:02 PM

I was a big fan of Fair Exchange during its short run when I was nine and was very disappointed when it was cancelled -- TWICE! -- at the end of 1962 and again in the spring of 1963. Thinking back, one could only imagine how big a hit this sitcom would have been had CBS unleashed it only one year later. Had they done so, it may have seen a long and successful run because of Beatlemania and the British rock 'n' roll invasion of 1964. The story lines! The guest stars! Had the Fab Four arrived on our shores a year earlier or Fair Exchange premiered a year later, we may have been seeing its reruns on TV Land today!

Jimbo · 03-23-2002, 08:03 PM

It's great to know that somebody else remembers "Fair Exchange"! I remember that one of the daughters was played by Judy Carne, who is best remembered today as the "Sock It To Me" Girl on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In".

There's two episodes in particular I remember:

The American daughter living in London becomes homesick, so her British family has a "Fourth of July" party for her (even though they were celebrating "the day we lost the war").

Both families decide to surprise the other by flying across the Atlantic to visit each other, only to discover that neither family was home (I remember one scene where the two planes pass each other over the Atlantic).

Thanks sbwalker 53! - You've made my day!

sbwalker53 · 03-23-2002, 08:32 PM

Jimbo!
You've made my day as well! Yes, I remember distinctly the two planes passing each other over the Atlantic! And for some reason, I remember this bit of dialogue from, I believe, the pilot epsiode: in a long distance phone conversation, in which each family member got on, the American son asks his overseas counterpart, "Are you British?" to which Neville responds, "Of course I'm British!" That soundbite has stuck in my memory for 40 years! And the British family always called the United States "the colonies."
Since so few episodes were filmed and its ratings so poor, I regret we'll never get to see it again. I maintain that the ratings would have been so much higher had it coincided with America's love affair with things British thanks to the Beatles merely one year later.
Great show! Thanks so much for responding!
Scott

03-16-2002, 09:02 PM	#1
sbwalker53 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 09, 2002 Location: Middletown, Connecticut Posts: 51	Fair Exchange -- Bad Timing I was a big fan of Fair Exchange during its short run when I was nine and was very disappointed when it was cancelled -- TWICE! -- at the end of 1962 and again in the spring of 1963. Thinking back, one could only imagine how big a hit this sitcom would have been had CBS unleashed it only one year later. Had they done so, it may have seen a long and successful run because of Beatlemania and the British rock 'n' roll invasion of 1964. The story lines! The guest stars! Had the Fab Four arrived on our shores a year earlier or Fair Exchange premiered a year later, we may have been seeing its reruns on TV Land today!

03-23-2002, 08:03 PM	#2
Jimbo Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 29, 2001 Location: United States of America-One Nation UNDER GOD! Posts: 471	It's great to know that somebody else remembers "Fair Exchange"! I remember that one of the daughters was played by Judy Carne, who is best remembered today as the "Sock It To Me" Girl on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In". There's two episodes in particular I remember: The American daughter living in London becomes homesick, so her British family has a "Fourth of July" party for her (even though they were celebrating "the day we lost the war"). Both families decide to surprise the other by flying across the Atlantic to visit each other, only to discover that neither family was home (I remember one scene where the two planes pass each other over the Atlantic). Thanks sbwalker 53! - You've made my day!

03-23-2002, 08:32 PM	#3
sbwalker53 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 09, 2002 Location: Middletown, Connecticut Posts: 51	Jimbo! You've made my day as well! Yes, I remember distinctly the two planes passing each other over the Atlantic! And for some reason, I remember this bit of dialogue from, I believe, the pilot epsiode: in a long distance phone conversation, in which each family member got on, the American son asks his overseas counterpart, "Are you British?" to which Neville responds, "Of course I'm British!" That soundbite has stuck in my memory for 40 years! And the British family always called the United States "the colonies." Since so few episodes were filmed and its ratings so poor, I regret we'll never get to see it again. I maintain that the ratings would have been so much higher had it coincided with America's love affair with things British thanks to the Beatles merely one year later. Great show! Thanks so much for responding! Scott