In “Do It Yourself,” Eve Arden and a Strong Cast Lifted This Our Miss Brooks Episode

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https://popculturereferences.com/in-...rooks-episode/

Today, we see how Eve Arden and a strong cast lifted a classic Our Miss Brooks episode.



Today, we see how Eve Arden and a strong cast lifted a classic Our Miss Brooks episode.

This is a delayed Year of Great TV Episodes, where every day from March 2nd on this year (plus January 1st-March 1st of 2024), we’ll take a look at great TV episodes. Note that I’m not talking about “Very Special Episodes” or episodes built around gimmicks, but just “normal” episodes of TV shows that are notable only because of how good they are.

All this month, I’ll be spotlighting great female-centric TV episodes.

When the Emmys Awards debuted in 1949, they were only for shows produced in Los Angeles. It wouldn’t be until 1952 (the 4th Annual Emmy Awards) that they became a national award. That first national ceremony only gave out “Best Actor” and “Best Actress” awards.

They expanded to “Best Comedian” and “Best Comedienne” in the following Emmys, and Lucille Ball won her first Emmy for I Love Lucy.

They finally debuted Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress in Continuing Series awards in 1954 at the 6th Annual Emmy Awards.

It would take A DOZEN years before they began to distinguish between Comedy and Drama Series in terms of acting awards. Interestingly enough, though, at that very first Best Actress in a Continuing Series award, it did NOT go to Lucille Ball, but to Eve Arden for Our Miss Brooks.

Like a number of the earliest TV sitcoms, Our Miss Brooks was originally a radio sitcom. The cast from the radio show mostly made the transition to TV with the show, with one notable exception that I’ll note later.

The show was about Connie Brooks, a single high school English teacher who rented a room from a nice old lady, Mrs. Davis (Jane Morgan), who was in love with the school’s Biology teacher, Philip Boynton (Jeff Chandler on radio, Robert Rockwell on TV. Chandler became a movie star soon after the radio series debuted, but he held true to his commitment to the series until he just couldn’t do both the radio show AND his many film roles, so he gave it up after five seasons, with Rockwell taking over the role, as the radio show actually outlasted the TV show despite launching four years before the TV show).

Brooks frequently had conflicts with the school’s principal, Osgood Conklin (played by the legendary Gale Gordon, one of the best officious *******s in TV history), and she would often get caught up in shenanigans caused by one of her students, Walter Denton (Richard Crenna), who is dating Conklin’s daughter. Walter drives his teacher to school, and he knows about her unrequited love for Boynton, and he often does what he can to help Cupid’s arrow along for those two.

Crenna was a very charming actor, so it’s funny seeing him do a squeaky voice to maintain Walter being a bit of a dweeb. He was also 26 when the show STARTED, so by the end, he was 30 years old still playing a high school student, which was weird.

In any event, I typically like to go early in a show’s run, and, again, for the FIRST time I mention a show, I want the most “typical” episode I could get, and in the case of Our Miss Brooks, there were two different types of “typical” episodes. One was Brooks getting caught up in some sort of shenanigan, and another was Brooks getting caught up in a shenanigan while trying to win Boynton’s heart. I prefer the former type of episodes.

I generally think the second season was a bit better than the first season, so I’m going to pick a Season 2 episode, “Do It Yourself,” which was written and directed by Al Lewis, the creator of the show (not to be confused with the comedic actor by the same name). Joseph Quillan co-wrote the episode., so I figured I’d pick a Season 2 episode, “Do It Yourself,” which was written and directed by Al Lewis, the creator of the show (not to be confused with the comedic actor by the same name). Joseph Quillan co-wrote the episode.

One of the things that was cool about the show was how down-to-Earth Connie’s life was. She didn’t make a lot of money, and money was often a factor in stories, including this one. Her nightstand breaks, and she plans to buy a new one. Walter suggests that she just build one herself, as there are “Do It Yourself” kits which cost MUCH less than what it would cost to buy a nightstand from a furniture store.

Connie notes that she would need tools, and Walter explains that she could just borrow the school’s tools that are used in shop class. She’ll just have to pretend that she’s done carpentry before so that Principal Conklin will let her use the tools.

Of course, this being a sitcom, Conklin recently saw his garage burn down following some faulty wiring he did, and, being a cheapskate, he would love to avoid paying much to get it replaced. So, when he learns that Connie is a master carpenter, he asks her to do it for him. He’ll supply the material, she just has to put it together, and since Walter has made her out to be one of the greatest carpenters around, it should be easy enough for her to do it, right?

Phillip and Walter help Connie out, and there’s a great bit where they are all reading “How to” guides on carpentry together. Walter eventually gets the guys in shop class to agree to help out by building a basic frame, and Connie and Philip and Walter will use prefab material to add the walls.

Of course, things go horribly wrong in the end.

Arden was such a talented actor that she keeps the absurd scenario feeling downright relatable in a way that even Lucille Ball never quite sold on I Love Lucy.