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Don DeFore was excellent in "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet." But from this video you can see why this pilot was unsold. And it turned out fine in the end. One year later Don DeFore was cast as Mr. B in "Hazel."
Perry Como's production company- "Roncom", named after his son Ronnie- produced several pilots during 1960 (including this one). The only ones that were produced as a series were "HAPPY" and "TATE".......which were scheduled back to back as the 1960 summer replacement for Perry's "KRAFT MUSIC HALL".
Roncom later joined forces with Universal to produce "Run For Your Life" and "Kraft Suspense Theater", and would also collaborate with ITC in England for the series "Court Martial".
Perry Como agreed to produce "KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATRE" in addition to his monthly "KRAFT MUSIC HALL" series (which alternated with "SUSPENSE THEATRE", because Perry wanted more time to relax, play golf, record, and produce other TV programs) from 1963 through 1965 [he continued his Kraft specials through 1967]. Remember, the pilots for "COURT MARTIAL" {"The Case Against Paul Ryker"} and "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE" {"Rapture at Two-Forty"} were originally presented as "SUSPENSE THEATRE" episodes....and there were several other pilots that never became series of their own..........
It's nice to see Don DeFore in anything rare, so thanks for this. Unfortunately this resembles so many other bland family comedies of this era, it doesn't make much of an impression.
It seems as if the 60's was banking too much on plots with entire families involved, which must have been found too staid to sell. Of course, movie-goers who were addicted to movies of the 40's and 50's will fondly recall Don Defore in such films as Romance on the high seas, She's working her way through college and many others. Even in the 60's, he has retained most of his pleasant features.
~ That introduction of the actors at the beginning was god awful! That alone would have alerted me to the high possibility that the following program was going to be a turkey if I had been a possible sponsor ~
"......and the response from potential advertisers is *fantastic!* Here's what Mr. Arvis Jeffords of Meshugina Motors thought of it......" *"BURN IT!"* "......and Mr. Wyle Andross of OhJoy Foods said-----" *"I'd rather sponsor a half-hour of watching paint dry."* "....and Mr. Mendel Benderbaste, representing the Foono division of Libjack Industries, had *this* to say.........." *"Come on, you promised a free lunch after I sat through this dreck! I'M HUNGRY!!!!!!!!!"*
I thought Aunt Arlene was the great aunt of the kids. Not thrilled with the actress who played the second eldest. Maybe it's the lines that were written but she seems so saccharine.
I'm sorry to say this but having to see the same pop-out "Having Fun? Click the LIKE button!" a half-dozen times throughout this wonderful episode really dampened the experience for me.
Sorry to hear that, Neal. I am searching for some way to help the channel grow so I can keep publishing content. I had thought these small short graphics would not be too intrusive. I have waited over two years to even start the whole "subscribe, like" thing. But I find that in order to survive we need to build viewership and Patrons who help support the work. Can you suggest a way to do this without doing some promotions inside the videos? Cause I really can't figure out what to do. I do appreciate your feedback, it is very important to hear what you are thinking, and also, I really appreciate you, and your support of the channel.
@@VintageFilmChannel I had heard from another account here that RU-vid decided to change the way they subsidize content so I completely understand the need to attract subcribers. The only suggestion I can make to keep the videos uncluttered would be to make it possible for viewers to make donations to your channel, which I’d be more than happy to do.
Hi Neal, sorry for the late reply. I do have a patron subscription set up at vintagefilmchannel.com but you have demonstrated my problem. Almost no one knows about it. Sounds like a pure donation button might be appropriate as well. This isn't a business but it does have a bunch of overhead that is hard to cover. The whole "like" think is supposed to help RU-vid promote the channel, so my thought was to quietly suggest that. But Patron support helps the best I think. Anyway, I know you are very supportive personally and I really appreciate that. I am taking a few months to help a family member to get through some medical issues but I will be back in the fall with many more videos.
I like Don Defore but this seems more like a 50s sitcom than something from the very early 60s. I wonder if the lack of a laugh track is why it seems so...flat? lifeless?
Perhaps if this had become a series, a laugh track might have been added, as network executives believed every filmed sitcom needed artificial chuckles, so that viewers would know what to laugh at. Ironically, Don DeFore's next pilot was Max Shulman's "DADDY-O", a proposed 1961 sitcom satirizing the artificial world of TV sitcoms {and was certainly NOT going to be scheduled on CBS, because their ruthless president, James T. Aubrey, didn't like "inside show biz" sitcoms- especially those that reflected the kind of bland, inane and mindless sitcoms he was scheduling on the network at the time}.
All these shows with a widowed father, family affair, courtship of Eddies father, Bachelor father, Brady bunch, rifleman, and raising kids on their own. this was not a good pilot. Is he so dumb not to ask girl coach? .
