Who the hell said vaudeville was dead. I watched these episodes when they originally came out. This is still down right funny. Always laughed when Kay would bite her fist Italian style when she was mad at Roger. To all the haters who think these shows are dumb, they were clean and alot funnier than alot of the junk that passes for entertainment today. That's why I cancelled my cable, thank God for RU-vid where yesterday lives again.
Ballard and Arden were perfectly matched in their comic abilities. You won't see this kind of acting power again till Arthur, Getty, McClanahan and White take the stage.
I remember watching this with my parents in 1969 when I was 9. My father was a big Eve Arden fan, and my mother, being Italian, loved Kay Ballard's character. I loved the women's fashions back then; they were so bright and colorful! Almost every 1960s-early-1970s TV show concerned the generation gap; (those dirty Hippies! lol) and the new, hip-n-happenin', Mod, far out times! It was so exciting and fun, although I knew, even then, that I would never be cool enough to say "Groovy!" *HOW I MISS THOSE DAYS!*
@dakotahstr When I was growing up in Toronto, we got it on the American networks that were broadcast over the border. It didn't run for long, but it was wonderful -- especially Eve Arden and Kay Ballard working off each other!
I watched this show in syndication, was about five or six, thought it was funny then. But now I really see the theater influence of the actors. Love these people though, brings back great memories for me.
An "I Love Lucy" script written by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's writers starring Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard! LMAO. But this was still a great show. It's a shame it never did too well in the ratings. I always liked it.
I watched this show when it came out. Loved it when Eve would say, "We've got to think of something else for you to call me," whenever Jerry would address her as Mother Hubbard.
It's a really good show. In many ways it is the same show as "I Love Lucy." The secret sauce that helped make both shows a success was Desi Arnaz and the writing team from "I Love Lucy," Madelyn Pugh Davis and Bob Carroll. There was something missing in the subsequent Lucy incarnations, e.g., "Here's Lucy," and I suspect it is their absence from those Desi Arnaz productions that made the difference. If you add the set-up, chemistry and backstage talent of "The Mothers-in-Law" to the comic performance genius of Lucille Ball you get "I Love Lucy" again.
dotcomguy79, Eve Arden was marvelous. Like Cary Grant, she had a wisecracking character and personae she carried from one performance to the next whether it was radio, movies or television, and she went from success to success. I don't know why she doesn't have the same degree of following as others, perhaps because she played against others so well as opposed to Lucille Ball or Gracie Allen who were better known as personalities unto themselves, though both were tightly tied to their straight man husbands.
I notice many of the actors had that very theatrical exaggerated delivery for T.V. in the 60's & 70's. Maybe it had something to do with the sound systems back then. I was very little when this first aired but I remember the reruns. This was great T.V. when you're a kid & don't know much. It was nice to look back though.
I don't think even one person spelled Kaye's name correctly. She was wonderful, and admitted in a very late interview, although it seemed everyone knew her, she wasn't a star. She was to me.
I agree. We're not witnessing great writing here, but we are watching Eve and Kaye act it out of the park. Their performances are what makes this show memorable.
"I Love Lucy" re-tread! Thanx for the post...great middle-of-the-pack sit-com from the sixties...these shows...at their worst, are still better than the garbage that they call sit-coms today...except for "Modern Family"!!!
igluver15, there are incredible shows today and it is practically a second golden age of television, but none of them are sitcoms or on network TV as this was. The classic farcical sitcom, perhaps one of the last and best being "Frasier," has all but vanished. Also, the market has become so splintered that this show was probably seen by more people on its worst rated broadcast than the best rated episodes of shows on today.
Another poster remarked how much this show was like "I Love Lucy." Other than that, it was pretty good; the casting was quite inspired and they did try to make the show around the personalities, at least to a degree.
Good. I barely remember this from the 60s. Basically, stellar acting, tight scripts.Almost exactly like I love Lucy, The Honeymooners, and the Flintstones. Couple argues, gets back together.
I love old shows like this however, this was one dumb show although I didn't mind it when I was ten years old. But now?...... I think the actors were used to acting on Broadway because they have a very theatrical and loud delivery style. This show was beneath the talents of these fine actors. Thanks for sharing though!
Hmm, don't agree, at age 60 I think it holds up, largely due to the appealing cast. Very silly, yes, and quite broad by today's standards, but still made me laugh
My sisters played the twins! Kay used to shout "my babies" each day the girls showed up on the set. For 30 seconds only total filming time per day. Q: I or no one in the whole family knows where any footage is these days, does anyone have access to copies of the Mother's In Law with the babies? If so please message me & upload if possible. I believe it was the first few episodes in season II when they were born, and ran to the season's end, I believe when the show was cancelled. Eve Arden was a doll as was Kay Ballard.
There's always many reasons a show doesn't make it and it's not usually because a show was just no good. This isn't the funniest show ever but pretty good I think compared to other shows from the same era.
The show failed because the actor who played Roger demanded a huge pay increase for the second season and CBS refused to agree to a budget increase for another season. Everyone else on the the show agreed to accept the same salary to keep the production running, including Desi Arnaz, who begged him not to kill the show. He refused to back down and the show was cancelled.
Hmm, while I'm the first to agree Roger C. Carmel was vastly better than Richard Deacon, I don't agree the show depended quite that heavily on the Roger character. Thought there must have been something else...?
Bob Carroll, Jr. and Madelyn Davis, who were the "architects" of "I LOVE LUCY" (and wrote for Lucy's radio show, "MY FAVORITE HUSBAND", before that), also created and wrote this series as well. Desi knew the value of great writers, and also knew what great "domestic" comedy scripts Bob and Madelyn could come up with...