The Terrible Catsafterme

SEASON 1 – CBS

Created by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin

Theme song: “And Then There’s Maude (Maude’s Theme”) written by Marilyn & Alan Bergman and Dave Grusin, sung by Donny Hathaway

NOTE: This series was a spin-off of the series “All in the Family”

• 001. Maude’s Problem (aka Maude and the Psychiatrist) – 9/12/1972
  • Maude Findlay (Beatrice Arthur) is an outspoken liberal woman living with her fourth husband Walter (Bill Macy), a Maytag dealer, and her daughter from her second marriage, Carol Traynor (Adrienne Barbeau), and Carol’s son Phillip in Tuckahoe, New York. Maude has suspicions about where Carol has been going on Tuesday nights, especially when she finds out that Carol has been crying. Maude gets it out of her that she is seeing a psychiatrist, but Carol will not tell her why. An argument ensues and Carol tells her mother that she is moving out. Maude goes to see her doctor, Dr. Stern (William Redfield) – kicking out another patient (Helen Page Camp) to get the appointment. Dr. Stern refuses to discuss Carol, but Maude ends up telling him her life story which causes her to realize the resentments that she had against her overbearing mother. Maude returns home with more understanding of Carol’s feelings, and Maude gets her to tell her that she loves her. 8/17/15 Read the rest of this entry »

SEASON 1 – CBS

Created by Jay Sommers

This series was based on the short-lived radio program “Granby’s Green Acres” which aired in 1950. In addition, the series was created to be a sister series that existed in the same universe as the series “Petticoat Junction”

Theme song composed by Vic Mizzy, sung by Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor

• 001. Oliver Buys a Farm – 9/15/1965
  • Narrator John Daly (himself) tells the story of Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert) who as a young boy (Jackie Jones) is encouraged by his father (Eddie Albert) to become a prominent lawyer, despite that fact that young Oliver’s aspirations lie with farming. He eventually does become a successful lawyer living on Park Avenue in New York City, but still longs for the farm life. He tries to convince his wife Lisa (Eva Gabor) to move, but she in turn suggests that he try growing some crops on the apartment terrace. Oliver eventually finds some cheap farmland in the town of Hooterville, where he visits and meets the operate of the General Store Sam Drucker (Frank Cady), the manager of the Shady Rest Hotel “Uncle Joe” Carson (Edgar Buchanan), pig farmer Fred Ziffel (Hank Patterson), and the conductor of the Hooterville Cannonball Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis). He ends up purchasing the old Haney Farm, much to the surprise of everyone in town. Lisa is inconsolable when she finds out and enlists Oliver’s mother Eunice (Eleanor Audley) to talk him out of it. Eventually Lisa agrees to give the farm a try for six months. When they pull up to the ramshackle dwelling, he tells her that he’s named the farm “Green Acres.” Willis Buchey is Oliver’s former boss Mr. Felton. 8/17/15

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SEASON 1 – NBC

Created by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider

Opening theme: “(Theme from) The Monkees” written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, performed by The Monkees

• 001. Royal Flush – 9/12/1966
  • The Monkees (themselves – Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith) are a struggling band trying to make a name for themselves in Los Angeles. One day while visiting the beach, Davy saves a struggling girl from drowning when the raft that her Uncle Otto gave to her loses air. Her Uncle Otto (Theo Marcuse) happens to be nearby with his chauffeur Sigmund (Vincent Beck). The Archduke Otto informs Davy that he has rescued Princess Bettina of Harmonica (Katherine Walsh) and warns him to stay away. Because she leaves with his jacked, and because he is concerned for her safety, Davy tells the other guys and they stakeout the hotel where they are staying. They trick a chambermaid (Ceil Cabot) out of the room next to the royal chambers. They then phone Otto and ask him to come next door so they can show him the thrones they are selling. While Micky, Peter, and Michael keep him and Sigmund busy, Davy sneaks in and plays a recording they made of Otto planning to poison Bettina that night at her 18th birthday ball, at which time she will become the queen. During a musical interlude of This Just Doesn’t Seem to Be My Day, and Bettina spend a romantic morning on the beach, Sigmund pursues Micky, while Peter digs a hole for Otto to fall into. Sigmund follows them back to their apartment, and he calls Otto and they confront the Monkees and threaten to kill Battina. Davy tells them that she has sent a letter back to Harmonica stating that if she doesn’t show up to her ball, it is because Otto killed her. Otto takes her to the ball, and leaves Sigmund to watch over the Monkees. They eventually overpower him and head to the ball, where Davy sword fights him to the music of Take a Giant Step. Just as Otto is about to kill Davy, Peter announces that it is midnight, and Bettina is now the queen. She has Otto arrested and all live happily ever after.  The Monkees return to the hotel which they find the chambermaid now owns. With the episode a minutes short, the Monkees are interviewed by one of the series creators (Bob Rafelson) to fill the time. Director James Frawley is the voice on the phone.. Dick Wilson appears unbilled as a waiter at the ball. NOTE: Songs were substituted for summer reruns (You Told Me and The Girl I Knew Somewhere) and Saturday morning (Apples, Peaches, Bananas, and Pears and You Told Me) airings to promote more current material. 7/26/20

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SEASON 1 – NBC

Created by Dick St. Clair and Jenna McMahon

The series is a spin-off of the sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes”

Theme song: “The Facts of Life” written by Al Burton, Gloria Loring, and Alan Thicke. Performed by Charlotte Rae and cast (Episodes 1-6), and then by the cast minus Rae. 

• 001. Rough Housing – 8/24/1979
  • Housekeeper Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) has temporarily left her job working for Phil Drummond (Conrad Bain) and his daughter Kimberly (Dana Plato) and adopted sons Willis (Todd Bridges) and Arnold Jackson (Gary Coleman) to assist at Kimberly’s private school Eastland in Peekskill, New York. As Mrs. Garrett and the girls prepare for the upcoming Harvest Ball, Mr. Drummond and the kids come to attend the ball and to ask Mrs. Garrett to return home. She promises that she will eventually. The school’s new headmaster Stephen Bradley (John Lawlor) hopes to loosen some of the long-standing rules of the school, namely the curfew on the night of the ball, but one of the long-standing teachers Miss Emily Mahoney (Jenny O’Hara) objects to him. The core group of students who Mrs. Garrett is caring for include the affluent and somewhat snooty Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel), tomboy Cindy Webster (Julie Anne Haddock), the young roller skate-wearing Dorothy “Tootie” Ramsey (Kim Fields), the portly and jovial Natalie Green (Mindy Cohn), Sue Ann Weaver (Julie Piekarski), freckle-faced Molly Parker (Molly Ringwald) and brunette Nancy Olson (Felice Schachter). When Mr. Bradley inquires about who will be running for the Harvest Queen, Blair thinks her standing as winner for two-years running makes her a shoo-in, but Sue Ann also nominates Cindy. She lacks the confidence but the other girls convince her to give it a go and she finally agrees, hugging Sue Ann and telling her that she loves her for nominating her. Blair makes snide comments about her tomboyishness and goes further by insinuating that Cindy only likes girls. This gives her a crisis of confidence, and she announces she is dropping out of the contest. Mrs. Garrett talks with her and convinces that everyone is different in the speed in which they bloom or take an interest in boys. Mrs. Garrett then confronts Blair and insinuates to her that she knows Blair has been with a lot of men. Blair claims to only be a tease and adamantly insists that Mrs. Garrett is unfairly judging her. Mrs. Garrett points out that this is exactly how she treated Cindy. Blair realizes her mistake and apologizes to Cindy and encourages her to run against her. Blair ends up winning, and wins over her crush Greg Hockney, but Cindy confesses that her clock began its romantic ticking when Greg saw her in the dress that Mrs. Garrett helped make for her and gave her a wink, much to Blair’s irritation. The Drummond family helps celebrate both girls’ victories. 7/25/20

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SEASON 1 – CBS

Created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

Theme song “Georgia on My Mind” written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, performed by Doc Severinsen

• 001. Designing Women – 9/29/1986
  • Atlanta, Georgia based businesswomen Julia (Dixie Carter) and her younger sister Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke) combine their resources and form their own interior design company Sugarbaker & Associates. The elegant and liberal Julia acts as president at the firm, while self-centered former Miss Georgia World Suzanne holds no official title. Also investing in the partnership is Charlene Frazier (Jean Smart), a former secretary of Julia’s late husband Hayden MacLeroy, and Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts), Charlene’s next-door neighbor and the main designer. As the ladies try to keep the business out of the red, Suzanne announces that her gynecologist is retiring. Mary Jo suggests the services of her ex-husband Ted (Scott Bakula), from who she was just recently divorced after helping put him through medical school. Suzanne goes to see him, and when she returns, she announces that she is now dating him. Mary Jo is livid, considering all she contributed to his career and the fact that he constantly cheated on her. Ted winds up proposing to Suzanne, and so she arranges to have Ted over so that he and Mary Jo can work out their differences. Mary Jo tells him that all she ever wanted from him was a thank you for all she did to help him. He comes through with a sincere thank you, making Mary Jo feel grateful for the whole situation. Arlen Dean Snyder is Ray Don Simpson, who hits on the women in a restaurant and is severely rebuffed. 7/24/20

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