The Terrible Catsafterme

SEASON 1 – CBS

Created by Carl Reiner

Theme music by Earle Hagen

• 000. Head of the Family – 7/19/1960
  • Rob Petrie (Carl Reiner) works as a writer for The Allan Sturdy Show along with fellow writers Sally Rogers (Sylvia Miles) and Buddy Sorrell (Morty Gunty). At home, Rob’s wife Laura (Barbara Britton) is confronted by their neighbor Mrs. Harley (Jean Sincere), as Rob has promised to write the verbiage for her information on the school bazaar for the school bulleti. Although he hasn’t completed it yet, Laura promises her that he will. Meanwhile, Rob and Laura’s six-year-old son Ritchie (Gary Morgan) is upset because two of his friends, Freddie (Mannie Sloan) and Roy (Joey Trent) have made fun of him because his father is nothing but a TV writer for a show that their fathers think stinks. Ritchie thinks that his father doesn’t have a real job and furthermore, doesn’t have time to play baseball with him on Sundays since that is when the show airs. When Rob returns home from work and finds out that his so suddenly doesn’t like him, he reluctantly agrees with Laura’s suggestion to take Ritchie to work and show him how important his work is. Things don’t go too well during the course of their day at the office, as neither Buddy nor Sally seem to show any respect for Rob and constantly want to take breaks. Allan Sturdy (Jack Wakefield) then calls Rob into his office, so he takes Ritchie with him, who then gets to witness Rob getting yelled at because Allan doesn’t care for the monologue. As the day at the office ends, Ritchie wants to go home and has no more appreciation of his father’s job than he started with. Alan tries to make him feel better by buying him a new football, a helmet, and shoulder pads. The next day, Ritchie heads off to school and gives his father the cold shoulder. When he arrives at school, he finds Freddie and Roy and a group of students reading the school bulletin and laughing uproariously. Ritchie joins in laughing at the invitation to the school bazaar, only to learn from his teacher (Nancy Kenyon) that it was written by his father. The teacher asks if his father makes him laugh a lot and says it must be fun living at his house. All of the kids fuss about how great of a writer his father is. When Rob gets home from work that night, he finds that Ritchie is in a great mood and is thrilled to learn that his father can make a funny poem any time he wants. Milton Kamen is Snappy, the food delivery man. NOTE: This pilot episode originally was aired as part of the anthology series The Comedy Spot. It was later adapted into The Dick Van Dyke Show episode Father of the Week. 8/2/25

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SEASON 1 – FOX

Created by Larry Willmore, based on the stand-up comedy of Bernie Mac

Theme song written by Stanley Smith

• 001. Pilot – 11/14/2001
  • Bernie Mac (himself aka Bernie McCullough) is a stand-up comedian living in Los Angeles with his wife Wanda (Kellita Smith), who has to take care for his sister’s three kids Vanessa (Camille Winbush), Jordan (Jeremy Suarez), and Bryana Thompkins (Dee Dee Davis), when their mother Stacey enters rehab. Bernie addresses ‘America’ and tells the tale of how he picked them up from the airport and encountered problems immediately when Jordan has a meltdown. He introduces the rules of the house including not touching any of his things. He later has to pick up Jordan’s asthma medicine at the drug store, where Jordan has an accident and pees on the photo counter as Bernie frantically tries to get him to the restroom. Bernie gives Vanessa a hard time when she disrespects him in front of his friends Chuy (Carlos Mencia), Kelly Perine (himself), and W.B. (Reginald Ballard). She ends up calling Children’s Services about Bernie’s threats and language, and Bernie has to meet with social worker Brad Cooley (Matt Besser) who tells him he needs to quit smoking his cigars. Bernie regains some his composure when Wanda encourages Vanessa to apologize to him. Jordan apologizes as well, although Bernie isn’t sure what he did. 2/14/15

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SEASON 1 – NBC

Created by Aaron Ruben

Theme song by Earle Hagen

• 001. Diana, Substitute Mother – 4/14/1982
  • At Millard Fillmore High School in Los Angeles, a student named Ginger Peterson (Cindy Fisher) follows British English teacher Diana Swanson (Lynn Redgrave) into the teachers’ cafeteria to return a book from her. This arouses the ire of the vice principal Mr. Brody (Norman Bartold), who is a stickler for the rules about students being in the teachers’ area. Both Diana and fellow teacher Gwen Edwards (Van Nessa Clarke) are much less concerned. The express their annoyance at Mr. Brody to the school principal Ben Cooper (Norman Fell), who is much more diplomatic but suggests that the rules should be followed and that the teachers shouldn’t get too close to the students. Later, while Miss Swanson works on choosing the winner of the Spring essay contest, Heroes: Past and Present, she is visited by the custodian Mr. Pafko (Richard Karron), who suggests that if he fixed her desk, he might be considered a hero himself. She also is visited by science teacher Michael Dreyfuss (Adam Arkin), who asks her out on a date. She has to decline because she is spending the evening with her apartment neighbor David (Mark Metcalf) on their laundry date. Ginger also stops by in hopes of finding out won the contest, and Miss Swanson tells her that it is her. Ginger is thrilled, until she finds out that there will be an awards ceremony for the parents of the winners, and she suddenly seems distressed. Miss Swanson tells her that if there is something bothering her, her door is always open. Miss Swanson later finds out from the gossipy school secretary, Lois McCardle (Kit McDonough) tells her that Ginger’s parents are separated and on their way to a divorce. That evening, while Diana is on her date with David at her apartment, Ginger shows up with her suitcases ready to move in. She is upset that her mother has run off on a date, while her father is living in New York. She didn’t even have the opportunity to tell her mother about her award. Miss Swanson tells her that she had better go home, as her mother would worry about her. Ginger slinks off, but on Monday morning, she still hasn’t shown up at home, and her mother (Sally Kemp) is now in Mr. Cooper’s office worried sick. Ginger had left a note that she was going to stay with Miss Swanson, the only person who cared about her. Diana feels terrible, while Mrs. Swanson blames her for not caring enough to let her stay with her. Mr. Cooper lectures her that this is why it is best to not get involved with her students. He later feels bad and stops by her apartment that evening to try and make her feel better, telling her a tale about a time he got close to a student, who used his advice to win money at the track and didn’t share with him. Mr. Cooper gets a phone call from the police, telling him that a girl fitting Ginger’s description has been last seen boarding a bus out of town. As Diana becomes even more worried, Ginger shows up at her door and tells her that she was headed to New York to visit her father in New York but then turned back when she realized that he too was probably just as damaged by the divorce as her mother was. She had already stopped at home to let her mother know that she is back. Ginger realizes that it is her parents’ decision to get divorced and that she had better learn to accept it. 2/21/25

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SEASON 1 – ABC

Theme music by Herschel Burke Gilbert

• 001. The Sharpshooter – 9/30/1958
  • In the early 1880’s following the death of his wife homesteader and Union Civil War veteran Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) and his ten-year old son Mark (Johnny Crawford) come from their hometown Enid, Oklahoma to the town of North Fork in the New Mexico Territory where McCain plans to buy and operate a ranch. Meanwhile a sharpshooter named Vernon Tippert (Dennis Hopper) plans to enter a turkey shoot contest and his uncle Wes (Charles Arnt) desires to place outside bets on Tippert. McCain and Mark come upon the old Dunlap Ranch and seek out Judge Hanavan (Sidney Blackmer) to purchase it. They check into a California House hotel run by the Judge and his wife Nancy (Kathleen Mulqueen), and he also registers with the judge to enter the shoot using his rifle. When Sheriff Fred Tomlinson (R.G. Armstrong) overhears Mark chatting with Vernon and realizes that where he came from, he was known as The Rifleman, everyone starts betting on him with Jim Lewis (Leif Erickson), the man who basically runs the town. When it becomes clear that Lewis will kill both Vernon and Mark if he wins, he throws the contest with one shot off center. Lewis mocks Lucas, and the judge, who lost a lot of money on him, refuses to sell him the ranch. Wes Tippert tries to claim the money that Lewis promised him if Vernon won, and Lewis kills him. When Vernon hears about his uncle he heads to the Last Chance Saloon for revenge, but Lucas heads there to claim Vernon’s money and takes them all out in a shootout. Vernon joins to assist him and is shot in the hand. As Lucas and Mark start to head out of town, the Judge asks them to stay. Carl Lamprey is Mickey Simpson. Virginia Aldridge is the waitress. 2/4/18

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SEASON 1 – ABC

Created by William S. Roberts and developed by Donna Reed and Tony Owen

Theme song: “Happy Days” by Irving Friedman, William Loose, Stu Phillips, and Hans J. Salter

• 001. Weekend Trip – 9/24/1958
  • Donna Stone (Donna Reed) fields the complaints from her children Mary (Shelly Fabares) and Jeff (Paul Petersen), who are upset because their father Dr. Alex Stone (Carl Betz) can’t spend time with them skiing or playing chess because his job as the Hilldale pediatrician keeps him so busy. Donna suggests a weekend getaway to Owens Mountain, but he can’t justify leaving his patients behind. When Donna arranges for their friend Bo Boland (Jackie Kelk) to cover his practice, Alex informs her that he is also testifying for his friend, bank manager George Heiser (Howard Wendell), who is trying to get out of a ticket. Donna then convinces Heiser that this could bring bad publicity to the bank, so he drops the case. Then Donna’s friend Marge Whitman (Louise Lewis) reminds her that Donna was supposed to host a luncheon that weekend, but Marge takes it over. Finally Alex’s patient Edmund Barclay (Hugh Corcoran) gets sick, and Alex can’t diagnose the issue. Donna figures out that he is avoiding school to steer clear of bully Sloppy Callahan who has just moved away. She visits Edmund and his mother (Alice Reinhart) and tells him the news about Sloppy, and suddenly his health is restored. Mary goes on ahead to the lake with the McLanes, but Jeff comes down with chicken pox and they decide to cancel the trip. Donna and Alex decide to not notify Bo that the trip was canceled so that they can have some time together in front of a fire after all. 1/29/14 Read the rest of this entry »