Love and Marriage is an American situation comedy which aired on NBC from September 21, 1959, to January 25, 1960, starring William Demarest (1892-1983), prior to his role as Uncle Charley O'Casey on the sitcom My Three Sons.
Synopsis
Demarest appears in the series as William Harris, the owner of the nearly bankrupt Harris Music Publishing Company in Tin Pan Alley in New York City.[1] Stubby Kaye (1918-1997) co-starred as promotion man Stubby Wilson. Jeanne Bal appeared as Pat Baker, William's daughter. Murray Hamilton was cast as attorney Steve Baker, William's son-in-law, and the Bakers' young daughters, Susan and Jennie, were played by Susan Reilly and Jennie Lynn, respectively. Kay Armen portrayed Sophie, the secretary who became engaged to be married as part of the plot of the series.[2]
According to the script line, Harris, an old-time music publisher, has made his daughter a partner in the business, but he hates burgeoning rock and roll, which presumably might bring him prosperity. Pat tries to convince her father to promote more modern music, but he prefers the old songs. At home, Harris and the Bakers live in the same apartment, a situation often creating humorous conflict between the father-in-law and the son-in-law, as in one episode when the two conflicted on the cleanliness of their dwelling.
The series aired at 8 p.m. Eastern on Mondays following Richard Diamond, Private Detective and preceding Tales of Wells Fargo, which in its final season added William Demarest to the cast. Love and Marriage ran opposite CBS's western, The Texan starring Rory Calhoun and the alternation of the second half of Shirley Temple's Storybook with Clint Walker's Cheyenne western series on ABC.[3]
Production notes
Though Love and Marriage produced twenty-six episodes, the last eight were never aired on the network. The series was a Louis F. Edelman Production, with P.J. Wolfson as the producer and Bob Sweeney (1918-1992) as the director.
The series used the Frank Sinatra song "Love and Marriage" as its theme song.
A year after Love and Marriage ended, Demarest joined the cast in the final season of the Dale Robertson western, Tales of Wells Fargo, but his most remembered role was as Uncle Charley O'Casey on Fred MacMurray's My Three Sons.
References
- ↑ Love and Marriage. Memorable TV.com. Retrieved on January 10, 2009.
- ↑ Alex McNeil, Total Television' (New York: Penguin Books, 1996), 4th ed., p. 492.
- ↑ 1959-1960 American network television schedule, in appendix of Total Television.