Widowers with children (or widows, for that matter) were fodder for a few series back in the day. There was the Western, The Rifleman, which ran for 5 seasons on ABC, for example. CBS had the sitcom, My Three Sons (which it acquired from ABC), which was still on the air when ABC introduced The Courtship of Eddie's Father in 1969.
Based on the 1963 movie of the same name, Courtship centers on Tom Corbett (Bill Bixby, ex-My Favorite Martian) and his son, Eddie (Brandon Cruz), who is trying to find a wife for his dad, so he can have a mother figure again. Well, you can't fault the kid for trying. The series lasted three years, after which Bixby promptly segued into the short-lived adventure series, The Magician, for NBC. Cruz never landed another series. Co-star James Komack became better known as a producer himself, and would score a 1-2 punch just a couple of years later with Chico & The Man & Welcome Back, Kotter.
Courtship was also one of the last, if not the last, sitcoms produced by MGM, which began focusing solely on dramas, such as Medical Center, as the 70's began.
Warnerarchive uploaded this sample theme intro from season 2:
I'm not sure if Harry Nilsson, who recorded the theme song, reached the top 40 with it. Nilsson, though, would score with "Everybody's Talking", then composed the score to the animated TV-movie, The Point.
Rating: B.
2 comments:
For the record, Family Affair's Bill Davis wasn't a widower. He was a swinging bachelor until his nieces and nephew were dumped on his doorstep.
I always loved both the opening theme song, and the thoughtful conversation Cruz has with Bixby. You really believed them as father and son!
I stand corrected in re.: Family Affair. Should've remembered that, since that was previously covered. I will adjust the first post accordingly.
Bixby & Cruz did have tremendous chemistry, much like Andy Griffith & Ron Howard nearly a decade before. Too bad no one's picked up Courtship lately.
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