Seven years after The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet came to an end----the series wasn't picked up for syndication in my area at the time---Ozzie & Harriet Nelson returned to television in a brand new sitcom, Ozzie's Girls, which was in syndication for one season.
With Ricky & David having grown up and left the nest (David was an associate producer), Ozzie decides to rent out their rooms to a pair of college students (Brenda Sykes & Susan Sennett). I think the idea was that Ozzie wanted to recapture the magic of the earlier series (which we'll review at a later date), but viewers had either forgotten about him & Harriet or had never seen the original series, due to its lack of availability in syndication at the time.
Ozzie's Girls was, I think, the last series for executive producer Al Simon at Filmways. The studio had moved toward dramatic programming, but had bombed out with Bearcats! over at CBS, and their last sale to that network was the iconic 80's crime drama, Cagney & Lacey, but by then, the familiar global logo was gone, and Filmways ultimately was sold first to Orion Pictures. The rights to this series now belong to Warner Bros., according to sources.
I never got to see the show, but we'll leave you with the pilot. Let me know what you think.
I think it was the demographics that killed this show more than anything. Those who relished Ozzie & Harriet's adventures in the 50s were by 1973 in their 40s and 50s and TV execs still crave the 18-35 demo.
ReplyDeleteThe format itself looked about a decade out of date. People were just tired of the old formula I guess.
Even though O&H wasn't around in syndication, I still knew who they were - in large part to Ricky Nelson's singing career. IIRC, he was making a musical comeback in the early 70s when he got booed off the stage at Madison Square Garden. He wanted to showcase his (then) current work and not sing "Hello Mary Lou" the rest of his life. The audience wanted Mary Lou.
Interestingly enough, his sons Gunnar and Matthew are doing a tribute show playing all his classic music
How ironic is that? The twins were trying to do their own thing, skewing more toward pop metal in the late 80's, but now carry on their dad's legacy. Who can figure this stuff out?
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