It was a novel idea, far more successful in the movies years later (i.e. "Look Who's Talking"), but in the summer of 1960, a sitcom built around the thoughts of a toddler was an experiment America wasn't ready for.
Happy was also a star vehicle for George Burns' son, Ronnie, who had apprenticed, if you will, on The Burns & Allen Show, working with adoptive dad George and mom Gracie. The Born twins shared the title role as Happy, but as with most gimmicks, were never given screen credit. Happy, they said, was played by Happy, as if the child were a household pet.
Happy aired as a summer replacement series on NBC in the summer of 1960, and was brought back six months later. What did it replace? Why, the Kraft Music Hall, considering the two series shared a sponsor, and a producer. Singer Perry Como's production company, Roncom, sold Happy to NBC, and would later co-produce Kraft Suspense Theatre (1963-5), which, in turn, spun off Run For Your Life (1965-8).
Let's check out a sample episode:
I remember this show from its original network run in '61; I was 10 years old at the time, and I loved it.
ReplyDeleteEven back then, I noticed that the top star billing went to Lloyd Corrigan as Uncle Charlie.
That made sense, since he was doing most of the work; Corrigan was one of the most likable comic actors around, and worked all his life in movies and TV.
Lloyd Corrigan was so good that he even played straight dramatic parts in movies like The Manchurian Candidate, as well as numerous appearances on Perry Mason.
Later on, I learned that Corrigan had even written and directed feature films as far back as the Thirties.
It's easy to see why the Happy producers decided to give the whole show to Lloyd Corrigan; just watch, and you'll see ...
So far, there are just 2 episodes in complete form on YouTube. We'll have to take a look at Mr. Corrigan, based on your recommendation.
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