Friday, August 16, 2019

What Might've Been: Wendy & Me (1964)

George Burns returned to television as both an actor and a producer in 1964.

Burns teamed with Warner Bros. to package a pair of freshman sitcoms for ABC, No Time For Sergeants (previously reviewed), and our next subject, Wendy & Me. That was the good news. The bad? Both shows were cancelled after one season.

Burns plays the building manager of an apartment building, and, as he did with The Burns & Allen Show, takes time to talk to the audience, cigar in hand as always. Wendy & Me was his first acting gig since wife Gracie Allen had passed away. Perhaps he was hoping that Connie Stevens (ex-Hawaiian Eye) could fill the void on camera in terms of chemistry.

Viewers, however, voted against the notion. Wendy & Me had one big roadblock in front of it. Lucille Ball was in the 3rd season of The Lucy Show as part of CBS' powerful Monday block. NBC answered with Andy Williams. Game over.

Now, being that I was a toddler back then, I never saw the show. So this sample size, provided by John Eimen (ex-McKeever & The Colonel) on his YouTube channel, is not enough to warrant a rating.

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