Shark Bytes

Gruppo.

I have never watched The James Stewart Show. Apparently it wasn't the greatest show in the world. I love Jimmy Stewart, and I love everything he has done, so if I would ever have a chance to watch this, I'm sure I may enjoy this. He may have not cared for this "adventure", but it was something to try.

I remember this show distinctly because there were these dyed-blued monkeys with magic eight balls running around Jimmy Stewart's legs as he recited poetry. It was a ground-breaking show.

I remember they used to have an "identify the sausage" contest where blindfolded audience-members would win big cans of pineapple by correctly identifying different sausages from around the world. I thought is was weird, but then realized that the show was sponsored by Oscar Mayer and Dole.

JAS. STEWART USED TO RECITE SOME POETRY ON SHOWS, LIKE JOHNNY CARSON, AND IT WAS COMICAL,SOMETIMES VERY TENDER, AND BETTER THAN MOST OF THE REVERED POETS DRIVEL. SAME WITH HIS T.V. SHOW. MET HIM AND OTHER CAST MEMBERS ,AND HAD DINNER WITH THEM ON SET OF "ANATOMY OF A MURDER". THEY WERE ALL VERY FRIENDLY. I DID PAY FOR THE DINNER, MAYBE THAT HELPED!!

I'm like the previous poster. I'm 53 and have always been a BIG Jimmy Stewart fan. And I didn't know that he had a television series in 1971-72, and I've never seen it. But at least I know why. I was in the Navy during that time period, and my ship left San Diego in August, 1971, went to the Western Pacific, including 7 months in Vietnam, and returned in July, 1972. I missed that whole year! And, alas, I missed The Jimmy Stewart Show (or the James Stewart Show, or whatever it was). But maybe I didn't miss much. A few years ago I was browsing in a used book store and I found a book of poetry that Jimmy Stewart had written in the 60s. The poetry in it was absolutely horrible. Utter stupid drivel. I suspect that this lame television series fell into the same category, something Jimmy never should have done.

I am 52 years old and Jimmy Stewart is my favorite actor of all time. When this show was supposed to have been on I was constantly watching the tube. So my question is WHY DON'T I REMEMBER IT? No, I'm not suffering from old dude's memory loss. It sounds like a show I would have liked. Maybe I did watch it and it stunk so bad I completely erased it from memory. I wonder what what was playing on the other channels when it was on. That could be the answer.

This show was called The Jimmy Stewart Show, not The James Stewart Show, and it's being rerun on the Good Life Network Sunday nights at 11PM now. I love the theme song, especially the bit w/ the harpsichord, which is only heard in the opening credits. The bit w/ the two kids being uncle and nephew had a funny bit in one show, where the young woman next door was eager to meet the nephew's uncle, knowing he was single and thinking he was a handsome young man, then seeing that he's as young as the nephew. Jimmy Stewart mentioned in a TV Guide interview that the only child actor he ever liked was Billy Mumy, so he may not have liked kid actors much anyway.

This show jumped the shark even before it premiered, when one of America's most beloved stars agreed to take part in this mess. A good idea done in by a basically stupid premise. Shame on you, Jimmy, producer Gene Reynolds ("M*A*S*H," "Lou Grant"), and all and sundry involved.

'The James Stewart Show' (you've it listed incorrectly on Jump the Shark as 'The JIMMY Stewart Show') was a well-acted, well-written, gentle little half-hour show which suffered from the same dilemma that had previously led to the cancellation of 'The Smith Family' (starring Henry Fonda and the young Ron Howard): the storylines weren't gripping enough to succeed as drama, and weren't funny enough to succeed as comedy. The absence of a laugh track was a point in its favour, because the comedy tended to be subtle; on this show, a laugh track would have been like an elbow-jab in the ribs. I agree with the poster who praised this show's theme tune. It was one of the best theme tunes in the history of television, only a notch below the greatest TV theme of them all ('Hennessey'). The opening credits featured James Stewart taking a long leisurely bicycle ride through sunlit countryside, while the soundtrack played a gentle rolling theme tune which perfectly matched this image. More than 25 years later, I remember this tune perfectly and I still whistle it or hum it (there was no lyric) **every single time** I ride a bicycle. A beautiful tune which conveys perfectly the simple pleasures of a long lazy bike ride. 'The James (not Jimmy) Stewart Show' starred Stewart as a science professor at a small California college, and the show made a creditable effort to convey a science professor's daily life and his struggles against a society that doesn't value science. The very best episode guest-starred Cesar Romero as the owner of a building under construction. Professor Jimmy (I can't remember the name of Stewart's character) got permission from Romero to bring his archaeology class to the building site, so that they could practice digging through layers of strata. To everyone's surprise, the archaeology students discovered some important relics of prehistoric humans in Romero's building site ... and now they wanted to keep digging until all the relics could be unearthed. But now Romero was ready to pour the foundation for his building, and he couldn't understand why all these college students couldn't just go away and dig their little holes someplace else instead. Of course, if Romero got his way, these priceless relics (and their scientific data) would be lost forever. I found this situation extremely realistic. Stewart saved the day by naming the dig's prehistoric inhabitants after the businessman played by Romero -- instead of Leakey Man or Folsom Man, this one was Cesar Romero Man (I forget the name of Romero's character in this episode) -- and the ploy got Romero to delay construction long enough for all the artifacts to be unearthed. A very plausible storyline, in a medium which gives greater value to the implausible antics of Gilligan. Another great thing about 'The James Stewart Show' was the supporting role played by John McGiver, the wonderful sourpuss character actor (he was a sort of upmarket Fred Mertz) who gave so many memorable TV and film performances in the 1960s and '70s. McGiver played Professor Luther Quince, a teacher at Stewart's college. McGiver was in only about half the episodes, so the opening credits (during Stewart's bike ride) listed McGiver as 'very frequently' appearing on the show. The credits always featured a voice-over announcing the star of the show as 'MISTER James Stewart' ... nobody called him 'Jimmy' on this series (except perhaps the audience) and the name of the series was definitely 'The JAMES Stewart Show'. There was a lot of excellent comic by-play between the stammering Stewart and the vinegar-and-lemon John McGiver. One episode had a very funny subplot in which Stewart developed a habit of flipping pencils off the edge of his desk during serious conversations; it doesn't sound funny the way I'm describing it, but it reminded me of a classic comedy routine from a Frank Capra movie (starring Gary Cooper or, yup, Jimmy Stewart). When did 'The James Stewart Show' Jump the Shark? Whenever it went away from the college and concentrated on Professor Jimmy's home life. There was a stupid subplot about his two sons who were born 20 years apart. If memory serves, the older son was played by Jonathan Daly, who had previously played Bobbie Jo's boyfriend Orrin Pike on 'Petticoat Junction'. The elder son, for some reason, had moved back home with his parents Professor Jimmy and Mrs Jimmy, and he brought along his wife and his own son (Jimmy's grandson). Meanwhile, Jimmy's younger son was living there too, so there were lots of scenes featuring two obnoxiously cute little boys who were the same age, but ... get this ... one boy was the other boy's UNCLE! This was supposed to be the premise for all sorts of comedy scenes, but it Jumped the Shark constantly. (Typical dialogue featured one 8-year-old boy telling the other 8-year-old boy: 'You have to do what I say, because I'm your uncle.' Hyuk hyuk hyuk!) Another Jump-the-Shark feature was the presence of Professor Jimmy's daughter-in-law: his older son's wife, the mother of the uncle-boy. She was played by Ellen Geer, the real-life daughter of the late and unlamented commie bastard Will Geer, alias Grandpa Walton. On 'The James Stewart Show', Ellen Geer was cross-eyed and she seemed to have a slight Mexican accent which I assume was her own genuine speech pattern, since she wasn't playing a Latina on the show. Twenty-some years later, I saw Ellen Geer guest-starring on Star Trek: The Next Generation (episode 'Silicone Avatar'). The crossed eyes were now straight, and her Mexican accent was gone. Unfortunately, she was still a lousy actress. I wish that some station would rerun 'The James Stewart Show'. It was a folksy show -- sincere and honest in its folksiness -- that managed to avoid the aw-shucks stereotypes of 'Petticoat Junction' and the cornpone comedy of Mayberry. Unfortunately, the show tended to be MILD.

As bad as this show was, I still can't get the theme tune out of my head. It plays while Jimmy rides a bicycle around and to this day, I'll whistle that song when I go on a bike ride.