Shark Bytes
I saw every OW first-run episode. In one, he wanted her to drop everything to run over and be his wife that evening but she resisted because she had a sewing class that night. "We're going to be learning plackets and gores. I don't want to miss it." Throughout the rest of the episode, this phrase kept popping up resulting in great hilarity. My family has been saying, "Plackets and gores; plackets and gores" for forty years to crack each other up. Now, THAT's staying power. God Bless the late Michael Callan. He was sooooo great.
This show, Occasional Wife, was very funny, had some very good scripts, Actors were very good in getting a laugh, premise was interesting, and it didn't cater to bodies or hidden meanings, etc. I was 14 when it was on, and thought it was very good. AS good as I Dream of Jeanne, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Hank, Camp Runamuck, or Gilligans Island. It left you feeling good about the state of your world.
Never Jumped. Very funny show. One note - famed baseball announcer, Vin Scully, did the narration. And he too was very funny.
When this series premiered, I was eleven years old and I instantly loved this sitcom. I watched for two reasons. 1. I thought Occasional Wife was funny. 2. And I had a huge crush on Michael Callan. I thought he was very sexy and this coming from an eleven year old boy. I long for TV Land to air reruns of this wonderfully funny short-lived show!
Never jumped. There should be a separate website for shows like this one. It was entirely too witty and intelligent for television, so it bit the dust after one season.
Occasional Wife, never jumped. First off, it wasn't on long enough. Secondly, it was a clever little sitcom for its day. And thirdly, Poster #4 is taking this board waaaaaaaaay too personal. I can't wait to see Poster #4's response. I'm sure it will JTS!
I am poster #4 and I am not looking to get into an on-line argument with anyone. I thought my post was harmless and inoffensive (especially compared to other posts I have seen on this site). But the last post before this one just proves my point about some people getting sooo angry and invested over these shows and these nameless, faceless posts. I mentioned the correct spelling of Callan's name because I thought it was common courtesy for the actor to have his name spelled correctly. I did not insult anyone in doing so. Also, I did not DEMAND one season shows be removed from the lists. I simply stated 'I' thought they should not be included (and the implied reason) because it wasn't fair to criticize a show which didn't get a chance to develop.
Occasional Wife never jumped, but poster #4 did! I believe one season shows have every right to be on your list! Why? Because some one season shows; were very well produced and even had decent ratings, were never given a chance to become classic sitcoms. i.e.: He & She (excellent show); Gidget (good ratings, but not given a chance); Square Pegs (too much behind the scenes fighting with the CBS big wigs); and even Occasional Wife had good ratings - occasionally! But these shows only lasted one season. Sitcoms deserving of a longer run. And why not talk about them. I think we should discuss all shows no matter how great, good, bad or even stupid. It's interesting to hear everyone's opinion. And for the record, did poster 4 ever consider that Michael Callla(M) could have been a typo. Don't be so quick to judge. Take note, Mr./Ms. Perfect: The N key is right next to the M key. An occasional typo is quite possible!
Never jumped. A classic 60s sitcom that was cancelled after one season because of network politics. NBC told Screen Gems they had room for only one of their shows and since I Dream of Jeannie had already done 2 years they kept that to build up the syndication package. OW had good ratings and deserved a longer run. Along with He and She, Good Morning World and Bridget Loves Bernie, it is truly one of the tragic stories of a show that should have continued.
It never had a chance to. How can you jump the shark in one season. One season shows shouldn't even be on your lists. And how do viewers get sooo angry (or invested) over a one season show? By the way, the actor's name was Michael Callan, not Callam. Occasional Wife happened to be a terrific premise for its time and a very funny show. I was disappointed when it went off the air during the original run. The 'decades later' copy-cat show, Ned and Stacey, was also very funny and went off the air too soon.
Sounds like someone's had a bad day. I liked OW. Yes, it was lame, silly, etc., etc., but it was on back when sitcoms were actually funny and didn't try to solve all of the world's problems.
The person who wrote they actually liked this show needs to have their lithium prescription modified. I watched this piece of garbage when The Comedy Channel reran it and it was so bad I was mesmerized. The jokes were so lame they needed a narrator, not only to do the setup, but also to explain the punch lines of the jokes. The only thing more shocking than the fact that this show was ever made is that Fox thought the show was good enough to completely rip off the idea, and create their own show, Ned and Stacey.
Occasional Wife was one of those wonderfully funny shows that was A) Ahead of it's time - it premiered in 1966 and had the main characters, Peter Christopher and Greta Patterson, pretend to be married so that Peter could keep his job at a baby food company. B) Had a good solid cast of characters like Michael Callam and Patricia Harty. C) Great writing. All sorts of funny situations kept popping up with the pretend newly weds and Peter boss and Greta's mom. And D) Clever premise. A woman pretending to be an occasional wife. And what did those lunk heads at NBC do? That's right. Canceled OW after it's first season. When OW premiered I was eleven and instantly loved it. Recently Comedy Central reran the series, so I tuned in hoping to find it as funny as I did thirty some years ago. It was. Aside from the fact, that it was a little dated in clothes and home furnishings, OW held up on the laugh meter. I loved it then and I love it now. Fox Television had a similar show in the mid 90's called Ned & Stacy. I was disappointed. Occasional Wife was two hundred times better. OW rules.
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