Due to the pandemic, I had practically run the YouTube library dry of classic movies and English tv, so I turned to American tv series of the 1950's. Periodically I had tested The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, but this time I meant to enjoy the entire series, come what may. I don't mess around, boy. It was a revelation!
The early episodes are priceless, funny and homey. I began to skip through the years and that was my big mistake. I have always found that any series, no matter how good it begins, should never be extended past the third season. Writers have run out of the really good stuff and even repeat, directors change and the flavor of the show suffers as a result, and, most importantly, the actors get bored or act out of habit rather than imagination. New faces join the cast to add spice to the scripts, but sometimes that is a huge mistake. What is worst of all, the audience is faced with watching the actors expand in the waistline and the derriere and the men lose their hair, strand by strand, week after week.
Much of the above happened with this series. Although the men in the Nelson family never had the receding hairline problem (one wonders how Ozzie kept the same hairline over all those years) and Ricky's hair actually exploded in size, the rest of the stumbling blocks presented themselves throughout the latter seasons.
Harriet's profile remained terrific, but when she turned her back to the camera, it was just sad. In some shots, Ozzie looked as if he wore a mask -- his skin was so taut and lacked any blemishes. Perhaps the make-up in those days was that heavy (was Botox around then?); but sometimes it made him look like an et.
Ricky's friend Iggy had his family name changed after a few seasons; one wonders the reason. The addition of the character of Clara, the woman with the voice, made many episodes almost impossible to watch unless one fast-forwards through her appearances. As has been pointed out, the addition of the wives of the boys was almost by itself a death knell for the whole series.
Wish I had stuck by my motto and watched only the first three seasons of O&H. After that, the stories dragged and repeated, and one began to look at the actors and pick out flaws, and to mentally edit the scripts and notice errors in writing and reading. After the first few seasons, the series just leaves a bad taste. This family and its reflection of the times were a great idea for television, in any era. The producers just carried it on too long.
The early episodes are priceless, funny and homey. I began to skip through the years and that was my big mistake. I have always found that any series, no matter how good it begins, should never be extended past the third season. Writers have run out of the really good stuff and even repeat, directors change and the flavor of the show suffers as a result, and, most importantly, the actors get bored or act out of habit rather than imagination. New faces join the cast to add spice to the scripts, but sometimes that is a huge mistake. What is worst of all, the audience is faced with watching the actors expand in the waistline and the derriere and the men lose their hair, strand by strand, week after week.
Much of the above happened with this series. Although the men in the Nelson family never had the receding hairline problem (one wonders how Ozzie kept the same hairline over all those years) and Ricky's hair actually exploded in size, the rest of the stumbling blocks presented themselves throughout the latter seasons.
Harriet's profile remained terrific, but when she turned her back to the camera, it was just sad. In some shots, Ozzie looked as if he wore a mask -- his skin was so taut and lacked any blemishes. Perhaps the make-up in those days was that heavy (was Botox around then?); but sometimes it made him look like an et.
Ricky's friend Iggy had his family name changed after a few seasons; one wonders the reason. The addition of the character of Clara, the woman with the voice, made many episodes almost impossible to watch unless one fast-forwards through her appearances. As has been pointed out, the addition of the wives of the boys was almost by itself a death knell for the whole series.
Wish I had stuck by my motto and watched only the first three seasons of O&H. After that, the stories dragged and repeated, and one began to look at the actors and pick out flaws, and to mentally edit the scripts and notice errors in writing and reading. After the first few seasons, the series just leaves a bad taste. This family and its reflection of the times were a great idea for television, in any era. The producers just carried it on too long.