KAREN-Short-Lived 60's tv sitcom opening title

[sddweller]

Very poorly made opening sequence.  Definatley just clips grabbed from some indifferent producer.

[fromthesidelines]

"And by the light of televsion/She can even write a book report".

[hydrolito]

This sort of reminds me of Gidget that starred Sally Field.

[setpunk12]

wtf is this???

it seems like a parody of an actual 50s show.

From the opening credits all you can discern about the character is that she a carbon copy of every other teenager in America!!!!

[ivegotalongdong]

AWFUL

[planthi80]

what ever happend to these actors?...can anyone tell me ?

[MorningGlass55]

Richard Denning went into retirement until Jack Lord convinced him to portray the Hawaiian Governer on Hawaii Five O.

[MorningGlass55]

@planthi80 Richard Denning went into retirement until Jack Lord convinced him to portray the Hawaiian Governer on Hawaii Five O.

[1952Capricorn1]

If anyone...ANYONE can find "McKeever and the Colonel" I will be eternally grateful. Debbie Watson reminds of 1940's actress: Anne Shirley. I loved "KAREN."

Thanxx for posting this!

[margotdarby]

My sister doted on this, because it told her how to be a teenage girl, which she had aspirations of becoming someday. Privately I sneered at such shallowness, not considering that maybe this the whole purpose of the program, and maybe, ultimately, of most sitcoms. I am not sure what role modeling Mr. Ed had to offer.

[RoyFive]

How about uploading Tom Dick And Mary or Harris Against The World episodes?

[beerborn]

Yeh I remember this show. Definitely short lived.

[Sheri451]

That looked like it premiered in 1965 according to the Roman Numerals, the same year as Gidget didn't that girl play in a Gidget movie too?

[planthi80]

how long did nthe show last?

[RoyFive]

@planthi80 One season. It was one third of a 90 minute series, appropriately titled 90 Bristol Court. The other two thirds were (1) Harris Against The World starring a pre-Oscar Jack Klugman, and (2) Tom, Dick and Mary, which featured a post-Chatsworth Stephen Franken. Both shows were cancelled mid-season.

[singinjohnny]

Oh, by the way. I always loved the Beach Boys theme song for this show. At age 14, I was blown away by the idea that a band from our generation had performed a TV series theme song.

[stwla888]

Not the Beach Boys, It was the Surfaris

[singinjohnny]

@stwla888 Check the show credits. The Surfaris also recorded this. But not the version used in the show. Happy New Year.

[Vegas01973]

No, this is the Beach Boys. I have the outtakes of that session and that is clearly Mike Love's voice here.

[singinjohnny]

It's sad that Debbie Watson didn't get a chance to resurect her career the way Sally Field did. It's well known that Sally Field talent was cruelly misjudged at first because of her involvement with "Gidget" and "The Flying Nun". But once she had a chance to really show her talent in "Sybil", her career turned around 180 degrees. Who knows what Debbie could have accomplished had she been given that chance?

[EmeraldSapphire2425]

@singinjohnny Some 80's shows were good, too but after that...........

[pastel86z]

yes I agree with you! although i do watch some contemporary programs, sixties and seventies tv rocks! fave shows, leave it to beaver, the munsters, what's happening!, dragnet.

[TheJetfighter666]

We didn't have a color t.v. til my dad won one at a fair, In 1970. It was only a 12" but we were still very exited to finally go color. I Don't remember this show but would love to own it on d.v.d. I hate modern programing and only care to watch late50's and 60's& early 70's t.v. Is there any body who thinks the same?

[lambchopxoxo]

I think the same. I cant remember the last sitcom or TV drama that I watched. It was probably the 80s? 90s and later forget it.

[markojameow]

I share your dislike of modern TV - not to say that there aren't any gems out there now. (I like Mad Men and House; other times, I'd rather keep my set off, or tune in to the weather channel.) Modern TV doesn't have the same innocence and charm as it did until the late 1970s.

[EmeraldSapphire2425]

@TheJetfighter666 ome 80's shows were good, too, but after that.................

[The1fuzzylogic]

@TheJetfighter666 Right here. I hate most of today's tv. Even the commercials sux. I love the old tv shows.

[Mingowildcat]

I'd forgotten about this show. Thanks for sharing it.

[baylee1991]

So glad to see this. I really enjoyed it.

[fromthesidelines]

"KAREN" was among the last black and white sitcoms NBC telecast ["I DREAM OF JEANNIE"'s first season was THE last, during 1965-'66], 'altfactor'. The network colorcast about half of their prime-time schedule during 1964-'65, more than the other networks

(CBS resisted ANY color programming until the fall of '65), increased to 95% in the fall of 1965.

[altfactor]

I haven't seen this since I was a VERY small child.

Funny, I always thought "Karen" was filmed and broadcast in color because it aired on NBC (although we didn't have a color TV set until 1968).

[fromthesidelines]

Richard Denning had a long career as an actor on TV and radio; he appeared opposite Lucille Ball on her "MY FAVORITE HUSBAND" radio series from 1948-'51, and Barbara Britton on "MR. & MRS. NORTH" from 1952 through '54 on both TV AND radio. Most people today only know him through his occasional appearances as the "Governor of Hawaii" on "HAWAII FIVE-O"...

[spacepatrolman]

He had a tv series in australia where he plays a doctor that flies his own plane to remote locations [sounds like a good idea like a cross between sky king and ben casey].

[fromthesidelines]

Debbie Watson was a discovery of producers Joe Connelly & Bob Mosher- after this was cancelled, MCA/Universal tried to feature her as a TV version of "TAMMY" on ABC's 1965-'66 schedule, but that flopped as well. At the same time, Connelly & Mosher cast her as "Marilyn Munster" in their 1966 theatrical film version of "THE MUNSTERS", "Munster, Go Home!". Then Debbie starred in Warner Bros. 1967 "teen" musical, "The Cool Ones", which was a dud at the box office. After that, her career nosedived..

[mikey42]

Mary LaRoche played Ann-Margret's and Sandra Dee's mother as well.

[brabon1]

she was a milf

[RedneckBubba19]

Would you happen to have the whole show? I'd be interested to see it.

Thank you. - Grady

[Gnillob802]

I just looked this up on IMDB, they didn't even list Debbie Watson's name among the cast list. I see Karen (1964) came after The Patty Duke Show (1963) but before Gidget (1965). They all seem very similar to me.

[fanofgrendel]

Richard Denning was the governor on Hawaii 5-O

[spacepatrolman]

5 0 stands for fiftieth state it was also a slogan drug pushers used to use when the cops were coming .

[happyquails]

Looks like it was something that was going up against The Patty Duke Show which was huge around that time...

[SirBasildeBrush]

What the....?! I love this song, but by the Safaris. Never heard of this TV series before (I'm in the UK), and had no idea the Beach Boys ever sang this. Many thanks for posting this obscure one.

[jackhillty]

i like the extra drum beat at the end. was that dennis wilson spacing out? this song is one of the weird missing links in the beach boys catelogue.

[happyquails]

That wasn't an extra beat, there were three beats followed by one throughout.

[StuntmanJackR]

So this is where Happy Days got their idea for their actors appearing in the spinning record. That Debbie Watson was cute. Never heard of her before.

[hkcvar]

And She can even write a "book report". Gee willikers Wally, what ELSE can she do?

[markojameow]

hkcvar: Just another example of the pre-1970s mindset of many TV executives at the time, thinking that women were mindless little dears who were only capable of cooking and cleaning. It took Mary Tyler Moore and Maude to change the way women were portrayed by the world's most dynamic medium besides the internet.

[sapphiretaurus]

I think they were referring to her writing a book report in front of the TV, which is why they thought it was so amazing. That's how it sounded to me.

[markojameow]

I did this myself while I was in high school. Maybe The Cosby Show, Family Ties and Cheers were too good to ignore, but I somehow managed.

God, I miss pre-1990s TV Land!

[sapphiretaurus]

TV Land only went on the air in 1996! Do you mean Nick at Nite? They were a true classic TV channel, before they started with reruns of seventies and eighties shows. Their commercials were also very clever and creative, with the funny jingles and animations.

[markojameow]

I mean, TV in general before the early 1990s. I live in Canada, so there was no TV Land here before 2001, and no Nick at Nite; however, an acquaintance from Texas introduced me to both through an Emergency! fansite several years ago.

[StanBennet]

Mary LaRoche looks like she just finished a "roach."

[fanofgrendel]

well, sorry you had to wait 6 months for recognition: I'm giving you comment a ROFL and a thumbs up!

[StanBennet]

These guys look like they just discovered acid and the hippy lettuce.

[wmbrown6]

It sounds like the sponsor bumper V/O was Jerry Damon, who was the announcer on "That Was the Week That Was" at the time. (And I heard Mr. Damon on a 1956 episode of "X Minus One," and found similarities to here.)

[surfstyley]

What are they saying when it says SHE CAN EVEN RIDE A ..... Board?

[vintageboobtube]

they say SHE CAN EVEN WRITE HER BOOK REPORT

[cmf1965]

"...and by the light of television...she can even write a book report..."

[ernestalba]

@surfstyley: It almost sounds like "she can even ride a boogie board" but as someone already mentioned, it's "she can even write a book report."

[cmf1965]

As the scene of Karen (Debbie Watson fades), & Mike Love finishes the song with the word "...girl" - If you look closely at her on the phone; her second (and last), remark appears to be: "Bulls**t!!!

[ascoredhat]

Thank you for sharing this. I don't remember it, but it's a great trivia addition. I had no idea the Beach Boys provided a theme to a TV show. Well... now I know. :)

[wilmoer]

I remember this show quite well. Please tell me how you found it! Also, do you have any clips of "Hank?"

[Dietpepsivanilla]

I barely remember this as a boy.

[fromthesidelines]

Joe Connelly & Bob Mosher thought Debbie had a big career ahead of her- when "KAREN" ended, she became the star of another Universal TV comedy, "TAMMY" (1965-'66), and replaced Pat Priest as "Marilyn Munster" in the big screen adaptation of "Munster Go Home" (1966).

[nanlisa]

How did you did up this clip?

[retrotvluver]

The trilogy was called "90 Bristol Court" whose initials spelled out "NBC". The only character common to all three shows was a workman at the building played by Guy Raymond. The original plan of the overall series was that any one of the sitcoms that was low-rated would be replaced by another one waiting in the wings, also to be set in that same complex.  But "Karen" was the only one doing well enough to ride out the season, and NBC wisely decided to scrap the 90-minute block idea.

[jehobden]

From what I read in Brooks & Marsh's book, Guy Raymond's character was dropped when the 90-minute block was dropped. All the better to leave him free to appear on the last Dick Van Dyke show filmed that same season, which is where he met his future wife Ann Morgan Guilbert (Millie Helper).

[Juliaflo]

Oh, heavenly hash! You remember this, too.

And now for my famous pop quiz--Have a close encounter and name a young actor who appeared on this show.

[mrbob424]

richard dreyfus

[2nicks]

I remember the comedy trilogy too! I watched Karen every week, but I don't recall watching Tom, Dick and Mary or Harris Against The World. I do remember that Karen was the only one of the trilogy to last the year. Dick and Harris both got the axe in January! I would love to see Karen released on DVD. It was a funny and cute sitiuation comedy.

[markojameow]

Sadly, funny and cute doesn't always amount to hit TV series. I've seen crap such as Full House, Who's the Boss and Growing Pains become big hits while decent series barely stand a chance. Yes, there are good shows that become hits, but sometimes series get cancelled because: 1/They're programmed against proven hits; 2/They're scheduled in the wrong time slot; and 3/There are so many similar shows on the air that the novelty of the entire genre runs out. That's the cruel reality of TV.

[speedy45rpm]

I remember this show -- it was part of an NBC sitcom trilogy situated in the same apartment complex. I know one of the other shows was called "Tom, Dick and Mary." I think the other was called "Harris Against The World" and starred Jack Klugman. Justly forgotten! But thanks for reviving it.

[jupitr2]

Hmmmm... never heard of this one. Kinda has that 'Happy Days' look with the revolving record. This predated ABC's 'Gidget' (Sally Field) by a year. Even though 'Gidget' was filmed in color, both lasted one season. Thanks for the post!

[markcruiser64]

WOW! Talk about rare. I have the song, but never saw the opening sequence to the show.