 This is the SF Productions podcast network Shat thing miss to be And I'm mark you can check out our audio podcast how I got my way three comics on iTunes or on our website SF podcast network com Recently started recording a new podcast the kinescope initiative plug Where I review TV sitcoms in the order they were broadcast and I've noticed a major meme in classic TV The housekeeper they all have a housekeeper whether you call them maids servants butlers nannies. They are legion And they start with Bula 1939 to 1955 the prototype for the sassy African-American maid I was gonna say that was a really long time it was on but it started on radio exactly playing the same part on various shows Including fiverr McGee and Molly and she was so popular. She got her own radio and then TV series Oh, and not by the way on radio. She was played by a white man Marlon Hurt The TV show actually went through three Bula's Ethel Waters Louise Beavers and Hattie McDaniel So they just that was probably the first instance of replacing people in a role. Mm-hmm. So yeah Then there's Mary Wicks is a face you would recognize with a hundred and forty IMDB credits. He's all over classic TV The Peter Lind Hayes show 1950 halls of ivy 1954 and mrs. G goes to college in 1961 in all three cases. She was playing housekeeper Maid so apparently once you get into that you never were without a job, right? Yeah, as was Rita Shaw another well-known face and a Disney regular. Okay, Bob's in broomsticks. Oh, all right She was a maid slash housekeeper on the tab hunter show 1960 Ichabod and me 1961 and the ghost and mrs. Muir 1968 to 70. Okay now one of the most famous Families on television was in my three sons from 1960 to 1972 Fred McMurray did all his scenes for the season shot at either the front or the back end of the shooting because he wanted to play golf or Actually, it's continued doing movies. Yeah, so he wasn't there. So the Suns needed somebody to run things while Steve was gone on his business trips The first housekeeper they had was William Frawley is Bob from 1960 to 1965 and then William Demerist is uncle Charlie from 65 to 72. Yep The Andy Griffith show from 1960 to 1968 brought in Francis Bavier yeah as Aunt B Apparently she was not a big fan of the show in real life and was prickly to the cast off-screen Which is a shame. She also appeared as aunt B on Mayberry RFD I was just about to mention that because there happened to be a Mayberry RFD marathon going on on decades this weekend. Yes So that's why we know that Then there's Peter loves Mary 1960 be bened been a dare it Whose course better known as Kate Bradley running the shady rest on petticoat Junction as well as Betty Rubble on the Flintstones Well, isn't she also Jethro's mom? Yeah, Pearl. Oh, Bodine. Yeah on the early episodes of Beverly Hillbillies Then we have Hazel who is actually the title character of her show Yeah, 1961 to 66 played by Shirley Booth. She won two Emmys for this role She was one spot away in her career for an egot. What didn't she have a Grammy? She won like I think three Tonys Wow And she won an Academy Award So she runs the Baxter family and that's where you got the catchphrase. Yeah, thank you to be and the family then Left for Japan near the end of the series Leaving the kid behind which is another bizarre TV trope of the 60s where it's just like these actors want to leave the series But we don't want to end the series That's all we really need so there's all these 60s TV parents just abandoning their children So the kid and Hazel move on to his uncle's family We then have the Jetsons 1962 to 63 Gene Vanderpile as Rosie and Rosie was very clearly based on the Hazel character Because she even said shout thing. Mr. J The Adams family from 1964 to 66 with Ted Cassidy as lurch quiet, but he can really clean a chandelier Of course, then we had Batman in 1966 to 68 with Alan Napier as Alfred Pennyworth He somehow kept stately Wayne Manor clean by himself Including that dusty cave He even subbed for the Caped Crusader a few times and kept Batgirl secret away from Bruce Family affair 1966 to 71 Sebastian Cabot as Mr. French like my three sons and from the same producers Brian Keith didn't want to work all year So the kids needed someone other than Uncle Beal to be around It's a very treatly series This was another show they were they were showing in like a marathon at one point and it's like wow Is this treatly and it seemed like they do the same episodes over and over yeah Yeah, which it's hard to tell when it's the 1960s and you're seeing it once a week You forget they're like it wasn't just the same plot as three weeks ago But when it was an hour and a half ago, you remember yes Now there was a remake in 2002 and 2003 with Tim Curry as Mr. Friends Yes, and I didn't see that but I think I saw the first episode and it was horrible. Yeah Then we have the Brady Bunch 1969 to 74 and be Davis as Alice Nelson She came along with the four men living all together and Now had to deal with Carol and the three daughters. At least you only had to clean two bathrooms There off the kitchen. We don't know we never I don't did we ever see A few times yeah, she had to have her own bath. I would assume she'd have to share with the kids and didn't want it Certainly sharing with Mike and Carol walking into their bedroom So she was always there making a meal in the kitchen and could advise a parent or a kid when she wasn't making wisecracks She had a long romance with Sam the butcher Which eventually was consummated in one of the sequel series not on screen, of course now if I had to have a housekeeper Alice is the one I picked. Yeah, she was there all the time. Mm-hmm. I Imagine they didn't pay her anything right Ruin board that's what you get One of my favorites from the era nanny and the professor from 1970 to 71 Juliet mills plays a Mary Poppins-esque magical nanny although she denies she is she has a sixth sense and can communicate with animals She may or may not be several hundred years old. Yes Then in a completely different vein on Maude from 1972 to 1978 Esther roll as Florida Evans Florida was spun off into her own series good times She and John Amos were supposed to be the stars of that show But then Jimmy J. J. Dino might Walker took over and both of their characters were written off over time She was replaced on Maude by Hermione Bedadly Love the name as Neil Noggetuck a hard-drinking Brit who mostly made wisecracks Then we have the Jeffersons also from the stable of Norman Lair 1975 to 85 Marla Gibbs as Florence Johnston Florence's main job since she only had to clean an apartment Was to cut George Sherman Hemsley down to size which also wasn't that hard They tried to spin off the Florence character in a show called checking in which only lasted four episodes So she returned back to the Jeffersons take take a small break from keeping house. Yeah Then there is Robert Gume as Benson on soap from 1977 to 79 Butler to the Tate's I would have thought he was on that show for longer thinking back But well no because because he went to Benson in 1979 to 1986 he started as a kind of Greek chorus commenting on the insanity on the soap opera parody by the time he finished on his own series He was lieutenant governor. In fact in the final episode. He was running against The governor's character and it never resolved. They left it in a cliffhanger whether he won the governorship Then of course we have different strokes from 1978 to 86 with Charlotte Ray as Edna Garrett And she too got her own series the facts of life soon after Heart to heart 1979 to 84 Lionel standard as Max. He takes care of super rich married detectives Jonathan and Jennifer Hart There was of course Robert Wagner and Stephanie Powers because when they met it was my dad Give me a break 1981 to 87 Broadway star now Carter plays now who agrees to take care of a dying woman's kids and husband real cheery, huh? Yeah, of course, they sure chew horned in celebrity cameos Whitney Houston Sammy Davis Jr. We're just two examples like many shows with kids a new one was added later in the run to keep things going Joey whoa, Lawrence We got it made from 1983 to 84 featured Terry Copley as Mickey McKenzie to sloppy guys hire a bombshell of a maid Misunderstanding and hijinks ensue it moved to syndication in 87 88 Then we had Charles in charge from 84 to 85 with Scott Bale as Charles who had no last name apparently According to the documentation. He never had a last name. He works his way through college as a housekeeper slash babysitter It also moved to same syndication after its first season and that would be from 87 to 90 Who's the boss? 1984 to 92 Tony Danza as Tony Misselli Probably the longest-running will they or won't they in TV history as Tony and Angela are hot and cold throughout the series. Yes, Mr. Belvedere arrived in 1985 and stayed till 1990 Christopher Hewitt as Lynn Belvedere a British butler who winds up with an American family a Lesson is always learned along the way. I don't think either of us really ever watched this It was part of the early ABC TGIF lineup. Yeah, then there was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air 1996 with Joseph Marcell as Jeffrey another show I rarely watched basically a vehicle for Will Smith and Jeffrey was the wisecracking butler The nanny 1993 to 99 Fran Drescher as Fran fine an accidental nanny to rich kids With a long simmering romance with mr. Sheffield Daniel Davis as Niles the butler who continually fought with C.C. Babcock Sheffield's business partner Although they later fell in love. Yeah as well The show was popular enough to generate local remakes in multiple countries. Oh, that's just crazy There's a lot more housekeepers on television including if you think about it like Downton Abbey and upstairs downstairs Those British shows. Yeah, we just were concentrating on this American trend to make the wisecracker Housekeepers of television. We salute you and if you ever want to come over and take care of our house You're more than welcome to do so in the meantime You can check out our audio podcast how I got my way to read comics on iTunes or on our website as a podcast network From the pop culture bunker. I'm Indy and I'm Mark. Thanks for watching