Glynis 1963 TV show Peabody & Sherman cartoons on DVD Book About Greensboro Dick Van Dyke Show on  DVDs Classic Commercials on DVD Mr Peabody on DVD Looney Tunes Golden Ed
Bionic Woman on DVD

Glynis 1963 TV show

“GLYNIS”

by Cary O'Dell

Glynis Johns TV showThe great Glynis Johns died recently at the age of 100.  And, yet, despite her full century on this planet, her passing seems especially sad considering her unique, one-of-a-kind talent.

British, big-eyed, adept at comedy and drama and even a pretty good singer, Johns made her stage debut in her native England when she was just eight years old.  And it seemed, she never stopped working.  She went on to make herself memorable in a wide assortment of roles, lead and supporting, on or over every single entertainment medium. 

Johns was such a rare talent that even one of the last century’s greatest talents—Lucille Ball—found her impressive and irresistible enough to help bring Johns’ talents to small screen via a 1963 sitcom titled, appropriately enough, “Glynis.”

First, Lucy’s old “I Love Lucy” producer Jess Oppenheimer dreamed up a unique new sitcom about a couple who solved crime together.  He fashioned a script and presented it to the head of Desilu Productions—Lucille Ball. 

Together they decided that the show—originally titled “Careful, My Love”—could only star one person:  Glynis Johns. 

The 30-minute “Glynis,” debuted on CBS on September 25, 1963.

Much like its leading lady, “Glynis” is a hard to easily categorize.  Though a half-an-hour in length and with its fair share of comedic elements, the show was also a weekly mystery series. 

Glynis Johns TV showFor it, Johns played “Glynis Granville,” the writer of mystery novels who—as fate often has it on TV—kept stumbling upon murders that just had to be solved.  In her small screen incarnation, as a mystery writer often solving real-life mysteries, “Glynis” prefigured such later amateur lady sleuths as “The Snoop Sisters” and, of course, Angela Lansbury in “Murder, She Wrote.”

Additionally, the show owed a bit of its DNA to such earlier husband/wife detective series as “Mr. and Mrs. North,” “Biff Baker, USA” and “The Thin Man.” 

Co-staring as Granville’s husband was another Lucy favorite, handsome actor/singer Keith Andes.  Ball had worked with Andes during her Broadway musical run in the show “Wildcat” that was on the boards in New York in 1960.  Ball became a great fan of her stage co-star and, besides putting him in “Glynis,” also featured him a couple of times in her own, “The Lucy Show.”

On “Glynis,” Andes’ character, Keith Granville, was a successful attorney so that at least made the couple’s frequent stumbling into crime scenes a little more plausible.  Character actor George Mathews completed the cast as a retired policeman who also happened to own the apartment house where the Granvilles lived.  Later, the show would feature guest appearances by many small screen favorites including Harvey Korman, Jack Albertson, and Strother Martin.

 

As the program progressed, Mrs. Granville either encountered crime via various research she was doing for one of her stories—for example, she went undercover as a taxi dancer in episode #2, “Ten Cents a Dance”--or just happened to practically trip into it, as in episode #4, “Keep It Kool,” where, on a long road trip the Granvilles, check into a motel only to encounter a murderess!

Upon the occasion of its debut, “Variety” gave “Glynis’” debut episode an upvote saying it was “peppered with laughs” and “executed in good comedy style.”  But their positivity was not widely shared.  Most other critics found the series either forgettable, tepid or, in the words of one critic, “not very inventive.”

Certainly one thing that worked against the series was its hybrid nature—was it comedy or detective show?  Though program types and lengths had yet to fully solidify themselves into strict “30 minutes = sitcom” and “one hour = drama” formats--for example, the adventure series “Honey West” was only half an hour long, as was the long-running “Dragnet” series—the “Glynis” mash-up of murder mystery/suspense and sitcom was a difficult mix to pull off, even by an able a talent as Johns.

Furthermore, eccentric talents like Glynis Johns, sadly, often don’t translate well to lead roles on TV shows (as Tammy Grimes would learn after only four episodes of her TV sitcom in 1966).
Additionally, around that same time as “Glynis,” Lucy/Desilu tried to package Broadway legend Ethel Merman into a weekly series but that show never got beyond the pilot stage.

Whatever was the case, “Glynis” was decidedly not a hit.  In fact, at a time when even the most failing of shows often got a full season’s run, Johns’ program was yanked after only 13 episodes.

The cancelation of the series, though, would do nothing to end Johns’ career nor it would dimmish her light.  Only about a year after the end of her sitcom, Johns entered immortality with her beloved performance in the Disney classic “Mary Poppins.”  Then she followed that up with roles on the original “Batman” series, in the lush 1982 TV mini-series “Little Gloria…Happy at Last,” on “Cheers” (as Shelley Long’s mother), and in the big screen films like “The Ref” and “Superstar.”  Along the way, she also conquered Broadway in the musical “A Little Night Music” where she introduced the Sondheim classic “Send in the Clowns.”

Additionally, the end of the show it did little to derail Keith Andes’ career either.  He kept plugging along in a wide variety of film and TV guest sports, most famously on the original “Star Trek.”  He passed away in 2005.

Interestingly, before “Glynis” debuted, the majority of its newspaper and trade write-ups/descriptors described the series with some variation of “a scatterbrained wife who solves crimes alongside her level-headed husband.”  Subsequently, more recent recaps of the series have also employed such simplistic descriptions, utilizing such pejoratives as “absent-minded,” etc. to convey what the series was about.  But it’s not a label that accurately reflect the she of this series.

A review of actual episodes shows Glynis Granville as a highly-skilled detective, a brave interloper, and even an action star.  She holds her own against some henchmen in the episode “Keep It Cool” and in outwits and outruns another goon in the series’ pilot episode “Hide and Seek.”  Such daring-do is intriguing and one wonders what else Glynis could have done if she was just on the air a little bit longer.

 

TVparty is Classic TV on the internet!

Local Kid Shows / Movie Stars on TV / Saturday Morning Shows / Video Vault / TV Goodbyes / Fabulous Fifties / Unseen Scenes / Game Shows / Requested Forgotten TV Shows / The Super Sixties / The New * * Shows / 1980's Wrestling / TV Blog

TVparty is Classic TV on the internet!
Classic TV on the Internet!

TV's Embarrassing Moments / Action Shows of the Sixties / TVparty Mysteries and Scandals / Variety Shows of the 1970s / The Eighties / The Laugh Track / 1970's Hit Shows / Response to TVparty / Search the Site / Add Your Comments

1960's TV Seasons: 1961 / 1964 / ABC 1966 / 1967 / 1968 / 1969 / Fall Previews / Sharon Tate on The Beverly Hillbillies / Dark, Unseen Monkees Pilot / Pistols 'N' Petticoats / Best Episodes of Every 'Lucy Show' Season / How Lee Meriwether Became Catwoman / The Star Trek Spinoff That Didn't Happen / Why Ginger Was Almost Fired From Gilligan's Island / Every Batman (1966) Fight Scene / Whatever Happened to the Beverly Hillbillies' Mansion? / Remembering "Mary Ann" - Dawn Wells Interview / Catching Up With Lucy & Desi's 'Son' / Please Don't Eat The Daisies / The Ronny Howard Show?!? / Death of Bonanza's Dan Blocker / Broadside / The Tammy Grimes Show / David McCallum on the Legacy of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. / In Defense of Bewitched (and Jeannie) / Sad Ironic Death of Crazy Guggenheim / Larry Mathers (Beaver Cleaver) on the Rumor That He Was Killed in Vietnam / The Monkees / Jimi Hendrix 1967 Tour - The Only Night It Clicked Was In Greensboro! / William Shatner on the Origin of Star Trek / Brother Dave Garner / Remembering Newton Minow / The Nurses / / Glynis / The Debbie Reynolds Show / The Riddler Was Batman's First TV Super-Villain / Betty Lynn aka Thelma Lou / Remembering The Rifleman's Johnny Crawford / Clu Gulager Obituary / Leonard Nimoy on NBC Hating Spock / Sinatra Wanted To Play Joker on Batman? Yes! / Directing the Batman Pilot / Elinor Donahue on The Andy Griffith Show / Lucy After Ricky / Robert Clary on His Hogan's Heroes Co-stars / Jeopardy! in the 60s & 70s / Stunts Gone Wrong on The Wild Wild West / Whatever Happened To Lost In Space's Guy Williams? / Best of Julie Newmar Catwoman Season 2 / The New People / Dark Shadows Director Lela Swift / Pioneer Newswoman Lisa Howard / The Jim Nabors Hour / The UN Goes to the Movies / Stories About Filming Batman from Burt Ward / Life With Linkletter / The Green Hornet / Best of The Joker / Matt Weiner Interview / Lost in Space: Mark Goddard Interview / 1961 CBS Fall Season / Bette Davis TV show: The Decorator / The Hathaways / He & She / Eartha Kitt as Catwoman / The Good Guys / James Drury of The Virginian / The Ron Hicklin Singers / Man From U.N.C.L.E. on DVD / Behind the Scenes at The Andy Griffith Show / Pat Buttram & Green Acres / Remembering Clint Walker / Cheyenne / Camp Runamuck / Gilligan's Mary Ann - Dawn Wells / 1960's Nightclub Comic Rusty Warren / Johnny Carson Tonight Show 1964 / That Girl / The Amazing Randi / TV's Greatest Car Stars / Best of Batgirl 1967-68 / TV Shows to Movies / Batman Season 2 / Supermarionation / The Virginian's Clu Gulager / William Windom / New Bewitched Book / Court Martial / Cast Changes on Bewitched and Green Acres / Sammy Davis Jr. Show / Sunday Morning Cartoons / Naked City / Joe E. Ross / Alan Young Interview / Sherwood Schwartz Interview / Walter Cronkite Moon Landing / The Farmer's Daughter / Petula-Clark /

Classic TV Commercials / 1950's TV / 1960's TV / 1970's TV / Lucy Shows / Classic Cars / John Wayne / Gene Roddenberry / Rockford Files / Sea Hunt / Superman on DVD / Toy Gun Ads / Flip Wilson Show / Big Blue Marble / Monty Hall / Carrascolendas / Mr. Dressup / Major Mudd / Chief Halftown / Baby Daphne / Sheriff John / Winchell & Mahoney / Fireball X-L5 / Mr. Wizard / Captain Noah / Thanksgiving Day Specials / Disney's First Christmas Special / Saturday Morning Cartoons / The Magic Garden / Amahl & the Night Visitors / Holiday Toy Commercials / Lucy & Desi's Last Christmas Show / Joey Heatherton / Fat Albert / The Virginian / Bewitched / Death of John Wayne / 1974 Saturday Mornings / Chuck McCann / Rudolph Collectables / Shrimpenstein / Local Popeye Shows / New Treasure Hunt / 1966 ABC TV Shows / 1967 TV Shows / 1968 TV Shows / Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes & Baby Doll / Fridays / TV Moms / Star Wars / KISS / Lancelot Link / Saturday Morning Cartoons / The Magic Garden / Wonder Woman / Classic Comic Books / Andy Griffith / Cher / TV Shows on DVD / Outtakes & Bloopers / 1967 TV Shows / Romper Room / ABC Movie of the Week / The Goldbergs / Daws Butler Commercials / Saturday Morning Commercials / Captain Kangaroo / Chicago Local Kiddie Shows / Boston Local TV / Philly Local TV / NYC Local Kid Shows / Amos 'n' Andy / Electric Company / Bette Davis / Judy Garland / Christmas Specials / Redd Foxx / Good Times / Sitcom Houses / What's Happening! / Winky Dink & You / Sonny & Cher / Smothers Brothers / Commercial Icons of the 1960s / Soupy Sales / TV Terrorists / Irwin Allen / The Untouchables / Carol Burnett Show / Batman TV Show / Green Hornet / Today Show History / Our Gang / Doris Day Show / 1970's Commercials For Women / Bill Cosby in the 1970s / The Golddiggers / Lola Falana / 1970s TV Shows / David Bowie on TV / Hudson Brothers / Jackie Gleason / Hollywood Squares / Match Game / Bob Keeshan / Gumby / The Flip Wilson Show / Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour / The Bobby Darin Show / The Richard Pryor Show / George Burns / Celebrity Commercials / Rudolph / Movie Posters & More! 

“The Match Game on DVD Route 66 season 2 on DVD All in the Family DVD New TV Tennessee Tuxedo on DVD
Looking for classic TV on DVD?/See below:
Back to the menu
Contact Us / Survey
Other Cool TV Sites

TVparty! Television Blog

 

Back to the menu
Contact Us / Survey
Other Cool TV Sites