.gif)
Hazel (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Hazel is a Screen Gems
television series about a fictional live-in maid
named Hazel Burke (Shirley Booth
) and her employers, the Baxters. The five-season, 154-episode series aired in primetime from September 1961 until April 1966. The first four seasons aired on NBC
, were sponsored by Ford Motor Company
, which had earlier underwritten Tennessee Ernie Ford
's comedy and variety show
, The Ford Show
. During season four, Bristol-Myers
co-sponsored Hazel. In the final season on CBS
, Procter & Gamble
and Philip Morris
were the sponsors. The show was based on a popular single panel comic strip by cartoonist
Ted Key
that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post.
), his interior decorator wife Dorothy, whom Hazel called "Missy" (Whitney Blake
), their schoolboy son Harold, known by Hazel as "Sport" (Bobby Buntrock
), and the family dog Smiley. Hazel had worked with Dorothy's family before, so she knew her best. The series humorously dramatizes Hazel's life with the Baxters and her friendships with others in the neighborhood such as postman Barney Hatfield (Robert Williams), taxi-driving Mitch Brady (Dub Taylor
), and Rosie Hammaker (Maudie Prickett
), another maid in the area. Johnny Washbrook
, formerly of My Friend Flicka
, guest starred as Hazel's nephew
, Eddie Burke.
Many episodes focus on the perennial contest of wills between Hazel and her boss over issues around the house; "Mr. B" usually concedes defeat and grants Hazel's wishes when she tortures him by serving meager portions of her mouth-watering desserts. Some episodes take Hazel outside the Baxter house and follow her life in the community. In the first episode, for example, she spearheads a drive for the construction of a neighborhood playground.
Hazel's life is sometimes complicated by George's snobby Boston sister Deirdre Thompson (Cathy Lewis
) and his gruff client Harvey Griffin (Howard Smith
). Dotty neighbors Herbert and Harriet Johnson (Donald Foster
and Norma Varden
) often call upon Hazel's expertise in household matters.
In the show's final season, on CBS, George and Dorothy depart for the Middle East
in conjunction with George's work (DeFore and Blake were dropped from the cast) while Harold and Hazel move in with George's younger brother, Steve (Ray Fulmer
), a real estate agent, Steve's wife Barbara (Lynn Borden
), and their daughter Susie (Julia Benjamin). Hazel provides housekeeping services for her revamped family. The new Baxters reflected a desire for younger demographics. (CBS said that Ms. Blake was not available after NBC's cancellation, although Don DeFore noted that he found out about the change while reading the newspaper.) The most notable new arrival was the teenage actress who played Millie Ballard, Steve Baxter's receptionist. Ann Jillian
went on to star in her own series, It's a Living, and numerous television movies.
, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The show aired on NBC
for its first four seasons (in black and white for all but one episode of the first season, and in color for the next three), and then in color on CBS
for its final season.
The episode "What'll We Watch Tonight," in which Hazel purchases a color TV, is the only first season episode shot in color and appears to promote color television sets. NBC, which aired the series, was owned by RCA, the largest seller of color television sets when most viewers still had black-and-white TVs.
Early in the first season, DeFore's character George is seen sporting a bandage that he attributed to fielding ground balls from son Harold. In reality, DeFore had nearly amputated his own finger while working with a circular saw in his home garage.
In July 1963, the NAACP announced that unless the show added an African-American to the off-camera technical staff, the organization would begin a boycott of the show's sponsor, the Ford Motor Company
. Two months after the announcement, the show's producers announced that a black production executive had the joined the show.
In the 16th episode of season four, "Champagne Tony", golfer Tony Lema
plays himself in a guest appearance. Just 18 months after the show was broadcast, Lema and his wife, along with two others, were killed in a plane crash.
Award, Favorite Made-for-TV Maid (2004 and 2006).
In its first season, Hazel won such ratings as to force the cancellation of its principal competitor, the new ABC
sitcom Margie
, starring Cynthia Pepper
, set during the Roaring Twenties
.
ABC
loosely copied the Hazel theme in the 1962-1963 series Our Man Higgins
as an English
butler
to a suburban American family. Stanley Holloway
played the lead role, along with Audrey Totter
and Frank Maxwell.
The story of how Hazel came to be a maid is told for the first time in Love Is The Reason For It All...The Shirley Booth Story by Jim Manago, with radio research by Donna Manago, and foreword by Ted Key. BearManor Media, ISBN 978-1-5939-3146-9
from 1980 to 1986, and on WGN in 1994. Hazel also aired on TV Land
from 2002-2003. As of January 2011 Hazel is airing on Antenna TV
.
:
released the first season of Hazel on DVD in Region 1 on August 1, 2006.
On February 18, 2011, Shout! Factory
announced that they had acquired the rights to the series (under license from Sony) and would be releasing season 2 on DVD in 2011. On November 7, 2011, it was announced that season 2 would be released on February 21, 2012.
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
television series about a fictional live-in maid
Maid
A maidservant or in current usage housemaid or maid is a female employed in domestic service.-Description:Once part of an elaborate hierarchy in great houses, today a single maid may be the only domestic worker that upper and even middle-income households can afford, as was historically the case...
named Hazel Burke (Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth was an American actress.Primarily a theatre actress, Booth's Broadway career began in 1925. Her most significant success was as Lola Delaney, in the drama Come Back, Little Sheba, for which she received a Tony Award in 1950...
) and her employers, the Baxters. The five-season, 154-episode series aired in primetime from September 1961 until April 1966. The first four seasons aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, were sponsored by Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, which had earlier underwritten Tennessee Ernie Ford
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...
's comedy and variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
, The Ford Show
The Ford Show
The Ford Show is a half-hour comedy/variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired in color on NBC television on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956 to June 29, 1961....
. During season four, Bristol-Myers
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb , often referred to as BMS, is a pharmaceutical company, headquartered in New York City. The company was formed in 1989, following the merger of its predecessors Bristol-Myers and the Squibb Corporation...
co-sponsored Hazel. In the final season on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
and Philip Morris
Philip Morris USA
Philip Morris USA is the United States tobacco division of Altria Group, Inc. Philip Morris USA brands include Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Benson and Hedges, Merit, Parliament, Alpine, Basic, Cambridge, Bucks, Dave's, Chesterfield, Collector's Choice, Commander, English Ovals, Lark, L&M, Players and...
were the sponsors. The show was based on a popular single panel comic strip by cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Ted Key
Ted Key
Ted Key, born Theodore Keyser , was an American cartoonist and writer. He is best known as the creator of the cartoon series Hazel.-College to cartoons:...
that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post.
Plot and characters
Hazel is a competent, take-charge, live-in maid in the home of George Baxter, a partner in the law firm of Butterworth, Hatch, Noll & Baxter, and known as "Mr. B" to Hazel (Don DeForeDon DeFore
Donald John DeFore was an American actor who played "the regular guy" and "the good, ol' boy next door" in many films in the 1940s and 1950s.-Life and career:...
), his interior decorator wife Dorothy, whom Hazel called "Missy" (Whitney Blake
Whitney Blake
Whitney Blake was an American film and television actress, director and producer.Blake was born as Nancy Ann Whitney in 1926 in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, the first child of Martha Mae Wilkerson and Harry Whitney...
), their schoolboy son Harold, known by Hazel as "Sport" (Bobby Buntrock
Bobby Buntrock
Bobby Buntrock was an American child actor. Buntrock is best known for playing the character of Harold Baxter on the 1960s sitcom Hazel.-Biography:...
), and the family dog Smiley. Hazel had worked with Dorothy's family before, so she knew her best. The series humorously dramatizes Hazel's life with the Baxters and her friendships with others in the neighborhood such as postman Barney Hatfield (Robert Williams), taxi-driving Mitch Brady (Dub Taylor
Dub Taylor
Walter Clarence Taylor, Jr. , better known as Dub Taylor, was an American actor who worked extensively in Westerns, but also in comedy from the 1940s into the 1990s.-Early life:...
), and Rosie Hammaker (Maudie Prickett
Maudie Prickett
Maudie Prickett was an American film and television character actress.Born in Portland, Oregon, Prickett often portrayed maids, busybodies, spinsters, and nosy neighbors...
), another maid in the area. Johnny Washbrook
Johnny Washbrook
John "Johnny" Washbrook is a former child actor best known for his role as 12-year-old Ken McLaughlin on the western television series My Friend Flicka, originally broadcast from 1956-1957 on CBS.-My Friend Flicka:...
, formerly of My Friend Flicka
My Friend Flicka (TV series)
My Friend Flicka is a 39-episode western television series set at the fictitious Goose Bar Ranch in Wyoming at the turn of the 20th century. The program was filmed in color but initially aired in black and white on CBS at 7:30 p.m. Fridays from February 10, 1956, to February 1, 1957. It was a...
, guest starred as Hazel's nephew
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
, Eddie Burke.
Many episodes focus on the perennial contest of wills between Hazel and her boss over issues around the house; "Mr. B" usually concedes defeat and grants Hazel's wishes when she tortures him by serving meager portions of her mouth-watering desserts. Some episodes take Hazel outside the Baxter house and follow her life in the community. In the first episode, for example, she spearheads a drive for the construction of a neighborhood playground.
Hazel's life is sometimes complicated by George's snobby Boston sister Deirdre Thompson (Cathy Lewis
Cathy Lewis
Cathy Lewis was an American actress remembered best for numerous radio appearances but making a number of film and television appearances in the last decade of her life....
) and his gruff client Harvey Griffin (Howard Smith
Howard Smith (actor)
Howard Smith was an American actor. An imposing presence in films of the late '40s, as well as early television shows such as The Aldrich Family , New York stage actor Howard I. Smith actually made his screen debut as far back as 1918, in Young America...
). Dotty neighbors Herbert and Harriet Johnson (Donald Foster
Donald Foster (actor)
Donald Foster was an American actor who appeared periodically in a number of television series during the 1950s and 1960s, including Perry Mason, The Addams Family, and The Monkees. He played recurring character Herbert Johnson, the Baxters' dotty neighbor in the 1960s sitcom, Hazel...
and Norma Varden
Norma Varden
Norma Varden was an English actress with a long film career in Hollywood.Born in London, the daughter of a retired sea-captain, Varden was a child prodigy. She trained as a concert pianist in Paris and performed in England before deciding to take up acting...
) often call upon Hazel's expertise in household matters.
In the show's final season, on CBS, George and Dorothy depart for the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
in conjunction with George's work (DeFore and Blake were dropped from the cast) while Harold and Hazel move in with George's younger brother, Steve (Ray Fulmer
Ray Fulmer
Raymond Stover Fulmer, known as Ray Fulmer , is a former actor, originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for his role as Steve Baxter in the final season of Shirley Booth's situation comedy Hazel, which aired on CBS television from September 13, 1965, to April 11, 1966.Fulmer first...
), a real estate agent, Steve's wife Barbara (Lynn Borden
Lynn Borden
Lynn Borden is an American actress best known for her role as "Barbara Baxter" in the final season of the Shirley Booth sitcom Hazel, which aired on CBS from 1965 to 1966.-Background:...
), and their daughter Susie (Julia Benjamin). Hazel provides housekeeping services for her revamped family. The new Baxters reflected a desire for younger demographics. (CBS said that Ms. Blake was not available after NBC's cancellation, although Don DeFore noted that he found out about the change while reading the newspaper.) The most notable new arrival was the teenage actress who played Millie Ballard, Steve Baxter's receptionist. Ann Jillian
Ann Jillian
Ann Jillian is an American actress, who started acting at age 10. Her career reached its zenith in the 1980s, with her best-known role being that of waitress Cassie Cranston on the sitcom It's a Living.-Early life and career:...
went on to star in her own series, It's a Living, and numerous television movies.
Production notes
The series was filmed at Columbia Sunset Gower StudiosSunset Gower Studios
Sunset Gower Studios is a television and movie studio at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street in Hollywood, California. It continues today as Hollywood's largest independent studio and an active facility for television and film production on its twelve soundstages.The studios were...
, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The show aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
for its first four seasons (in black and white for all but one episode of the first season, and in color for the next three), and then in color on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
for its final season.
The episode "What'll We Watch Tonight," in which Hazel purchases a color TV, is the only first season episode shot in color and appears to promote color television sets. NBC, which aired the series, was owned by RCA, the largest seller of color television sets when most viewers still had black-and-white TVs.
Early in the first season, DeFore's character George is seen sporting a bandage that he attributed to fielding ground balls from son Harold. In reality, DeFore had nearly amputated his own finger while working with a circular saw in his home garage.
In July 1963, the NAACP announced that unless the show added an African-American to the off-camera technical staff, the organization would begin a boycott of the show's sponsor, the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
. Two months after the announcement, the show's producers announced that a black production executive had the joined the show.
In the 16th episode of season four, "Champagne Tony", golfer Tony Lema
Tony Lema
Anthony David "Tony" Lema was an American professional golfer, who rose to fame in the beginning of golf's modern era, but had his young life and career cut short in an aircraft accident. His most prestigious victory was the 1964 British Open.-Biography:Lema was born in Oakland, California, to...
plays himself in a guest appearance. Just 18 months after the show was broadcast, Lema and his wife, along with two others, were killed in a plane crash.
Reception
The show was considered to be an instant hit when it debuted, and its first season was fourth in the 1961-1962 Nielsen's ratings. Shirley Booth received two Emmys, (1962 and 1963) for "Hazel" and an Emmy nomination for her third season (1964). The actress received a Golden Globe nomination for Best TV Star (1964), and two nominations for the TV LandTV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
Award, Favorite Made-for-TV Maid (2004 and 2006).
In its first season, Hazel won such ratings as to force the cancellation of its principal competitor, the new ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
sitcom Margie
Margie (TV series)
Margie is a television situation comedy starring Cynthia Pepper that was broadcast on ABC from October 12, 1961 to April 12, 1962 in the 9:30 Eastern Thursday time slot, sponsored by Procter & Gamble. The series was adapted from a 1946 film of the same name starring Jeanne Crain.- Plot :The show...
, starring Cynthia Pepper
Cynthia Pepper
Cynthia Pepper is a blonde American actress whose principal work was accomplished during the early 1960s. Born Cynthia Anne Culpepper in Hollywood, California, she was the daughter of entertainer Jack Pepper , and Pepper's second wife, Dawn...
, set during the Roaring Twenties
Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
.
ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
loosely copied the Hazel theme in the 1962-1963 series Our Man Higgins
Our Man Higgins
Our Man Higgins is a 34-episode situation comedy, the story of an English butler — portrayed by Stanley Holloway, who is inherited by a suburban American family, resulting in a cultural clash that grows into a cultural blending. A Screen Gems presentation, Our Man Higgins was seen on ABC television...
as an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
butler
Butler
A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
to a suburban American family. Stanley Holloway
Stanley Holloway
Stanley Augustus Holloway, OBE was an English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady...
played the lead role, along with Audrey Totter
Audrey Totter
Audrey Mary Totter is an American actress and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract star of Austrian-Slovene and Swedish descent...
and Frank Maxwell.
The story of how Hazel came to be a maid is told for the first time in Love Is The Reason For It All...The Shirley Booth Story by Jim Manago, with radio research by Donna Manago, and foreword by Ted Key. BearManor Media, ISBN 978-1-5939-3146-9
Syndication
Hazel aired on Superstation WTBSTBS (TV channel)
TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...
from 1980 to 1986, and on WGN in 1994. Hazel also aired on TV Land
TV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
from 2002-2003. As of January 2011 Hazel is airing on Antenna TV
Antenna TV
Antenna TV is an American digital broadcast television network, primarily featuring classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s, along with some feature films. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
.
Theme Song
While the weekly show began with an instrumental theme song, the closing credits during the first eight shows of the inaugural season played the song with lyrics sung by The ModernairesThe Modernaires
The Modernaires are an American vocal group, best known for performing in the 1940s alongside Glenn Miller- Career :The Modernaires began in 1935 as a trio of schoolmates from Lafayette High School in Buffalo, New York...
:
- Who's the gal who's everybody's pal, it's Hazel
- She's the one to make the sun begin to glow
- The mailman, the grocer, and even schoolkids know
- It's worth their while to stop and watch that smile
- When Hazel, that Hazel
- When Hazel, that Hazel
- When Hazel says hello
DVD releases
Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentSony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
released the first season of Hazel on DVD in Region 1 on August 1, 2006.
On February 18, 2011, Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
announced that they had acquired the rights to the series (under license from Sony) and would be releasing season 2 on DVD in 2011. On November 7, 2011, it was announced that season 2 would be released on February 21, 2012.
| DVD Name | Ep# | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete 1st Season | 35 | August 1, 2006 |
| The Complete 2nd Season | 32 | February 21, 2012 |
External links
- http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/H/htmlH/hazel/hazel.htmKim, Lahn S.. Hazel. Museum of Broadcast CommunicationsMuseum of Broadcast CommunicationsThe Museum of Broadcast Communications is an American museum that currently exists exclusively on the Internet and not in any physical capacity. Its stated mission is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain...
.] - Hazel at TVGuide.com