Hazel is an american situation comedy about a feisty live-in maid named Hazel Burke ( played by Shirley Booth ) and her employers, the Baxters. The five-season, 154-episode series aired in flower time from September 28, 1961, to April 11, 1966, and was produced by Screen Gems. The beginning four seasons of Hazel aired on NBC, and the fifth and final temper aired on CBS. Season 1 was broadcast in black-and-white except for one sequence which was in discolor, and seasons 2–5 were all broadcast in color. The show was based on the single-panel comic airstrip of the lapp name by cartoonist Ted Key, which appeared in The Saturday Evening Post .
outline [edit ]
Seasons 1–4 [edit ]
Hazel is a competent, take-charge, live-in maid in the dwelling of the Baxter family. George Baxter ( Don DeFore ) is a collaborator in the jurisprudence firm of Butterworth, Hatch, Noll and Baxter ; Hazel calls him “ Mr. B ”. George ‘s wife, Dorothy ( Whitney Blake ), is an inner decorator, whom Hazel nicknames “ Missy ”. Their son Harold ( Bobby Buntrock ) is dubbed “ Sport ” by Hazel. The kin frank is Smiley. Hazel had worked previously with Dorothy ‘s class, and has a cheeseparing relationship with her. Hazel ‘s mother died when she was 14 ( she said in one episode ) so she had to take care of her own family.
Reading: Hazel (TV series) – Wikipedia
The series humorously dramatizes Hazel ‘s life with the Baxters and her friendships with others in the vicinity such as mailman Barney Hatfield ( Robert Williams ), taxi-driver Mitch Brady ( Dub Taylor ) and Rosie Hammaker ( Maudie Prickett ), another maid in the vicinity. many episodes focus on the perennial contest of wills between Hazel and George over issues around the house ; “ Mr. B ” normally concedes defeat and grants Hazel ‘s wishes when she tortures him by serving meager portions of her mouth-watering meals and desserts as an bonus for him to “ lose a few pounds. ” Some episodes take Hazel outside the Baxter house and follow her life in the community. In the first sequence, for case, she spearheads a drive for the construction of a neighborhood resort area. Hazel ‘s liveliness is sometimes complicated by George ‘s clannish Bostonian baby Deirdre Thompson ( Cathy Lewis ) and his gruff client Harvey Griffin ( Howard Smith ). crazy neighbors Herbert and Harriet Johnson ( Donald Foster and Norma Varden ) frequently call upon Hazel ‘s expertness in family matters, of which they seem ignorant .
Network change and final season [edit ]
After a four season run on NBC, the network canceled the serial, but it was picked up by CBS for what would be a fifth and final temper. In an effort to appeal to a younger audience, DeFore and Blake were dropped after the travel to CBS. George and Dorothy ’ sulfur passing was explained as a move to Baghdad, Iraq, for George ‘s cultivate. Hazel and Harold ( who did not depart with his parents so he would n’t miss any school ) moved in with George ‘s never-before-mentioned young brother, Steve ( Ray Fulmer ), a real estate agent, Steve ‘s wife Barbara ( Lynn Borden ), and their daughter Susie ( Julia Benjamin ). Hazel provided the same housekeep services for her vamp family. As for the drop in two of the main characters, CBS had said that Blake was not available after the travel to the network, although DeFore stated that he was never informed of the exchange and found out about it while reading a newspaper. Ann Jillian, who was then a adolescent, was besides added to the project as Millie Ballard, Steve Baxter ‘s receptionist. Jillian former went on to star in her own series, It’s a Living, in the 1980s, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as several television movies .
production notes [edit ]
Don DeFore, Bobby Buntrock, Whitney Blake from the first-season episode “ Hazel ‘s Secret Wish ” The series was filmed at Columbia Sunset Gower Studios, Hollywood, California. Exteriors were shot at the Columbia Ranch in Burbank. This movie ranch facade used as the Baxters ‘ house had previously been seen in respective Three Stooges films, and was used as the home for the Lawrences on the situation comedy Gidget. From the driveway, the house next door to the right is recognizable as that of Darrin and Samantha Stephens from Bewitched. The episode “ What ‘ll We Watch Tonight ”, in which Hazel purchases a color television receiver, is the merely first-season sequence shot in color and appears to promote coloring material television receiver sets. NBC, which aired the series, was owned by RCA, the largest seller of color television receiver sets, during the period when most viewers hush had black-and-white TVs. In July 1963, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) announced that unless the indicate added a Negro person to the off-camera technical staff, the organization would begin a boycott of the express ‘s sponsor, the Ford Motor Company. Two months after the announcement, the testify ‘s producers announced that a black production executive had joined the show. [ 1 ]
theme birdcall [edit ]
While the hebdomadally show began with an implemental subject song composed by the team of Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen, the close credits during the first eight shows of the inaugural temper played the song with lyrics sung by The Modernaires. There were different arrangements of the composition song as the series progressed, including a subsequently version by Howard Greenfield and Helen Miller .
During its first four seasons, Hazel was sponsored by Ford Motor Company, which had earlier underwrite Tennessee Ernie Ford ‘s comedy and variety indicate, The Ford Show. As a solution, Ford vehicles, including the Mustang when it was introduced in 1964, were much prominently featured on the series, tied as a separate of the storyline ( an example of merchandise placement ). During temper four, Lever Brothers co-sponsored Hazel. In its final season, Procter & Gamble and Philip Morris were the sponsors .
reception [edit ]
The indicate ‘s first season placed fourth in the 1961–1962 Nielsen ‘s ratings. Shirley Booth received two Emmy Awards ( 1962 and 1963 ) for Hazel, and garnered a nomination for her third base season ( 1964 ). Booth besides received a Golden Globe nomination for Best television receiver Star ( 1964 ) and two posthumous nominations for the television receiver Land Award, Favorite Made-for-TV Maid ( 2004 and 2006 ). ABC loosely copied the Hazel subject 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. [ 2 ] At the end of the 1963–1964 season, the ratings had slipped from # 15 the former year to # 22. By the time NBC canceled the series in the spring of 1965, Hazel had fallen out of the exceed 30 programs. CBS picked it up for the 1965–1966 season, and made a number of cast changes. Buntrock remained in the vomit as Harold Baxter ; DeFore and Blake were dropped and replaced with Fulmer and Borden, respectively. Child actress Julia Benjamin was added to the draw as Susie Baxter. In the spring of 1966, Hazel ended its primetime network move.
In 2014, according to Playbill, [ 3 ] actress and cabaret performer Klea Blackhurst was cast in a New York City understand of Hazel, a musical based on Ted Key ‘s cartoon quality ampere good as the 1961–1966 television situation comedy. Lucie Arnaz directed the AEA recitation that featured Blackhurst as Hazel in a casting that included Paul Shaffer as George Baxter, Jessica Keenan Wynn as Dorothy Baxter, Colin Crest as Harold Baxter, Warren Kelley as Bonkers Johnson, Ava-Riley Miles as Benedetta Bomicino, Bonale Fambrini as Scotty Fuyu and Ethan Khusidman as Reuben Steuben, along with Lance Roberts, Romelda Benjamin, Gerard Salvador, Erin Sullivan, Sharone Sayegh and Kevin Spirtas as the Narrator/Newscaster. The musical, which had first been announced to be in exploitation for Broadway in 2010, was written by composer Ron Abel and lyricist Chuck Steffan, with a book by Lissa Levin. The diligence presentations took place October 24–25, 2014, at the June Havoc Theatre .
syndication [edit ]
Hazel was seen in syndicate reruns on some local stations, chiefly during the 1970s. Since then it has occasionally aired on some stations. [ 4 ] On cable, Hazel aired on TBS from 1980 to 1986. It besides aired on television Land from 2002–2003. In 2011, it aired on Antenna television receiver and starting in 2015, it aired weekday mornings on FETV – Family Entertainment Television, GAC Family and GAC Living .
Episodes [edit ]
home media [edit ]
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 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. [ 5 ] They have subsequently released seasons 2–4 on DVD. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] The fifth and final season has been released on January 14, 2014. [ 9 ]
| DVD Name | Ep# | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete 1st Season | 35 | August 1, 2006 |
| The Complete 2nd Season | 32 | February 21, 2012 |
| The Complete 3rd Season | 32 | May 15, 2012 |
| The Complete 4th Season | 26 | December 11, 2012 |
| The Complete 5th Season | 29 | January 14, 2014 |
