Take It from Me (TV series)

Take It from Me is an American television situation comedy that was broadcast on ABC November 4, 1953 - January 6, 1954. It was also known as The Jean Carroll Show.[1]

Overview

Jean Carroll portrayed a housewife with Alan Carney as her "bumbling husband" Herbie.[2] An "awkward, somewhat dopey daughter"[3] played by Lynn Loring completed the New York City family.[2] Alice Pearce was their neighbor.[1] Scenes were set in the family's apartment or in the adjacent neighborhood.[2] A structure similar to that of The Jack Benny Program[4] had Carroll beginning each episode with a monologue. The sketch that followed typically had her using her wiles to get Herbie to do something. At times Carroll made humorous remarks about the sketch to the audience.[2] Carroll's character was "a lower-middle-class housewife beset by endless household drudgery and a miserly, gluttonous husband".[5]

Production

Alan Dinehart produced and directed Take It from Me. The writers were Coleman Jacoby and Arnie Rosen.[1] Bernard Green provided music.[3] Eleven episodes were produced.[3] The show was sustaining[5] and it was broadcast on Wednesdays from 9 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time,[2] originating from WABC-TV.[6] Its competition included Strike It Rich on CBS, Colonel Humphrey Flack and Chicago Symphony on DuMont, and Kraft Television Theatre on NBC.[4]

Cancellation

Financial struggles were a problem for ABC at this time, and when Take It from Me was canceled, the network replaced it with The Big Picture, a military documentary series that the U. S. Army provided at no cost.[4] The trade publication Billboard described the cancellation as an indication "that ABC-TV is on an economy kick", noting that Take It from Me was the network's "top budget sustainer".[7] ABC cancelled two daytime programs at the same time.[7] The network retained its options for the show, hoping to resume it in the spring of 1954 with a sponsor.[8]

Critical response

John Lester, writing in the Staten Island Advance, called the premiere episode "successfully funny".[9] He acknowledged that the premiere was flawed, but said that was to be expected for any new series and he felt that those problems could be overcome.[9] The positive aspects included "good, crisp dialog", "interesting characterization", and "broad and friendly but terse satire".[9]

Bill Coleman wrote in The (Brooklyn, New York) Tablet that Carroll "is tremendous in a vehicle well suited to her particular style of humor".[10] He described Carney as "very funny" and predicted that the two of them "will become the next big comedy team to win national fame on television".[10]

A review in TV Guide called Take It from Me "a good show" and said that Carroll "is great, both in her monologues and in the action scenes".[11] It also complimented Jacoby's and Rosen's writing and Carney's acting.[11]

The trade publication Broadcasting classified the series as ABC's contribution to bad comedy shows. A review that focused on the December 9, 1953, episode said, "The show was thrown together. It lacked continuity, showmanship and the polish an audience justly expects of network productions."[12] It noted that the episode contained three unrelated situations, each of which "could have been developed into a half-hour script. Jointly they got nowhere."[12]

The trade publication Variety described the show as "fluid and funny" and said the writers had "hit a paydirt format".[13] Its review said that Carroll "shines all the way" as the star, and it complimented Carney's performance as her foil, the directing of the show, and its musical score.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 427. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
  2. ^ a b c d e Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (June 24, 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 1353. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Leszczak, Bob (November 8, 2012). Single Season Sitcoms, 1948-1979: A Complete Guide. McFarland. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-7864-9305-0. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Hyatt, Wesley (October 6, 2015). Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops. McFarland. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-1-4766-0515-9. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Overbeke, Grace Kessler (September 17, 2024). First Lady of Laughs: The Forgotten Story of Jean Carroll, America's First Jewish Woman Stand-Up Comedian. NYU Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-4798-1815-0. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  6. ^ "This Week -- Network Debuts, Highlights, Changes". Ross Reports. November 2, 1953. p. 1. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  7. ^ a b "ABC-TV Axes 'Jean Carroll'; Pares Budget". Billboard. January 2, 1954. p. 2. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  8. ^ "Jean Carroll Put On Ice Till Spring Sponsor Thaw; 18G to Sustain". Variety. December 30, 1953. p. 25. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  9. ^ a b c Lester, John (November 11, 1953). "'Take It from Me' Rates TV Bouquets". Staten Island Advance. p. 15. Retrieved April 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Coleman, Bill (November 21, 1953). "Radiopinion and Televisionotes". The Tablet. New York, Brooklyn. p. 19. Retrieved April 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b "Take It From Me". TV Guide. December 25, 1953. p. 22. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  12. ^ a b "Take It from Me". Broadcasting. December 14, 1953. p. 16. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  13. ^ a b "Take It from Me". Variety. November 11, 1953. p. 35. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.