60's U.S. Television sitcoms - variations on a theme

U.S. Situation comedies in the late 50's tended to be the W.A.S.P.(White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant) family like Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet, Leave it to Beaver (June says to Ward Cleaver in bed, "Dear, I think you were a bit hard on the Beaver last night" .... ooo, er, Nurse! but I digress, it's still a classic joke though, but not mine).

Then some bright spark in the early 60's came up with the idea of the dysfunctional family or the unconventional home situation - 'fish out of water' premise. And all the networks jumped on the bandwagon. Here are the variations on the same theme, in no particular order:

• My Favourite Martian (I think it was a rip off of Gore Vidal's play A Visit to a Small Planet, also a Jerry Lewis movie)
• My Living Doll (I think my first TV crush was Julie Newmar, this over 10 years before Westworld did the robot gimmick)
• The Munsters (not based on a cartoon like next show, Universal had all those 30's horror movies to reference)
• The Addams Family (it is line ball which of the last two shows came first)
• Bewitched (loved Edora, as soon as Tabitha came into it you knew 'jumping the shark' was nigh)
• The Beverly Hillbillies (typical 'fish out of water' premise like: Tarzan in New York, Crocodile Dundee, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, numerous Brendan Fraser movies: Blast from the Past, Encino Man, George of the Jungle - he specialises in looking cute but bemused). Shit, this blog post should have been entitled "How to get off the subject"
• Green Acres (another 'fish out of water' idea like The Beverly Hillbillies but flipped around - urban to rural)
• I Dream of Jeannie (setting it in Cape Canaveral was topical and a winner)
• My Mother, the Car (this was short-lived for good reason, a variation on Mr Ed, the joke was all in the title) 

Then some bright spark in the 70's came up with the 'let's have social commentary' sitcom. So we had: All in the Family (rip-off of UK 'Til Death Do Us Part), The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Maude, The Jeffersons (both Archie Bunker spinoffs).

But that's another story....

MGM Movies - my guilty pleasures

Image Copyright MGM corporation/fanpop.com

I am starting at 1959 (I was around 4 years old, old enough to remember a movie, I reckon).

1959  The World, the Flesh and the Devil post apocalypse  New York - stunning street scenes
1960  The Time Machine George Pal triumph, creepy Morlocks, loads of fun; Village of the Damned you will never look at fair haired kids the same way
1961  Atlantis, the Lost Continent George Pal again
1962  How the West was Won incredible cast, MGM pulled all the stops out, James Stewart segment the best, Alfred Newman's kick ass score is perfect
1963  The V.I.P.s   glossy crap but compelling, a young Maggie Smith steals the picture from Liz and Dick; The Haunting (see my post "Films that scared the shit out of me"; The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (George Pal must have had a BIG office at MGM)
1964  The Seven Faces of Dr Lao Tony Randall has a field day so does William Tuttle (make-up chief)
1965  The Loved One (a brave try, crazy cast) ; The Hill (Sean Connery and Sidney Lumet - very tough movie)
1966  Mr Buddwing (You can't beat a good amnesiac plot.)
1967  The Dirty Dozen  Everything works in this action movie.
1968  Hot Millions (nifty caper movie with Maggie Smith and Peter Ustinov); The Legend of Lylah Clare (over the top Hollywood celebrities and secrets, campy fun)
1969  Where Eagles Dare (can be watched numerous times, much to enjoy); The Maltese Bippy (forgive me)
1970  Kelly's Heroes (I was desperate); Dark Shadows (It was released as House of Dark Shadows in Australia); Get Carter gritty Brit thriller, one of the first <R> movies I saw
1971  The Boy Friend (Ken Russell, Twiggy, Max Adrian, Glenda Jackson - an absolute delight); Shaft (blaxploitation goes mainstream); Pretty Maids All in a Row (delightfully sleazy Roger Vadim black comedy with Rock Hudson as the murderer)
1972  nil
1973  Westworld (Michael Crichton in top form, in 1973, this was so fresh and inventive - much copied - Yul Brynner as robot gunslinger, truly inspirational)
1974  nil
1975  The Wind and the Lion (John Milius's most consistent movie, knockout cast - Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, John Huston, love Brian Keith as Teddy Roosevelt) co-produced with Columbia
1976-1980  it's embarrassing, the Lion didn't roar much
1981  Clash of the Titans lots to like here, check out the Gods on Olympus (Larry, Maggy and Ursula), avoid the remake.
1982 Victor/Victoria - everything works in this film. Robert Preston, what a star. That voice!
1983 A Christmas Story Amazingly none of the studio wanted to touch this story about a kid wishing for a BB gun that is now a seasonal classic. Bob Clark had just directed teen sex comedy Porky's. Talk about a change in pace! Apparently Jack Nicholson was interested in the father part. Darren McGavin is incredible though - warm, grumpy and flawed (like most dads).