I loved this show, and to some extent, became this show. At 60+ years of age, I am the clown in my family...my wife is the level-headed one...and the kids do indeed tolerate my antics...just! I know that Mr. Bendix is smiling down from that "Comedy Central" in the sky at my description right now!
[deleted]
My father, to all intents and purposes, WAS Chester A. Riley, or at least an Italian-American version of him. Like Riley, his plans didn't always work out and he never got rich, but we never cared. Everything he did, like Riley, he did for his family, and we always had what we needed. He was flawed, as all people are, but a better father and grandfather never lived.
Riley represented the working man; the average, regular guy of his day. Many people say he was the inspiration for Fred Flintstone, only a little more even-tempered. People like him and Peg made the world go round, and thank God we had them. I think we still do, but not as many.
By the way, Riley had two other catch phrases besides "What a revoltin' development this is!" although it was the most common. They were:
"It's a losin' fight!" (I heard it a few times.)
"You can't win!" (A couple of times)
It's a pity this show is not more highly regarded as the classic it should be. It is far more timeless than the dated and overrated "All in the Family." Carroll O'Connor, a fine actor to be sure, went on to later success with "In the Heat of the Night," and other projects. Poor William Bendix, a highly underrated actor who played lovable oafs and brutal villains with equal skill, never seemed to find another niche after "Riley."
That was a classic line. I don't remember the two other lines.
In one of Robert Sheckley's sci-fi novels (Mindswap or Crompton Divided?), the protagonist drives by a William Bendix monument in Brooklyn.
Poets are made by fools like me, but only God can make STD.
"It's a losin' fight," was used a few times but not nearly as often as "revoltin' development." "You can't win," was the least used of the three. I only heard it used once or twice.
shareYou guys take me back to the Cunningham Aircraft Company and Gillis next door. I realize there was limited fare on TV when this show became somewhat of a staple, but I'd like to believe that it was well written, well acted and certainly well received. I think many warmed up to Chester A. Riley because he seemed like everybody's father who was part of the "Greatest Generation" who came back from the war and rebuilt America. The fact that Mr. Bendix himself played in a number of WWII movies didn't alter that perception any. He was certainly my father; even looked like him.
And in those days, when I was just a kid, we used to even watch the show together on a small black and white television.
Thanks for the memories.
I'm 65 and been retired for four years. I used to work next to a guy older than me. One day some problem arose and I said "What a revolting development this is." He and I were the only ones laughing, the rest of the "kids'just didn't get it.
They don't know what they missed!
Back then a comic book company called DELL used to have comics based on certain TV shows, I had one copy for this show.
In the story Riley buys a broken down car.
Another note back in the early 1970s my company had a benefits film where Bill and Tom played roles very much like those on LOR where Bill's guy wants his benefits in cash
I loved this show when I was a child. My dad was always saying, "What a revolting development." Then we'd both laugh.
shareTo think, all this time I've attributed that "Revolting Development" line to Bejanmin J. Grimm!
shareHe also used to say, "It's a losin' fight," and rarely, "You can't win." Jackie Gleason was TV's first Riley but William Bendix, who created the role on radio and film, WAS Riley. He was one of the few working man lead characters in an era where fathers were usually insurance salesmen, doctors, lawyers, engineers, or untitled executives for firms where you never really knew what they did. He was Archie Bunker without the bigotry, but then in those days, you almost never saw minority characters or women who worked outside the home. Please don't judge this program of another time by the values of today. It was a product of its time.
Riley may have been an idiot at times, but his heart was always good. There was never a more devoted and loving son, husband, father, and grandfather on TV. When called for, he had a wisdom and eloquence that did the job. Peg and the kids were always there for him because he was always there for them, and they loved each other.
William Bendix and Tom D'Andrea (Gillis) were comic foils in the same league as Abbott and Costello without the slaps, but the truest of friends. Bendix was one of America's most popular character actors in his day, able to play comic relief or brutal villany. There has never been another like him. I miss him.