MovieChat Forums > Hazel (1961) Discussion > Pilot episode--a real curio

Pilot episode--a real curio

posted 16 years ago by miriamwebster
2 replies | jump to latest

Very interesting to see how Hazel character evolved from the frowsy housekeeper of the pilot episode to the efficent up-beat heroine of later shows.

In first episode, she was unkempt looking and behaved in childish, peevish manner, almost like a sitcom version of her Come Back Little Sheba character. Her hair was a mess, she really dragged feet about cooking for Dorothy's birthday (because it was her day off, I believe) and, in most mawkish sequence, even retreated to her room and performed a pathetic exotic dance to a radio song, just like in Sheba.

Thankfully, someone realized this just wasn't funny and show was rapidly inrevamped to the long-running crowd-pleaser it eventually became.

[–] spike71 16 years ago

Everyone's entitled to their opinion and I happen to have enjoyed Hazel and wish the rest of the season's would be released. It was a nice innocent, stress-free show that involved family life. Perhaps it wasn't quite your typical family but it was a nice family show. I got many laughs from the show and thought it taught family values. Yea, some episodes were a little strange but I'd rather have the "strange" we saw on Hazel rather than the "strange" that's on tv today. You know - the "strange" that's influencing our young people to believe that the so-called family life they see on tv is healthy and to be considered the norm and acceptable. I'll take Hazel any day.

[–] Clothes-Off 15 years ago

A lot of shows of the era started out more true to their source material (often a radio show or a movie--but in this case, a comic strip), and then the longer the show lasted the less like the source it became. The maid in the Saturday Evening Post cartoons was definitely more flippant and less pleasant than she became once the network started tinkering with her.

Another example is The Lucy Show. (Not I Love..., but the sitcom that came after it.) It was supposed to be based on the book Life Without George by Irene Kampen (kind of a predecessor of Erma Bombeck who picked up where Jean Kerr left off) about the exploits of two mothers living together, but eventually became more about Lucy and Mr. Mooney and centered less around the home life and kids (who were eventually dropped all together).

"Well, for once the rich white man is in control!" C. M. Burns