tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.comments2024-02-21T02:07:17.268-05:00CulturesharkRick Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11341452515020374640noreply@blogger.comBlogger795125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-82286893733948070302024-02-19T15:47:13.016-05:002024-02-19T15:47:13.016-05:00That is quite an ending. I don't know if anyon...That is quite an ending. I don't know if anyone would jump head many years for such a final scene. And I doubt Mr. Griffin would give all his money to Hazel even if she did remind him of his mother. If I were to design a final episode, I would have Hazel marry Enzo Martelli, as he was the only one she really seemed to have an attraction for and the wedding would include all the minor characters, including Hazel, the Johnsons, the Sunshine Girls. Mr. B would give Hazel away, and in a tearful farewell, Hazel and Enzo drive off for their honeymoon.swisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12006168315006611681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-1958813114999100492024-02-19T15:24:53.017-05:002024-02-19T15:24:53.017-05:00Here’s how I would have ended Hazel with a special...Here’s how I would have ended Hazel with a special episode at the end of Season 5: George and Dorothy arrive home from the Middle East and take Harold and Hazel back to Hyattsburg. Hazel asks Mr. B if he remembered to change his socks every day. There would be many characters welcoming Hazel and Harold back home. Smiley would be there. Eddie and Nancy would have a baby and Eddie would be studying to be one of those guys that Aunt Hazel couldn’t pronounce (electro-physicist). Harry Thompson would be there revealing that Diedre stayed at home because she suddenly got a terrible headache. (I wonder why.) There is a real touching scene with Hazel and Harold before Harold runs off to reacquaint himself with his friends. Hazel gets misty-eyed commenting on how soon Harold would be grown and gone. Dorothy tells Hazel that day is a long way off, but Hazel says that was what she (Hazel) thought when she was helping to raise her. Then the camera would do that thing where years pass by. Hazel and Rosie, with white hair) are sitting in a small living room drinking tea. They both have been happily married for years—one to Barney Hatfield and one to Mitch Brady, but it’s not revealed who got whom. Then you see Dorothy looking out the front window of the Baxter home and telling George that their company has arrived out front. He walks out of the patio doors and starts across the back yard commenting to himself that he’s glad that when Mr. Griffin left all that money in his will to Hazel, that she decided to build her cottage just across the back alley from them saving him much travel time. (You see, Hazel reminded Mr. Griffin of his mother.) George tells Hazel that their weekend company has arrived. Hazel does her famous run across the back yard and through the Baxter house going out front to find a grown-up Harold and his wife with Dorothy welcoming her two little grandchildren—Georgie and Hazella. The show ends with the two tykes hugging “Great-Grandma” Hazel who, of course, is crying for joy and kissing them.Pastor Pete Maliknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-14611845278619191172024-02-12T10:36:41.668-05:002024-02-12T10:36:41.668-05:00If I remember correctly, Shirley Booth did not wan...If I remember correctly, Shirley Booth did not want to continue. The producers changed cast to attract a younger audience, apparently, it's just they were the wrong type. I think a more confrontational couple would have been more successful. Whitney Blake really did not have many story lines focusing on her so I guess they felt the same about Lynn Borden. Had they gotten a wife more like sister Deidre, I think that would have been pretty interesting. I still feel it would have been great to have Hazel get engaged to Enzo Martinelli, I loved the episodes he was inswisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12006168315006611681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-30897031937459748992024-02-09T23:09:55.352-05:002024-02-09T23:09:55.352-05:00I have been watching "Hazel" for quite s...I have been watching "Hazel" for quite some time on Antenna TV. I DVR each and every episode. The Season 5 episodes are currently airing now as I type this. I will chime in by saying although the sitcom was still watchable at this point, it just wasn't the same after "Hazel" moved from ABC to CBS in the Fall of 1965. Shirley Booth's Hazel Burke no longer had Don DeFore's George Baxter to play off of, which was the main reason why watching this sitcom was so enjoyable. No one says "Mr. B" with so much charm and effervescence like Shirley Booth, and no one shouts out "Hazel!" with such authority like Don DeFore. These traits of Hazel and George during Seasons 1 through 4 were quite prevalent, of course. I will admit Ray Fulmer tried willfully and admirably to fill Don DeFore's shoes during "Hazel"'s fifth and final season, but there's quite a bit missing during this final season: No memorable catchphrases. continuity of storylines from either Mr. Fulmer of Whitney Blake's replacement of Lynn Borden. The original actors Shirley Booth and Bobby Buntrock desperately tried to keep the proceedings of Season 5 together, but the sitcom had already run out of steam by this point. No further appearances from Howard "Don't call me Harve" Smith by this point, either...although George's sister Deirdre (Cindy Lewis) makes one final appearance during the final season. Sadly, actress Julia Benjamin (from Season 5) is the last-living thespian from "Hazel". This is one of the last great sitcoms around, and I sincerely hope "Hazel" remains amongst Antenna TV's stable of programs for a long time to come still!!! :-) <3Huggyman66https://www.blogger.com/profile/12238460549181059528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-69959890614717117022024-01-13T22:51:39.477-05:002024-01-13T22:51:39.477-05:00Hello mmate great blog postHello mmate great blog postAdam Vaughnhttps://adamvaughnweb.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-91159653586361225562024-01-12T11:01:28.596-05:002024-01-12T11:01:28.596-05:00Earline, where have you been?
You haven't pos...Earline, where have you been?<br /><br />You haven't posted for a year!<br /><br />This group misses your input.Earline Fannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-24539364090804100062023-12-08T08:56:23.924-05:002023-12-08T08:56:23.924-05:00Here’s to that poor misguided soul : Joe Fensterbl...Here’s to that poor misguided soul : Joe FensterblauAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-3066474631640700932023-12-07T22:47:11.551-05:002023-12-07T22:47:11.551-05:00I also watch it almost daily. I never get tired. I...I also watch it almost daily. I never get tired. I avoid pretty much the fifth season though some episodes are OK. But I would say that sometimes Hazel can be irritating but I still love the showswisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12006168315006611681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-32227486958292064602023-12-07T22:11:28.882-05:002023-12-07T22:11:28.882-05:00It's 2023. I watch Hazel regularly. . Oh how...It's 2023. I watch Hazel regularly. . Oh how I wish I could have met Shirley Booth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-64992952593710475282023-10-30T10:02:21.726-04:002023-10-30T10:02:21.726-04:00She played Alan’s secretary in “A letter from thre...She played Alan’s secretary in “A letter from three wives”.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-84566314517584683622023-10-26T11:15:31.373-04:002023-10-26T11:15:31.373-04:00Really?
Someone has to write geo-political commen...Really?<br /><br />Someone has to write geo-political comments about a 60's scripted tv show? ("Middle-class white" viewers, JFK, Freedom Riders, Viet Nam, etc.).<br /><br />Then, you insult the people on this board as being too ignorant or too lazy to understand the Google history lesson you write about in your paragraphs.<br /><br />Escapism is healthy. Ethnocentrism is not.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-1859778840550833812023-10-26T10:56:09.978-04:002023-10-26T10:56:09.978-04:00Crazy, whack, funky! Hazel likes her oatmeal lump...Crazy, whack, funky! Hazel likes her oatmeal lumpy......she's spunky. A red-headed chunky.<br /><br />Who doesn't love the old shows? No, not the Saved by the Bell or Full House clones.<br /><br />I love reading the comments.Dumpty Hancenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-10245779810406792492023-10-14T22:39:37.611-04:002023-10-14T22:39:37.611-04:00Thanks for sharing thiisThanks for sharing thiisHarl3y Quinnhttps://harl3yquinn.tumblr.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-35354677996587584812023-09-28T21:21:20.628-04:002023-09-28T21:21:20.628-04:00I wonder what he did to his hand. It is obviously ...I wonder what he did to his hand. It is obviously a real life injury or surgery. Not just for the show.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-8977109310409558892023-09-17T13:00:15.036-04:002023-09-17T13:00:15.036-04:00VivacityThinks said...
Ahh so much to comment on.....VivacityThinks said...<br />Ahh so much to comment on...speculations on this thread about why Hazel was canceled don't seem to consider factors outside of the TV show that made the show obsolete. So I"d like to contribute another view. Skip if you don't like paragraphs or history (probably the same folks). <br /><br />About falling Hazel popularity over the course of the series...Even as the filming was happening in NBC, events outside of TV-land were changing the viewer's landscape; something that would have put the very foundations of the show at odds with viewer experience. Addressing the societal changes might have brought in new viewers but would have alienated existing fans (and ultimately would have made the show seem much more dated and less entertaining today).<br /><br />Hazel first aired 8 months after JFK's term started. The country's climate was optimistic. People were reproducing like rabbits. Fertility rates were high. In the '50s and early '60's babysitters and nannies were very valued because they were in short supply (given the lopsided proportion of children to adolescents old enough to babysit). Hazel would have been welcomed in many homes. Upward mobile middle class white viewers would have seen something somewhat familiar to them. But from the time Hazel first aired until it was canceled, society's prevailing middle class climate changed rapidly; and not in an upbeat way. <br /><br />Trouble had been brewing already when Hazel first aired but it did not boil over for a while. JFK faced the Cuban Crisis approximately 5 months before Hazel aired and the country was already involved with Vietnam. But, after Hazel first aired (not her fault) Kennedy ratcheted up defense industry spending due to Khrushchev & the Berlin Crisis. By '63 JFK had been assassinated and the civil rights movement was gaining the attention of white middle class. <br /><br />The Freedom Riders had already marched to Jackson in protest mass transit segregation. But despite some horrid events, those events largely fell under the radar for most middle class whites; but that didn't last. The popularity and affordability of TV happened in the 1950's but time spent watching increased dramatically in the 60's. Of course people watched shows like Hazel. But tv also educated (or exposed) the middle class to injustices that had been easier to ignore when they weren't seen in the living room. Visual images are more difficult to ignore (see Willowbrook). <br /><br />At about this time ('64) the US became more directly involved in the Vietnam war. While more young people were drafted then had been the case in the past, there were many outs available to those (middle class whites) not wanting to serve. But the armed services clamped down on deferments the next year, ending marriage deferments in 8/16/65. Hazel ended soon thereafter (4/11/66).<br /><br />By this point, the number of college aged and young adult Americans had swelled due to the Baby Boom. It wasn't hard for them to see where things were headed. Anger towards older adults (the establishment) who held the strings to what was happening in the country erupted in violent protests. There were plenty of other influences but this is the Spark-notes version. Regardless, by the second half of the '60's, the target population for shows like Hazel had little interest in a show depicting a happy family of upper middle class people with a maid and concerns about how to balance commitments to the golf club with a busy shopping schedule. Hazel no longer reflected the world of the viewers.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-87561778489652253972023-09-17T11:09:15.597-04:002023-09-17T11:09:15.597-04:00VivacityThinks said...
One more comment...About th...VivacityThinks said...<br />One more comment...About the idea viewers preferred the first 4 seasons to the final one because the chemistry between Harold's parents was more evident than that of Steve and Barbara. <br /><br />Nah... Let's get real folks...everyone liked Don DeFore best because he was hot as hell... Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-63679604683737887262023-09-17T10:51:09.018-04:002023-09-17T10:51:09.018-04:00VivacityThinks said....Also, some other questions ...VivacityThinks said....Also, some other questions could be answered by reading the original comic strip since The TV show was based (with liberal artistic license) on the stip. Perhaps there's more there about Hazel's childhood. <br /><br />Of course you don't know when in the strip the show should be placed. Perhaps the Baxters had a daughter when living abroad or maybe the show took place at the very start of the strip or before it and was a pre-sequel to the print version. <br /><br />Remaining mystery not answered by comic strip<br />What I can't figure out is how they kept the actor playing Harold from getting older. The kids in Ozzie and Harriet aged. It would have been odd to see an 8 year- old Rickie playing and recording rock-and-roll. You can watch Larry Simms age over the course of the Blondie and Dagwood series. So we know that kids do (or at least can) age in California at about the rate that they do elsewhere. Yet, the (approximately) 9-year-old actor Bobby Buntrock gave the appearance of, and acted as if he were, a 5-year-old at the start of the series (regardless of the stated age in the show). And, 5 years later he looked and acted like a kid about 6. <br /><br />I am not sure how they did that but it is possible that after each episode wrapped they stuffed him back into the print version of Hazel where he could not eat and where time stands still. They'd then have had to retrieve him weekly while filming. I guess they'd have to shake him out before filming each week to expand him and reduce wrinkles. But they only filmed for 35- weeks per season. If he was back in print while on hiatus his growth could easily have been stifled. Filming would have taken place for a total of 3.2 years (subtracting hiatus). Tucking him away for days he was not being filmed and doing so most of his life would explain the aging issue. I've yet to come up with another explanation. <br /><br />Even had they filmed the part of Harold for the entire series in one year, how'd they get a 9-year-old to show up looking as he did in the first season? Any ideas?<br /><br />Other mysteries<br />Having a major character called Harold did not increase the popularity of that name. Same for Hazel. Harold went from a rank (with 1 as most popular) of 28 in the 40's and 62 in the 50's to 99 in the '60's and 152 in the 70's. The Hazel name, discussed earlier in this thread, went from 155 in the '40's to falling outside the top 200 and remaining there by the 50's. Both names were reasonably popular in 1943 when the comic strip made its 1st appearance. So the names (and the show) reflected the tenor of the times/zeitgeist but probably did not impact on it appreciably. <br /><br />Women<br />As for another topic broached earlier in this thread, the role of women in (upper and lower) middle class American society, it too appeared to mirror American society. Hazel first aired on September 28, 1961. Approximately 16 months later (02/19/1963) Betty Friedan published the Feminine Mystique, a book often credited with sparking the 2nd wave of feminism. But of course it too merely reflected and opined on the prevailing zeitgeist; something probably more influenced by the availability of birth control pills that allowed women to control the number and timing of children; allowing them to enter the workforce (something they did in the '60's more than any previous time in US history).Thus, again, Hazel seemed to mirror society rather then fuel change-tongue-in-cheek, of course.<br /><br />With that, the comment ended cause that's all she wrote.<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-17526342907240250842023-09-17T03:44:58.178-04:002023-09-17T03:44:58.178-04:00VivacityThinks said....There was a lot of discussi...VivacityThinks said....There was a lot of discussion at the start of this thread about why the writers didn't wrap up the series and why the original Baxters were supposed to be away only temporarily given that the writers had to have known at the time they were unlikely to bring back the original cast. Nobody suggested what I think is the most compelling reason behind both of these decisions. <br /><br />The show was based on a (continuous) comic strip. It had to remain true to the comic strip-such that you could return to the comic strip at any point. So they could not fundamentally change the story such that you could not get back to the roots of the show. The characters must be returnable to their original persona/form-which marrying off Hazel, having the Baxters stay away permanently and wrapping up the show would not have allowed. Same for the Blondie and Dagwood series and, well, most shows based on comic strips. You're simply seeing the characters come to life temporarily but they must be able to return to resume their life in print. It's a continuity thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-16379643049720896092023-09-10T15:59:18.793-04:002023-09-10T15:59:18.793-04:00Nice summary. i'm watching this one on FETV n...Nice summary. i'm watching this one on FETV now, in color of course. For some reason though, I understand that the special color episodes of WAGON TRAIN 1961-62 are only seen in B&W now, though Season 7 (ABC's 90-minute color season) has been rerun in color.Jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00483417885845331990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-62196096858671380392023-09-06T12:43:52.886-04:002023-09-06T12:43:52.886-04:00Wonderful first episode. That dress sure does show...Wonderful first episode. That dress sure does show off Hazel's ample curves, she really has a great hourglass figure. Also the commish's secretary looks shapely in the dress she's wearing. Who is the actress?Joe Pnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-26384487895634067972023-09-03T11:31:03.798-04:002023-09-03T11:31:03.798-04:00Hello nice bloggHello nice bloggMediebe Newshttps://mediebenews.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-10580364402009744172023-07-30T11:26:05.421-04:002023-07-30T11:26:05.421-04:00Little is known of Hazel's family. In one epis...Little is known of Hazel's family. In one episode she mentions having to raise her younger siblings. In another, regarding a famous artist who boarded by her mother, it seems she lived in NYC. There is an episode mentioning a sister in a different city, and then there is the nephew in California who was looking for investors for a new product. Finally, there is Eddy, who married Deidre's daughter. Now, it seems he lived in the same city as Hazel, and given his last name is Burke, apparently son of a brother. So curious that the writers of the show never focused on any episode with this or any other sibling. I understand it's fiction but it is curious.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-24061097223773066152023-07-12T11:48:32.395-04:002023-07-12T11:48:32.395-04:00Mr. Combs, I hope you see my response to your dupl...Mr. Combs, I hope you see my response to your duplicates. I did the same, but embarrassingly I was duplicating on death notice websites, like legacy. Talk about embarrassing, legacy says they screen post, but not duplicates, apparently. Cheers for all that enjoy Hazel. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-23203480653412489652023-06-28T19:53:33.017-04:002023-06-28T19:53:33.017-04:00Whitney Blake, not Meredith Baxter. :) Whitney Blake, not Meredith Baxter. :) Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-321134829069086485.post-41648442913186083182023-06-25T04:03:13.035-04:002023-06-25T04:03:13.035-04:00Bonnie Franklin, Dabney Coleman, John Astin, Harol...Bonnie Franklin, Dabney Coleman, John Astin, Harold Gould, Virginia Gregg, Victor Jory, Emil Sitka, Pat O'Brian (sp), Dick Wilson, Lee Meiwether.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com