The Patty Duke Show
| The Patty Duke Show | |
|---|---|
 Opening sequence of The Patty Duke Show | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | William Asher Sidney Sheldon |
| Written by | Gary Abrams William Asher David Butler Arnold Horwitt Roy Kammerman Sidney Sheldon |
| Directed by | Bruce Bilson Harry Falk Claudio Guzmán Stanley Prager Alan Rafkin James Sheldon Don Weis |
| Starring | Patty Duke William Schallert Jean Byron Paul O'Keefe Eddie Applegate |
| Theme music composer | Sid Ramin Robert Wells |
| Composer | Harry Geller |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 104 |
| Production | |
| Producers | William Asher Bob Sweeney |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Production companies | Chrislaw Productions (1963–1966) United Artists Television (1963–1966) Cottage Industries, Inc. (1965–1966) |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 18, 1963 – May 4, 1966 |
The Patty Duke Show is an American sitcom which ran on ABC from September 18, 1963, until May 4, 1966, with reruns airing through August 31, 1966. The show was created as a vehicle for rising star Patty Duke, who had recently won an Academy Award for The Miracle Worker (1962). A total of 104 episodes were produced, most written by Sidney Sheldon.
Plot
Patty Lane (Duke) is a normal teenager living in the Brooklyn Heights section of New York City, who loves boys, ice cream, and sleepovers. Her father is the managing editor of the New York Chronicle. In the unaired pilot episode, her "identical cousin" Cathy Lane (also played by Duke), whose father also works for the Chronicle as a foreign correspondent, arrives in the United States from Scotland to live with Patty's family and attend school.
The show's premise is that Cathy is more worldly and demure than identical looking cousin Patty. However, most storylines were standard sitcom fare where wacky teenager Patty encounters a problem at the top of the show only to experience a resolution by the end of the half-hour. In actuality, few storylines required two identical-looking, different-personality girls sharing the same family, home, and school. The remarkable physical resemblance that Patty and Cathy Lane share to each other is explained by their fathers being identical twin brothers.
Characters and cast
Rounding out the cast were William Schallert as Patty's father Martin Lane (Schallert also played Cathy's father Kenneth in a handful of episodes), Jean Byron as Patty's mother Natalie Lane, Paul O'Keefe as Patty's brother Ross Lane, and Eddie Applegate as Patty's boyfriend Richard Harrison.
In the pilot episode only, Mark Miller played Patty's father and Charles Herbert played Patty's brother. The pilot episode was not aired as such, but parts of it were used in the last episode of the first season, with Schallert and O'Keefe in their respective roles.[1]
Special guest stars included singing duo Chad and Jeremy; teen-heartthrob singers Frankie Avalon, Bobby Vinton, Frank Sinatra, Jr., and Robert Goulet; Sal Mineo; Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and a then-unknown James Brolin.
Music
The show's theme song, which has since been parodied many times over in pop culture, illustrates the two girls' differences:
- Meet Cathy who's lived most everywhere,
- from Zanzibar to Berkeley Square;
- But Patty's only seen the sights a girl can see from Brooklyn Heights — what a crazy pair!
- But they're cousins, identical cousins all the way;
- one pair of matching bookends, different as night and day.
- Where Cathy adores a minuet,
- the Ballets Russes, and crêpes Suzette;
- our Patty loves to rock 'n' roll, a hot dog makes her lose control — what a wild duet!
- Still they're cousins, identical cousins and you'll find
- they laugh alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike.
- You can lose your mind ... when cousins are two of a kind!
Visual effects
The dual role for Duke challenged special effects for its time, considering that television special effects were rare in the early 1960s, particularly for a sitcom.
In all episodes, Duke appeared as both characters in the same frame through use of a split-screen effect. The technically ambitious traveling matte process was also used from time to time, particularly in the pilot. To complement these effects, child actress Rita McLaughlin was used as Duke's double (almost always seen only from behind).[2] In order to differentiate the two characters to the viewing public, the character Patty wore a flip-fall hairpiece, while Cathy's character wore a more conservative turn-under hairstyle.
Reception
Already a budding star in her own right, Duke was further thrust into the public consciousness through the show. As the series went on, her star power from the series allowed her to enter the realm of popular music, releasing a Top Ten single, "Don't Just Stand There", in 1965.[3]
Production
Filming locations
In the early 1960's most sitcoms were being produced out in Hollywood, whereas previously they had been performed in New York. New formats and innovations such as filmed shows, video tape, and coast to coast coxial cable service allowed for this change. By 1963 mostly game shows, such as Whats My Line, and soap operas, such as The Secret Storm, still originated from New York, whereas most other productions moved out west. The Patty Duke Show would prove to be the exception for the time, as it was filmed in New York and not in Hollywood. [4]
When the series unaired pilot episode was filmed in early 1963, featuring actors Mark Miller and Charles Herbert in the roles of Charles and Ross Lane respectively, the show was filmed in Hollywood with San Francisco as the setting for the series. However, when the series was picked up by ABC it was realized that Duke's age, which was at the time 16, would prove to be a challenge. California's strict child labor laws, known informally as the Coogan Laws after famed 1930's child actor Jackie Coogan, curtailed the number of hours that child actors could work. It was thus decided that the show would originate from New York, as New York, by contrast, did not have such stringent laws. This would allow producers to devote more time to the production, a distinct advantage, since Duke effectively carried the show.[5] With the switch to the east coast it was decided to reset the show in Brooklyn Heights with the Chelsea Studios in Manhattan serving as the filming location. [6]
Duke turned 18 during the 1965–66 television season; consequently ABC wanted to shift the show's production to Hollywood. To the network's displeasure, Duke refused to make the move; at the time, she was in the midst of breaking off her relationship with her managers, who were insisting upon the move. Although the series kicked off in New York at the beginning of the season, a few of the last shows were in fact filmed on the West Coast.[1] Had the show continued it would have stayed in California but its cancellation made it a moot point.
Cancellation
Although the series was still very popular during its final season and getting high Nielsen ratings, ABC decided not to renew it for the 1966–67 season on the basis that filming it in color would have been prohibitively expensive (at the time all three networks were switching their entire prime time lineups to color production).
Duke wrote in her memoir Call Me Anna that United Artists, which produced the series (as well as The Miracle Worker), refused ABC's demand for a switch to color. Duke suspected, but never knew for sure, that United Artists executives said no as "a negotiating ploy" with the hope that ABC would respond with an offer to pay it more money for the series. In the end, however, ABC decided not to renew the series.[5]: 167
In 1999, CBS aired the TV movie The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' In Brooklyn Heights, which reunited the original cast, including Duke, Byron, O'Keefe, Schallert, and Applegate. In Still Rockin', Patty and Richard married after high school, had a son, and were amicably divorced (though toward the end of the movie, they reconcile). Cathy is a widow living in Scotland and has a teenage son. Most of the plot revolves around Patty's old rival Sue Ellen's plans to buy Brooklyn Heights High School, raze it, and replace it with a mall, which is opposed by Patty, Cathy, and the rest of the family.
Syndication
The Patty Duke Show was rerun on Nick at Nite from September 19, 1988 to August 30, 1993.[7][8] On June 30, 1995, Nick at Nite showed one episode of the series during their 10th anniversary celebration.[9] In 2005, both Nick at Nite and TV Land aired an episode of Patty in honor of Nick at Nite's 20th anniversary.
As of November 1, 2008, The Patty Duke Show is currently being syndicated on This TV as part of an early morning "kid friendly" entertainment block. Prior to this, the show had not appeared in national syndication since Nick at Nite dropped it from its lineup. As of March 2009, the show was being broadcast daily on World Harvest Television, the cable/satellite channel operated by televangelist Lester Sumrall's LeSEA Broadcasting.
DVD releases
Shout! Factory has released the first 2 seasons of The Patty Duke Show on DVD in Region 1. The third and final season will be released on August 24, 2010.[10]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 37 | September 29, 2009 |
| The Complete Second Season | 36 | February 9, 2010 |
| The Complete Third Season | 32 | August 24, 2010 |
Social Security Campaigns
In 2009, Duke reprised her dual roles from the show in a PSA for The Social Security Administration, in which Patty asked Cathy about where she got her information about how to get Social Security benefits and other questions, like applying for one, online. The PSA was targeted towards baby boomers who were born or grew up in the 1960s.[11]
In 2010, the cast of the Patty Duke Show reprised their roles in a series of public service announcements (PSAs) for the Social Security Administration. One particular PSA shows the cast preparing to eat family dinner. Richard brags that he just applied online for Medicare, and, “It took less than 10 minutes!”
References
- ^ a b Parla, Paul (2000). Screen Sirens Scream!: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Science Fiction. McFarland. p. 29. ISBN 0-786-40701-8.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Mansour, Davod (2005). From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century. Andrews McMeel
Publishing. p. 355. ISBN 0-740-75118-2.
{{cite book}}: line feed character in|publisher=at position 15 (help) - ^ "Patty Duke – Charts & Awards". allmusic.com. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|DUKE&sql=ignored (help) - ^ New York: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie New York – Richard Alleman – Broadway (February 1, 2005) ISBN 0767916344
- ^ a b Duke, Patty (1988). Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke. Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-27205-5.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) : 116 - ^ New York: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie New York – Richard Alleman – Broadway (February 1, 2005) ISBN 0767916344
- ^ Nick at Nite Log – 1985–present
- ^ The Intelligencer – August 27, 1993
- ^ The Intelligencer – June 30, 1995
- ^ "More Fun with Identical Cousins, when Shout! Releases Season 3"
- ^ Patty Lane Retires – Social Security From YouTube
External links
- 1963 television series debuts
- 1966 television series endings
- 1960s American television series
- American Broadcasting Company network shows
- American television sitcoms
- Black-and-white television programs
- English-language television series
- Television series by MGM Television
- Television shows set in New York City