Occasional Wife
Encyclopedia
Occasional Wife is an American sitcom
that aired on NBC
on September 13, 1966, and ran until May 9, 1967 (reruns aired through August 1967). It was originally on NBC's Tuesday night schedule; in the Eastern Time Zone it aired from 8:30-9:00 p.m. ET
/PT
.
to slip in to Peter's 6th floor apartment from her apartment on the 8th floor whenever his boss would drop by unexpectedly. As a silent running gag
, Bryan O'Byrne
played the "Man in the middle" who bemusedly watching the comings and goings of the two from his 7th floor vantage point. The sitcom's uncredited narrator was the well-known sports announcer Vin Scully
.
The series first experienced good ratings, tying at #18 with The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
in the Nielsen ratings
. The series then fell to #64 in the ratings after having to compete against ABC
's popular series The Invaders
and the CBS
staple The Red Skelton Show
. Occasional Wife was canceled after one season.
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
that aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
on September 13, 1966, and ran until May 9, 1967 (reruns aired through August 1967). It was originally on NBC's Tuesday night schedule; in the Eastern Time Zone it aired from 8:30-9:00 p.m. ET
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
/PT
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
.
Synopsis
The lead character was Peter Christopher, a bachelor who enjoyed the single life but was blocked from professional advancement by not having a wife. Peter's boss, baby-food manufacturer Max Brahms was, because of his product, a strong believer in marriage and family. Christopher asked a young hat check girl, Greta Patterson, to pose as his wife at company functions. In return, Peter set up Greta in an apartment two floors above his own in a Manhattan building. Greta would use the fire escapeFire escape
A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible...
to slip in to Peter's 6th floor apartment from her apartment on the 8th floor whenever his boss would drop by unexpectedly. As a silent running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
, Bryan O'Byrne
Bryan O'Byrne
Bryan Jay O'Byrne was an American film and television actor and acting coach...
played the "Man in the middle" who bemusedly watching the comings and goings of the two from his 7th floor vantage point. The sitcom's uncredited narrator was the well-known sports announcer Vin Scully
Vin Scully
Vincent Edward Scully is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on Prime Ticket, KCAL-TV and KABC radio...
.
The series first experienced good ratings, tying at #18 with The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement...
in the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. The series then fell to #64 in the ratings after having to compete against ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's popular series The Invaders
The Invaders
The Invaders, a Quinn Martin Production , is an ABC science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that ran in the United States for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968...
and the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
staple The Red Skelton Show
The Red Skelton Show
The Red Skelton Show is an American variety show that was a television staple for two decades, from 1951 to 1971. It was second to Gunsmoke and third to The Ed Sullivan Show in the ratings during that time. Skelton, who had previously been a radio star, had appeared in several motion pictures as...
. Occasional Wife was canceled after one season.
Cast
- Michael CallanMichael CallanNot to be confused with Michael Callen.Michael Callan is an American actor.Born Martin Harris Calinieff in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Callan began his career as Mickey Calin, and it was with this name he appeared on Broadway in The Boy Friend , Catch a Star , and West Side Story .Callan's film...
.....Peter Christopher - Patricia HartyPatricia Harty (actor)Patricia Harty also known professionally as Trisha Hart, is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles in several short-lived television series, Occasional Wife as Greta Patterson, Blondie as the titular Blondie Bumstead, The Bob Crane Show as Ellie Wilcox and Herbie, The Love Bug...
.....Greta Patterson - Jack CollinsJack Collins (actor)Jack Collins, , is a stage, film, and television actor. He played Mike Brady's boss, Mr. Phillips, in the television series The Brady Bunch, and Peter Christopher's boss, baby-food manufacturer Max Brahms, in the short-lived sitcom Occasional Wife.-Filmography:*The Brady Bunch * The Other * The...
.....Max Brahms - Stuart MargolinStuart MargolinStuart Margolin is an American film and television actor and director.-Television:Margolin is best known for his role on the television show The Rockford Files, playing Evelyn "Angel" Martin, the shifty friend and former cellmate of Jim Rockford...
.....Bernie Kramer - Chris Noel.....Marilyn
- Bryan O'ByrneBryan O'ByrneBryan Jay O'Byrne was an American film and television actor and acting coach...
.....Man-in-the-Middle - Jack Riley.....Wally Frick
- Sara Seegar.....Mrs. Christopher (Peter's mother)
- Susan SiloSusan SiloSusan Silo is an American actress and voice actress.-Early life and career:She was born in New York City, New York. Her acting career started in television on an episode of The Jack Benny Show. Silo also co-starred with Larry Blyden, Dawn Nickerson, and Diahn Williams in the NBC sitcom Harry's...
.....Vera Frick - Joan TompkinsJoan TompkinsJoan Tompkins, legally known as Joan Swenson was an American actress of television, film, radio, and stage, who co-founded with her husband, Karl Swenson, an acting company in Beverly Hills, California...
.....Mrs. Brahms (two episodes)
Season 1
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilot | September 13, 1966 |
| 2 | "Occasional Trouble" | September 20, 1966 |
| 3 | "The Rivalry" | September 27, 1966 |
| 4 | "He Who Burns Bridges" | October 4, 1966 |
| 5 | "I Do, We Don't" | October 11, 1966 |
| 6 | "The Promotion" | October 18, 1966 |
| 7 | "No Cookie for Dessert" | October 25, 1966 |
| 8 | "Danger! Woman at Work" | November 1, 1966 |
| 9 | "A Friend of the Family" | November 15, 1966 |
| 10 | "Marriage Counselor" | November 22, 1966 |
| 11 | "No Talent Scouts" | November 29, 1966 |
| 12 | "That's How They Got Capone" | December 6, 1966 |
| 13 | "GP Loves UU" | December 13, 1966 |
| 14 | "Miss Greta Regrets" | December 20, 1966 |
| 15 | "Peter by Moonlight" | December 27, 1966 |
| 16 | "Alias Peter Patterson" | January 3, 1967 |
| 17 | "Fair Play for Gypsies" | January 17, 1967 |
| 18 | "A Couple of Home-Cooked Meals" | January 24, 1967 |
| 19 | "One Plus One Equals Too Many" | January 31, 1967 |
| 20 | "Kangaroo Kandidates" | February 7, 1967 |
| 21 | "The New Secretary" | February 14, 1967 |
| 22 | "The Business Trip" | February 21, 1967 |
| 23 | "Engagement, Christopher Style" | February 28, 1967 |
| 24 | "Instant Fatherhood" | March 21, 1967 |
| 25 | "The Soft Spot" | March 28, 1967 |
| 26 | "The Secret Powdered Milk Affair" | April 4, 1967 |
| 27 | "My Occasional Brother's Keeper" | April 11, 1967 |
| 28 | "An Affair To Forget" | April 18, 1967 |
| 29 | "Oil Be Seeing You" | April 25, 1967 |
| 30 | "So Little Time" | May 9, 1967 |