The Debbie Reynolds Show is an American situation comedy

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...

 which aired on the 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...

 television network

Television network

A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...

 during the 1969-70 television season

1969-70 United States network television schedule

This was the television schedule on all three networks for the fall season beginning in September 1969. All times are Eastern and Pacific.New fall series are highlighted in bold....

. The series was produced by Filmways

Filmways

Filmways, Inc. was a television and film production company founded by American film executive Martin Ransohoff in 1958...

, but the distribution rights are currently owned by Universal Media Studios through its ownership of NBC Productions (due to Reynolds' original contract with the network to produce the series).

Synopsis

Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...

 portrayed Debbie Thompson, a housewife married to Jim, a successful sportswriter for the Los Angeles Sun. Jim was portrayed by actor Don Chastain

Don Chastain

Don Chastain was an American actor and screenwriter.He worked in television in Los Angeles and New York and toured the United States and Canada with major productions...

, his boss by longtime television actor Tom Bosley

Tom Bosley

Thomas Edward "Tom" Bosley was an American actor. Bosley is best known for portraying Howard Cunningham on the long-running ABC sitcom Happy Days. He also was featured in recurring roles on Murder, She Wrote, and Father Dowling Mysteries...

. Reynolds' attempts to amuse herself were regarded as being reminiscent of those of Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball

Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...

 on Here's Lucy

Here's Lucy

Here's Lucy is Lucille Ball's third network television sitcom. It ran on CBS from 1968 to 1974.-Background:Though The Lucy Show was still hugely popular during the previous season, finishing in the top five of the Nielsen Ratings , Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season and create...

.
Creator/producer Jess Oppenheimer

Jess Oppenheimer

Jess Oppenheimer a radio and television writer, producer, and director, was producer and head writer of the CBS sitcom I Love Lucy.Lucille Ball called Oppenheimer "the brains" behind I Love Lucy...

 was the original producer and co-creator of I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...

. The show also employed Bob Carroll, Jr., and Madelyn Davis, two longtime Lucy writers.

In popular culture

Monty Python's Flying Circus

Monty Python's Flying Circus

Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...

spoofed the series in a sketch primarily written by John Cleese

John Cleese

John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...

 and Graham Chapman

Graham Chapman

Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...

entitled "The Attila the Hun Show". It pokes fun at The Debbie Reynolds Show (the opening title sequence in particular), as well as American comedy in general.