6.4 /10 1 Votes
5.7/10 TV Composer(s) Herbert W. Spencer No. of seasons 1 First episode date 6 October 1961 Number of seasons 1 | 7.2/10 IMDb Theme music composer Herbert W. Spencer Country of origin United States No. of episodes 26 Final episode date 30 March 1962 Number of episodes 26 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring Peggy Cass
Jack Weston
Mary Grace Canfield
Harvey Lembeck
Barbara Perry Network American Broadcasting Company Cast Peggy Cass, Jack Weston, Mary Grace Canfield, Harvey Lembeck, Belle Montrose Similar Grindl, Pete and Gladys, I'm Dickens - He's Fens, Bachelor Father, Wendy and Me | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Hathaways is a 26-episode situation comedy, which aired on ABC from October 6, 1961, to March 30, 1962, starring Peggy Cass and Jack Weston as suburban Los Angeles "parents" to a trio of performing chimpanzees. Weston portrayed Walter Hathaway, a flabby real estate agent. Cass is his zany bride Elinore, "mother" and booking agent to the Marquis Chimps, named Candy, Charlie, and Enoch. The chimps had earlier appeared on CBS's The Ed Sullivan Show, a Jack Benny special in 1959 and several commercials in 1960.
Supporting roles were filled by character actress Mary Grace Canfield as Mrs. Amanda Allison, a housekeeper; Barbara Perry as Elinore's friend and neighbor, Thelma Brockwood, and Harvey Lembeck as Jerry Roper, the theatrical agent of the chimps, Another neighbor, Mrs. Harrison was played by Belle Montrose, the mother of comedian Steve Allen.
The premiere episode is entitled "Love Thy Neighbor": the Brockwoods decide to purchase the house next door despite reservations about the chimps being their neighbors too. Joe Flynn, guest-starred as Freddie Winkler in the third episode "Walter Takes a Partner", which aired on October 20. Vaughn Taylor played a veterinarian Dr. Dorsey in "Candy's Tonsils" (November 10). Robert Q. Lewis portrayed Barney Holt in "TV or Not TV" on (November 24). Other episodes were entitled "The Hathaways Sleep Out", "Grandma's Lamp", "TV or Not TV", "The Practical Joker", "Help Wanted", "The Shrewd Trader", "A Man for Amanda", and the series finale, "Elinore's Best Friend".
Ratings for the Screen Gems series were so low that ABC had largely to self-sponsor the program (although the series was sponsored on alternate weeks, throughout most of the season, by Ralston-Purina). The writers included Tom Adair and James B. Allardice; story consultants were Hugh Wedlock and Howard Snyder, who co-wrote the premiere episode with Dick Wesson. Some of the directing was handled by Richard Kinon. The series followed another short-lived ABC series, Straightaway starring John Ashley and Brian Kelly as race-car enthusiasts. It preceded the popular cartoon series The Flintstones. Its principal competition was the Clint Eastwood western series Rawhide on CBS.
Despite the lack of television success, The Hathaways produced a comic book of the chimpanzees in 1962.
Reception
Latter-day television critics Castleman and Podrazik (1982) have called The Hathaways "possibly the worst series ever to air on network TV", criticizing the production, scripts, acting, the "utterly degrading" premise, and the overall "total worthlessness" of the program.