The Hathaways
Encyclopedia
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 portrays Walter Hathaway, a real estate
agent. Cass is his wife Elinore, the "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
and did some 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.
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" on November 10. 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.
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 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...
from October 6, 1961, to March 30, 1962, starring Peggy Cass
Peggy Cass
Mary Margaret “Peggy” Cass was an American actress, comedian, game show panelist, and announcer.A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Cass became interested in acting as a member of the drama club at Cambridge Latin School; however, she attended all of high school without a speaking part...
and Jack Weston as suburban Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
"parents" to a trio of performing chimpanzees. Weston portrays Walter Hathaway, a real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
agent. Cass is his wife Elinore, the "mother" and booking agent to the Marquis Chimps, named Candy, Charlie, and Enoch. The chimps had earlier appeared on 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...
's The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
and did some commercials in 1960.
Supporting roles were filled by character actress
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
Mary Grace Canfield
Mary Grace Canfield
Mary Grace Canfield is an American actress who often played the role of a romance-starved spinster/wallflower...
as Mrs. Amanda Allison, a housekeeper; Barbara Perry as Elinore's friend and neighbor, Thelma Brockwood, and Harvey Lembeck
Harvey Lembeck
Harvey Lembeck was an American comedic actor best remembered for his role as Cpl. Rocco Barbella on The Phil Silvers Show in the late 1950s, and as the stumbling, overconfident outlaw biker Eric Von Zipper in the beach party movie series during the 1960s...
as Jerry Roper, the theatrical agent of the chimps.
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
Joe Flynn (US actor)
Joseph A. Flynn was an American character actor. He was best known for his role in the 1960s ABC television situation comedy, McHale's Navy. He was also a frequent guest star on 1960s TV shows such as Batman and appeared in several Walt Disney film comedies...
, guest-starred as Freddie Winkler in the third episode "Walter Takes a Partner", which aired on October 20. Vaughn Taylor
Vaughn Taylor (actor)
Vaughn Taylor was an American film and television actor. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts.His film credits include Jailhouse Rock, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Psycho and In Cold Blood....
played a veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
Dr. Dorsey in "Candy's Tonsils" on November 10. 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
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
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
Dick Wesson (actor)
Dick Wesson was a prolific character actor, comedian, comedy writer, and producer...
. Some of the directing was handled by Richard Kinon. The series followed another short-lived ABC series, Straightaway
Straightaway
Straightaway is a 26-week half-hour drama series which ran on ABC television during the 1961–1962 season –the story of two young men who operate a garage and engage in auto racing. John Ashley and Brian Kelly played race car designers Clipper Hamilton and Scott Ross, respectively. Scott...
starring John Ashley
John Ashley (actor)
John Ashley was an actor who appeared in many films, most notably the American International Pictures' "Beach Party" films...
and Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly (actor)
Brian Kelly was an American actor best known for his role as Porter Ricks, the widowed father of two sons on the NBC television series Flipper, and as Scott Ross in the ABC advernture series Straightaway, with co-star John Ashley.-Early years:Born in Detroit, Michigan, Kelly was the son of former...
as race-car enthusiasts. It preceded the popular cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
series The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
. Its principal competition was the Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series Rawhide
Rawhide (TV series)
Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
on CBS.
Despite the lack of television success, The Hathaways produced a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
of the chimpanzees in 1962.
Episode list
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | "Love Thy Neighbor" (pilot) | October 6, 1961 |
| 1-2 | "Elinore Buys A Hat" | October 13, 1961 |
| 1-3 | "Walter Takes A Partner" | October 20, 1961 |
| 1-4 | "Elinore's Guilt" | October 27, 1961 |
| 1-5 | "Income Tax Rebate" | November 3, 1961 |
| 1-6 | "Candy's Tonsils" | November 10, 1961 |
| 1-7 | "Trash Day" | November 17, 1961 |
| 1-8 | "TV Or Not TV" | November 24, 1961 |
| 1-9 | "The Kids Go To School" | December 1, 1961 |
| 1-10 | "The Practical Joker" | December 8, 1961 |
| 1-11 | "Double Birthday Party" | December 15, 1961 |
| 1-12 | "The Hathaways Sleep Out" | December 22, 1961 |
| 1-13 | "The Jingle Contest" | December 29, 1961 |
| 1-14 | "Waltzing With Walter" | January 5, 1962 |
| 1-15 | "Foxy Chimp" | January 12, 1962 |
| 1-16 | "It's In the Cards" | January 19, 1962 |
| 1-17 | "The Headliners" | January 26, 1962 |
| 1-18 | "The Paint Job" | February 2, 1962 |
| 1-19 | "Grandma's Lamp" | February 9, 1962 |
| 1-20 | "Help Wanted" | February 16, 1962 |
| 1-21 | "Swami Chimp" | February 23, 1962 |
| 1-22 | "A Man For Amanda" | March 2, 1962 |
| 1-23 | "Pop Goes the Budget" | March 9, 1962 |
| 1-24 | "Charlie Goes To the Races" | March 16, 1962 |
| 1-25 | "The Shrewd Trader" | March 23, 1962 |
| 1-26 | "Elinore's Best Friend" | March 30, 1962 |