The New Loretta Young Show
Encyclopedia
The New Loretta Young Show, which aired for twenty-six weekly episodes on CBS television
from September 24, 1962 to March 18, 1963, featured Loretta Young
in a combination drama
and situation comedy
about a free-lance writer
in suburban Connecticut
named Christine Massey, the widow
ed mother of seven children. The program was the only one in which Young starred as a recurring character. Her previous anthology series on NBC
(1953–1961) placed her in the role of hostess and occasional star. Young was the first star to garner both Academy and Emmy
awards, one of a relatively few to make the transition from motion picture to television.
Though it followed the popular The Andy Griffith Show
on CBS, The New Loretta Young Show, sponsored by Lever Brothers
, proved unable to sustain the needed audience in competition at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Mondays with the ABC
medical
drama Ben Casey
starring Vince Edwards
and Sam Jaffe
, which entered its second season. NBC fielded David Brinkley's Journal at the same time, reflections of the news correspondent David Brinkley
. The New Loretta Young Show was hence quietly dropped at the end of winter in 1963. Young had formed LYL Production Company for the series, an indication that she did not expect a premature end to the program. Norman Foster directed most of the episodes; John London and Ruth Roberts were the producers.
The Massey children include twin sons and five daughters. Actual twins Dack Rambo
and Dirk Rambo, then twenty-one, played Peter and Paul, respectively. The daughters were Celia Kaye
as Marnie, Sandy Descher
as Judy, Tracy Stratford as Maria, Carol Sydes
as Binkie, and Beverly Washburn
as Vickie. Washburn appeared earlier in the film
Old Yeller
.
James Philbrook
, formerly on ABC's The Islanders
, which actually aired opposite the original The Loretta Young Show, played Young's romantic interest, magazine
publisher Paul Beltzer, who was some ten years her junior. The couple married in the final episode on March 18, 1963, which was entitled "When You Are Near". Several episodes featured the Beltzer character getting accustomed to the idea of becoming a stepfather to seven children. The program also featured a character Haskell, played by Ted Knight
.
In the premiere episode entitled "America at Home", a television interview program [a fictional version of CBS' Person to Person
] visits the Masseys in their home, but all are missing. The whole family had taken Maria, who had German measles, to a doctor around the corner. When the host comments about their doing everything together, Christine responds that she discouraged "synthetic togetherness" and that parents should encourage individualism
and provide a set of moral values by example. Christine also indicates that she cannot be mother and father to the children, only the mother. Her comments bring a deluge of telephone
calls to the television station. The episode serves to introduce all of the Masseys to the audience and to provide a glimpse of their life-style and varied personalities. Young allowed her younger son, Peter Lewis
, a small role as a guitarist
in the first segment.
As with her NBC anthology, Young made short remarks at the beginning and end of each episode in this series too, something other half-hour programs never did. Critics said the comments were often unnecessary, even pretentious, and that the time could have been better utilized within each episodes. Some of the episodes appear disjointed, possibly because of the overlap of such a large cast. In one episode there is a school election and then the psychotic boyfriend of the older daughter, Marnie, is shown waving a pistol.
All episodes of the series under the title The New Loretta Young Show: Christine's Children (which were remastered from Loretta's personal collection) are available in a four-disc collection.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
from September 24, 1962 to March 18, 1963, featured Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
in a combination drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
and 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...
about a free-lance writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
in suburban Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
named Christine Massey, the widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
ed mother of seven children. The program was the only one in which Young starred as a recurring character. Her previous anthology series 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...
(1953–1961) placed her in the role of hostess and occasional star. Young was the first star to garner both Academy and Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
awards, one of a relatively few to make the transition from motion picture to television.
Though it followed the popular The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
on CBS, The New Loretta Young Show, sponsored by Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturer founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever and his brother, James Darcy Lever . The brothers had invested in and promoted a new soap making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson, it was a huge success...
, proved unable to sustain the needed audience in competition at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Mondays with the 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...
medical
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
drama Ben Casey
Ben Casey
Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph...
starring Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards was an American actor, director, and singer, best known for the roles of TV doctor "Ben Casey", and Maj. Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil's Brigade.-Early life:...
and Sam Jaffe
Sam Jaffe (actor)
Sam Jaffe was an American actor, teacher, musician and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Asphalt Jungle and appeared in other classic films such as Ben-Hur and The Day the Earth Stood Still...
, which entered its second season. NBC fielded David Brinkley's Journal at the same time, reflections of the news correspondent David Brinkley
David Brinkley
David McClure Brinkley was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997....
. The New Loretta Young Show was hence quietly dropped at the end of winter in 1963. Young had formed LYL Production Company for the series, an indication that she did not expect a premature end to the program. Norman Foster directed most of the episodes; John London and Ruth Roberts were the producers.
The Massey children include twin sons and five daughters. Actual twins Dack Rambo
Dack Rambo
Norman Jay Rambeau , professionally known as Dack Rambo, was an American actor, most notable for appearing as Walter Brennan's grandson Jeff in the ABC series The Guns of Will Sonnett, as Steve Jacobi in All My Children, as cousin Jack Ewing on CBS's Dallas, and as Grant Harrison on the NBC soap...
and Dirk Rambo, then twenty-one, played Peter and Paul, respectively. The daughters were Celia Kaye
Celia Kaye
Celia Kaye is an American former actress who appeared in a recurring role as Marnie Massey, daughter of the character Christine Massey played by Loretta Young, on the comedy-drama series, The New Loretta Young Show. The program aired for twenty-six weeks on CBS from 1962 to 1963...
as Marnie, Sandy Descher
Sandy Descher
Sandra "Sandy" Descher is an American former child actress of the 1950s.-Biography:Although born in Burbank, California, she was discovered by accident while on vacation. When Descher was about five years old, her family had travelled across country to New York City where the girl fell in love...
as Judy, Tracy Stratford as Maria, Carol Sydes
Cindy Carol
Cindy Carol is an American actress. She was credited as Carol Sydes before her starring role as Gidget in Gidget Goes to Rome ....
as Binkie, and Beverly Washburn
Beverly Washburn
Beverly Washburn is an American actress who appeared as a young girl in NBC's The Loretta Young Show and as an older teenager in Loretta Young's 1962-1963 CBS family drama, The New Loretta Young Show...
as Vickie. Washburn appeared earlier in the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Old Yeller
Old Yeller (1957 film)
Old Yeller is a 1957 Walt Disney Productions film starring Tommy Kirk, Dorothy McGuire and Beverly Washburn, and directed by Robert Stevenson. It is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. The story is based upon the 1956 Newbery Honor-winning book Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Gipson...
.
James Philbrook
James Philbrook
James Philbrook was an American actor who appeared in supporting roles in three short-lived television series between 1959 and 1963: The Islanders on ABC and The Investigators and The New Loretta Young Show, both on CBS...
, formerly on ABC's The Islanders
The Islanders (TV series)
The Islanders, an adventure television series on ABC from 1960-1961, starred William Reynolds , James Philbrook , and Diane Brewster ....
, which actually aired opposite the original The Loretta Young Show, played Young's romantic interest, magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
publisher Paul Beltzer, who was some ten years her junior. The couple married in the final episode on March 18, 1963, which was entitled "When You Are Near". Several episodes featured the Beltzer character getting accustomed to the idea of becoming a stepfather to seven children. The program also featured a character Haskell, played by Ted Knight
Ted Knight
Ted Knight was an American actor best known for playing the comedic role of Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Henry Rush on Too Close for Comfort, and Judge Elihu Smails in Caddyshack.- Early years :...
.
In the premiere episode entitled "America at Home", a television interview program [a fictional version of CBS' Person to Person
Person to Person
Person to Person was a popular television program in the United States that ran from 1953 to 1961. Well-respected news reporter Edward R. Murrow hosted it until 1959, interviewing celebrities in their homes from a comfortable chair in his New York studio Person to Person was a popular television...
] visits the Masseys in their home, but all are missing. The whole family had taken Maria, who had German measles, to a doctor around the corner. When the host comments about their doing everything together, Christine responds that she discouraged "synthetic togetherness" and that parents should encourage individualism
Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
and provide a set of moral values by example. Christine also indicates that she cannot be mother and father to the children, only the mother. Her comments bring a deluge of telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
calls to the television station. The episode serves to introduce all of the Masseys to the audience and to provide a glimpse of their life-style and varied personalities. Young allowed her younger son, Peter Lewis
Peter Lewis (musician)
Peter Lewis is one of the founding members of the band Moby Grape. Three of his better known songs with Moby Grape are "Fall On You" and "Sitting By The Window" from the self-titled first Moby Grape album and "If You Can't Learn From My Mistakes", from Moby Grape '69.- Background :He is the...
, a small role as a guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
in the first segment.
As with her NBC anthology, Young made short remarks at the beginning and end of each episode in this series too, something other half-hour programs never did. Critics said the comments were often unnecessary, even pretentious, and that the time could have been better utilized within each episodes. Some of the episodes appear disjointed, possibly because of the overlap of such a large cast. In one episode there is a school election and then the psychotic boyfriend of the older daughter, Marnie, is shown waving a pistol.
All episodes of the series under the title The New Loretta Young Show: Christine's Children (which were remastered from Loretta's personal collection) are available in a four-disc collection.