Last fall I found it. Not on regular TV or any cable network but on DVD at my local library. I'd never seen it on TV...ever.
"Hazel",marks the very first time for me seeing a series,exclusively,on DVD. I completed watching in January (2014) just 2 weeks after Season 5 came out.
I will say,I was only a bit disappointed that the shows weren't "cleaned up" like newer shows are,to broadcast day perfection.
That said,it did not distract me from what a very good series is. The Oscar winning Shirley Booth (Come Back Little Sheba)came to TV and made this her signature role and career apex.
Her role is a woman with the mind to say exactly what she means, even if someone doesn't like it. She's honest without being insulting or (too) obnoxious about it. She always has the best in mind. If she feels something is wrong,she goes out of her way to correct it.
Shirley demonstrated a unique balance between comedy and (mild for) TV drama. The comedy at first comes from she and "Missy" sort of pulling the wool over George's eyes to make something happen when he is reluctant (always for a good reason or cause,not to make him look foolish.) Usually,when it comes to George's business dealings with Mr. Harvey Griffin.
On the serious,I point to the very first show with George's sister Deidre (Cathy Lewis). In "George's Niece" Hazel brings together Barb's daughter and her Nephew. Deidre,who grew up around the ideal that "the classes should not mix" & who has a bad habit of alienating her daughter,is very angry with Hazel.
The scene near the end between Booth & Lewis has a great tension and the very real problem of a mother who doesn't understand her teenage daughter's ways. Unusual for a show that's supposed to be a sitcom in 1961. In her own way,Hazel tells her that she needs to try to listen to o and understand her daughter.
Another shocker,in one episode,George gets fed up with her meddling and says (best recall) "Hazel Burke,you are an interfering,meddlesome busy body and I'm sick of it!" Which instantly hurts her feelings and makes everyone mad at him. They make up later of course.
A "novelty" episode is the only one shot in color that first year. In "What'll We Watch Tonight?" Both Hazel and later the Baxters,get the first color TV's on their block. The novelty is that it's shot in color. (There were color TV's but networks wouldn't broadcast in color,full time,until the fall of '66. Seasons 2 through 5 were all filmed in color.
The chemistry between the main players is just right. Missy and George are "lovey-dovey" (but not to the level of say Rob & Laura Petrie) and you have to love Hazel & little Harold's relationship. (Bobby Buntrock doesn;t seem to age much in 5 years.)
For 4 years,the show followed it's charted course in it's story lines,it kept the comedy on a smooth course and every now and then tugged at people's hearts.
Then in the final season,things got shook up. The show was cancelled by NBC but picked up by CBS. Don DaFoe & Whitney Blake were gone. Their characters,off on business for a year in the middle east. Leaving, Harold in the care of George's real-estate selling brother Steve & his wife Barbara )who have a cute little daughter. Hazel gets mixed up in their affairs as well but the shows don't seem as strong as the first 4 years.
Still,overall,I will rate this 10 stars because it really is a series worth watching. For a look at the kind of shows that could not possibly survive today and maybe just to watch a program that doesn't rely on lower standards of comedy or trumped up dramatics. Perfect picture or not,Hazel is a classic! (END)
"Hazel",marks the very first time for me seeing a series,exclusively,on DVD. I completed watching in January (2014) just 2 weeks after Season 5 came out.
I will say,I was only a bit disappointed that the shows weren't "cleaned up" like newer shows are,to broadcast day perfection.
That said,it did not distract me from what a very good series is. The Oscar winning Shirley Booth (Come Back Little Sheba)came to TV and made this her signature role and career apex.
Her role is a woman with the mind to say exactly what she means, even if someone doesn't like it. She's honest without being insulting or (too) obnoxious about it. She always has the best in mind. If she feels something is wrong,she goes out of her way to correct it.
Shirley demonstrated a unique balance between comedy and (mild for) TV drama. The comedy at first comes from she and "Missy" sort of pulling the wool over George's eyes to make something happen when he is reluctant (always for a good reason or cause,not to make him look foolish.) Usually,when it comes to George's business dealings with Mr. Harvey Griffin.
On the serious,I point to the very first show with George's sister Deidre (Cathy Lewis). In "George's Niece" Hazel brings together Barb's daughter and her Nephew. Deidre,who grew up around the ideal that "the classes should not mix" & who has a bad habit of alienating her daughter,is very angry with Hazel.
The scene near the end between Booth & Lewis has a great tension and the very real problem of a mother who doesn't understand her teenage daughter's ways. Unusual for a show that's supposed to be a sitcom in 1961. In her own way,Hazel tells her that she needs to try to listen to o and understand her daughter.
Another shocker,in one episode,George gets fed up with her meddling and says (best recall) "Hazel Burke,you are an interfering,meddlesome busy body and I'm sick of it!" Which instantly hurts her feelings and makes everyone mad at him. They make up later of course.
A "novelty" episode is the only one shot in color that first year. In "What'll We Watch Tonight?" Both Hazel and later the Baxters,get the first color TV's on their block. The novelty is that it's shot in color. (There were color TV's but networks wouldn't broadcast in color,full time,until the fall of '66. Seasons 2 through 5 were all filmed in color.
The chemistry between the main players is just right. Missy and George are "lovey-dovey" (but not to the level of say Rob & Laura Petrie) and you have to love Hazel & little Harold's relationship. (Bobby Buntrock doesn;t seem to age much in 5 years.)
For 4 years,the show followed it's charted course in it's story lines,it kept the comedy on a smooth course and every now and then tugged at people's hearts.
Then in the final season,things got shook up. The show was cancelled by NBC but picked up by CBS. Don DaFoe & Whitney Blake were gone. Their characters,off on business for a year in the middle east. Leaving, Harold in the care of George's real-estate selling brother Steve & his wife Barbara )who have a cute little daughter. Hazel gets mixed up in their affairs as well but the shows don't seem as strong as the first 4 years.
Still,overall,I will rate this 10 stars because it really is a series worth watching. For a look at the kind of shows that could not possibly survive today and maybe just to watch a program that doesn't rely on lower standards of comedy or trumped up dramatics. Perfect picture or not,Hazel is a classic! (END)