The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1962)

 

It's been 6 years since our post on the 1961 episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and the biggest news since then, actually from 3 years ago, is that the entire series has been issued on DVD by MPI, both as a complete series box set and as individual seasons. Finally we are able to view all the episodes rather than the random selections included in various incomplete anthology box sets and posted to YouTube, and the episodes on the DVD sets have been remastered, providing much better video quality. The DVD sets also include several commercials and sponsor messages featuring one or more of the Nelsons, providing an even better feel for what it was like viewing the program during its initial broadcast.

As for the content of the show itself, the episodes from 1962 pretty much continue to run over the same themes and format from previous seasons. The show was clearly running on fumes as they recycle Ricky singing his new single "Young World" at the end of three episodes, and the final show of 1962, "The Game Inventors" (December 27, 1962), runs so short that Harriet has to come on at the end of the story to admit they are short and that they will fill the remaining time by replaying video segments of two of Ricky's most popular hits--"Hello, Mary Lou" and "Travelin' Man," which is actually played twice--once in front of a staged audience of thrilled teenagers, and a second time with a video montage of Ricky visiting the girl he has in every port. In the plots themselves, the Nelsons continue to have a "failure to communicate," which leads to myriad problems but no consequences. In "The Fraternity Pin" (January 4, 1962) Rick retrieves Wally's fraternity pin from the jewelers but then decides to give it to his current girlfriend Norma Lane, partly because everyone expects him to and partly because he doesn't know where his own pin is, and he figures Wally won't need his pin back right away. He and Wally then have to bend over backwards making up excuses about why Wally can't give his pin to his girlfriend Ginger, and Rick finally realizes he really isn't ready to commit to a relationship but is bailed out yet again when Norma confesses that she isn't either. In "The Special Cake" (January 18, 1962), David's wife June wonders if he remembers the anniversary of their first date, but rather than ask him directly, she talks it over with Harriet, who tells her that she and Ozzie have a tradition of her baking a special cake when it is their anniversary, thereby sparing him the embarrassment of not remembering the day while reminding him when he sees the cake. So this is the approach June adopts, knowing that Dave is aware of the tradition, only he doesn't catch on right away, and there is confusion and hurt feelings until he figures it out. The pattern of avoiding direct communication because it is uncomfortable extends to Dave's boss Mr. Kelly in "Losing Miss Edwards" (November 29, 1962) when Kelly thinks his secretary Miss Edwards is spending too much time away from the office, but rather than telling her this himself, he delegates the assignment to Dave, who is clearly the wrong man for the job. Dave continues avoiding the task, fearing he will offend Miss Edwards, while Kelly keeps hounding him to get it over with. When Miss Edwards then hands in her resignation, before Dave has said anything about Kelly's displeasure, Kelly blames Dave for handling the communication poorly. Then, rather than pressing Miss Edwards about why she is quitting--she tells them she feels she just needs a change, thereby also choosing not to communicate her real reason for leaving--Dave takes Ozzie's somewhat chauvinistic advice that women need to feel they are appreciated (implying that men don't). Dave and Kelly start complimenting her, letting her have extra time for personal matters, etc., but they don't completely win her back until they recruit a fake applicant for her job, and have the applicant intentionally do poorly on a typing and dictation test in order to make Miss Edwards decide she can't abandon them to this obviously unqualified replacement. Of course, Miss Edwards is completely aware of the game they are playing and tells them so when she agrees to stay on after all.

Even though Dave has settled down in his marriage to June, Rick continues to have a new girlfriend almost every week. Norma Lane makes it through a couple of episodes ("The Fraternity Pin" and "The Randolphs' Niece" [January 25, 1962]). He moves on to Sandy in "Lending Money to Wally" (March 8, 1962), but she is quickly replaced by Joan Carlyle in "The Client's Daughter" (March 29, 1962), only to have her jettisoned for Paula Benson the next week in "The Student Nurse" (April 5, 1962). Paula reappears in "The Apartment" (October 11, 1962) after Rick has met and presumably dated an unnamed librarian in "Rick and the Maid of Honor" (September 27, 1962) after worrying that former girlfriend Roberta Jackson wants him to get married. Then in "Rick and the Sculptress" (October 18, 1962) he is dating Roberta again while being tempted by the titular sculptress Lory West. But they are both a distant memory in "Rick Sends a Picture" (November 15, 1962) because he is reunited with childhood friend Lois James (played by Pamela Austin, who also played the unnamed librarian). That lasts all of one week because he is dating Gloria Taylor in "Rick, the Host" (November 22, 1962), who fares no better when he gets Dave to use Pamela Hale as his fake job applicant in "Losing Miss Edwards" so that Rick can get in good with Pamela. As we've noted before, the theme of having a different girl in every port (as in his hit song "Travelin' Man") is particularly ironic since the real-life Ricky Nelson was a serial philanderer.

But despite most of the episodes dealing with the minor troubles of Rick, Dave, their friends, or pint-sized neighbor Barry, the most poignant and best-written episodes are those dealing with aging parents Ozzie and Harriet. In "The Lonesome Parents" (March 15, 1962), we get a surprisingly realistic portrait of parents with adult children who have lives of their own and often go several days without spending time with their elders. While younger son Rick is busy attending college, spending time at his fraternity house (even though he lives at home), and dating his new girlfriend of the week, elder son Dave is now married, working for a law firm, and shares an apartment with his wife June. Harriet begins the episode writing a letter to her own mother, who lives in another town, but every time she tries relaying what Rick is up to, he announces a change in plans so that she finally gives up and throws the letter in the trash. She then tells Ozzie they haven't heard from Dave in a while, and when they go to the malt shop that evening for dessert, they discover that apparently everyone else there knows more about what has been going on with Dave and June than they do. In typical Nelson fashion, rather than directly communicating with Dave, Harriet begins to wonder if they have offended him and he is deliberately keeping his distance. Much of the rest of the episode continues this pattern of making speculative assumptions based on circumstantial factors rather than taking a direct approach. Finally, Harriet is able to pin down a date for Dave and June to come over for dinner but feels that perhaps they should do something different on the assumption that Dave and June must be bored with their usual routine for their visits, so Harriet suggests having a Japanese-themed evening, cooking on the hibachi in the fireplace and wearing kimonos while sitting on the floor. Just before Dave and June show up, she decides the idea is silly, and they are about to abandon it, but Dave and June see the kimonos, find out about the Japanese motif, and are game for the idea. However, the next evening Harriet gets a phone call from her mother, asking why she hasn't heard from her in so long, and Harriet remembers she never finished the letter she started at the beginning of the episode, ironically bringing us full circle to show that even aging parents can get so busy with their own concerns that they forget to check in with their parents. The episode is noteworthy for its rare depiction of the lives and worries of empty-nest parents and the way people of any age can take observations about another person's behavior to construct completely inaccurate explanations for the cause of that behavior.

A few weeks later, "Little Handprints in the Sidewalk" (April 19, 1962) dramatizes the tension between aging parents' sentimental hanging on to mementos of their children's youth and the practicality of what to do with those mementos. In this case, Ozzie and Harriet decide to repair their front sidewalk after Ozzie trips over a damaged portion of it, but one panel contains Dave and Rick's handprints from when the cement was laid 17 years earlier. Harriet decides she wants to keep that panel, but after the contractor they hire removes it, they can't decide where to put it--she rejects putting it right in the living room where it is the first thing someone will see when they enter the home, but she also feels uncomfortable when Ozzie and Rick haul the heavy slab up into the attic, perched right above Ozzie and Harriet's bed. Joe Randolph earlier offers to take the slab off Ozzie's hands, saying he can use it for a boat anchor, which Ozzie finds impertinent. But when he can't find a suitable place for it at home, Ozzie relents and lets Joe take it away, only to have Harriet suddenly decide it could be placed over a muddy patch by the back porch. However, Joe returns to tell him the slab never made it out to the marina because he dropped it in a muddy spot by his back patio--face down, meaning the handprints are now lost permanently. The upshot is that despite the sentimental attachment that Harriet feels for the reminder of what her boys were like when they were young, she and Ozzie ultimately have to accept there is no place for a physical reminder of that time in their current home, forcing them to let go of the physical past. The episode would have been perfectly fine had it ended there, but instead another segment is tacked on in which Ozzie forgets that the contractor has laid fresh cement right outside the front door and then trips and falls into it before suggesting to Harriet that they take his imprint and make a coffee table out of it, which she wisely rejects. Ozzie then turns to the camera and breaks the fourth wall by shrugging and throwing up his hands to the audience. This mugging for the camera is used at the end of quite a few 1962 episodes, as if begging for one final laugh, including by cook Mrs. Murry in "The Fraternity Cook" (February 8, 1962), Ozzie talking directly to the camera from a hospital bed in "Operation Barry" (February 15, 1962), Rick shrugging to the camera in "Making Wally Study" (February 22, 1962), Barry speaking to the camera about his best birthday ever in "Barry's Birthday" (April 12, 1962), Rick giving a knowing look to the camera at the end of "Rick and the Maid of Honor," Ozzie smirking at the camera at the end of "The Apartment" (October 11, 1962), Roberta winking at the camera while dancing with Rick in "Rick and the Sculptress," Rick's girlfriend's little brother Ronnie shrugging at the camera at the end of "Rick Sends a Picture," restaurant owner Tony turning to the camera and throwing up his hands at the end of "Rick, the Host," Rick saying they like to end each episode with a strange twist in "An Old Friend of June's" (December 13, 1962), and Ozzie once again saying to the camera that even when you win, you lose at the end of "The Game Inventors." Though breaking the fourth wall has a long history in television, particularly on The Jack Benny Program, its use on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet seems, as mentioned above, tacked on, not organic to the rest of each episode, nor a basic premise to show the artificiality of television.

Speaking of connections to The Jack Benny Program, one final trivial note on the 1962 episodes involves the eventual stage name of iconic comedian Rodney Dangerfield. In "Rick Sends a Picture," Rick strikes up a dating relationship with former childhood friend Lois James but accidentally sends her a photo of himself inscribed "To my best girl" intended to go to his grandmother. Lois thinks Rick is in love with her and reciprocates with a photo of herself, but when she overhears Wally tell his friends about the pickle Rick is in over the photo, she is hurt and angry and refuses to see or talk to him. So Wally decides to get Rick a chance to explain by setting up a "blind" date with Lois using connections at Ginger's sorority, but in order not to let Lois know that Rick is her date, he has to choose an alias, and he chooses Rodney Dangerfield.  According to real-life Dangerfield biographer Michael Seth Starr, the name was first used by Jack Benny in a 1941 radio show and again later in the 1950s. By 1962 the real Rodney Dangerfield had been using his birth name Jack Roy but had found no success and even left the business for a while. When he decided to try a comeback, he thought it best to use a different name to avoid scaring off prospective audience members who might have seen his act as Jack Roy (though according to an article on cracked.com, he was also trying to avoid being spotted by the FBI after being indicted in a home-repair loan scam), so he told George McFadden, owner of the Innwood Lounge in Manhattan, to bill him under another name and left it up to McFadden to pick the name. McFadden chose Rodney Dangerfield, though Dangerfield himself later said he had no idea where he got it. Whether McFadden chose the name from Benny or Ozzie and Harriet isn't clear, but Ozzie Nelson surely was aware of Benny and his work, and Ricky's alias in this episode must have come from Benny. The parallels between Benny's show and Ozzie and Harriet don't end there. Both series started out on radio--Benny in 1932, the Nelsons in 1944--both presented a fictionalized version of real-life show business stars, and as described above both broke the fourth wall, though Benny's antics were more daring than simply winking at the camera at the end of a self-contained story. Benny's portrayal of himself was also more daring--showing him as a self-absorbed, miserly entertainer, whereas the fictionalized version of Ozzie Nelson is just an unemployed husband and father who dispenses bad advice and gets into arguments with his friends. The Nelsons' world on Ozzie and Harriet is markedly more artificial and circumscribed by television sit-com conventions. Still, it offers a comfortable medium between rule-breakers like Benny and the rigid confines of formulaic sit-coms such as Father Knows Best and The Donna Reed Show.

The Actors

For the biographies of Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Hilliard Nelson, David Nelson, Ricky Nelson, Skip Young, Lyle Talbot, Mary Jane Croft, Constance Harper, and Jack Wagner, see the 1960 post on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. For the biographies of June Blair, Joe Flynn, Barry Livingston, Frank Cady, Roberta Shore, and James Stacy, see the 1961 post on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

Charlene Salerno

Little has been written about Charlene Salerno, who appeared 39 times on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet between 1960 and 1965, playing Wally's girlfriend Ginger in all but one of those. She was born November 19, 1938 in Los Angeles and had a brief career as a child actor, appearing in uncredited parts in two feature films--The Gay Sisters in 1942 and The Adventures of Mark Twain in 1944. Apparently, the Salerno family were friends with Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, which led to Charlene being cast as Ginger in a semi-recurring role from Season 8 through the remainder of the series. She had only one other acting credit during that time, appearing in a 1961 episode of Insight. What she did after the cancelation of Ozzie and Harriet has not been published, but she died of breast cancer at the age of 47 on March 5, 1986.

Charley Britt

Charles William Britt was born in Augusta, Georgia on March 20, 1938. From an early age, Britt was a stand-out athlete, competing in baseball, basketball, golf, track, and especially football. At North Augusta High School, he was an All-State and All-Southern quarterback and defensive back who helped lead his team to an undefeated season his senior year. His play earned him a football scholarship to the University of Georgia, where he was teammates with Fran Tarkenton and future college football coach Pat Dye. After his college career, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams as a defensive back and played for the team from 1960-63. While living in Los Angeles, he met Ricky Nelson, who recruited Britt and other local football players as ringers to help Nelson finally beat Elvis Presley and his Memphis Mafia teammates in a running series of competitive football games. While other members of the Rams, like linebacker Marlin McKeever, had occasional extra parts on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Britt's friendship with Nelson won him a semi-recurring role as fraternity brother Charley beginning in 1961 through the duration of the series, appearing 26 times in the role. Britt even lived with Nelsons during part of this period.

In 1963 Britt married actress Pamela Austin, who also appeared in multiple episodes of the series, and the couple had a son Beau before divorcing after little more than a year. In 1964, Britt played for the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers before retiring from professional football. He had a single appearance playing an unnamed dancer in a 1967 episode of The Lucy Show but then pursued a career as a newscaster, first in the Los Angeles area before returning home to North Augusta, where he was the news anchor and covered The Masters golf tournament. Beginning in 2023 he was a guest columnist for the local newspaper, The North Augusta Star. As of December 2025, he was still living at age 87 in North Augusta with his wife Tonya.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 10, Episode 12, "The Fraternity Pin": Cheryl Holdridge (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1961 post on Leave It to Beaver) plays Rick's current girlfriend Norma Lane. Henry Hunter (Doctor Summerfield on Hazel and Mr. Abbott on Days of Our Lives) plays a jewelry store owner.

Season 10, Episode 13, "The Backyard Pet Show": Kim Tyler (Kyle Nash on Please Don't Eat the Daisies) plays Barry's friend Kim. Laurie Nelson (shown on the right, niece of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson) plays kitten owner Laurie. Richard Gittings (Bob Anderson on Days of Our Lives) plays neighborhood father Dick. Russ Thompson (host of Armed Forces Radio kids show Let's Pretend With Uncle Russ) plays neighborhood father Russ.  Gil Smith (award-winning commercial photographer, son-in-law of Ricardo Montalban, played Joey McDonald on Dennis the Menace and Steve Lindsey on Peter Loves Mary) plays a boy at the pet show.

Season 10, Episode 15, "The Randolphs' Niece": Linda Evans (shown on the left, played Audra Barkley on The Big Valley, Marty Shaw on Hunter, and Krystle Carrington on Dynasty) plays the Randolphs' niece Shirley. Cheryl Holdridge (see "The Fraternity Pin" above) returns as Rick's girlfriend Norma Lane.

Season 10, Episode 16, "A Lamp for Dave and June": Stanley Farrar (shown on the right, appeared in The Beatniks and played Dr. Talmadge on The Real McCoys) plays lamp shop owner Mr. Peters. Sarah Selby (see the biography section for the 1962 post on Gunsmoke) plays Dave and June's landlord Mrs. Howard. Janet Waldo (see the biography section for the 1962 post on The Jetsons) plays lamp shop customer Mrs. Lee.

Season 10, Episode 17, "The Fraternity Cook": Sarah Selby (shown on the left, see "A Lamp for Dave and June" above) plays the fraternity cook Mrs. Murry. Jimmy Hawkins (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Donna Reed Show) plays fraternity brother Jimmy. Vera Marshe (appeared in Monsieur Verdoux, Danger Street, and The Space Children and played Mrs. Franklin on Meet Corliss Archer) plays the first fraternity cook job applicant.

Season 10, Episode 18, "Operation Barry": Kim Tyler (shown on the right, see "The Backyard Pet Show" above) returns as Barry's friend Kim. Janet Waldo (see "A Lamp for Dave and June" above) plays Barry's mother Ann.

Season 10, Episode 19, "Making Wally Study": Jimmy Hawkins (see "The Fraternity Cook" above) returns as fraternity brother Jimmy. David Lewis (Senator Ames on The Farmer's Daughter, Warden Crichton on Batman, and Edward L. Quartermaine on General Hospital) plays the college dean. Lori Saunders (shown on the left, played Bobbie Jo Bradley on Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, and The Beverly Hillbillies, Betsy on Dusty's Trail, and Cynthia Harris on The Young and the Restless) plays a girl at the drive-in.

Season 10, Episode 20, "Lending Money to Wally": Jimmy Hawkins (see "The Fraternity Cook" above) returns as fraternity brother Jimmy. Lori Saunders (see "Making Wally Study" above) plays Jimmy's girlfriend Linda. Brian Davies (appeared in Up From the Beach, American Gigolo, and The Age of Innocence and played Scott Edgar on One Life to Live and Dick Hamilton on All My Children) plays freshman student Pete. Bob Jellison (shown on the right, played Waldo Binney on The Life of Riley and Bobby the Bellboy on I Love Lucy) plays a restaurant waiter.

Season 10, Episode 22, "The Client's Daughter": Edmon Ryan (appeared in Mystery Street, The Breaking Point, The Americanization of Emily, and Topaz and played Judge Alexander on Days of Our Lives) plays Mr. Kelly's client George Carlyle. Joan Staley (shown on the left, Playboy Playmate who appeared in Cape Fear, Roustabout, Valley of the Dragons, Johnny Cool, and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and played Tiger on The Lively Ones, Hannah on 77 Sunset Strip, and Roberta Love on Broadside) plays his daughter Joan. Pat McCaffrie (Chuck Forrest on Bachelor Father and Dr. Edgar Harris on Outlaws) plays a drunk in the restaurant.

Season 10, Episode 23, "The Student Nurse": Nina Shipman (appeared in Blue Denim, The Oregon Trail, and High Time) plays Charley's hospital nurse Paula Benson. Dorothy Abbott (shown on the right, played Ann Baker on Dragnet) plays the nursing school receptionist. Dorothy Ford (appeared in Love Laughs at Andy Hardy, 3 Godfathers, and Jack and the Beanstalk and played Queen Riva on Space Patrol) plays another nurse at the hospital. Barbara Eiler (wife of Ozzie's brother Don Nelson) plays the dean of the Nursing School.

Season 10, Episode 24, "Barry's Birthday": Janet Waldo (shown on the left, see "A Lamp for Dave and June" above) returns as Barry's mother Ann. Kim Tyler (see "The Backyard Pet Show" above) returns as Barry's friend Kim. Gil Smith (see "The Backyard Pet Show" above) plays one of Barry's friends.

Season 10, Episode 25, "Little Handprints in the Sidewalk": Ben Bennett (shown on the right, half of the comedy team Bennett & Patterson, appeared in Operation Bottleneck and It Happened in Athens and played the court clerk on Days of Our Lives) plays sidewalk repairman Mr. Hayes.

Season 11, Episode 1, "Rick and the Maid of Honor": Jimmy Hawkins (shown on the left, see "The Fraternity Cook" above) returns as fraternity brother Jimmy. Lori Saunders (see "Making Wally Study" above) returns as his fiance Linda. Pamela Austin (starred in Hootenanny Hoot, Kissin' Cousins, and The Perils of Pauline) plays an assistant librarian.

Season 11, Episode 2, "Mrs. Bradford's Recipe": Enid Markey (shown on the right, appeared in The Cup of Life, Civilization, The Yankee Way, Tarzan of the Apes (1918), The Romance of Tarzan, Snafu, and The Boston Strangler and played Aunt Violet Flower on Bringing Up Buddy) plays Mr. Kelly's long-time client Mrs. Bradford. Howard Smith (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Hazel) plays notoriously touchy Judge Turner.

Season 11, Episode 3, "The Apartment": Nina Shipman (shown on the left, see "The Student Nurse" above) returns as Rick's girlfriend Paula Benson.

Season 11, Episode 4, "Rick and the Sculptress": Lory Patrick (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on Tales of Wells Fargo) plays sculptress Lory West. Brian Davies (see "Lending Money to Wally" above) plays Ginger's cousin Brian Mayfield. Roberta Shore (see "Rick and the Maid of Honor" above) returns as Rick's date Roberta Jackson.

Season 11, Episode 5, "The Trip to Mexico": Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez (shown on the left, played Pedro Vasquez on The Texan) plays a Mexican street vendor selling maracas. Ben Bennett (see "Little Handprints in the Sidewalk" above) plays a travel agent. Pat McCaffrie (see "The Client's Daughter" above) plays a cab driver.

Season 11, Episode 6, "The Tigers Go to a Dance": Ronnie Dapo (appeared in -30-, The Music Man, and Kisses For My President and played Flip Rose on Room for One More and Andy on The New Phil Silvers Show) plays Ronnie, a boy who backs out of going to the dance. Pat Thompson (son of actor Russ Thompson) plays Barry's friend and Tiger member Pat. Gil Smith (shown on the right, see "The Backyard Pet Show" above) plays Tiger member Jimmy Dugan. Kim Tyler (see "The Backyard Pet Show" above) returns as Barry's friend Kim. Janet Waldo (see "A Lamp for Dave and June" above) plays dance hostess Janet. Laurie Nelson (see "The Backyard Pet Show" above) plays dance attendee Laurie.

Season 11, Episode 7, "The Women's Club Play": Barbara Stuart (shown on the left, played Bessie on The Great Gildersleeve, Alice on Pete and Gladys, Bunny on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Peggy Ferguson on The McLean Stevenson Show, Marianne Danzig on Our Family Honor, and Alice on Huff) plays women's club member Mary Snyder. Janet Waldo (see "A Lamp for Dave and June" above) plays women's club member Janet. Cheerio Meredith (Emma Brand on The Andy Griffith Show and Lovey Hackett on One Happy Family) plays women's club member Mrs. Gregory.

Season 11, Episode 8, "Rick Sends a Picture": Pamela Austin (shown on the right, see "Rick and the Maid of Honor" above) plays Rick's English-class mate Lois James. Ronnie Dapo (see "The Tigers Go to a Dance" above) plays her younger brother Ronnie. Barbara Eiler (see "The Student Nurse" above) plays a camera shop clerk. Stuffy Singer (national and world handball champion, played Donnie Henderson on Beulah and Alexander Bumstead on Blondie) plays fraternity brother Stuffy. Mikki Jamison (first wife of musician Jimmy Griffin of the group Bread, played Jean Reed on Adam-12) plays Lois' sorority sister Betty Wilson.

Season 11, Episode 9, "Rick, the Host": Vicki Trickett (shown on the left, appeared in Pepe, Gidget Goes Hawaiian, and The Three Stooges Meet Hercules) plays Rick's latest girlfriend Gloria Taylor. Stuffy Singer (see "Rick Sends a Picture" above) returns as fraternity brother Stuffy. Don Orlando (appeared in Park Row, Kansas City Confidential, and The Broken Land and played Pinto on The Adventures of Tugboat Annie) plays restaurant owner Tony.

Season 11, Episode 10, "Losing Miss Edwards": Rachel Stephens (shown on the right, appeared in Hound Dog Man, One Foot in Hell, and Richie Rich) plays secretarial job applicant Pamela Hale. Ben Bennett (see "Little Handprints in the Sidewalk" above) plays an elevator operator.

Season 11, Episode 11, "An Old Friend of June's": Dick Sargent (shown on the left, starred in Bernardine, Operation Petticoat, and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and played Dick Cooper on One Happy Family, Lt. Maxwell Trotter on Broadside, Terrance Ward on The Tammy Grimes Show, the second Darrin Stephens on Bewitched, and Richard Preston on Down to Earth) plays June's old friend George Radcliffe. Joan Staley (see "The Client's Daughter" above) plays Dave's temporary secretary Joan McWhorter.

Season 11, Episode 12, "The Game Inventors": Mack Williams (shown on the right, appeared in Command Decision, Destination Big House, and Cape Fear) plays game manufacturer Mr. Harris. Stuffy Singer (see "Rick Sends a Picture" above) returns as fraternity brother Stuffy.

 

The Jetsons (1962)

 

For a series that to this day is considered hugely influential in the way we envision the future, The Jetsons has an underwhelming history and is interesting today primarily for its depiction of devices the creators imagined for the year 2062. The series was the third attempt by the Hanna-Barbera studio to create a prime-time animated series, after the success of The Flintstones in 1960 and the failure of Top Cat in 1961. Since The Flintstones had caught on with its humorous depiction of stone-age versions of mid-century appliances and other devices, Hanna-Barbera decided to try the same approach in the opposite direction--the future. So, rather than dinosaurs performing the tasks that by 1960 were handled electronically, The Jetsons showed the same functions performed by automation and robots. As Matt Novak points out in his 2012 Smithsonian Magazine article "50 Years of The Jetsons: Why the Show Still Matters," many of the show's futuristic inventions, such as moving sidewalks, were created elsewhere had already been published in other forums. Novak says that what The Jetsons did was "condense and package those inventions into entertaining 25-minute blocks for impressionable, media-hungry kids to consume." But the program wasn't initially intended just for kids, since it was aired in prime-time, and therein lies the story of why, like Top Cat, it failed to catch on initially.

Though it was the first prime-time program offered in color by ABC, as Novak observes, only 3% of American households had color TVs by 1962. Furthermore, since it was the first ABC color program, ABC allowed individual affiliates to decide whether to broadcast it in color or black-and-white, and only a handful of larger markets chose the color option, meaning that very few people saw it in color during its initial run. Novak maintains that the program loses much of its futuristic appeal when viewed in black-and-white. On top of this, it was slotted into the Sunday evening schedule opposite the already-popular Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color  and Dennis the Menace. Consequently, the show was canceled after its initial 24 episodes, though ABC continued to re-run episodes until the new fall schedule began in September 1963. However, the show was then aired in syndication on Saturday mornings on ABC the following season and thereafter on Saturday mornings on NBC off and on into the mid-1980s when it was rebooted for two new seasons. So while its initial run hardly made a dent on the TV landscape, its long life on Saturday mornings allowed it to influence an entire generation of impressionable children, with an increasing number of them having color TVs as the years went by, which helps to explain how a 1-year flop became an icon of futurism.

As for the content of the show itself, it's a typical Hanna-Barbera production, meaning that it borrows heavily from worn-out plots and character types and even its satirical digs at other shows and general situations are hardly innovative. Whereas Hanna-Barbera had based The Flintstones characters on those from Jackie Gleason's Honeymooners and the Top Cat characters on those from The Phil Silvers Show (even casting Silvers alum Maurice Gosfield as Benny the Ball), The Jetsons is not clearly based on a particular family sit-com, other than the character of Rosey the Robot, who has been compared to the title character from Hazel in that she is an older model with a Brooklyn accent. In a case of serendipitous coincidence, Shirley Booth's Hazel has a nightmare in which she is replaced by Robby the Robot (from Forbidden Planet fame) in the second episode from Season 2 of Hazel, which aired on September 27, 1962, just four days after the first episode of The Jetsons, which introduced the character of Rosey.

The second episode of The Jetsons, "A Date With Jet Screamer" (September 30, 1962) pokes fun at rock 'n' roll teen idols (a la Ricky Nelson of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) and their fans when Judy Jetson enters a song-writing contest and wins a date with the titular Jet Screamer. Her father George tries to foil her chances of winning by intercepting her own song submission and replacing it with a language Elroy developed for talking to his friends in code made up of nonsense words like "Oop" and "Eek." The big joke is that the nonsensical song wins the contest, a clear jab at rock 'n' roll songs like Gene Vincent's "Be Bop a Lula," which already had been heavily parodied by this time. And other sit-coms, like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Donna Reed Show, and especially The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis had already covered the territory of lingo-laden pop stars, to say nothing of the Edd "Kookie" Byrnes character from 77 Sunset Strip.

"Las Venus" (December 16, 1962) recycles the worn-out joke of a man trying to keep two dates with two different women at the same time, a gag used heavily in comedy feature films for decades. In this case, George has promised to take Jane to Las Venus for a second honeymoon at the same time that his boss Mr. Spacely has ordered him to meet and close the deal for a lucrative contract with female executive and Marlene Dietrich sound-a-like G.G. Galaxy. George has to zip back and forth between two hotels dancing with each of the women and putting them in an extended dance spin so that he can dash back to the other hotel and resume his date with the other. Of course, he can keep up the ruse only so long before Jane discovers he has been spending time with another woman. Naturally, Ms. Galaxy assures Jane that George has been all business with her, and she is willing to sign the contract with Spacely nonetheless so that we get the expected and inevitable happy ending. A similar type of plot is featured in "Jetson's Nite Out" (October 7, 1962), only this time George is joined by his boss Cosmo Spacely in tricking their wives so that they can attend a football playoff game. Spacely tells his wife that he cannot attend a concert for which she has tickets because he has to tend to his gravely ill employee Jetson, while George tells Jane he can't attend the PTA meeting with her because he has to work late. Eventually they are both found out because the game is televised, and George has the winning ticket for the stadium's one millionth customer, meaning he winds up on screen where he is seen by Jane and Mrs. Spacely. If this feels like a story you have seen elsewhere, either on another sit-com or in the movies, it's because it is.

Not only did The Jetsons borrow liberally from other sources for their stories--they also borrowed from themselves, regurgitating the same story twice within the first 15 episodes. In "The Flying Suit" (November 4, 1962), Spacely's chief rival Cogswell's Cosmic Cogs develops a flying suit that can be controlled and navigated by the wearer's brain waves. George winds up getting the suit through a mix-up at the cleaners, and Spacely believes that George has invented a way to enable human flight, while George believes his newfound ability comes from an invention by Elroy, who coincidentally has been trying to invent a pill to enable humans to fly. Meanwhile Cogswell's test pilot Harlan returns from the cleaners with George's ordinary suit which obviously does not fly, and the planned demonstration of Cogswell's new invention in front of his board of directors is a disaster. When Spacely then tries to demonstrate what he believes are Elroy's flying pills to his board of directors, he also falls flat, literally. No one realizes that the real flying suit still works, and when the clerk from the cleaners returns the two mixed-up suits to their rightful owners, Cogswell tells Harlan to simply throw the real flying suit away. About a month later, we get "Astro's Top Secret" (December 9, 1962) in which the Jetson's dog Astro swallows Elroy's toy remote-controlled spaceship and is thereby able to fly, though he is navigated by the toy remote control. After Spacely and Cogswell have a contentious game of golf, which ends with Spacely threatening to drive Cogswell out of business, Cogswell assigns Harlan to spy on Jetson to see if there is any real threat behind Spacely's bluster. When Harlan sees Astro flying around the Jetson's apartment and reports back to Cogswell, the latter has Harlan kidnap Astro to try to discover his secret. Naturally, his efforts to get Astro to reveal his secret are for naught, and Cogswell phones Spacely to surrender in their business war, much to Spacely's surprise. Astro is navigated back home by George with the remote-control device. When Spacely and Cogswell then convene at George's apartment to witness his ground-breaking invention, George turns off the remote, causing Astro to fall to the ground, dislodging the toy spaceship to reveal that there was no great invention after all. The particulars may be a little different, but these two episodes are essentially the same story, aired 5 weeks apart.

Besides repeating the same story in such a short span of time, the show seemed to be made up anew each week without much thought given to consistency from one episode to the next. There are several early episodes featuring automated food-dispensing systems, but they appear different each time. In the debut episode "Rosey the Robot" (September 23, 1962) a fair amount  of time is devoted to the "food-a-rac-a-cycle," which dispenses fully cooked meals at the touch of a button, only the Jetson's model is not working properly, and George complains about having to replace it before he has even paid off the old one. But by the next episode, "A Date With Jet Screamer"," they have a different-looking model that Jane programs with computer punch cards. By the 15th episode, "Test Pilot" (December 30, 1962), Jane is making breakfast with yet another model that has a telephone-like rotary dial and spits out an entire meal in the form of a pill. If we accept the premise from the first episode that these appliances are expensive enough to require long-term financing, it seems impossible that they would be on their third different model in the span of three months. Likewise, George and Jane's bedroom accommodations seem to change from one week to the next--sometimes they have separate beds, sometimes they sleep together in the same bed, and in the first episode we see only George in a single bed that transforms into a toaster-like device that pops him out when he won't wake up. Similarly, after much is made in the first episode of Jane wanting to buy a robot maid to relieve her of the strain of pushing buttons to clean the house and operating the food-a-rac-a-cycle, she is back to doing her own housework in the next episode. In fact, Rosey appears in only two of the first 15 episodes. In short, the creators of The Jetsons seem not to have had a clearly defined vision of the details of future life before embarking on their journey (or felt the need for a continuity supervisor); they simply made it up as they went along.

And yet despite its rehashing of old stories and lack of detailed continuity, the one prescient prediction about the future on The Jetsons is its depiction of how labor-saving devices would make people lazier, growing more reliant on having work done for them and therefore becoming less willing to do anything for themselves. In the opening episode, we see Jane doing a TV workout program that consists of only exercising her index finger to make it strong enough to push buttons all day. In another episode George's morning exercises consist of watching a video of him running and performing other exercises. Though his work week has shrunk to just three days, George is constantly going to Spacely to get the afternoon off or a vacation approved. Jane likewise is overcome by having to push a few buttons to perform housework, so she feels the need to get a robot maid. But otherwise the characters all act just like other sit-com characters of the early 1960s: George aspires to career advancement and is constantly being promoted to Vice President, then fired, then rehired back to his old job (similar to his being sucked around the treadmill in the closing credits); Jane loves to shop and spend money and drives dangerously; Judy has a new boyfriend every week and is obsessed with teen idol singers; and Elroy is preoccupied with TV super heroes ("Elroy's Pal" [December 23, 1962]), trying to invent things, including his secret coded language ("A Date With Jet Screamer"), and playing with his dog. In other words, the underlying theme from The Jetsons seems to be that despite all the technological innovations that could appear a century into the future, humans will still be the same. Depending on your current view of humanity, that sentiment is either reassuring or severely depressing.

The theme song and scores for individual episodes of The Jetsons  were composed by Hoyt Curtin, who was profiled in the 1961 post on Top Cat.

The complete series has been released on DVD by Warner Home Video.

The Actors

For the biography of Daws Butler, see the biography section in the 1960 post for Rocky and His Friends. For the biographies of Mel Blanc and Jean Van Der Pyl, see the biography section in the 1960 post for The Flintstones. For the biography of Don Messick, see the biography section in the 1961 post for The Flintstones.

George O'Hanlon

George O'Hanlon was born in Coney Island, New York on November 23, 1912, 15 years after his cousin Virginia became a cultural icon for writing a letter to a newspaper asking if there really was a Santa Claus, prompting the editorial response "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus." The O'Hanlon family had a long history in the entertainment business dating back to his grandmother performing as a dance hall girl at the Birdcage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona during the days of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. O'Hanlon's parents were also both entertainers: his mother Lulu Beeson was a dancer in the burlesque theater circuit, and his father George, whose stage name was Sam Rice, owned a theater in Providence, Rhode Island where he also produced and directed. Consequently young George grew up around the theater and became a vaudeville performer himself at a young age while also being mentored by Lou Costello of Abbott & Costello fame. The family lost the theater during the Great Depression and headed out to Hollywood, where young George began to find work as an extra in movie productions, including working as a chorus boy in various Busby Berkeley films. Thanks to a helpful casting director at Warner Brothers he won a scholarship to the prestigious Bliss Haydens drama school. Finally in 1942 he got his big break when he was hired by director Richard L. Bare to play the everyday average Joe McDoakes in a short titled So You Want to Give Up Smoking. Based on this performance, he was signed to a contract by Warner Brothers, but after acting in one more McDoakes short, he was drafted into the Army and served three years during World War II. After the War, O'Hanlon returned to Warner Brothers, which would produce 61 more McDoakes shorts through 1956 with O'Hanlon now co-writing the scripts with Bare, thereby launching a long and prolific career as a writer. At the same time, O'Hanlon continued getting bit parts, sometimes uncredited, in feature films such as The Spirit of West Point, Heading for Heaven, Are You With It?, The Counterfeiters, and June Bride. In November 1948, O'Hanlon spun off the Joe McDoakes character on his own radio show, The George O'Hanlon Show, with Willard Waterman playing his boss. By the early 1950s he began to find infrequent guest spots on TV programs such as My Little Margie, The Dennis Day Show, and The Loretta Young Show. In 1954 he began appearing as neighbor Calvin Dudley on the William Bendix sit-com The Life of Riley, a series for which he also wrote a screenplay to dip his foot into the TV screenplay business. He simultaneously appeared on other programs as a guest star, such as I Love Lucy, Sugarfoot, Maverick, How to Marry a Millionaire, and The Red Skelton Hour as well as the occasional B-movie, such as Kronos and Bop Girl Goes Calypso. But when he and Bare then tried to adapt the McDoakes character for television and produced a pilot in the hopes of landing a series, O'Hanlon was fired from The Life of Riley for moonlighting. In 1959 he tried his hand at not only co-writing the script but also directing the feature film The Rookie, starring Tommy Noonan (who was his co-writer on the script), Peter Marshall, and Julie Newmar. Though he long thought he was not suited for work as a voice actor, he auditioned for the part of Fred Flintstone with Hanna-Barbera but lost out to Alan Reed (one account says that he was going to be cast for the role until an influential sponsor insisted he wasn't right for the part, which led to Reed being cast). He found more work writing scripts for other series such as 77 Sunset Strip, The Ann Sothern Show, and The Gallant Men before Hanna-Barbera came back to him to have him audition for the part of George Jetson.

Though The Jetsons would make O'Hanlon a TV icon, the original series lasted only 24 episodes, and he was again looking for work, acting in series such as The Roaring '20s, Mister Ed, and The Lieutenant while also co-writing the screenplay for the feature film For Those Who Think Young with his brother James and Dan Beaumont. In 1964 he was cast in a supporting role as cab driver Artie Burns on The Reporter starring Harry Guardino, but the series lasted only a single season. In the latter 1960s he wrote for Petticoat Junction, Gilligan's Island, Love, American Style and a couple of different Jackie Gleason series while also appearing in some of the same episodes as well as on Marcus Welby, M.D., The Name of the Game, and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. In the early 1970s he had minor roles in the Walt Disney feature films The Million Dollar Duck, Now You See Him, Now You Don't, and Charley and the Angel as well as appearing on TV programs such as Adam-12, The Partridge Family, The Odd Couple, and Mission: Impossible. Then in 1976 he suffered a stroke while undergoing bypass surgery, which left him nearly blind with compromised short-term memory. It appeared that he would never work again, and his wife Nancy supported the family as a cosmetics company executive. Relegated to watching TV and sitting around the Motion Picture Hospital, O'Hanlon became obsessed with bringing back The Jetsons, with Nancy later saying he claimed to have a premonition that it would be revived even though no one was talking about it at the time. Finally in the mid-1980s O'Hanlon's dream came true, and Hanna-Barbera called him to see if he would again play the part, even though it meant making substantial accommodations for him due to his vision and memory impairments. Someone would have to read his part to him line by line and have him repeat it back on tape. The process was laborious and exhausting for O'Hanlon, but he finally felt that he was doing something worthwhile. Hanna-Barbera produced two new seasons of the series in 1985-87 and then decided to do a feature film as well. But while recording his lines for the film, O'Hanlon was obviously in physical distress. Joe Barbera had him rushed to St. Joseph's hospital, where the doctor who examined him said he had only hours left to live. He passed away on February 11, 1989 at the age of 76.

Penny Singleton

Born Mariana Dorothy Agnes Letitia McNulty on September 15, 1908 in Philadelphia, her father Benny was a newspaper man there. She began her entertainment career as a child singing in silent movie theaters and joined the troupe The Kiddie Kabaret after completing the sixth grade, her last year of schooling, which she would later regret. After briefly attending Columbia University, she made her Broadway debut at age 17 in the production Sky High, billed as Dorothy McNulty, in 1925. She followed that with Sweetheart Time in early 1926 and then Jack Benny's The Great Temptations later that same year. Her performance in the 1927-29 production of Good News as a replacement for the character of Flo was her ticket to Hollywood as she reprised the role in the 1930 feature film version. But it took a while for her movie career to take off. After appearing in another 1930 feature, Love in the Rough, she returned to Broadway for the 1932 production Hey Nonny Nonny!  Other than appearing in a 1934 short, she did not return to films until 1936 in After the Thin Man playing the part of Polly. But she felt that the role typecast her and turned down other similar roles, which somewhat stifled her career. After appearing in two 1937 films--Vogues of 1938 and Sea Racketeers--she married dentist Laurence Scroggs Singleton. Even though the couple divorced two years later, she took his last name as part of a new stage name, along with the name Penny because as a girl she had collected pennies for good luck, first using the name for literary pieces she published in national magazines. The new name appeared to bring her instant good luck because in 1938 she appeared in no less than 11 feature films, including the role that would change her life, Blondie Bumstead in the first of 28 features in the Blondie series. If she had felt typecast before, she surely must have felt it now, as she played little else but Blondie for the next dozen years, the exceptions being the 1941 comedy Go West, Young Lady with Glenn Ford and Ann Miller and Young Widow in 1946, starring Jane Russell. At the same time, she was playing Blondie on the weekly radio program from 1939-50. And to cement her place in the Blondie universe, she even remarried to the film series producer Robert Sparks in 1941. But all of that changed when the series was finally retired in 1950. Anticipating the inevitable, she had devised the practice of paying actors residuals for repeat performances of their work and had a residuals clause written into her contract for the later Blondie films. Initially she had her own radio show on the NBC network, The Penny Singleton Show, and she made her television debut in an episode of Pulitzer Prize Playhouse , but these would be her last credits for over a decade. Nevertheless, she was determined to keep working and launched her own touring nightclub show which led to being included on USO tours during the Korean War. In the late 1950s she became very active in the American Guild of Variety Artists, first being elected to the union's board and then named President for 1958-59. She advocated for variety performers to be treated as employees by the producers who hired them, requiring that they be paid pensions and have unemployment insurance, but when she began questioning the inconsistencies she saw in the union's various reports, she was suspended, making her unable to work as a variety performer herself. She sued the union, and after Senator John J. McClellan began investigating unions practices, Singleton was called to testify at Congressional hearings and eventually won her lawsuit, gaining union reinstatement and $15,000 compensation in 1963. In the meantime, she was hired to voice Jane Jetson by Joe Barbera, who was thrilled to be able to use the iconic voice of Blondie for his space-age sit-com.

Though The Jetsons ran for only a single season of 24 episodes, the exposure resurrected Singleton's acting career, if only briefly. She was cast in an episode of Death Valley Days in 1963 and one for The Twilight Zone in 1964. Meanwhile, her husband Robert Sparks died in 1963. While her return to TV acting fizzled out quickly, she remained active in her work for AVGA, leading a strike for the Rockettes dancing troupe in 1967 over working conditions. In 1969 she was reelected President of AVGA and the next year led a strike by workers of the Disney on Parade  touring show in which the producers tried cutting costs by refusing to transport a support stage, thereby causing the dancers to suffer repeated shin splints because the main stage was being placed directly on top of concrete and had no give. In the early 1970s she returned to Broadway as a replacement for the role of Sue Smith in the 1971-73 production of No, No, Nanette. Though she only completed sixth grade in her formal education, she received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree from St. John's University in 1974. Her career was once again revived with the reboot of The Jetsons in 1985, and though most of her late career was voicing Jane Jetson in a variety of TV movies, shorts, the 1990 feature film, and the series itself, it also led to her appearing in a 1986 episode of Murder, She Wrote. She died at age 95 on November 12, 2003.

Janet Waldo

Born Patricia Waldo in Grandview, Washington on February 4, 1919, her mother was a singer who trained at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and her father, Benjamin Franklin Waldo (purportedly a distant cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson) was a railroad man whose job required the family to move frequently. Her elder sister Elisabeth would become an award-winning violinist and composer, and while his daughters were still young her father decided he didn't want them to grow up to marry farmers, so he sold the family farm and moved the family to Seattle. Janet began her acting career in church plays and got her first big break while performing in a theatrical production while attending the University of Washington where alumnus Bing Crosby was staging a talent scout promotion. Crosby's scouts encouraged Waldo to enter their contest, which she won, the prize being a trip to Hollywood with Crosby and a movie contract with Paramount. However, Waldo recalled in a later interview with Leonard Maltin that the studio didn't really know what to do with her and that she never felt comfortable in front of the camera, so her early film career consisted largely of bit parts, beginning in 1938 with features such as Cocoanut Grove with Fred MacMurray and Harriet Nelson and Sing, You Sinners with Crosby, MacMurray, and Donald O'Connor. She played a number of hat check girls, receptionists, , and telephone operators as well as occasionally credited parts in features such as Tom Sawyer, Detective, Zaza, Persons in Hiding, The Star Maker, and What a Life. Though she worked her way up to leading roles in a few westerns by the early 1940s, such as One Man's Law, The Bandit Trail, and Land of the Open Range, her option was dropped around 1942. Crosby's brother Larry, producer of the radio program Kraft Music Hall, took her under his wing, and she began getting parts on radio with Lux Radio Theatre in 1941. Waldo says she felt right at home doing radio theater and would appear on dozens of programs, including occasionally on Bing Crosby's show. She says her big break came when she auditioned for and was cast on Edward G. Robinson's Big Town. But her biggest breakout came in 1944, first portraying dizzy teenager Emmy Lou on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (a role she would continue playing when the program transitioned to television in the 1950s) and taking over the title role on Meet Corliss Archer from Priscilla Lyon. She would continue playing Archer for almost a decade, until 1953, but did not follow the program when it transitioned to TV. In 1948 she married writer Robert E. Lee, who with his partner Jerome Lawrence would write Inherit the Wind, Auntie Mame, and First Monday in October, and she would appear on some of Lee's radio programs such as Favorite Story, playing opposite William Conrad in an adaptation of Wuthering Heights. She also co-starred with Jimmy Lydon on the short-lived teen radio series Young Love from 1949-50. Though she didn't do much live-action television, she had a memorable debut as star-struck teenager Peggy Dawson in a 1952 episode of I Love Lucy (she had appeared on Lucille Ball's radio program My Favorite Husband years earlier). She appeared 5 times as Emmy Lou in the first TV season of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet in 1953, and would continue to pop up as a variety of other characters over the show's 14 seasons, including one named Janet in the series' later years. But Waldo's career had hit something of a lull in the latter 1950s and early 1960s until she was tabbed to voice space-age teenager Judy Jetson in 1962.

Like others in The Jetsons' cast, Waldo became a regular member of the Hanna-Barbera voice cast for years afterward. She took over the role of Pearl Slaghoople on The Flintstones in 1964, voiced Granny Sweet on The Atom Ant Show and Precious Pupp, played Nancy on Shazzan, voiced Penelope Pitstop on Wacky Races and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, was Jenny Trent on Around the World in 79 Days and Cattanooga Cats, voiced Josie on Josie and the Pussycats and Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, was Widow Wilson on The Funky Phantom, played Mrs. Anders on Jeannie, and was Morticia Addams in the 1973 animated version of The Addams Family. And these are just the regular roles she voiced--she also provided various voices for many other Hanna-Barbera cartoons as well as voicing the character of Lanna Lang on a number of Superman-related cartoons, including The New Adventures of Superman, The Adventures of Superboy, and The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. After the cancelation of The Jetsons, she also began to get more guest star work on live-action TV shows, such as Saints and Sinners, The Andy Griffith Show, and The Lucy Show. In 1964-65 she co-starred with Anthony Franciosa and Jack Soo on the sit-com Valentine's Day playing the role of Libby Freeman. In the mid- to late-60s she guest starred on Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Petticoat Junction, The F.B.I., The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Julia. From then on, she worked exclusively providing voices for dozens of animated TV series and TV movies, except for reprising her role as Amanda on the reunion TV movie Return to Mayberry in 1986. She returned as Judy Jetson when the series was rebooted in 1985 but was replaced for the 1990 feature film by pop star Tiffany at the direction of executives at Universal Pictures. The move backfired because loyal Jetsons fans were outraged, and by the time of the film's release, Tiffany's 15 minutes of fame had expired. Waldo, meanwhile, continued voicing various animated characters throughout the 1990s as well as performing in smaller Los Angeles-area theatrical productions and those of the California Artists Radio Theatre. In 2011 she was diagnosed with a benign but inoperable brain tumor and died 5 years later at the age of 97 on June 12, 2016.

Notable Guest Stars

Because it was an animated series, The Jetsons did not have guest stars but occasionally brought in other voice actors as listed below.

Season 1, Episode 2, "A Date With Jet Screamer": Howard Morris (shown on the left, appeared in Boys' Night Out, The Nutty Professor, and High Anxiety, played Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show, and voiced Beetle Bailey, Gen. Halftrack, Otto, and Rocky on Beetle Bailey, Breezly Bruin on The Peter Potamus Show, Mr. Peebles on The Magilla Gorilla Show, Atom Ant on The Atom Ant Show, Jughead Jones, Big Moose, and Dilton Doiley on The Archie Show and Archie's Funhouse, Frankie, Wolfie, and Dr. Jekyll on Sabrina and the Groovie Goulies, Cousin Ambrose on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and The Hamburglar on McDonaldland) plays teen idol Jet Screamer.

Season 1, Episode 6, "The Good Little Scouts": Dick Beals (shown on the right, voiced Gumby on The Adventures of Gumby and The Gumby Show, Buzzer Bell and Shrinking Violet on The Funny Company, Yank on Roger Ramjet, Davey Hanson on Davey and Goliath, Buzz Conroy on Frankenstein, Jr. and the Impossibles, Reggie Van Dough on The Richie Rich/Scooby Doo Show and Richie Rich, Scat on The Biskitts, and N.J. Normanmeyer on The Addams Family) plays Mr. Spacely's son Arthur.

Season 1, Episode 7, "The Flying Suit": Howard Morris (see "A Date With Jet Screamer" above) plays Cogswell test pilot Harlan.

Season 1, Episode 8, "Rosey's Boyrfriend": Howard Morris (see "A Date With Jet Screamer" above) plays Judy's boyfriend Booster Pendleton.

Season 1, Episode 11, "A Visit From Grandpa": Howard Morris (see "A Date With Jet Screamer" above) plays George's grandfather Montague Jetson. Bea Benaderet (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Flintstones) plays stranded motorist Emily Scope and young mother Celeste Skyler.

Season 1, Episode 12, "Astro's Top Secret": Howard Morris (see "A Date With Jet Screamer" above) returns as Cogswell assistant Harlan.

Season 1, Episode 14, "Elroy's Pal": Howard Morris (see "A Date With Jet Screamer" above) plays children's TV star Nimbus the Great and Elroy's friend Willie.