The Bob Cummings Show

The Bob Cummings Show

Bob (Bob Cummings) and Schultzy (Ann B. Davis) in The Bob Cummings Show
Also known as Love That Bob
Created by Paul Henning
Written by William Cowley
Shirley Gordon
Paul Henning
Bill Manhoff
Lawrence Menkin
Phil Shuken
Dick Wesson
Directed by Rod Amateau
Robert Cummings
Fred DeCordova
Edward Rubin
Norman Tokar
Starring Robert Cummings
Ann B. Davis
Rosemary DeCamp
Dwayne Hickman
Narrated by Bill Baldwin
Theme music composer Del Sharbutt
Frank Stanton
Richard Uhl
Opening theme "A Romantic Guy, I"
Ending theme "A Romantic Guy, I"
Composer(s) Lou Kosloff
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 173 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) George Burns
Producer(s) Paul Henning
Running time 30 mins.[1]
Production company(s) Laurel Productions
McCadden Productions
Henning Corporation
Distributor NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network NBC (1955)
CBS (1955–1957)
NBC (1957–1959)
Picture format Black-and-white
Audio format Monaural
Original release January 2, 1955 (1955-01-02) – September 15, 1959 (1959-09-15)

The Bob Cummings Show (also known as Love That Bob) is an American sitcom starring Robert "Bob" Cummings, which was produced from January 2, 1955 to September 15, 1959. The Bob Cummings Show was the first-ever series to debut as a midseason replacement.

The program began with a half-season run on NBC, then ran for two full seasons on CBS, and returned to NBC for its final two seasons. The program was later rerun during the day on ABC and then syndicated under the title Love That Bob. A similar (but less successful) follow-up series, The New Bob Cummings Show, was broadcast on CBS during the 1961–62 television season.

Synopsis

The series stars Cummings as dashing young Hollywood photographer, Air Force reserve officer, and ladies' man, Bob Collins. The character's interest in aviation and photography mirrored Cummings' own, with his character's name the same as the role he played in the film You Came Along (1945). The series also stars Rosemary DeCamp as his sister Margaret MacDonald. In some episodes, Cummings also doubled as Bob and Margaret's Grandfather Josh Collins.

The Bob Cummings Show was important in the development of several careers. Its creator, producer, and head writer was Paul Henning, later producer of major 1960s hits such as The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres. Regulars in the show included Ann B. Davis, who twice won Emmy Awards for playing Schultzy. Henning apparently remembered cast members Nancy Kulp and Joi Lansing favorably, as both had roles on The Beverly Hillbillies, several years later, Miss Kulp as Miss Hathaway (secretary to banker Milburn Drysdale—a character similar to Pamela Livingstone, the one she played on Cummings' show)--and Miss Lansing as Gladys Flatt, wife of Lester Flatt. A decade after The Bob Cummings Show left the air, Davis went on to play the housekeeper Alice in The Brady Bunch; in the 1995 film The Brady Bunch Movie, which featured another actress playing Alice, Davis reprised the role of Schultzy for a cameo that suggests the character went on to become a truck driver.

Olive Sturgess appeared in twelve episodes as Carol Henning, girlfriend to Bob's nephew, Chuck. Versatile character actress Kathleen Freeman appeared in six episodes as Bertha Krause.

Perhaps the biggest career boost was received by young Dwayne Hickman, a student at Loyola University in Los Angeles, who appeared as Bob's nephew, Chuck, and became a favorite with young female viewers. During the last season of The Bob Cummings Show, he was cast as the lead in CBS's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

This program represented the height of Cummings' television career. Although afterwards he starred in two other series in the early 1960s -- The New Bob Cummings Show and My Living Doll—and made guest appearances on several other TV series, he never again achieved the success on television that he had with The Bob Cummings Show.

Bob (Bob Cummings) and Margaret (Rosemary DeCamp) in The Bob Cummings Show

Cast

Syndication

Reruns retitled Love That Bob appeared on ABC's daytime line up from October 12, 1959 to December 1, 1961. Repeats were popular through the 60's on local stations before reappearing on the CBN Cable Network in the mid-1980s,. The series remains in syndication on smaller stations and networks today.

Episodes

Influence

Ann B. Davis' character, Schultzy, was the inspiration for the comic book character Pepper Potts, a supporting character in the Iron Man comics, who was modeled after her. Potts first appeared in Tales of Suspense #45 (September 1963), and was depicted with brown hair and a hairdo resembling Schultzy's. Eventually, it was decided by the editorial team that the resemblance was too great, and in Tales of Suspense #50, her appearance was altered to give her red hair and a different hairstyle.[2]

DVD release

The entire series has yet to be released on DVD in any region. However, much of the series has lapsed into the public domain. The episodes that have lapsed into the public domain (at least 20 in all) were all released by DigiView Productions in 2004, Critics' Choice Video in 2004-5, Platinum Disc, LLC in 2005, Echo Bridge Home Entertainment in 2005 and Alpha Home Entertainment in 2006, among others. Also, on March 20, 2012, MPI Home Video released a Region 1 DVD collection of episodes from Cummings' mid-1960s series My Living Doll, and a standalone episode of The Bob Cummings Show was included as a bonus feature.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Staff. "The Bob Cummings Show (original) aka Love That Bob! (rerun title)". IMDB. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  2. ↑ Cronin, Brian (June 29, 2010). "Foggy Ruins of Time – Which Brady Bunch Actress Was Pepper Potts Based On?". Comic Book Resources.

External links

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