Three years after the success of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show",fellow alumnus Ted Knight was finally given his own weekly situation comedy series,after years of playing second fiddle characters not to mention voice-over for several animated cartoons for television. However,Ted Knight was one of the last MTM alumnus to do so,and it turned out to be not only one of the funniest situation comedies of the 1980's,but did Ted Knight go out in grand style! The series,"Too Close For Comfort", was one of the most popular shows of its day when it premiered on ABC's prime-time lineup on September 11,1980,and to anyone's surprise it lasted three seasons on the network producing 63 episodes until May 5,1983. After ABC canceled the series in the spring of 1983 it wasn't until the fall of 1984 when the series appeared in new episodes for first-run syndicated from April 7,1984 until September 27,1986 after 66 episodes,which was also titled,"The Ted Knight Show",and was produced by the same individuals who brought you another successful series that was also at the top of the Nielsens during the 80's on ABC...."Three's Company",which was the highest rated show on the air. "Too Close For Comfort",surpassed it as it became of the most popular shows when it premiered in 1980 and making Ted Knight one of the most respected actors of the 1980's.
The series itself is indeed a timeless classic with Ted Knight playing a conservative San Franciscian Henry Rush,a cartoonist of children's comic book heroine,Cosmic Cow,who resides in an upstairs apartment of a two story house with his wife,Muriel Rush,a former big band singer(which allows us to occasionally hear Broadway performer Nancy Dussault's terrific voice in several of the episodes),and free-lance photographer.Their college-aged daughters,pretty brunette Jackie,a bank teller(played by that gorgeous babe Deborah Van Valkenburgh from the movie "The Warriors"),and sexy blonde Sara(played by Lydia Cornell)who is a freshman at San Francisco State University,wanting freedom and independence,moved into the downstairs apartment. Guys came and went as Henry agonized over his "2 little girls" since he is very overprotected of them.There is also the overprotected as Muriel's mother,Iris Martin(played with absolute prowess by TV alum Audrey Meadows of "The Honeymooners")where in some of the episodes comes by for visits and usually spends time with the family,her and Henry's mother-in-law have a match with words over whatever and it is some of the lowest insults ever depicted for TV. Other characters on the show included Henry's boss,Mr. Wainwright(played by Hamilton Camp),and others including the upstairs neighbors Mrs. Rafkin(Selma Diamond),and Mrs. Stinson(Pat Carroll).
In some of the episodes,and this was during the subsequent two half seasons,Henry's hippie niece April stayed with the family for a year while Muriel became pregnant and gave birth to their son,Andrew while the oldest daughter Jackie became engaged and moved off on her own to Italy to pursue her career,while Sara became a TV weather girl and eventually toward the end of the series,she graduates from college. Sure,Ted Knight was a joy to watch,but who was the most repulsive character on that show? MONROE! J.M. Bullock's character of Monroe was not only the most annoying as hell,but was also the first-ever "openly gay" character ever depicted in a comedy series. He was just as annoying as he ever was now,and during this show he was a real pain in the ass. Believe me,watch some of the episodes and you'll see why he drives Ted Knight up the wall with some of his antics and downright hilarious schemes. But their were some interesting things that occur,especially when Knight's character would be drawing up his Cosmic Cow(he usually wear it on his arm)at his desk,and in some of the episodes several guest stars would appear,and one I do recall had the great cartoonist Walter Lantz stopped by for a visit(Walter Lantz was the man behind the cartoon character "Woody Woodpecker" and etc......).
By the 1983,the series "Too Close For Comfort" was canceled by ABC,and in the fall of 1984,the premiere of "The Ted Knight Show" was made for syndication,and only seven episodes were produced which brought back some of the characters from the ABC series with included Nancy Dussault,J.M. Bullock,and numerous others. This time around The Rushes' moved outside San Francisco toward the Mill Valley region of California where Henry is co-editor of a weekly newspaper while the rest of the characters while this time around,the two daughters were not seen often,and also Muriel worked as a staff photographer. The show never made it into its second season,when its star,Ted Knight,passed away in 1986 of cancer. Repeats of the final season lasted in syndication until February 7,1987.
P.S. This commentary was revised on February 21, 2015
The series itself is indeed a timeless classic with Ted Knight playing a conservative San Franciscian Henry Rush,a cartoonist of children's comic book heroine,Cosmic Cow,who resides in an upstairs apartment of a two story house with his wife,Muriel Rush,a former big band singer(which allows us to occasionally hear Broadway performer Nancy Dussault's terrific voice in several of the episodes),and free-lance photographer.Their college-aged daughters,pretty brunette Jackie,a bank teller(played by that gorgeous babe Deborah Van Valkenburgh from the movie "The Warriors"),and sexy blonde Sara(played by Lydia Cornell)who is a freshman at San Francisco State University,wanting freedom and independence,moved into the downstairs apartment. Guys came and went as Henry agonized over his "2 little girls" since he is very overprotected of them.There is also the overprotected as Muriel's mother,Iris Martin(played with absolute prowess by TV alum Audrey Meadows of "The Honeymooners")where in some of the episodes comes by for visits and usually spends time with the family,her and Henry's mother-in-law have a match with words over whatever and it is some of the lowest insults ever depicted for TV. Other characters on the show included Henry's boss,Mr. Wainwright(played by Hamilton Camp),and others including the upstairs neighbors Mrs. Rafkin(Selma Diamond),and Mrs. Stinson(Pat Carroll).
In some of the episodes,and this was during the subsequent two half seasons,Henry's hippie niece April stayed with the family for a year while Muriel became pregnant and gave birth to their son,Andrew while the oldest daughter Jackie became engaged and moved off on her own to Italy to pursue her career,while Sara became a TV weather girl and eventually toward the end of the series,she graduates from college. Sure,Ted Knight was a joy to watch,but who was the most repulsive character on that show? MONROE! J.M. Bullock's character of Monroe was not only the most annoying as hell,but was also the first-ever "openly gay" character ever depicted in a comedy series. He was just as annoying as he ever was now,and during this show he was a real pain in the ass. Believe me,watch some of the episodes and you'll see why he drives Ted Knight up the wall with some of his antics and downright hilarious schemes. But their were some interesting things that occur,especially when Knight's character would be drawing up his Cosmic Cow(he usually wear it on his arm)at his desk,and in some of the episodes several guest stars would appear,and one I do recall had the great cartoonist Walter Lantz stopped by for a visit(Walter Lantz was the man behind the cartoon character "Woody Woodpecker" and etc......).
By the 1983,the series "Too Close For Comfort" was canceled by ABC,and in the fall of 1984,the premiere of "The Ted Knight Show" was made for syndication,and only seven episodes were produced which brought back some of the characters from the ABC series with included Nancy Dussault,J.M. Bullock,and numerous others. This time around The Rushes' moved outside San Francisco toward the Mill Valley region of California where Henry is co-editor of a weekly newspaper while the rest of the characters while this time around,the two daughters were not seen often,and also Muriel worked as a staff photographer. The show never made it into its second season,when its star,Ted Knight,passed away in 1986 of cancer. Repeats of the final season lasted in syndication until February 7,1987.
P.S. This commentary was revised on February 21, 2015