''Blondie'' (also known as ''The New Blondie'') is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

during the 1968–69 television season. The series is an updated version of the 1957 TV series that was based on the comic strip of the same name. The series stars Patricia Harty as the title character and

Will Hutchins Will Hutchins (born Marshall Lowell Hutchason; May 5, 1930) is an American actor most noted for playing the lead role of the young lawyer Tom Brewster, in the Western (genre), Western television series ''Sugarfoot'', which aired on American B ...

as her husband Dagwood Bumstead.

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom '' Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in ''Rebel Without a Cause ...

played Dagwood's boss Mr. Dithers, with his real-life wife

Henny Backus Henny Backus (born Henrietta Kaye, March 21, 1911 – December 9, 2004) was a Broadway showgirl in the 1930s whose stage credits include Orson Welles's ''Horse Eats Hat''. She was the wife of actor and comedian Jim Backus. Career Henrietta K ...

playing Cora Dithers. The series also featured the noted child character actress

Pamelyn Ferdin Pamelyn Wanda Ferdin (born February 4, 1959) is an American animal rights activist and a former child actress. Ferdin's acting career was primarily during the 1960s and 1970s, though she appeared in projects sporadically in the 1980s and later ...

as the Bumsteads' daughter, Cookie, and character actor

Bryan O'Byrne Bryan Jay O'Byrne (February 6, 1931 – December 4, 2009) was an American film and television character actor and acting coach. His credits include numerous television shows, films and many television commercials. Biography Early life O'Byrne ...

as the hapless mailman, always getting run over by Dagwood hurrying out the door, late for work.

Synopsis

''Blondie'' stars Patricia Harty and Will Hutchins as Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead, a suburban couple raising two precocious children. Plots mixed typical sitcom tropes from home life and work life. The series is best remembered for its opening theme, which featured the comic strip characters in animated form before transforming into the actors playing the characters. Like the 1957 version, which lasted only one season, the series was not a hit, lasting a total of 13 weeks before being canceled, with the final episode remaining unaired. Two further episodes were planned, "The Dying Swan" and "Dagwood's Private War", but were never completed.

Cast

* Patricia Harty as Blondie *

as Dagwood Bumstead *

as Mr. Dithers *

as Cookie * Peter Robbins as Alexander *

as Mrs. Cora Dithers *

Bobbi Jordan Roberta Carol "Bobbi" Jordan (née Bartlett; July 11, 1937 – November 9, 2012) was an American actress whose television and film credits included the soap opera '' General Hospital'' and the 1974 musical film ''Mame''. Her name is sometimes ...

as Tootsie Woodley *

as the mailman Mr. Beasley Ferdin and Robbins would later reunite on the 1969 television special ''

It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown It or IT may refer to: * It (pronoun), in English * Information technology Arts and media Film and television * ''It'' (1927 film), a film starring Clara Bow * ''It! The Terror from Beyond Space'', a 1958 science fiction film * ''It!'' (1967 f ...

'' and the 1969 film ''

A Boy Named Charlie Brown ''A Boy Named Charlie Brown'' is a 1969 American Animation, animated musical film, musical comedy film, produced by Cinema Center Films, distributed by National General Pictures, and directed by Bill Melendez. It is the first feature film base ...

'', being the last time Robbins played

Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser," Charlie Brown is one of the great American ar ...

Production notes

This version of the series, jointly produced by

CBS Productions CBS Productions, Inc. was a production arm of the CBS television network (an initialism of Columbia Broadcasting System, along with its parent company CBS Television Studios, Inc.; the radio network was founded in 1927), now a part of Paramount Gl ...

(which owns the distribution rights in the United States),

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

and Kayro Productions, ran from September 26, 1968, to January 9, 1969. Cast member Pamelyn Ferdin recalls the series was cancelled so abruptly that the cast was dismissed during the lunch break while an episode was being filmed.

Episode list

References

External links