''From a Bird's Eye View'' is a 1970 ATV and

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme Compan ...

co-produced

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 ...

. In the United States it aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, which had originally ordered the series as an entry in the 1969–70 TV season but pushed it back to the 1970–71 season as a mid-season replacement. The series followed two ''International Airlines''

stewardess A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...

es, a scatterbrained Briton and a savvy American, as they flew the London-European routes. The series ran for 16 25-minute colour episodes. The series was not a big success in either the UK or the US, but ITC re-used the format (and the writers and crew) for the

Shirley MacLaine Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty, April 24, 1934) is an American actress, author, and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed and eccentric women, MacLaine has received numerous accolades over her seven-dec ...

series ''

Shirley's World ''Shirley's World'' is a television series aired first by ABC during the 1971–72 television season. The sitcom was co-produced by the British ITC Entertainment and American producer Sheldon Leonard, with English producer-director Ray Au ...

''. That show also flopped, but ran for one more episode than ''From a Bird's Eye View''.

Production notes

Sir Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 ...

wanted to make a comedy film series that would appeal on both sides of the Atlantic starring

Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the lone female singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satire show ''That Was the Week That Was'' known as TW3 (1962–1963), a ...

. He sent six comedy sketches of Martin to producer

Sheldon Leonard Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle-clas ...

and he came up with the premise of ''From a Bird's Eye View'' (although two other titles were being considered, ''Meet Millie'' and ''Up She Goes''). Leonard cast Patte Finley from 160 girls he interviewed over a seven-month period when he responded to her personality and that at 5'3" she would not dwarf Martin's 5'1". Martin and Finley both underwent an official training course at the B.E.A. training centre in stewardess's duties including meal presentation, bar service, address system and survival drill.Promotional PDF p3

Cast and characters

as Millie Grover *Patte Finley as Maggie Ralston * Peter Jones as Clive Beauchamp *

Robert Cawdron Robert Cawdron (29 December 1921 – 14 September 1997) was a French-born British film and television actor. Often cast as police officers, he had a long-running role on ''Dixon of Dock Green'' as Detective Inspector Cherry.The Guinness Book of ...

as Uncle Bert Quigley *

Noel Hood Margaret Noel Hood (25 December 1909 – 15 October 1979) was a British actress. She was married to the Irish-born actor Charles Oliver. Filmography Film * ''Crook's Tour'' (1940) as Edith Charters * ''Personal Affair'' (1953) as 4th Gossip (u ...

as Ms. Fosdyke (Mr Beauchamp's secretary)

Episode list

Filmed on location and at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...

England. Airdate and order is for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

on the Network DVD.

DVD

Network released the series on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

with an image gallery and promotional PDF file July 2008.

References

External links

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CTA information

{{DEFAULTSORT:From A Bird's Eye View ITV sitcoms Television series by ITC Entertainment Television series produced at Pinewood Studios 1970 British television series debuts 1971 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms NBC original programming English-language television shows Aviation television series