''Karen'' 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 stars Debbie Watson in the title role of 16-year-old Karen Scott, and Gina Gillespie as her tomboyish little sister Mimi. It aired from 1964 to 1965.

Synopsis

''Karen'' centers on the social life of 16-year old Karen Scott, a typical mid-1960s American teenager who lives in a fashionable

apartment complex An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ...

at 90 Bristol Court in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, with her tomboyish younger sister Mimi and parents Steve and Barbara. Karen and the impish Mimi are a counterpoint to one another, each girl confounding the tolerant and loving Steve and Barbara in her own way. Karen is focused on having fun, and her impulsiveness often leads to misadventures when she ignores her parents' advice. Karen's friends include Janis, Candy, Peter, Spider Gibson, and David Rowe III. Cliff Murdock is the

building superintendent A building superintendent or building supervisor (often shortened to super) is a term used in the United States and Canada to refer to a manager responsible for repair and maintenance in a residential building. They are the first point of contac ...

and

handyman A handyman, also known as a fixer, handyperson or handyworker, is a person skilled at a wide range of repairs, typically around the home. These tasks include trade skills, repair work, maintenance work, are both interior and exterior, and are so ...

at 90 Bristol Court.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, Fourth Edition'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, , p. 445.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–present (Sixth Edition)'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, , p. 546.Television Obscurities ''90 Bristol Court'' Accessed 6 November 2021
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Cast

* Karen Scott — Debbie Watson * Steve Scott —

Richard Denning Richard Denning (March 27, 1914 – October 11, 1998) was an American actor who starred in science fiction films of the 1950s, including ''Unknown Island'' (1948), ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' (1954), '' Target Earth'' (1954), ''Day the ...

* Barbara Scott —

Mary LaRoche Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

* Mimi Scott —

Gina Gillespie Gina Gail Gillespie (born September 20, 1951) is an American former child actress best known for her recurring roles in the television series ''Law of the Plainsman'' and ''Karen'', and for playing Pippi Longstocking in a 1961 episode of ''Shirl ...

* Janis — Bernadette Withers * Candy —

Trudi Ames Trudi Ames (born Trudi Ziskind on November 10, 1946) is a former actress most notable for her uncredited but memorable role in ''Bye Bye Birdie'' as Kim's best friend Ursula. She also had a notable role as Libby in '' Gidget Goes to Rome'' and ...

* Peter —

Teddy Quinn Teddy "Ted" Quinn (born November 12, 1958, in La Porte, Indiana) is an American musician, record producer, radio personality and actor. As Teddy Quinn, he was a child actor who appeared in many commercials, films, and television shows of the 1 ...

* Spider Gibson —

Murray MacLeod Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

* David Rowe III —

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (; born Dreyfus; October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in popular films during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Jaws'' (1975), ''Close Encounters of the T ...

(recurring) * Cliff Murdock —

Guy Raymond Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincorp ...

(October 1964–January 1965)

''90 Bristol Court''

''Karen'' was one of three 30-minute sitcoms broadcast Monday nights under the umbrella title ''90 Bristol Court''; the other two were '' Harris Against the World'', which followed ''Karen'', and ''

Tom, Dick and Mary ''Tom, Dick and Mary'', also known as ''90 Bristol Court: Tom, Dick and Mary'', is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from October 5, 1964 until January 4, 1965. It was one of three separate comedies set in the same Los Angeles, Cali ...

'', which completed the 90-minute programming block. Despite all three shows being set at the same Los Angeles apartment complex with the address 90 Bristol Court, the only connection the three series had was the character of handyman Cliff Murdoch (portrayed by

), who greeted the residents and visitors to 90 Bristol Court. After the last episodes of ''Harris Against the World'' and ''Tom, Dick and Mary'' aired on January 4, 1965, ''90 Bristol Court'' ceased to be a programming entity, and handyman Murdoch disappeared from ''Karen'' as well.

Production

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

performed ''Karen''′s theme song, also entitled "Karen."

Broadcast history

The show premiered on NBC as ''90 Bristol Court: Karen'' on October 5, 1964, and continued under that title through the broadcast of January 4, 1965. It drew low ratings: For the November-to-December 1964 reporting period, the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

ranked it 87th among the 96 prime-time network television shows. ''Tom, Dick and Mary'' fared only slightly better, and ''Harris Against the World'' had even lower ratings than ''Karen''. In mid-November 1964 ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that NBC planned to cancel both and ''Harris Against the World'' and ''Tom, Dick and Mary'', effective in early January 1965. Their last episodes aired on January 4, 1965. With the demise of ''Harris Against the World'' and ''Tom, Dick and Mary'' and with them the ''90 Bristol Court'' programming concept, the ''90 Bristol Court'' umbrella title was dropped from ''Karen'' and handyman Cliff Murdock disappeared from the show. From January 11, 1965, until the end of its run, the show ran as a stand-alone series, titled simply ''Karen''. Although ''Karen'' outlasted the other two ''90 Bristol Court'' shows, NBC announced in February 1965 that it would not renew ''Karen'' for the 1965-1966 season. The last of the 28 original episodes of ''Karen'' aired on April 19, 1965. NBC then broadcast prime-time reruns of ''Karen'' in its regular time slot, the last of them on August 30, 1965. ''Karen'' aired at 7:30 p.m. on Monday throughout its run.Classic TV Archive Karen (1964–65)
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Peter Tewksbury Henry Peter Tewksbury (March 21, 1923 – February 20, 2003) was an American film and television director. Biography Born in Cleveland, he attended Dartmouth College but left to serve as a US Army captain in the Pacific during WWII. Follow ...

wrote, produced, and directed all three episodes that aired as part of ''90 Bristol Court'' on November 23, 1964, and used the

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...

regarding

simple living Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. Not only is ...

as a starting point for each of them: On ''Karen'', Thoreau influenced Karen and her complicated love life when she mistakenly made three dates for the same Saturday night; on ''Harris Against the World'', Thoreau inspired Harris to take his family

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, only to find that he has to renew his

driver's license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public ...

that day; and on ''Tom, Dick and Mary'', Dick used Thoreau's philosophy as he attempted to fix several broken household appliances.

Episodes

SOURCES Television Obscurities Retrow Review Karen (1964) – “Who’s Seymour?”, February 23, 2017 Accessed 7 November 2021
/ref>

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

*Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present'' (2003) *''TV Guide Guide to TV 2006'' (2006)

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0057760, title=Karen
''90 Bristol Court'' at Television ObscuritiesRetro Review: Karen (1964) – “Who’s Seymour?” at Television Obscurities Accessed 4 November 2021''Karen'' opening credits on YouTube''Karen'' opening credits on YouTube''Karen'' opening credits with sponsor on YouTube''Karen'' closing credits on YouTube''Karen'' episode "Holiday in Ski Valley" on YouTube''Karen'' episode "Mimi's First Love" on YouTube
1964 American television series debuts 1965 American television series endings 1960s American sitcoms American teen sitcoms Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series about sisters Television series about teenagers Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in Los Angeles