Robert Sterling Anne Jeffreys Love That Jill

''Love That Jill'' is an American

situation comedy 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

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

during the 1957–1958 television season. The series stars

Anne Jeffreys Anne Jeffreys (born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael; January 26, 1923 – September 27, 2017) was an American actress and singer. She was noted as the female lead in the 1950s TV series '' Topper''. Career Jeffreys was born Annie Jeffreys Carmichae ...

and

Robert Sterling Robert Sterling (born William Sterling Hart; November 13, 1917 – May 30, 2006) was an American actor. He was best known for starring in the television series '' Topper'' (1953–1955). In 1960, Sterling was honored with a star on the Hollywoo ...

as the heads of rival

modeling agencies A modeling agency is a company that represents fashion models, to work for the fashion industry. These agencies earn their income via commission, usually from the deal they make with the model and/or the head agency. The top agencies work with bi ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Synopsis

Jill Johnson and Jack Gibson are the heads of rival New York City

.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, Fourth Edition'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, , p. 497. Jack is romantically attracted to Jill, but each of them constantly tries to take clients and

models A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

away from the other. Richard is Jill′s secretary, Pearl is Jack′s secretary, Ginger is one of Jill's models, and Melody and Peaches are among the other models at their agencies.

Cast

...Jill Johnson *

...Jack Gibson * James Lydon...Richard *

Betty Lynn Elizabeth Ann Theresa Lynn (August 29, 1926 – October 16, 2021) was an American actress. She played Thelma Lou, Deputy Barney Fife's girlfriend, on ''The Andy Griffith Show''. During the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in many films, including ...

...Pearl *

Polly Rose Polly is a given name, most often feminine, which originated as a variant of Molly (a diminutive of Mary). Polly may also be a short form of names such as Polina, Polona, Paula or Paulina. People named or nicknamed Polly Female *Caresse Crosby ...

...Myrtle *

Barbara Nichols Barbara Marie Nickerauer (December 10, 1928 – October 5, 1976), known professionally as Barbara Nichols, was an American actress who often played brassy or comic roles in films in the 1950s and 1960s. Early life and career Nichols was b ...

...Ginger *

Nancy Hadley Nancy Hadley (born August 1, 1930) is an American retired model and actress, who performed on stage and in television and films. Early life She was born Nancy Jo Hadley at Methodist Hospital in Los Angeles, California (state), California. Her pa ...

...Melody *

Kay Elhardt The name Kay is found both as a surname (see Kay (surname)) and as a given name. In English-speaking countries, it is usually a feminine name, often a short form of Katherine or one of its variants; but it is also used as a first name in its own r ...

...Peaches

Production

Hal Roach Studios Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and business partners Dan Linthicum and I.H. Nance as the Rolin Film Company on Ju ...

produced ''Love That Jill''.

Alex Gottlieb Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis_(given_name), Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambigu ...

served as producer for the series.

Hal Roach Jr. Harold Eugene Roach Jr. (June 15, 1918 – March 29, 1972) was an American film and television producer. Biography Roach Jr. was born in Los Angeles, the son of comedy producer Hal Roach and actress Marguerite Nichols. Roach Jr. co-directed '' ...

was the executive producer, and

William A. Seiter William Alfred Seiter (June 10, 1890 – July 26, 1964) was an American film director. Life and career Seiter was born in New York City. After attending Hudson River Military Academy, Seiter broke into films in 1915 as a bit player at Mack Senne ...

was the director. Anne Jeffreys and Robert Sterling were married in real life. The program replace ''

The Guy Mitchell Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', with Max Factor as the sponsor. Episodes were filmed in black and white with a laugh track.

Broadcast history

''Love That Jill'' premiered on

on January 20, 1958. It lasted only 13 episodes, the last of which aired on April 14, 1958. It was broadcast at 8:00 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...

on Mondays throughout its run.

Episodes

Sources"Television Highlights," ''Schenectady Gazette'', April 14, 1958, p. 15.
/ref>

Critical response

A review in the trade publication ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said that the premiere episode "simpered through a thoroughly contrived plot", adding that Jeffreys's contributions were "a sly grin and a silly wiggle" and that Sterling's work was "restricted by the asinine lines". The review acknowledged that the episode had some potential, but it added that humor was rare.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0051291
''Love That Jill'' opening credits on YouTube

''Love That Jill'' closing credits on YouTube
1950s American sitcoms 1958 American television series debuts 1958 American television series endings Black-and-white American television shows American Broadcasting Company original programming Television shows set in New York City English-language television shows ABC (American TV channel) sitcoms