''Mrs. G. Goes to College'' (retitled ''The Gertrude Berg Show'' starting with episode 14) is a 26-episode 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 ...

which 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 Entertainmen ...

from October 4, 1961, to April 5, 1962. The series starred

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning actress

Gertrude Berg Gertrude Berg (Born Tillie Edelstein; October 3, 1899 – September 14, 1966) was an American actress, screenwriter, and producer. A pioneer of classic radio, she was one of the first women to create, write, produce, and star in a long-running hi ...

Synopsis

Having previously starred in the long-running radio and television series '' The Goldbergs'', Gertrude Berg returned to episodic television as Sarah Green, a 62-year-old widow who enters

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

. The character of Sarah Green (very similar to "Molly Goldberg") had been previously introduced to viewers as "Aunt Sarah" on

Jackie Cooper John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor, television director, producer, and executive, known universally as Jackie Cooper. He was a child actor who made the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first ...

's ''

Hennesey ''Hennesey'' is an American military comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from 1959 to 1962, starring Jackie Cooper and Abby Dalton. Cooper played a United States Navy physician, Lt. Charles W. "Chick" Hennesey, with Abby Dalton ...

on CBS earlier in 1961. English actor

Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and ...

played Professor Crayton, and popular

character actress A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to be ...

Mary Wickes Mary Wickes (born Mary Isabella Wickenhauser; June 13, 1910 – October 22, 1995) was an American actress. She often played supporting roles as prim, professional women, secretaries, nurses, nuns, therapists, teachers and housekeepers, who made ...

portrayed landlady Winona Maxfield. Skip Ward was cast as fellow student Joe Caldwell, and

Marion Ross Marion Ross (born Marian Ellen Ross; October 25, 1928) is a American former actress. Her best-known role is that of Marion Cunningham on the ABC television sitcom ''Happy Days'', on which she starred from 1974 to 1984 and for which she receive ...

appeared in five episodes as Berg's daughter, Susan Green.

Aneta Corsaut Aneta Louise Corsaut (November 3, 1933November 6, 1995) was an American actress and writer. She is best known for playing Helen Crump on ''The Andy Griffith Show'' (1963–1968), Judge Cynthia Justin on '' Matlock'' (1991–1992), and Jane in ' ...

(the future Helen Crump on The Andy Griffith Show) appeared in 13 episodes as Irma Howell, a professor's wife.

Karyn Kupcinet Karyn Kupcinet (born Roberta Lynn Kupcinet; March 6, 1941 – November 28, 1963) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She is the daughter of Chicago newspaper columnist and television personality Irv Kupcinet. Karyn Kupcinet ...

played a young fellow student of Sarah Green. Her role is very small, and she is heard saying very little dialogue. The plot centers around Sarah Green, a widow in her early sixties, who decides to acquire higher education, matriculates in her hometown college and interacts with, among others, her

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

exchange professor (

) and next-door neighbor George Howell Paul Smith, a character analogous to Smith's Roy Norris from ''

Fibber McGee and Molly ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' (1935–1959) was a longtime highly popular husband-and-wife team radio comedy program. The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most p ...

'', complete with a no-nonsense wife (

). The series aired during the 9:30 Eastern slot on Wednesdays, under the sponsorship of

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate ...

, following CBS's ''

Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

''. ''Mrs. G. Goes to College'' aired during the second half of ABC's ''

Hawaiian Eye ''Hawaiian Eye'' is an American detective television series that ran from October 1959 to April 1963 on the ABC television network. Premise Private investigator Tracy Steele (Anthony Eisley) and his half-Hawaiian partner, Tom Lopaka (Robert Con ...

'' and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's '' Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall''. Nielsen ratings were mediocre. After thirteen episodes, a midseason move from Wednesday to Thursday night, along with a title change designed to emphasize Berg's name, ''The Gertrude Berg Show'', did not improve the Nielsen ratings for the remaining thirteen episodes. CBS abruptly cancelled the series in April 1962 without showing any repeats. Beginning on March 2017, the series was shown on get TV. From April 2018, the show was aired in the UK on

Talking Pictures TV Talking Pictures TV (TPTV) is a British free-to-air vintage-film and nostalgia television channel. It was launched on 26 May 2015 on Sky channel 343, but later also became available on Freeview, Freesat, and Virgin Media. It is on air for 24 ho ...

Production notes

''Mrs. G. Goes to College'' was released by

Dick Powell Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility, and successfully transformed into ...

Four Star Television Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Charles Boyer, and Joel McCrea, it was insp ...

.Four Star Productions
The series was produced by

Hy Averback Hyman Jack Averback (October 21, 1920 – October 14, 1997) was an American radio, television, and film actor who eventually became a producer and director. Early years Born in Minneapolis, Averback moved to California with his family when he w ...

, the music was by

Herschel Burke Gilbert Herschel Burke Gilbert (April 20, 1918 – June 8, 2003) was an American orchestrator, musical supervisor, and composer of film and television scores and theme songs, including ''The Rifleman'' (starring Chuck Connors), ''Dick Powell's Zane Grey ...

. Co-star Cedric Hardwicke, in a 1962 ''TV Guide'' article that focused on his work in the series, and references him as "Sir Cedric," is quoted as commenting, "If you're going to work in rubbish, you might as well get paid for it."McNeil, Alex (1996). ''Total Television''. Penguin Books USA Inc. New York''

Episodes

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mrs. G. Goes to College 1961 American television series debuts 1962 American television series endings 1960s American college television series 1960s American sitcoms Black-and-white American television shows CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series about Jews and Judaism Television series by Four Star Television Television shows set in New York (state) Television series about widowhood