''Mister Peepers'' 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

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 ...

from July 3, 1952, to June 12, 1955.

Overview

Wally Cox Wallace Maynard Cox (December 6, 1924 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He began his career as a standup comedian and then became the title character of the popular early U.S. television series ''Mister Peepers'' from 1952 to 19 ...

starred as Robinson J. Peepers, Jefferson City's junior high school science teacher. Others in the cast included

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play ''The Odd Couple'' by Neil Sim ...

as history teacher Harvey Weskit; Georgiann Johnson as Harvey's wife, Marge; Patricia Benoit as school nurse Nancy Remington;

Marion Lorne Marion Lorne MacDougal or MacDougall (sources differ) (August 12, 1883 – May 9, 1968), known professionally as Marion Lorne, was an American actress of stage, film, and television. After a career in theatre in New York and London, Lorne ...

as oft-confused English teacher Mrs. Gurney;

Jack Warden Jack Warden (born John Warden Lebzelter Jr.; September 18, 1920July 19, 2006) was an American character actor of film and television. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Shampoo'' (1975) and '' Heaven Can Wait' ...

as athletic coach Frank Whip; and

Ernest Truex Ernest Truex (September 19, 1889 – June 26, 1973) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Career Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Truex learned acting at an early age after his father, a doctor, treated actor Edwin Melvin, who ...

and

Sylvia Field Sylvia Field (born Harriet Louisa Johnson; February 14, 1901 – July 31, 1998) was an American actress whose career encompassed performances on stage, screen, and TV. She was best known for playing the understanding Mrs. Martha Wilson (Mr. Wilso ...

as Nancy's parents.Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946 – Present, 1st Edition'', page 409, Ballantine Books, 1979 The series began as a live summer replacement for ''

Ford Festival ''Ford Festival'', also known as ''Ford Festival Time'' or ''The James Melton Show'', is an hour-long television show, sponsored by Ford Motor Company, hosted by James Melton, and broadcast on NBC Television beginning on April 5, 1951. The final ...

'', and was so popular that thousands wrote to NBC praising the series.Mr. Peepers to Wed His Nancy Today, ''The Miami Herald'', May 30, 1954, page 17 When the Fall 1952 television season began, the filmed series ''

Doc Corkle ''Doc Corkle'' is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC Television from October 5 through October 19, 1952. The show was cancelled after 3 episodes and replaced by ''Mister Peepers''. Insufficient ratings were reported to be the cause of the ...

'' was so unpopular that additional scripts for ''Mr. Peepers'' were quickly written, and that series replaced ''Doc Corkle'' in October. The series often involved Peepers coping with misbehaving inanimate objects or embarrassing moments. In a typical scene, Peepers sees a hopscotch grid chalked on a sidewalk, and thinking himself alone, plays the game with abandon, only to discover that his girlfriend Nancy has been silently watching the entire time. Wally Cox Patricia Benoit Mr

The principal's dithering wife, Mrs. Gurney, played by Marion Lorne, is kind and gracious, but absentminded. In one episode, Peepers injures his finger with a hammer, and Mrs. Gurney solicitously bandages his finger to at least five times its actual size. After Mrs. Gurney leaves the room, Peepers tells Nancy that the wrong finger had been bandaged. Tony Randall played history teacher Harvey Weskit. Popular and confident Weskit becomes the best friend of timid, bespectacled Peepers. In one episode, Weskit points out a packet of unopened love letters that women have sent him, complaining that he is always getting them. He begins to look inside Peepers' locker to see the stack of similar letters he expects to find there, and Peepers quickly closes the locker door, commenting that he has to keep the door closed so that they will not all fall out. Patricia Benoit, as Nancy Remington, is Peepers' love interest, although for a time, she seems unaware of his attraction to her. By February 1954, though, the couple's romance had progressed to the point of Mr. Peepers presenting Nancy with a photograph of himself, inscribed "Scientifically yours, Robinson". Peepers proposed on the April 18th episode, and the couple wed on the May 30, 1954, show. The marriage episode was one of the major television events of 1954. The American TV magazine ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' used the picture of the couple's television wedding on its cover page.TV Guide
21 May 1954 ''Mister Peepers'' was aired live, on stage before an audience at the

New Century Theatre The New Century Theatre was a Broadway theater in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, at 205–207 West 58th Street and 926–932 Seventh Avenue. Opened on October 6, 1921, as Jolson's 59th Street Theatre, the theater was desig ...

, 932 7th Avenue, New York City—preserved in the form of 16 mm

kinescopes Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940s ...

. Wally Cox was somewhat typecast by the role of the mild-mannered Peepers, but continued on to a long career in films and television. He later starred in a comedy/adventure series, ''

The Adventures of Hiram Holliday ''The Adventures of Hiram Holliday'' is an American adventure sitcom that aired on NBC from October 3, 1956 to February 27, 1957. Starring Wally Cox in the title role, the series is based on the 1939 novel of the same name by Paul Gallico. Plot ...

'', and is remembered as the voice of the cartoon superhero ''

Underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...

''. He is best remembered by game-show fans as a regular panelist on ''

The Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...

'' from 1966 until his death in 1973. He also wrote and published a novel, ''Mr. Peepers'' (1955), based on scripts from the televised adventures of the character.

Production

David Swift created the show and wrote for it, along with

Jim Fritzell Jim Fritzell (February 19, 1920 – March 9, 1979) was an American television and film screenwriter. Personal background James Gustave Fritzell was born on February 19, 1920. He died on March 9, 1979 in Los Angeles, California. He i ...

Fred Coe Frederick Hayden Hughs Coe (December 23, 1914 – April 29, 1979) was an American television producer and director most famous for '' The Goodyear Television Playhouse''/''The Philco Television Playhouse'' in 1948-1955 and ''Playhouse 90'' from 1 ...

was the producer, and Hal Keith was the director. Bernie Green was the music director.

Episode status

Reportedly 102 of the 127 episode

Kinescopes Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940s ...

of ''Mister Peepers'' survive. RetroTV aired episodes of the show on Wednesday mornings, but as of 2021, no longer does.

DVD release

In 2005, the first 26 episodes of ''Mister Peepers'', which had been preserved by the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

, were released 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 ...

by S'more Entertainment. In November 2008, the second boxed set of ''Mister Peepers'' was released by S'more Entertainment. The tagline at the bottom of the box reads: "America's Favorite Science Teacher, Underdog and All-Round Nice Guy." The Underdog comment coyly references Cox's later role as the voice of the title character in the ''

'' cartoon. ''Mister Peepers'' began as a summer replacement series in 1952. The first DVD set, titled ''Mr. Peepers'', contains the summer episodes, as well as those from October 1952 to March 1953 episodes of the first full season. The ''Mister Peepers'' - Season 2" DVD sets picks up where the first set left off, containing episodes from the remainder of the first season and part of the second season, from March 1953 to November 1953.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0044279, title=Mr. Peepers 1952 American television series debuts 1955 American television series endings 1950s American high school television series 1950s American sitcoms American workplace comedy television series Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows Peepers, Robinson J. NBC original programming Peabody Award-winning television programs Television series about educators