Oh! Those Bells
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''Oh! Those Bells'' is a 1962 United States
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
television series starring The Wiere Brothers about the misadventures of three brothers who work in a
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
theatrical supply shop. It aired from March 8 to May 31, 1962.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 614.


Cast

* Herbert Wiere...Herbie Bell * Harry Wiere...Harry Bell * Sylvester Wiere...Sylvester "Sylvie" Bell * Henry Norell...Henry Slocum * Carol Byron...Kitty Mathews *
Reta Shaw Reta Shaw (September 13, 1912 – January 8, 1982) was an American character actor, character actress known for playing strong, hard-edged, working women in film and on many of the most popular television programs of the 1960s and 1970s ...
...Mrs. Stanfield


Synopsis

Herbie, Harry, and Sylvester "Sylvie" Bell are three gentle-natured brothers who are the last surviving members of a family with a long history of making theatrical props, costumes, and wigs. Having moved from
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
to start new lives, they work in a
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
theater supply shop called Cinema Rents, located on Ridgeway Drive, where their irascible and easily flustered boss is Henry Slocum. Although they mean well, they manage to turn even the simplest everyday tasks into
slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...
disasters. Slocums secretary, Kitty Mathews, is sweet, understanding, and beautiful, and Sylvie has a crush on her. The Bells live together in a
bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...
, where Mrs. Stanfield is their landlady.Nostalgia Central: OH! THOSE BELLS Accessed January 3, 2022
/ref>


Production

A loosely structured show, ''Oh! Those Bells'' attempted to bring
slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...
humor to American television. At the time, The Wiere Brothers – German-Austrian-born Herbert, Harry, and Sylvester Wiere – were internationally known slapstick comedians. Each episode allowed the Wiere Brothers to perform their old
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
act, including their comical musical numbers.
Jules White Jules White (born Julius Weiss; 17 September 1900 – 30 April 1985) was an American film director and producer best known for his short-subject comedies starring The Three Stooges. Early years White began working in motion pictures in the ...
, known for his short-subject comedies starring
The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...
, created the show. He and Sam White produced the
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
episode, known both as "Money Mixup" and "Movie Money." Ben Brady produced the rest of the episodes.The Classic TV Archive Oh Those Bells
/ref> The shows episodes were filmed in 1960, and
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
originally planned to air them during the 1960–1961 season. However, CBS decided to pull the show from the 1960–1961 schedule and instead ran it as a spring replacement series for '' The New Bob Cummings Show'' in
1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
.Lowry, Cynthia, "Glancing Over TV Bill of Fare," ''The Kingston Daily Freeman'' (Kingston, New York), March 9, 1962, Page 12 Accessed 4 January 2022
/ref>


Reception

In a review of the premiere episode of ''Oh! Those Bells'' published in the ''
Daily Freeman The Daily Freeman, published in Kingston, New York, serves as the primary morning newspaper for Ulster County, as well as Greene County, Columbia County and Dutchess County. Established in 1871 under the moniker "Rondout Daily Freeman," the ...
'' of
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, on March 9, 1962, Cynthia Lowry said that ''The New Bob Cummings Show'' had been a disappointment, but that its replacement, ''Oh! Those Bells'', made ''The New Bob Cummings Show'' look like a "blue-white, glass-cutting gem of comedy." She wrote that "From the opening moment when the stuffed head of the
moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...
caught one Wiere by the seat of the pants to the hilarious climax when the boss was accidentally hit on the head by a golf club, it was one long maladroit bore," adding that ''Oh! Those Bells'' "may achieve the distinction of the year′s worst elevision seriesand certainly the one with the loudest
laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is an audio recording consisting of laughter (and other audience reactions) usually used as a separate soundtrack for comedy productions. The laugh track may contain live audience reactions or artificial laught ...
."


Broadcast history

The last episode of ''The New Bob Cummings Show'' aired on March 1, 1962, and ''Oh! Those Bells'' premiered on
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
as its replacement on March 8, 1962.IMDb Oh, Those Bells Episode List
/ref> It was cancelled after the broadcast of its thirteenth episode on May 31, 1962. It aired on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. throughout its run.


Episodes

Sources''Schenectady Gazette'', May 31, 1962, p. 23.
/ref>


References


External links

*
''Oh! Those Bells'' opening credits on YouTube

sitcomsonline.com Oh, Those Bells!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oh Those Bells 1962 American television series debuts 1962 American television series endings 1960s American sitcoms Black-and-white American television shows CBS original programming American English-language television shows Television series set in shops Television shows set in Los Angeles CBS sitcoms