The Joey Bishop Show in its entirety and in separate seasons is finally out on DVD…details below (1 Viewer)

[mark-edk]

I happened across an interesting behind-the-scenes glimpse of the show. Betty Santora was a guest star playing an opera singer on one episode. It was filmed at the same time they were waiting for the network to decide on a third season so Joey was a bit on edge. Ms Santora gives an honest and I think balanced look at working with him and her experiences on the show (the issue with her episode being mistitled by Amazon appears to have been corrected):

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1R63B8J9JF1B7

 

[sjbradford]

He sounded like an absolute jerk - berating a girl for 15 minutes because she “did not show enough apreciation toward him at the taping, like hugging him. I was only 17, the directer had to come down and tell him to stop. I was in tears.”

A minor talent at best, and a bully.

 

[Lecagr]

I'm familiar with those comments on Amazon from Betty Santora, I read them a few years ago. Her comments didn't surprise me because it's no secret that Joey Bishop was sometimes difficult to get along with. Joey Bishop was a good performer on camera, but off camera he was known to occasionally cause turmoil on the set of his TV show. When Betty's episode was being filmed, Joey Bishop was waiting for word if his series was getting renewed for a 3rd season, so he was probably more insecure/nervous than usual. At the end of her comments, Betty says she has no ill feelings toward Joey Bishop and thanks him for the experience of being on his show. Good for her.

 

[mark-edk]

I've watched all of seasons 2-4 and agree that when the show went to CBS it changed, not for the better IMHO. Most notably, there was nothing of the 'Joey Barnes Show' at all: no segments like Joey and the LA Dodgers, or Joey with Andy Williams etc. The focus drifted away from show biz angles and with the importing of people like Rusty it became more like a family sitcom. It didn't help that Rusty disappeared without a word of explanation; at least Larry's fiancé was given a two-sentence explanation for her vanishing act. Hilda and Jillson were softened up too, but on the whole the series was still enjoyable and occasionally hit some high notes. The actual footage of Joey at the hospital where Abby Dalton's daughter was born was one of the show's memorable moments.
PS: Both seasons three and four had early shows that were held back til the end of the run (in the case of season three the opening episode) where they were chronologically out of place. I forget which season had the show where they thought about going on a second honeymoon to Lake something-or-other because they spent their first honeymoon there. Only we know they honeymooned in Vegas.

 

[Neil Brock]

In Cybill Shepherd's book, she talks about working in dinner theater with Bishop and how he would get close to her and whisper, "fuck you" to her to try to get her to screw up her lines and look bad. Nice guy.

 

[Garysb]

Its the only show I know that went from Black and White in Season 1 to color in Seasons 2 and 3, and back to Black and White in Season 4 when it went from NBC to CBS. The did a very meta episode for the first episode of Season 4 where the show within the show has been cancelled and all the characters are afraid to tell him. When Joey finds out he goes off camera to cry. When the show within the show is picked up by CBS all are happy until they realize it will air 9:30 PM Sundays against Bonanza and they all start to cry again. That, of course, is when the 4th and final season aired initially.

 

[Jack P]

"Wagon Train" went to color for one season and then back to B/W for its last season.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

After a short time on Sunday, CBS moved Joey to Tuesday night - and all along had an idea of making it similar to the successful DICK VAN DYKE SHOW.

And ironically, Joey ended in 1965 in the same time slot -- Tuesdays at 8:00 EST -- where Dick started in 1961.

 

[Neil Brock]

For decades, this show held the record as the scripted and filmed series with the most episode to never be put into syndication, with 123 episodes. Actually, it has only aired on cable networks, like TV Land, Retro and Antenna, AFAIK, so it still probably is the record holder. I always wondered why they never did anything with the show when there were so many episodes.

 

[Harry-N]

I suspect that it was the changes that the show went through that prevented it from doing well in syndication. First he's a single, home-bound individual with a mom and siblings, next he's a TV show host. Some seasons are color, some are black & while. Characters came and went without explanation.

In the changeability factor, it's similar to THE DORIS DAY SHOW, which also never burned up the syndication circuit.

 

[MartinP.]

In Cybill Shepherd's book, she talks about working in dinner theater with Bishop and how he would get close to her and whisper, "fuck you" to her to try to get her to screw up her lines and look bad. Nice guy.

Did Cybil say "to try to get her to screw up her lines and look bad" or you, because honestly, how many times have i heard actors telling stories about these same things, both male and female, including people working with Ms. Shepherd! Performers are crazy people. Or should I say complicated?

 

[cadavra]

I've watched all of seasons 2-4 and agree that when the show went to CBS it changed, not for the better IMHO. Most notably, there was nothing of the 'Joey Barnes Show' at all: no segments like Joey and the LA Dodgers, or Joey with Andy Williams etc. The focus drifted away from show biz angles and with the importing of people like Rusty it became more like a family sitcom. It didn't help that Rusty disappeared without a word of explanation; at least Larry's fiancé was given a two-sentence explanation for her vanishing act. Hilda and Jillson were softened up too, but on the whole the series was still enjoyable and occasionally hit some high notes. The actual footage of Joey at the hospital where Abby Dalton's daughter was born was one of the show's memorable moments.
PS: Both seasons three and four had early shows that were held back til the end of the run (in the case of season three the opening episode) where they were chronologically out of place. I forget which season had the show where they thought about going on a second honeymoon to Lake something-or-other because they spent their first honeymoon there. Only we know they honeymooned in Vegas.

My guess is that CBS tried to remold the show to make it more like "The Dick Van Dyke Show," from giving Abby Dalton the same flip hairdo as MTM to adding Rusty as a pseudo-Richie. It also started getting sentimental ("Jillson's Toupee" is maybe the series' all-time worst episode) and stopped existing in the real world (no mention of other real-life entertainers unless they were actually guesting on the show). But the most telling reason was the departure of James V. Kern, who directed the 2nd and 3rd seasons. He did the show almost as if it were live, with the cast constantly ad-libbing and cracking up, and with very little re-shooting (for close-ups, e.g.). The 4th season, done by others (mostly Mel Ferber), was done as a standard sitcom--there were clearly multiple takes and lots of coverage (Dalton in particular was no longer seen breaking); indeed, the episode in which Oscar Levant guested really felt like he was in restraints. It truly choked much of the juice out of a show that had been like the Wild West the previous years, though now and then there were still excellent moments.

Mike S.

 

[sjbradford]

I suspect that it was the changes that the show went through that prevented it from doing well in syndication. First he's a single, home-bound individual with a mom and siblings, next he's a TV show host. Some seasons are color, some are black & while. Characters came and went without explanation.

In the changeability factor, it's similar to THE DORIS DAY SHOW, which also never burned up the syndication circuit.

The comparison to “Doris Day” is a good one. Massive changes in format generally hurt syndication. See “Valerie/Valerie’s Family/The Hogan Family” for another example.

 

[Neil Brock]

The comparison to “Doris Day” is a good one. Massive changes in format generally hurt syndication. See “Valerie/Valerie’s Family/The Hogan Family” for another example.

There was really only one significant format change, which came after the first season, which IMO was the best. After that, it became a poor man's Danny Thomas Show.

 

[Lecagr]

There are good episodes in each of the four seasons, but overall I prefer the color seasons (2 & 3) over the black and white seasons (1 & 4). Season 1 has five color episodes. The 4th season episode "Jillson's Toupee" was mentioned, I don't think this is a bad episode, it's not the best but it's alright. Episodes that focus on Joe Besser are usually pretty good. The 2nd season episode "Jillson And The Cinnamon Buns" is very funny. One episode I don't really care for is the 1st season episode with Jack Parr, to me this is a weak episode.

Guy Marks or Corbett Monica, I prefer Corbett Monica. I think Corbett Monica was much better in that role and he had good acting chemistry with Joey Bishop, the two of them worked well together.

The majority of my favorite episodes are from season 3. I wonder if there's an existing print of the 3rd season episode with Vaughn Meader locked in a vault somewhere. I'd be curious to see this episode.

 

[Neil Brock]

The majority of my favorite episodes are from season 3. I wonder if there's an existing print of the 3rd season episode with Vaughn Meader locked in a vault somewhere. I'd be curious to see this episode.

When I spoke with the late Stanley Moger from SFM about it, he had looked for it and no elements could be found. Apparently Bishop had all of the film destroyed after the assassination. Doubtful that an edited version was ever assembled so likely only the raw footage would have existed anyway.

 

[MartinP.]

If anyone wants to see something of Vaughn Meader, here he is as the Mystery Guest on What's My Line?, Dec. 30, 1962.

Oops, forgot to put in the link yesterday:

 

[Lecagr]

When I spoke with the late Stanley Moger from SFM about it, he had looked for it and no elements could be found. Apparently Bishop had all of the film destroyed after the assassination. Doubtful that an edited version was ever assembled so likely only the raw footage would have existed anyway.

Yes Neil I imagine this is true. The episode will just have to be considered lost with chances being very slim to none that elements exist. The episode was filmed one week prior to the assassination. If the film was destroyed soon afterwards, it's doubtful that the raw footage was ever edited to form a 25 minute episode.

I wonder if Abby Dalton has any memories regarding the making of the Vaughn Meader episode? Would be interesting to hear or read any comments she might have about the episode. Maybe she would remember some details about the episode like for example what the plot/story line was.

 

[MartinP.]

If anyone wants to see something of Vaughn Meader, here he is as the Mystery Guest on What's My Line?, Dec. 30, 1962.

Oops, forgot to put in the link yesterday:

 

[Neil Brock]

A couple of notes. On IMDB-TV, seasons 2, 3, 4 are complete-ish. They come in a hair under 25 minutes. Probably a little bit short for that era so not sure if they're trimmed or slightly sped up. I have to sit down and A/B a second season episode with one of the Questar ones to see what they did. I'm guessing that these are the original transfers that were done for TV Land back in the early 90s. Unfortunately, season one was never sold to TV Land as when Joey was alive, he didn't want them seen, so those are the same 23 minute hack jobs that ran on Antenna. But the good news is that the shows are in proper 4x3 aspect ratio. The bad news is that the color is pretty red. The Antenna ones that are on DVD looked somewhat better. I think I might take those and then edit in the missing scenes.

By the way, the only reason that there was a 4th season of the show on CBS is that CBS had scheduled a William Bendix sitcom for the fall of 1964. At a big TV cocktail party, one of the execs saw Bendix and commented, he looks terrible. The person told him, that's because he has cancer and will be dead in a few months. The CBS exec then went over to Bishop and asked him if he could put his cast and crew together and that was how the last season came about. And of course, because CBS was staying black and white as long as they could, so as not to help NBC/RCA sell color televisions, the show reverted from color.