Our Man Higgins

Our Man Higgins
Stanely Holloway and Regina Groves, 1962.
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Paul Harrison
Starring	Stanley Holloway Audrey Totter Frank Maxwell Rickey Kelman K.C. Butts Regina Grove
Composer(s)	Frank DeVol
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	34
Production
Executive producer(s)	Harry Ackerman (for Screen Gems)
Producer(s)	Paul Harrison
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	First Company of Writers
Distributor	Screen Gems
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	Black and white
Original run	October 3, 1962 – May 17, 1963

Our Man Higgins is a 34-episode situation comedy, the story of an English butler — portrayed by Stanley Holloway, who is inherited by a suburban American family, resulting in a cultural clash that grows into a cultural blending. A Screen Gems presentation, Our Man Higgins was seen on ABC television from October 3, 1962—May 17, 1963. Summer reruns followed until September 11 that same year.^[1]

Higgins answers to Frank Maxwell and Audrey Totter, who played Duncan and Alice MacRoberts. Our Man Higgins is similar in format to the NBC comedy Hazel, starring Shirley Booth as Hazel Burke, an overbearing maid to George and Dorothy Baxter, played by Don DeFore and Whitney Blake.

Our Man Higgins, co-sponsored by General Motors' Pontiac division and American Tobacco, aired on ABC at 9:30 P.M. Eastern on Wednesdays opposite The Dick Van Dyke Show on CBS and the second half of Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall on NBC. Higgins followed another one-year ABC series Going My Way, starring Gene Kelly) in a television version of the 1944 Bing Crosby film.^[2]

Joining Holloway, Maxwell and Totter were Rickey Kelman, K.C. Butts and Regina Grove, who portrayed children Tommy, Dinghy and Joanie MacRoberts, respectively.^[3]

In the premiere episode, "It's Higgins, Sir", future film star Ryan O'Neal guest stars as Archie, two years before he rocketed to national attention as Rodney Harrington in the prime time soap opera Peyton Place, also on ABC.

In the second episode, "Servant of the People" (October 10), Higgins expresses qualms about publicizing the MacRoberts family heirlooms in the newspaper. In the third segment, "Lady of Leisure" (October 17), Alice feels useless as Higgins takes over the running of the MacRoberts household. In the January 23 episode, "A Bunch of Forget-Me-Nots", Alice is nominated for "Homemaker of the Year", but the selection committee is expected for a visit on a day when the house is in a mess.^[3]

In the February 13 episode, "The Royal and Ancient Game", Duncan and his neighbor Bruce MacDermott, played by character actor Roy Roberts, decide to settle a business matter by pitting their sons against each other in a golf match. Duncan, however, does not know that Higgins has been coaching young Jamie MacDermott, played by Roger Mobley. In "Conflict of Interest" (March 20), with Frank Ferguson as a guest star, Duncan MacRoberts wants a park converted into a parking lot. The April 24 episode "Delinquent for a Day" finds Higgins unable to keep the house neat while Duncan and Alice are away; Kurt Russell guest stars as Bobby. "Love Is Dandy" (May 8) guest stars Mary Wickes as Higgins' cousin, who falls for a con man. "The Dance" (May 17) is the series finale.^[3]

It's Higgins, Sir was previously a 13-episode NBC radio comedy series in 1951, created by Paul Harrison and written by Harrison and Rick Vollick. Harry McNaughton read the starring role of Higgins in that series, broadcast on Tuesdays at 9 P.M. (as Bob Hope's summer replacement). ^[4]

References

1. ^ TV.com: Our Man Higgins>http://www.tv.com/our-man-higgins/show/33932/summary.html
2. ^ 1962-1963 American network television schedule
3. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Stage/2950/US/Comedy/OurManHiggins.htm^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: It's Higgins Sir

External links

• Our Man Higgins at the Internet Movie Database