THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE'S FATHER

:''This article is about the television series. For the 1963 film, see The Courtship of Eddie's Father (film).''
'''The Courtship of Eddie's Father''' is an American television sitcom based on the popular 1963 movie of the same name that had gained some respect in theaters, and it was also based on a book written by Mark Toby. It was directed by James Komack and tells the story of a widower played by Bill Bixby, with a young son played by Brandon Cruz who believes his father should marry and manipulates situations surrounding the women his father is interested in.
The series debuted on September 17th, 1969 and was last broadcast March 1st, 1972 on ABC, replacing the short-lived ''Here Come the Brides'' series. ABC had acquired the rights to do a weekly television comedy-drama, dealing with a young, single father, trying to raise a young son while pursuing a social life. The show gained in popularity during its first two seasons, as had other hit comedies that dealt with widowed single parents, such as, ''Beulah'', ''The Andy Griffith Show'', ''My Three Sons'', ''The Beverly Hillbillies'', ''The Lucy Show'', ''Family Affair'', ''Julia'' and ''The Doris Day Show''. This show also set the tone for other 1970s comedies that dealt with widowhood and/or traditional family values: ''The Brady Bunch'', (which debuted just 9 days after ''Courtship''), ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'', ''The Partridge Family'', ''Sanford And Son'', ''Alice'', ''Eight is Enough'' and ''Diff'rent Strokes''.

Contents

History

Plot

Cast

Rejected series

Trivia

External links

History

Veteran comedy producer and one-time ''My Favorite Martian'' writer, James Komack also served as both the creator and the executive producer of the show. The television show's theme song, "Best Friend", was written and performed by Harry Nilsson, and was played over opening credits showing Bixby and Cruz in various happy moments. The song has often been used since as an iconic indication of father-son bonding.

Plot

The show centered around Tom Corbett (Bill Bixby), a handsome, thirtyish-year-old, magazine publisher and widower from Los Angeles who had shouldered the responsibility of raising his freckled-faced, six-year-old son, Eddie (Brandon Cruz), who often cleverly manipulated his father about getting a new wife, shortly after the death of Eddie's mother and Tom's wife, Helen. Tom's domestic arrangements were managed, highly competently, by his Japanese housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston (Miyoshi Umeki), who was diplomatic and full of sage advice and would also look after Eddie, especially his dirty work. At work Tom would usually work with Tina Rickles (Kristina Holland) who was his secretary at a magazine company. Very often, Norman Tinker (James Komack), who was the head of another family, worked as a radical photographer at the same company that both Tom & Tina worked in, and who would also become Eddie's occasional uncle.
Starting in 1970, Bill Bixby made his debut as a director, directing several episodes of the show.
Many familiar and/or unfamiliar actors who guest-starred on the show went on to become successful stars: Sally Struthers, Pat Harrington Jr., Diana Muldaur, Willie Aames, Warren Berlinger, Suzanne Pleshette, Yvonne Craig, Tippi Hedren, Pat Delaney, John Fiedler, Alan Oppenheimer, Lou Jacobi, Jodie Foster, Bill Dana, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Ann Prentiss, Ron Ely, Carol Lawrence, George Takei, among many others. Future ''Happy Days'' stars Pat Morita and Erin Moran also made guest appearances. Famous comedian and dancer Sammy Davis Jr. made a cameo appearance where he played an insurance man.
The show was cancelled in 1972 when Bixby had a falling out with producer James Komack on the direction of the show. Many of the later episodes focused on Komack's, Bixby's, and Cruz's characters, Norman Tinker, Tom & his son, and Eddie Corbett rather than on the relationship between Tom & Eddie.

Cast

★ Bill Bixby as: Tom Corbett - A widower and a magazine editor

★ Brandon Cruz as: Eddie Corbett - Tom's son

★ Miyoshi Umeki as: Mrs. Livingston - Tom's & Eddie's maid

★ Kristina Holland as: Tina Rickles - Tom's secretary

★ James Komack as: Norman Tinker - Tom's partner at a magazine company

Rejected series

In 2003, filming began on a new television pilot which starred Ken Marino and Josh Hutcherson, but it was not picked up by a network. The child star of the previous series, Brandon Cruz, played a supporting role.

Trivia

★ Bill Bixby and Brandon Cruz became friends in real-life after the series had ended. On an episode of ''The Incredible Hulk'', Cruz guest-starred with Bixby on which David and the teenaged boy, Kevin, try to land a jetliner. Later, after Bixby's son Christopher died, Cruz confided in Bixby about this and stayed connected.

★ On one episode, Brenda Benet played Bixby's girlfriend; in real-life, she was married to Bill Bixby, before the final season started. The couple divorced in 1979.

★ Tom's middle name is: Bailey, in real-life, Bill Bixby's middle name is also Bailey.

★ The movie ''Now and Then'' made reference to ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father''.

★ The opening and closing montages were called "peanuts" by the cast and crew and often related to them in their real lives.

★ Mike Lookinland auditioned for the role of Eddie, but he ultimately turned the role down in favor of ''The Brady Bunch'' (which debuted nine days later after ''Courtship'').

★ The show was referenced by a 1991 episode of ''Roseanne'' titled ''The Courtship of Eddie, Dan's Father''.

★ On the animated TV series ''Family Guy'', Peter and baby Stewie bond with a parody of the opening of The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

★ On the animated TV series ''South Park'', Butters sings a song called "My Robot Friend" which has a resemblance to The Courtship of Eddie's Father theme tune.

★ On one episode Brandon Cruz began wearing glasses in a "peanuts" segment. He often wore them behind-the-scenes and in school on-the-set, but not on the show.

★ Before James Komack co-starred with Bixby in ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father'', wherein he also produced the show, his friendship and first experience began when Komack met him on ''My Favorite Martian''. Komack served as both a twelve-time writer and a two-time director for the series.

★ A punk rocker, Cruz released a greatest hits album from 1970-1997. At that time, he released "Eddie is a Punk," a compilation of songs which dated back to his days playing the role of Eddie Corbett. Among the highlights on the album, is a punk version of ''Best Friend'', which featured Harry Nilsson on piano and ex-Monkee Micky Dolenz on vocals, whom he recorded with both Nilsson & Cruz.

★ At the beginning of an episode, Tom mentioned to Eddie that he grew up in San Francisco, California, the same city that actor Bill Bixby was born and raised in.

★ On one episode, Yvonne Craig guest-starred on the show alongside Bixby, where she played the crazy secretary who had an interested in astrology, which led her to end her work at Tom's office. Ironically, Craig dated Bixby sometime in the 1960s, in real-life, before ''Courtship'' was on the air.

★ Bill Bixby and Brandon Cruz are the only two actors to appear in every episode of the series, and had a wonderful father-son relationship on the show.

★ At the beginning of every show, Bixby walked with Cruz at various places, sharing some father-son moments, which is similar to that of ''The Andy Griffith Show'', when Griffith and Howard walked near the lake.

★ Comedian Arsenio Hall was a huge fan of the show, and invited both Bixby & Cruz to guest-star on his own late night talk show, ''The Arsenio Hall Show'', twice.

★ In season 6 of Charmed there was an Episode, called "The Courtship of Wyatt's Father".

External links

★

★ Official Courtship of Eddie's Father on MySpace