This series is a complete, total and utter non-sequitur. Visually it's bright colors and stark scenery (this is a 1960's TV budget) are firmly planted in 1959. The story line superficially is pure Doris Day/Rock Hudson. The execution is more Larry David/Monty Python. This situation comedy is so surreal that it could never last more than a season in a world where HBO/Showtime would not exist for 20 years. From the bongos in the opening title music to the avant-garde narration you know you are in a parallel universe. The plots are totally stupid...hello, Jerry Sienfeld! The resolutions make no sense and the stories turn on a dime...Why?...Why not! As the playboy who hires a hat check girl (this is a time when men wore hats) to pose as his wife so he can get a job promotion (the president of a baby food company does not give promotions to unmarried men), Michael Callan makes an excellent self-centered playboy...and he sleeps with women he is not married to. Is this 1966 TV? Patricia Harty proves herself to be an incredible comedian. Cute, perky, smart and thoroughly self-absorbed; she is an utter gem (Coutney Cox, Jennifer Aniston and Debra Messing can't hold a candle to her talent). To add to the sideshow, the third billed character who appears in the opening manages to not say a word in the entire series. The guest stars are a "Who's Who" of 60's TV including Sally Field and John Astin. If you are a devoted fan of "The Beverly Hillbillies" or "The Andy Griffith Show", please move on. For the rest of us, sit back and enjoy.
Review of Occasional Wife
