I'm Dickens, He's Fenster (1962–1963)

Sitcom about two young blue-collar carpenters: the married one Harry Dickens, and the bachelor Arch Fenster (with his 'little black book'). Harry longs for the excitement of Fenster's ... See full summary »

Creator:

Leonard Stern

Stars:

Marty Ingels, John Astin, Emmaline Henry

1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Marty Ingels	...	Arch Fenster (32 episodes, 1962-1963)
John Astin	...	Harry Dickens (32 episodes, 1962-1963)
Emmaline Henry	...	Kate Dickens (32 episodes, 1962-1963)
David Ketchum	...	Mel Warshaw (20 episodes, 1962-1963)

Storyline

Sitcom about two young blue-collar carpenters: the married one Harry Dickens, and the bachelor Arch Fenster (with his 'little black book'). Harry longs for the excitement of Fenster's bachelor life - but Harry's wife Kate won't permit it. At work they also find themselves in conflict with their boss Mr. Bannister.

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Plot Keywords:

character name in title

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1962 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Heyday Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Ring of Terror (1990)

User Reviews

A great show from a great era!

Yes, 1962 was part of that great golden era of television when creativity was crisp and original. Like "The Honeymooners", "I'm Dickens He's Fenster" was a short-lived comedy that should have lasted much longer. I was eight years old when this program aired on ABC and watched it every week (I think it was on a Friday night right after the Flintstones). I always remembered the ending that showed their tools, but thought that they used to hang on a pegboard. I was wrong; looking at YouTube, they're scattered about.

I also learned that this program outdrew the competition of NBC's "Sing Along with Mitch" and CBS's "Route 66". The latter program was extremely popular, by the way.

I finally got the chance to view some of the shows on YouTube and couldn't get over how fresh this program was. The opening tune resembled Laurel and Hardy's introductory music and that was understandably so since Leonard Stern was a huge admirer of that comedy duo. It was also refreshing to know that Stan Laurel was a great fan of the show. It's unfortunate that he wasn't instrumental in attempting to influence the executives of ABC to keep this show on the air.

Two things should be done: 1) this show SHOULD be on DVD and 2) there should be an attempt to redo this program for modern TV. The possibility of seeing it on DVD is very real, but redoing it probably is not a realistic move since modern television could never duplicate the originality of it.

Please join Imdickenshesfenster.com to make this show a reality on DVD.