''Occasional Wife'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

which aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

beginning September 13, 1966 and running until May 9, 1967 (repeats were aired through August 29). It was originally on NBC's Tuesday night schedule, airing from 8:30–9:00PM ET/ PT. Reruns were aired on Comedy Central in 1992.

Synopsis

The lead character was Peter Christopher, a bachelor who enjoyed the single life, but was blocked from professional advancement by not having a wife. Peter's boss, baby-food manufacturer Max Brahms, was, because of his product, a strong believer in marriage and family. Christopher asked a young hat check girl, Greta Patterson, to pose as his wife at company functions. In return, Peter set up Greta in an apartment two floors above his own in a Manhattan building. Greta would use the

fire escape A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency th ...

to slip into Peter's 7th floor apartment from her apartment on the 9th floor whenever his boss would drop by unexpectedly. As a silent

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...

Bryan O'Byrne Bryan Jay O'Byrne (February 6, 1931 – December 4, 2009) was an American film and television character actor and acting coach. His credits include numerous television shows, films and many television commercials. Biography Early life O'Byrne ...

played the "Man in the middle" who bemusedly watched the comings and goings of the two from his 8th floor vantage point. The sitcom's uncredited narrator was the well-known sports announcer

Vin Scully Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located ...

. The series first experienced good ratings, tying at #18 with ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...

'' in the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

. The series then fell to #64 in the ratings after having to compete against ABC's popular series ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invas ...

'' and the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

staple ''

The Red Skelton Show ''The Red Skelton Show'' is an American television comedy/variety show that aired from 1951 to 1971. In the decade prior to hosting the show, Richard "Red" Skelton had a successful career as a radio and motion pictures star. Although his televi ...

''. ''Occasional Wife'' was canceled after one season. The series was also notable for being one of the first sitcoms to eliminate the use of the laugh track, which set the series apart from other sitcoms on at the time. Its practice of not using canned laughter has now become an industry standard with most modern day single camera sitcoms. It is also noteworthy that in 1967 the lead actor, Michael Callan, divorced his wife and married Patricia Harty, his costar on this series.

Cast

Michael Callan Michael Callan (born Martin Harris Calinieff; November 22, 1935 – October 10, 2022) was an American actor best known for originating the role of Riff in ''West Side Story'' on Broadway, and for his film roles for Columbia Pictures, notably ' ...

as Peter Christopher * Patricia Harty as Greta Patterson * Jack Collins as Max Brahms *

Stuart Margolin Stuart Margolin (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022) was an American film, theater, and television actor and director who won two Emmy Awards for playing Evelyn "Angel" Martin on the 1970s television series ''The Rockford Files''. In 1973, h ...

as Bernie Kramer *

Chris Noel Chris Noel (Sandra Louise Noel, born July 2, 1941) is a retired American actress and entertainer. Noel is best known for her appearances in beach party movies in the 1960s, and for her work on the Armed Forces Radio And Television Servic ...

as Marilyn *

as Man-in-the-Middle * Jack Riley as Wally Frick *

Sara Seegar Sara Seegar (born Sarah Wall Seegar; July 1, 1914 – August 12, 1990) was an American actress. A performer on stage, film, radio, and television, she may best be remembered for her role as Mrs. Wilson in the 1962–63 season of '' Dennis the M ...

as Mrs. Christopher (Peter's mother) *

Susan Silo Susan Silo (born July 27, 1942) is an American actress who is known for her work in voice-over roles. Early life Susan Silo was born in New York City. Both her parents were actors. Career Her acting career started in television on the episo ...

as Vera Frick * Joan Tompkins as Mrs. Brahms (two episodes)

Episodes

Footnotes

References

* Brooks, T. & Marsh, E. (1979). ''The Complete Directory To Primetime Network TV Shows''. New York: Ballantine Books, pp. 454–455 * Brooks, T. (1987). ''The Complete Directory To Primetime TV Stars''. New York: Ballantine Books, p. 141 * Tucker, D. C. (2010). ''Lost Laughs of '50s and '60s Television: Thirty Sitcoms That Faded Off Screen''. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, pp. 171–177

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0060013 1966 American television series debuts 1967 American television series endings 1960s American sitcoms NBC original programming Television series by Screen Gems English-language television shows Television shows set in New York City