"The Proposal and the Bear" is a 1968 Australian

television play A television play is a television programming genre which is a drama performance broadcast from a multi-camera television studio, usually live in the early days of television but later recorded to tape. This is in contrast to a television movi ...

, based on two stories by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, '' The Marriage Proposal'' and '' The Bear''. They were filmed in the ABC's Melbourne studios using the same cast for two plays.

Plot

"The Bear" - a woman, although desperate for a husband, fights with her only suitor.
"The Proposal" - a widow is challenged to a duel by a rough farmer

Cast

Gerda Nicolson Gerda Maureen Nicolson (11 November 1936 – 12 June 1992) was an Australian actress, who worked across all major forms of media, including theatre, television and films, she was best known for several long-running television roles, and was a co ...

Terry Norris Terry Norris may refer to: * Terry Norris (boxer) Terry Wayne Norris (born June 17, 1967) is an American former boxer, prizefighter and a three time world champion in the light-middleweight (super-welterweight) division. Originally from Lubbock ...

* Dennis Olsen

Reception

The newspaper, the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' said the show "required goodwill in the viewer to force the fun. It's not what-you do but the "verve with, which you do it — at least, in farce."

References

1968 television plays 1968 Australian television episodes 1960s Australian television plays Wednesday Theatre season 4 episodes {{tv-episode-stub