Karen

[MBE]

I'm glad it came out on the TVT theme song va LP/CD

[guitarfool2002]

Apparently all 2 hours of NBC's prime time programming on Monday night in the 1964 season were part of this "90 Bristol Court" concept. I found references to the shows being advertised that way, and this site shows ASCAP listings for Ninety Bristol Court Theme used to tie the shows together: http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/90bristolCourt.html

Great info there. Cool to see that the two other show themes in the 90 Bristol Court block were written by Pete Rugalo and Lalo Shefrin, two of my all time favorite arrangers.

If I had to guess based on the time period, 90 Bristol Court might have been something of a response to the popular at the time Peyton Place or 77 Sunset Strip.

Keep in mind, this block programming idea was a short-lived failure. The only story to survive from the arc appeared to have been "Karen", and even that lasted less than a year (October 64 - Aug 65). The 90 minute, 3-episode arc idea was gone by the new year, January 1965 and only Karen survived.

That issue of TV Guide which I scanned was at the end of the show Karen's run, they were running repeat episodes until the new shows came out that fall.

It's kind of funny to think about the cultural earthquake which was cable and satellite TV, followed by digital and on-demand...up to the early 1980's many of us only had maybe 7 choices of what channels to watch on TV: 3 networks, maybe 2 PBS, and 2-3 UHF stations and that was it until cable came to the neighborhoods. You see these old TV Guides and listings and that handful of channels was it for choices.

[JohnMill]

I've seen a few episodes of "Karen" and it was a poor man's "Patty Duke Show".  Nothing more, nothing less.  There weren't even enough episodes filmed I believe to warrant syndication on TVLAND although they did broadcast a few episodes decades ago I believe during one of their "Lunch Box Specials".  The clip that is on Youtube is kind of interesting for how Mary LaRoche and Richard Denning make reference to both "The Animals" and "The Beatles".  More proof positive that in 1964, Hollywood had no idea what to make of The British Invasion and where these musicians would take not only music but pop culture in the next few years. 

The old road was rapidly aging indeed.

[Jason Penick]

Keep in mind, this block programming idea was a short-lived failure. The only story to survive from the arc appeared to have been "Karen", and even that lasted less than a year (October 64 - Aug 65). The 90 minute, 3-episode arc idea was gone by the new year, January 1965 and only Karen survived.

This sort of thing survived at least into the 1990s though, with the spiritual descendents of these shows, Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place. I remember a few crossover episodes where Niner princess Kelly was all hot for handyman Melrose Jake. Not a complete arc, but certainly influenced by it, no?

[JohnMill]

Keep in mind, this block programming idea was a short-lived failure. The only story to survive from the arc appeared to have been "Karen", and even that lasted less than a year (October 64 - Aug 65). The 90 minute, 3-episode arc idea was gone by the new year, January 1965 and only Karen survived.

This sort of thing survived at least into the 1990s though, with the spiritual descendents of these shows, Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place. I remember a few crossover episodes where Niner princess Kelly was all hot for handyman Melrose Jake. Not a complete arc, but certainly influenced by it, no?

What you are describing was actually somewhat of a backdoor pilot for "Melrose Place".  MP was spun off of "Beverly Hills 90210" with Grant Show appearing in the final few episodes of S2 of BH90210 and Jennie Garth appearing in the first few episodes of MP to wrap up the arc and also to give the new show a bit of a rub since she was a far more established star than any of the MP cast at that point. 

[guitarfool2002]

Keep in mind, this block programming idea was a short-lived failure. The only story to survive from the arc appeared to have been "Karen", and even that lasted less than a year (October 64 - Aug 65). The 90 minute, 3-episode arc idea was gone by the new year, January 1965 and only Karen survived.

This sort of thing survived at least into the 1990s though, with the spiritual descendents of these shows, Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place. I remember a few crossover episodes where Niner princess Kelly was all hot for handyman Melrose Jake. Not a complete arc, but certainly influenced by it, no?

But those were only one-hour shows for the most part, and the plots moved at a faster pace between stories - more like the soap opera format which is still going strong! Even crossover episodes and plots which carry across several shows are definitely nothing new, but the concept of tying together three half-hour shows and expecting people to watch what amounted to three separate casts doing three separate stories seems a bit much to ask of an audience, even in '64, and especially on network TV. With that many characters and stories, some geared to the "teens" and others to older demographics, an audience is bound to care less about at least one of the three, yet you're invested in watching the full 90 minutes because you want to see what happened this week at that 90 Bristol Court place.

I also think sometime around 1964, curiously, was when the attention span of the average television viewer was determined to be much smaller than it had been for the "Golden Age" where people would plan their dinner around something like a Rod Serling screenplay and live performance, or the longer Vaudeville-style performance revues. It got so plotted out to the 30 and 60 minute formats, and that still is network TV. I'm very grateful to have AMC channel and DVR, I feel like that kind of original programming is close to what the true "Golden Age" was all about as far as well-written and acted dramas that do hold interest longer than a half-hour.

Maybe 90 minutes and three separate casts, sets, and plots each week was too much to ask an audience at that time?

[Jason Penick]

What you are describing was actually somewhat of a backdoor pilot for "Melrose Place".  MP was spun off of "Beverly Hills 90210" with Grant Show appearing in the final few episodes of S2 of BH90210 and Jennie Garth appearing in the first few episodes of MP to wrap up the arc and also to give the new show a bit of a rub since she was a far more established star than any of the MP cast at that point.  

Yes, that's exactly it. Thank you for jogging my memory.

But those were only one-hour shows for the most part, and the plots moved at a faster pace between stories - more like the soap opera format which is still going strong! Even crossover episodes and plots which carry across several shows are definitely nothing new, but the concept of tying together three half-hour shows and expecting people to watch what amounted to three separate casts doing three separate stories seems a bit much to ask of an audience, even in '64, and especially on network TV. With that many characters and stories, some geared to the "teens" and others to older demographics, an audience is bound to care less about at least one of the three, yet you're invested in watching the full 90 minutes because you want to see what happened this week at that 90 Bristol Court place.

I also think sometime around 1964, curiously, was when the attention span of the average television viewer was determined to be much smaller than it had been for the "Golden Age" where people would plan their dinner around something like a Rod Serling screenplay and live performance, or the longer Vaudeville-style performance revues. It got so plotted out to the 30 and 60 minute formats, and that still is network TV. I'm very grateful to have AMC channel and DVR, I feel like that kind of original programming is close to what the true "Golden Age" was all about as far as well-written and acted dramas that do hold interest longer than a half-hour.

Maybe 90 minutes and three separate casts, sets, and plots each week was too much to ask an audience at that time?

Yeah, it could be that they just weren't very compelling shows either.

It's funny, but for series that was a long running hit, Peyton Place never seems to appear in syndication. My only experience with that show was watching a few pre-Monkees Micky Dolenz guest appearances on YouTube. Seems like the kind of thing I would dig watching from a nostalgia perspective if I could find it on DVD.

[guitarfool2002]

Yeah, it could be that they just weren't very compelling shows either.

It's funny, but for series that was a long running hit, Peyton Place never seems to appear in syndication. My only experience with that show was watching a few pre-Monkees Micky Dolenz guest appearances on YouTube. Seems like the kind of thing I would dig watching from a nostalgia perspective if I could find it on DVD.

There are several shows like that which for whatever reason (contractual? Royalties?) are simply not available to watch. For another Monkees connection, how about "The Farmer's Daughter"? That was on for a few years, same time as Karen and all of this, the lead actress won an Emmy for the show, but what totally blew my mind was seeing the young pre-Monkee Davy Jones on the show singing "Gonna Buy Me A Dog"...it put a new twist on the Monkees story for me! Then to realize the Monkees screentests were shot on the Farmer's Daughter set...I had never seen that show anywhere, and apart from YouTube clips I still haven't seen much of it.