Life with the Lyons

Based on their hit radio show, Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon starred in this British "Ozzie and Harriet" type show about "Life with the Lyons" with their two children, Barbara and Richard. On radio and TV, this series ran from 1950-61.

Mild situation comedy with the family trying to move into a new house in London amid eccentric servants, crabby landlord, and the teenaged kids' friends.

The real fun here is seeing the charming Ben Lyon and Bebe Daniels 20 years after they left Hollywood (after making hundreds of silent films and talkies). They're funny and have great chemistry. Lots of little inside jokes about their Hollywood careers and their years in England. At one point Bebe is dragging a trunk into the house when she asks Ben what's in it? Fourteen reels of HELL'S ANGELS he quips as she rolls her eyes. Of course that was Lyon's biggest talkie hit, a 1930 film in which he starred with Jean Harlow and James Hall.

The kids aren't bad either. Barbara plays a dim 19-year-old who's always in love and always stating, "I'll die! I'll just die!" when her parents don't do as she wants. Richard plays the younger, geeky brother, a game partner for his dad's loopy ideas like building a fish pond in the back yard.

Followed by a sequel: THE LYONS IN Paris.