Pete and Gladys

Some memories should be left that way. I was born in the mid-fifties, and this is one of the very first shows I remember watching as a very small child. My mom must have liked it, we must have watched it routinely, and it became etched in my memory. I was surprised to learn it was only on for two seasons.

I hadn't seen it until learning on this very site that a full episode had been uploaded to YouTube, titled Garden Wedding.

The show opened with two couples driving, men in front - Pete/Harry Morgan was driving with Bob Hastings, lka "Lt. Carpenter" in McHale's Navy, as passenger - and the women in back - Gladys and a friend, wife of the Bob Hastings character.

You couldn't help but compare the visual of that foursome to the foursome in I Love Lucy and the "California Here We Come" episode. Fifties cars, fifties couples, black and white presentation.

But there the similarities ended. I was astonished at how boring and predictable the Pete and Gladys show was. Bad writing (though I believe written by two of Lucy's former writers), absurd story line, wooden acting, and completely predictable outcome. Clearly not as timeless as Lucy. I can see why this show is no longer shown.