User reviews

I own all of the movies and television appearances of the great Peggy Ann Garner-except one Two Girls Named Smith.It appeared on January 20,1951 and Peggy Ann left the series in September 1951 in order to spend more time with her husband Hichard Hayes.The show disappeared on October 13,1951 and it has never reappeared. It was rated in the top 5 of all Saturday afternoon shows.It was shown on ABC television at 12 P.M. It seems that after my Peggy Ann left the show it dropped in popularity. I only own one still picture of this show which shows my Peggy Ann with Peggy French but nothing else.If only this show would resurface it would be a treasure indeed. My angel Peggy Ann left this world on Tuesday evening October 16,1984 and she and her only television series are gone forever. How sad.

This is Peggy Ann Garner's very own situation comedy TV series at the ripe old age of 19. It is also the year in which she married one of her costars Richard Herbert Hayes. She was eventually replaced by Marcia Henderson for the last few episodes. Its cancellation after eight months was quite surprising as audience surveys had the show in the top five among all weekend daytime shows. It had one of the highest distributions for any network show at this time with 53 cities carrying it.

While the series is believed to be lost, the last episode still exists and it is through the viewing of that episode that this review is based. The program was broadcast live and presented to ABC affiliates after being kinescoped from its initial New York broadcast (the existing episode has the notice "The preceding program, originally telecast by ABC in New York, has come to you by special video recording. This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company"). Unfortunately the episodes with Peggy Ann Garner are lost. An immediate reaction is that it is very similar to the feature film "My Sister Eileen." Babs (Marcia Henderson) and Fran Smith (Peggy French) are cousins from Omaha, Nebraska who have come to Manhattan to further their careers: Babs (originally played by Peggy Ann Garner) is a stenographer hoping to become a singer (acquires the lead in the Broadway play "Stairway to Venus" in the last episode) and Fran, a fashion designer (working at East Side Fashions) is dating attorney Jeffrey Carter (Kermit Kegley). Babs and Fran live in a small apartment at 514 East 51st Street and their landlord, Mr. Busmany (Joseph Buloff) is like a part of the family (as he just enters their apartment and involves himself in their problems). There is no laugh track and the program should be tagged as a comedy-drama rather than just a comedy as there are truly some dramatic moments (like Babs being turned down for roles; when she acquires the lead in "Stairway" she comments, "I never dreamed anything so wonderful could happen to a little girl from Omaha") and Fran experiencing just bad days. It is difficult to judge a whole series from one episode, but based on what does exist, Marcia Henderson and Peggy French handle their role quite well; it can be seen that Fran, the older cousin, looks out for Babs as she is always there for her when something goes wrong; and Babs, despite all her disappointments, never gives up (Fran calls her as "a nice, sweet, pretty kid"). The program flows smoothly, the writing is good (not corny), the camera work is excellent and the stars even pitch the sponsor's product (in the episode, Glim dishwashing liquid). And to end this review, I will use the episode's closing (with Babs and Fran breaking the fourth wall): "And now it's time to be saying goodbye from 'Two Girls Named Smith.' Bye bye."