Mona McCluskey

When this short-lived sitcom premiered on NBC-TV in the fall of 1965,the Peacock network's programming had 95% of its shows already in color for the 1965-1966 season. At the time shows like "I Spy", "Get Smart",and "The Dean Martin Show",and "My Mother The Car" which premiered that year were in color,with the exception of "I Dream of Jeannie",the other new sitcom that was in black and white.

The short-lived sitcom "Mona McCluskey" was one of those shows that NBC presented as "the following program is brought to you in living color " for the 1965-1966 season. The short-lived series starred Juliet Prowse(the only time this dancer and the woman who was almost engaged to marry Frank Sinatra to ever appear on a weekly television series)who was this big-time Vegas movie-star showgirl who marries an Air Force Officer by the name of Mike McCluskey(played by Denny Miller? Yes,that Denny Miller...the man who was also starred in the worst Tarzan movie ever!)who was determined to continue his career in the military while his wife was living on his income. She is determined to be a housewife or housefrau who basically cooks and cleans wearing nothing but expensive gowns and negligees. She can't cook-continuously makes sandwiches or some combination of it. In just about every episode she keeps getting into one situation after another while mooching off her husband's income. The one good thing about the sitcom is that audiences will get to see Juliet Prowse's singing abilities and spectacular dance sequences. And that was it. The show itself was a total waste,and it didn't last not one season,and it was gone by the Spring of 1966.

Not only did Robert Strauss was in some episodes,but also actress Elena Verdugo who were wasted here due to their good talent. Looking at the show the question becomes obvious. It had experienced writers,superb production values,but in all the series fell flat. The producer of this was none other than George Burns,whose other sitcom "Wendy and Me"(which was over at ABC)became one of the biggest flops of the previous season. After this series,George Burns never again will produced another comedy show for television.

Produced by George Burns,under his production company McCadden Productions in association with United Artists Television,the short-lived series "Mona McCluskey",which aired in color,produced 26 episodes that ran from September 16,1965 until the final episode on April 14, 1966. The series also starred Bartlett Robinson, Herbert Rudley, Robert Strauss,and Elena Verdugo(who would go on to star opposite Robert Young on the medical drama series "Marcus Welby,MD"). The guest stars that were on this short-lived series ranged from a beau of talent: from Mike Henry(of "Tarzan" fame),to Sal Mineo(who starred in episode 18:"The General Swings At Dawn"),to Barry Kelley,and even a special appearance by George Burns.

Juliet Prowse came along way too late as the era of big budget movie musicals was coming to an end. 20 years or even 10 years earlier she would have had a career to rival that of Cyd Charisse.

This series Mona McCluskey was something so unworthy of her talents as a dancer it's frightening. In 1965 the American public wouldn't buy the notion that a movie star, not a chorus girl as the show's page indicates would marry an army sergeant and then be forced to live on the base on his pay.

The same premise was being used at the time in Bewitched where Darrin did not want Samantha to use magic. But Samantha always had to, mainly to save him from her side of the family. It didn't work at all in Mona McCluskey though.

There actually was such a precedent and it didn't work out. Carole Landis during World War II married a GI and that was part of the plot of Four Jills In A Jeep. The marriage didn't work out though and this series with Denny Miller as the GI sergeant didn't work either.

I imagine Juliet Prowse just took what she could and maybe this was the best thing offered her. That woman wasn't beautiful, she was drop dead gorgeous. She was an incredible dancer, see her in her first two films Can-Can and GI Blues and know what I'm talking about.

She was engaged for a while to Frank Sinatra, but they never got hitched. Still in Can-Can she was the inspiration for Frank to sing one of his best movie songs, Cole Porter's It's All Right With Me. It's the musical highlight of the film.

Too bad there weren't more Can-Cans in her future, just Mona McCluskey.

Years ago I met her outside the NBC studio in Brooklyn and she gave me an autograph. I remember her as a gracious and beautiful woman. She should have had a more substantial career.

I was just past puberty when I first saw Mona McCluskey, and I was immediately smitten with its incredibly lovely star, Juliet Prowse. Even though the show was in black and white, and I was watching it on our small, fuzzy TV screen, she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.

But even at that young age I was a keen student of comedy, and I knew that Mona McClusky just wasn't that funny. It wasn't until I saw her singing and dancing on variety shows like Dean Martin that I realized Mona McClusky just wasn't the right venue for her.

Her talents were uniquely suited to the Broadway musical. In fact, that's where she found her greatest successes, starring in Sweet Charity and other musical extravaganzas. Her smile and, frankly, the delivery of her lines, was best suited to the stage, not the small screen.

I think it's too bad they didn't cast her as the hostess of a television variety show. While the big budget movie musical had largely passed by the time Juliet came along, the mid-60s were the heyday of the TV variety show. She sang very well, and danced like a dream. Though she was somewhat stiff when it came to acting, she held her own in bits on other peoples' variety shows, and I think with the right writers and guests she could have been a real contender.

Juliet, I'm a lifelong fan. It's too bad you got more notoriety than fame. I'm sorry you never got the recognition your considerable talent deserved. Even though you're gone, there are still some of us out here in the dark who hold your memory fondly in our hearts. Keep on dancing.