Despite mixed reviews,"The Mothers-In-Law" was executive producer Desi Arnaz' last stand at producing another half-hour situation comedy that lasted two seasons. Not only that it had astounding talent,it had two of the greatest comedy television writers ever,the spectacular team of Bob Carroll,Jr. and Madelyn Davis(who were the creators as well as having full production control during the show's entire run),the same team who wrote many of the hilarious scripts for "I Love Lucy","The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour","The Lucy Show",and "The Ann Sothern Show". For the 56 color episodes that it produced,"The Mothers In-Law" was placed on NBC's Sunday Night Schedule sandwiched in the 8:30PM/EST time slot between "The Wonderful World of Disney","Bonanza",and "The High Chapparal". When it premiered on September 10,1967,the show was placed opposite the long-running "The Ed Sullivan Show" on CBS,and the crime drama series "The FBI" that was produced by Quinn Martin over at ABC which didn't help it in the ratings. Maybe if the powers that be over at NBC,put "The Mothers-In-Law" at another time slot it would be progressed into some more,but it didn't. This was a series that have some great comedy chemistry between it's two stars....one was Eve Arden,and the other was Kaye Ballard. Along with Roger C.Carmel and Herbert Rudley and you had to major hit. However the chemistry between Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard was much as the same as Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance did for "I Love Lucy". The magic between these two actresses was phenomenal. Even some of the physical predicaments or the comical situations these two ended up in were priceless in the age of situation comedy shows of the mid-1960's. Another great piece of casting were the newlyweds(Jerry Fogel and Deborah Walley)and from there you have a television classic that was funny then as it was when audiences saw it back in 1967. However,during the first season,actor Roger C. Carmel(Roger Buell)appeared in only 30 episodes airing September 10,1967 until April 28,1968. Carmel's final appearance on the series was in "How Not To Manage A Rock Group"(aired April 28,1968 with musical guests "The Seeds"). His replacement for the show's second season? He was replaced in Season 2 by Richard Deacon who was a fine veteran of many classic television shows. Deacon was Fred Rutherford on "Leave It To Beaver",and he was also Mel Cooley from "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Deacon appeared in 26 episodes of the series running from September 15,1968 until the show's final episode on April 13,1969.
Though the show never fails to provide laughs,there are some that really stand out that were the best of the series....
"A Night To Forget"(Season 1,Episode 4:airing October 1,1967)-where Eve and Kaye get locked in a department store. They try to call their husbands for help but get a wrong number in Barcelona,Spain!
"Through the Lurking Glass"(Season 1,Episode 12:airing November 26,1967) -Roger is writing for a TV show about the Masked Martian. So,he dresses up in the costume and jumps out at people in the park in order to gauge their reactions for his script. Naturally,he gets arrested and has trouble trying to explain since he is dressed up as a martian. So,he calls for help only to get Eve and Kaye coming in dressed by grasshoppers followed by Herb in an "Arabian Nights" type costume,then Jerry and Suzy dressed as a kangaroo and a rabbit.
"You Challenge Me To What?"(Season 1,Episode 12:airing December 17,1967)
"The Hombre Who Came To Dinner"(Season 1:airing January 14,22,1968)-a two part episode that had special guest star Desi Arnaz.
"Didn't You Used To Be Ozzie Snick"(Season 2,Episode 13:airing December 22,1968)-with special guest star Ozzie Nelson.
When "The Mothers-In-Law" was canceled by NBC on April 13,1969 after 56 episodes,the executives didn't take long to find a replacement when "The Bill Cosby Show" took over the time slot that was once "The Mothers-In-Law"...that show lasted two seasons as well.
