Doris Day's contract with CBS to do this series set a record, with her production company getting several million dollars in up-front money. It was negotiated by
Martin Melcher, her husband of 17 years. However, after Melcher died unexpectedly in April of 1968, just five months before the series was to debut, Day said she had no knowledge of ever having signed on to do the show. It turned out that Melcher and the couple's lawyer and financial advisor had squandered the millions of dollars that Day had made in her 20-year career in films and records, leaving her not only flat broke but also more than $500,000 in debt. Melcher, desperate for money, had used his position as her husband and manager and had contracted with CBS to produce a sitcom for Day, but he never told her about it.
