Mister Peepers

Wally Cox made a name for himself in this show about a shy school teacher named Mr. Peepers. He was very smittened by another of the teachers played by Patricia Benoit. My mother said that when they finally got married on the show, it was a big TV event.

This show was also the springboard for a bigger star of film, television and the theater. His name, Tony Randall. From here it was straight up for him.

Sadly, this show does not exist any longer. It was filmed in Kinescope back in the early days of TV. Alot of these Kinescope taped shows fell apart after several years. I have only seen bits and pieces of this show. I have always wanted to enjoy watching it like my parents did. It was one of the top shows back then. If you have seen this show back when it was on, please make a comment about it.

I was about 13 or 14 when the series began and about 17 or 18 when it ended. One of the best comedy series ever, and that's not just nostalgia talking.

Just look at that cast---Wally Cox, Tony Randall, Arthur O'Connell, Jack Warden, and the inimitable Marion Lorne. Randall and Cox played off each other perfectly, Randall as the worldly, man-to-man advisor to Cox's shy, soft spoken, science teacher.

Cox was perfect in every way for his role, and Randall played his self-consciously masculine character with a subtle irony that perfectly expressed both their relationship to one another as human beings and their relationship to the world as types. Consequently, the viewer could identify with them both and on both levels.

Great writing, and not a mean syllable in it.

i, too, loved this series when i was a kid. In 1952 i was 5 and my family always watched this show. My favorite character was the one played by Marion Lorne as a rather stuttering, bumbling and very lovable "aunt" type person. i can still recall her "ubba bubba um um" type comments as she would try and say something important. And then when she came back and played Aunt Clara in Bewitched it was great casting!

It was the first time that i can remember seeing Walter Matthau whose career i followed as a fan for many many years.

i have a question if anyone can verify: was the title or end credits music the "Swedish Rhapsody" by Hugo Alfven? Every time i hear it played on my classical radio station here in Southern California it brings back memories of the image of Mr. Peepers walking away with his back to the camera. i'm not even certain if this image in my mind's eye is correct.

I have a vivid memory of a Mr. Peepers episode when I was about seven years of age. Mr. Peepers had been invited to some woman's house for dinner along with others. She was very insecure about her cooking and was anxious to please everyone there with her skill.

Wall Cox, playing Mr. Peepers, being a small, thin man was soon completely filled up from the first helping of food. She enthusiastically offered Mr. Peepers an enormous second helping, which he politely refused. She became very upset, almost hysterical, when he refused to start on a second plate, thinking that Mr peepers hadn't liked her cooking at all.

My account may seem ordinary but I remember it clearly as hilarious. The live audience at that time laughed uproariously as the scene closed, showing Mr. Peepers quickly tearing into the enormous second plate of her cooking in an attempt to stop her crying.

I've just finished viewing the 1st disc in a 4-disc (26 episodes) collection created in conjunction with the UCLA Film & Television Archive (S'More Entertainment, Inc.). So far (aside from the 1st episode), the image quality is quite good. The DVD box is shown on the title page here on IMDb.

"Mr. Peepers" is just as charming as when I first saw it (5-years old at the time) and Wally Cox is truly endearing in this role. If you're in the mood for quiet comedy that sneaks up on you, as opposed to hitting you over the head, you'll treasure this chance to experience all the wonderful characters you might remember from your childhood. Although some of the gags are a bit corny, most are ingenious and well-executed...and even the corny ones are fun. This is one TV series that lives up to my early childhood memories of it.