Hazel

Shirley Booth played an opinionated, talkative, even bossy maid for five seasons on "Hazel" -- but there was never a more lovable, or more loved, maid on television.

As portrayed in the popular "Saturday Evening Post" cartoon by Ted Key, Hazel was almost a little too brash. But Miss Booth took some of the harshness out of the cartoon character and replaced it with the warmth and love she brought to her award-winning movie, Broadway and radio roles ("Come Back, Little Sheba," "Duffy's Tavern"). In its debut season of 1961-62, "Hazel" was #2 among all TV programs in the Nielsen ratings.

Hazel never met a person she didn't like--much to the chagrin of her employer, corporate attorney George Baxter (Don DeFore). Even a simple meeting with Frank Gifford (then of the New York Giants), in the 1963 episode "Hazel and the Halfback", goes delightfully awry as Hazel tries to inject her thoughts about football, bowling, and the risks of investing in a bowling alley for which George is negotiating a deal with Gifford.

When George married his wife Dorothy, Hazel came along. As the maid for Dorothy's family, Hazel had raised "Missy" virtually from childhood. While she was supposedly a free-lance interior decorator, Whitney Blake's Dorothy was cast as a typical 1960's TV sitcom housewife--a role at which she chafed until DeFore and she left the series at the end of the 1964-65 season. In one 1964 episode, however, Dorothy joins forces with Hazel to have George break down and remodel their kitchen with side-splitting results.

Hazel was pal and confidante to their son Harold (Bobby Buntrock), and many episodes focused on her helping and motivating "Sport" to be the best he could be, often with unexpected results. In fact, when DeFore and Blake left the series, CBS felt transplanting Hazel and Harold to live with George's real-estate brother Steve (Ray Fulmer), his wife Barbara (Lynn Borden) and their daughter Susie (Julia Benjamin) could keep the continuity going. (Ironically, "Mr. Steve" never appeared in any NBC episode; George's sister Deirdre Thompson, played by Cathy Lewis, was virtually a semi-regular.)

While changing characters, settings and networks often weakened existing series, "Hazel"'s ratings were fairly strong during its CBS run despite being up against the new Monday night episodes of "Peyton Place" on ABC. Miss Booth, herself, was not. As far back as 1964, DeFore was concerned about jeopardizing her health and worked to reduce her load in fourth-season episodes. Indeed, other than a few guest appearances and the short-lived series "For the Love of Grace" in the 1970s, Shirley Booth's TV career ended when "Hazel" left the air in 1966.

Other shows tried to copy "Hazel's" magic, from "Our Man Higgins" with Sterling Holloway in 1962-63 to Fran Drescher as "The Nanny" in the 1990s. No one has come close, and probably no one ever well. To quote Shirley Booth's favorite catchphrase, "Hazel" continues to be "a doozy" half a century later!

When I was growing up in New Jersey in the 60s, I remember watching the reruns of Hazel on Channel 5. It was a very good sitcom, thanks to the outstanding performance of Shirley Booth as the title character. It was her breakout TV role that won her a couple of Emmys.

Also adding to the show's success was Don DeFore as George (Mr. B) Baxter, Whitney Blake, who later went on to co-create the hit CBS sitcom One Day at a Time as his wife Dorothy aka "Missy" and Bobby Buntrock as their young son Harold. Sadly, Buntrock was killed in a car accident at the age of 21.

Not only was Hazel an outstanding maid, she was also a really good bowler. I remember the episode where she competed in a bowling tournament.

Unfortunately, I don't remember any of the fifth season episodes, where DeFore and Blake were replaced by Ray Fulmer as Steve and Lynn Borden as Barbara. Those two have rarely been heard from in years.

Coming from Screen Gems, who had a hit with another sitcom based on the comic strip Dennis the Menace, Hazel ran for five years and ended its run, not because of declining ratings but because Booth was tiring of the role. The show was in reruns for years and later disappeared. But fear not, thanks to the new digital broadcast network Antenna TV, viewers can finally see this lost gem of the 60s.

As the theme song stated early in the run "Who's the gal that's everybody's pal? It's Hazel."

I have loved "Hazel" since I was a little kid and saw it on the network. When the DVD came out last year I did not hesitate to buy it. Re-viewing the series confirms why Shirley Booth won two Emmy awards playing this role. She makes the character Hazel Burke into a lovely, believable woman. The writing and direction of the show was pretty good and holds up well over the years. One reviewer commented on the change in the set decoration in the episode "Dorothy's Birthday." I too noticed this and I think this could be the pilot film, which would possibly explain this difference. Also, another reviewer noticed that while the film quality on this DVD was generally excellent, some of the end credit sequences were "a bit ragged" as though taken from 16mm sources. This could possibly be because the original end credits were superimposed over a series of Ford cars driving down a highway. Ford sponsored the series, and I remember seeing the end credits in this way. In any case, I loved and continue to love this series and will continue to enjoy it on my DVD set. Flash forward to August 2013: I now have the first three seasons of Hazel on DVD and love having them. It's had a lot of national exposure on Antenna TV and people are once again appreciating this fine series.

I do remember "Hazel" so well. Oh how I wish I had VCD tapings of all those shows! It is my outlet of escape from the harsh reality of today's society and today's television. I am not sure if anyone ever knew in what part of the country the Baxter's were situated, but where ever it was it had the perfect setting of how I felt America should be. There were no racial issues (African-American Robert Johnson played a waiter, and there were a few others), or sex scenes, or violence. George Baxter had the ideal house; and I do remember the family sitting down in the family room watching, on TV, a Perry Como special. This prompted me to recently purchase a Perry Como CD of his best songs. Hazel was the best cook, and I often dreamed of tasting some of her fabulous dishes. The warmth of "Somewheresville", USA gave me a "quaint ole feeling" that I hope to get when I re-settle in the States. If only I could view those programs here in China; how at home I would be! Shirley Booth's character and her portrayal seemed so realistic. Many of the actors/actresses in those days seemed thus. What has happened to acting these days? I was shocked to recently discover that Bobby Buntrock had been killed over 20 years ago. He and Booth were the show during its entire run. When "Hazel" moved from NBC to ABC and "Mr. Steve" replaced "Mr. 'B'", Booth's talents could still, in my opinion, pull the show through successfully. Hats off to Ms. Booth and her great supporting cast.

Oscar winner Shirley Booth surprised friends when she signed on to do the television series of "Hazel." Many thought that the role was beneath the star of "Come Back, Little Sheba." Remember, her blowzy wife had brought her the Oscar in 1952 as best actress.

At times, Hazel could be confused but the love that she shared for the people that she worked for was memorable. Remember how she was always watching the weight of her employer, played by Don De Fore. Whitney Blake had just what it took to be the wife of DeFore. Bobby Buntrock was adorable as their son. Too bad that he was killed tragically at such a young age.

Remember DeFore's boss? He could be a crusty old codger, but eventually he would come around due to Hazel Burke. She often reminded him of his mother.

Remember that snotty sister of DeFore? She was always planning the social event of the season.

A great show highlighting wonderful interpersonal relationships.