I'm Dickens, He's Fenster

I recall one episode where a customer who had her kitchen remodeled by Dickens and Fenster and she complained that the magnetic catches on her cabinet doors were too strong. Fenster argued with her about her complaint as Dickens replaced the catches with weaker ones. They left the kitchen, magnets in Dickens pocket....and the refrigerator followed them out the door, drawn by the magnets in his pockets!! I was nine years old, hey, it was funny. The theme song, I recall it clearly, was some bizarre melody played on what sounded like a kazoo played underwater, and indeed the title of the song was the "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster March" and it was available on some cheesy album of then-current TV show themes. Wish this series was available on DVD or, in syndication on cable!!

By now, I am sure everyone knows that many episodes of the show are available on DVD and on YouTube. I used to watch it when I was about 10 years old and I loved it. I loved that it had a live audience, not just a dead laugh track. I loved the slap stick comedy. I was impressed with the theme song, I immediately grasped it's reference to Laurel and Hardy, and I tried to record it. However, I could not get a good recording because they always made announcements while the music was being played. So I wrote to the show and asked if they might send me a recording. I received a nice letter from the composer, Irving Szathmary, and a very professional recording of the theme song. Mr. Szathmary also informed me that he was writing music for a new show soon too debut, titled Get Smart! I gave this review seven stars out of 10. I deducted only a few stars because, in retrospect, some of the humor, typical of the 1960s, just isn't all that funny today. That said, a lot of it is timeless and still makes me laugh.

Yes, 1962 was part of that great golden era of television when creativity was crisp and original. Like "The Honeymooners", "I'm Dickens He's Fenster" was a short-lived comedy that should have lasted much longer. I was eight years old when this program aired on ABC and watched it every week (I think it was on a Friday night right after the Flintstones). I always remembered the ending that showed their tools, but thought that they used to hang on a pegboard. I was wrong; looking at YouTube, they're scattered about.

I also learned that this program outdrew the competition of NBC's "Sing Along with Mitch" and CBS's "Route 66". The latter program was extremely popular, by the way.

I finally got the chance to view some of the shows on YouTube and couldn't get over how fresh this program was. The opening tune resembled Laurel and Hardy's introductory music and that was understandably so since Leonard Stern was a huge admirer of that comedy duo. It was also refreshing to know that Stan Laurel was a great fan of the show. It's unfortunate that he wasn't instrumental in attempting to influence the executives of ABC to keep this show on the air.

Two things should be done: 1) this show SHOULD be on DVD and 2) there should be an attempt to redo this program for modern TV. The possibility of seeing it on DVD is very real, but redoing it probably is not a realistic move since modern television could never duplicate the originality of it.

Please join Imdickenshesfenster.com to make this show a reality on DVD.

Supposedly, all the masters for all 32 episodes were found and are being transferred to DVD. The question is when?

I loved this show when I was young. Great slapstick, but not the mindless variety. Clever sight gags and some real heart displayed by the writers.

Leonard Stern was the mastermind behind it, and he deserves credit for putting together a great cast.

Oddly, the show appears to have been canceled despite good reviews and rising ratings at the end of its one-season run.

http://imdickenshesfenster.com/index.html

With (I believe ) a Flintstones lead in, the show had quite a following among 6 year old kids like me. Unfortunately they did not buy the sponsors product; Dutch Masters Cigars. ( I remember the jingle; "Step up to Dutch Masters and smile, brother, smile!") Today someone would channel streamed kid impressions to the program and all would be well.