He & She

This show was actually hip when in 1967 nothing was hip unless it was camp like Get Smart or bad like Lost in Space. And it was just as funny as rural classics like The Andy Griffith Show and campers like Get Smart. While this wasn't the first show to feature a married couple sans children, its writing and plots pointed more toward sitcoms of the 80s (e.g. Cheers). If it's ever shown on one of the re-run channels or released on video, catch it! Classic dialog: She, "What are you saying?" He, "Never mind what I'm saying, just listen to me!"

Someone should rerun "He & She" on a regular basis (are you listening, TV Land?) because it's one of the true underrated gems in TV sitcom history. The cast and the writing are all first-rate, and it's one of the few sitcoms of the '60s to be filmed in front of a live studio audience, which means there's no annoying laugh track. It really is a forerunner of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Cheers", and perhaps it came along too soon. But it's a witty, intelligent show that tried to do something different. I've caught a few episodes of it here and there. (TV Land used to run an occasional episode every once in a while, usually part of a "box set" of shows with a common theme.) "He & She" deserves to be seen again.

This show definitely had a Mary Tyler Moore Show feel to it. The reason? It was produced by David Davis, who went on to produce all those classic sitcoms for MTM Studios in the early 70's (MTM, Bob Newhart, Rhoda, etc). If this show had come along 3 years later, it would have fit right into that popular CBS Saturday night comedy block & would have been held in equal esteem with those aforementioned classics. The premise: Benjamin & Prentiss as the anti-Petries! Benjamin's character being a sort of Rob Petrie with the deadpan of a Bob Hartley & Prentiss as a less-whiney Laura Petrie/Mary Richards (see the connection?). Davis backed them up with his usual brilliant ensemble casting: Jack Cassidy in his most cartoonish role ever as 'actor' Oscar North, a precursor of Ted Baxter (but even MORE vain, if you can imagine) & the great Kenneth Mars (Franz Liebkind in "The Producers") lending his talents as Harry the fireman, who regularly made his entrance from the fire station into the Hollister's living room via a wooden plank precariously placed on the window ledges between the buildings (yet another great running gag). Sadly, CBS didn't know what to do with this one & the show was bounced around the schedule before suffering it's untimely demise after just one underrated & under-appreciated season.

Someone PLEASE bring this one back!

I would say this show deserves special recognition in tv history. It totally was ahead of its time; it would have been a hit in like 1971 or so. cbs was the worst network for it. it was brilliant. next time you are watching one of the thousands of idiotic shows on tv with no humanity and no good acting; think of this. i doubt it is on dvd, but it must be somewhere. it is truly unique. how many shows had outstanding writing, direction, acting romantic and acting chemistry. jack cassidy was insanely watchable.

What an amazing show. I was 11 when this was on and I had to pull every con game imaginable to get to stay up late enough to watch it. Prentiss and Benjamin were great together, having the real chemistry of actual married people (they were and still are, wed). They were funny and a pleasure to watch. Hamilton Camp was hilarious, too, but best of all was Jack Cassidy (father of David and Shaun) as the ultimate Hollywood schnorrer. I loved this and was really upset when it got axed, basically because the show that came on before it was a completely dud. For a while there was talk about reviving it, but it never happened. Produced by David Davis who was one of the geniuses who created the first "Mary Tyler Moore Show", this had much the same flavor. One of the funniest episodes of the latter series was where Jack Cassidy appeared as Ted Knight's ultra-competitive brother. If you ever get the opportunity to see episodes of "He & She", don't pass it up.