My Critique of "The Mothers-in-Law"

[Jude The Obscure]

I enjoyed the two part "The Hombre Who Came to Dinner", esp the second part where Desi performs "The Straw Hat Song" with Desi Jr on the drums--really enjoyable. Too bad Desi didn't see himself as a regular character--maybe every 3-4th episode.

[Jude The Obscure]

I gotta agree that season 2 was the weaker season. The writing here is less sharp and there is just too much reliance on gags we already have seen done on I Love Lucy AND The Lucy Show. I do like the change in the Hubbard house (although it was never explained). Richard Deacon didn't bother me as a change for Kaye's husband, although he was older than Roger Carmel and had a different style, so the character does come across differently. And yes, the theme song is probably one of the most ANNOYING for a sitcom--I tend to skip it when the DVD plays. What I find less credible is that Roger is supposedly a TV script writer, but money was always an issue? I can see why this did not make a third season--it wasn't just the ratings, the whole premise was running out of gas and one gets tired of seeing Eve and Kaye scheme to meddle in their kids' lives episode after episode.

[retroTVfan4ever]

The series started off fairly good, but it didn't take too long for the wheels to start coming off the cart. The Bicycle Race episode was wasted, this had potential to be a funny episode but the writers tanked it. Roger Carmel is missed in the 2nd season, Richard Deacon was the wrong actor for that role. Still, the DVD's are nice to have as long as your expectations for the show aren't too high. Not the best show, but it's a fun, nostalgic ride back to the late 1960's. The series was definitely a product of it's time, that's for certain.

[Jude The Obscure]

I won't be watching this one again in marathon sessions

[retroTVfan4ever]

When I'm in the mood to watch this show, 2 or 3 episodes at a time is about the most I can sit thru. Then the DVD's go back on the shelf and when the mood strikes me again, I'll watch 2 or 3 more. So I agree the show plays best a few episodes at a time, it has funny moments but not recommended for marathon viewing.

[Jude The Obscure]

Exactly my plan and then I will seek out the episodes I know were funny to me.

[retroTVfan4ever]

The main reason to watch The Mothers In Law today is for the nostalgic value. It's a nice throwback to the late 1960's and represents that era well.

When watching the DVD episodes, I notice that end of scenes tend to fade out rather quick. I was thinking back to when the series first aired, and I seem to recall there were bumpers at the end of scenes that led into the commercials. The scene would fade out, then a still frame with The Mothers In Law title would appear, and the announcer would say "The Mothers In Law will return in a moment" or something to that effect. It looks like the bumpers were edited out on the DVD's, that would explain the reason for the quick fade outs.

I am scheduled to move this weekend, so this will probably be my last post until I'm settled into my new place and have internet connection. If all goes well, I plan to be in business again in the not too distant future and resume discussion of classic TV shows with the good folks here at sitcoms online.

[Jude The Obscure]

This was a blind buy for me as I didn't grow up seeing the reruns anywhere and it wasn't until the 90s, I caught 1 or 2 episode reran on WHT (what may be called FamilyNet today??). BTW, Jerry Fogel reminds me of a blander version of Robert Reed.