The first season is fast winding down and with it the "farmer's daughter" phase of the show. The next season begins the transition to the city-centered and ensemble format that provided the template for THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW. And that isn't the only influence seen first on THE DORIS DAY SHOW. I suggest that "The Still" is itself a noteworthy episode as it foreshadows future television hits THE WALTONS and THE DUKES OF HAZZARD.
Who wasn't struck by the striking similarities to the Baldwin Sisters upon seeing the spinster sisters wax reverent about Daddy while making Moonshine with their in-home still? I looked to see if Earl Hamner, Jr. was the writer of this episode--he wasn't, but I suspect he was not unfamiliar with it when creating the cast of THE WALTONS.
It was also fun as well as prescient to see Buck buffaloing the Revenuers, presaging his later role as ridge runner Uncle Jesse on THE DUKES OF HAZZARD. But instead of Uncle Jesse in Black Tillie we got Doris in a station wagon squealing tires on dirt roads.
Doris did an admirable job eluding the Treasury men, even going off road through hill and dale to get ahead of them. Of course a phone call from the jail tipping Buck and Leroy to the hidden still and feds fast approaching would have been more efficient and effective, but only half as much fun.
The two revenuers were pretty bland, as were the Lindsay sisters. Madge Blake, best known as Aunt Harriet on BATMAN, played a committee woman in "The Con Man" a few episodes ago, and she would have brought a charm to the sisters that was missing.
The highlight of the guest cast was Barney Phillips as Sheriff Ben Anders. Fellow fans may recall Frank Maxwell originally played this role in the fourth episode, "The Matchmakers." Instead of a sheriff's office in town with two deputies (including the amorous Ubbie Puckum), Anders appears to work alone in a standalone shack that serves as sheriff's office and jail. At first glance I thought it was the jail set from THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, but it wasn't, despite resemblances.
Speaking of which, Phillips played Sheriff Anders as a smarter--and shorter--Andy Taylor, caring and looking out for his Cotina community of eccentrics. I see he'll turn up again in "The Tiger," but he would have made a strong addition to the regular cast. And perhaps he would have been brought aboard had the producers not decided to change the show's format for the following season.
The slapstick is slathered on thick this time around, and it succeeds in eliciting laughs, but I admit that silly music they played relentlessly wore on me after awhile. And what's up with the running gag of smoke-blackened faces? Doris got a face full of black smoke in "Love Thy Neighbor" and "The Babysitter," and this time Leroy gets the dubious honor. I can only guess it was the makeup artist's specialty and the producers made the most of it.
A fun and frothy episode and a historically significant one for pop culture fans, providing peeks into the future that are fascinating to consider in hindsight.
PS: Tightening the Doris-Dukes-Waltons net, Denver Pyle played cousin Homer Baldwin in the first season WALTONS episode "The Reunion."
Who wasn't struck by the striking similarities to the Baldwin Sisters upon seeing the spinster sisters wax reverent about Daddy while making Moonshine with their in-home still? I looked to see if Earl Hamner, Jr. was the writer of this episode--he wasn't, but I suspect he was not unfamiliar with it when creating the cast of THE WALTONS.
It was also fun as well as prescient to see Buck buffaloing the Revenuers, presaging his later role as ridge runner Uncle Jesse on THE DUKES OF HAZZARD. But instead of Uncle Jesse in Black Tillie we got Doris in a station wagon squealing tires on dirt roads.
Doris did an admirable job eluding the Treasury men, even going off road through hill and dale to get ahead of them. Of course a phone call from the jail tipping Buck and Leroy to the hidden still and feds fast approaching would have been more efficient and effective, but only half as much fun.
The two revenuers were pretty bland, as were the Lindsay sisters. Madge Blake, best known as Aunt Harriet on BATMAN, played a committee woman in "The Con Man" a few episodes ago, and she would have brought a charm to the sisters that was missing.
The highlight of the guest cast was Barney Phillips as Sheriff Ben Anders. Fellow fans may recall Frank Maxwell originally played this role in the fourth episode, "The Matchmakers." Instead of a sheriff's office in town with two deputies (including the amorous Ubbie Puckum), Anders appears to work alone in a standalone shack that serves as sheriff's office and jail. At first glance I thought it was the jail set from THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, but it wasn't, despite resemblances.
Speaking of which, Phillips played Sheriff Anders as a smarter--and shorter--Andy Taylor, caring and looking out for his Cotina community of eccentrics. I see he'll turn up again in "The Tiger," but he would have made a strong addition to the regular cast. And perhaps he would have been brought aboard had the producers not decided to change the show's format for the following season.
The slapstick is slathered on thick this time around, and it succeeds in eliciting laughs, but I admit that silly music they played relentlessly wore on me after awhile. And what's up with the running gag of smoke-blackened faces? Doris got a face full of black smoke in "Love Thy Neighbor" and "The Babysitter," and this time Leroy gets the dubious honor. I can only guess it was the makeup artist's specialty and the producers made the most of it.
A fun and frothy episode and a historically significant one for pop culture fans, providing peeks into the future that are fascinating to consider in hindsight.
PS: Tightening the Doris-Dukes-Waltons net, Denver Pyle played cousin Homer Baldwin in the first season WALTONS episode "The Reunion."
