ONE SEASON WONDERS: Accidental Family

On Wednesdays, I look at shows that lasted one season or less. Today I am looking at 1960s flop Accidental Family!

ACCIDENTAL FAMILY

Programming Details:
September 15, 1967 - January 5, 1968
16 episodes
NBC

Starring: Jerry Van Dyke, Lois Nettleton, Larry D. Mann, Teddy Quinn, Susan Benjamin, Ben Blue
Created by: Mel Shavelson

Plot: Jerry Webster (Van Dyke) is a widowed Las Vegas comedian who regains custody of his son Sandy (Quinn) and buys a farm in the San Fernando Valley to raise him. He also contends with the farm's manager, Sue (Nettleton) and her daughter Tracy (Benjamin). Rounding out the main cast is Jerry's friend, Larry (Mann) and hired hand Ben (Blue).

Brief Pilot Review:
This show came a couple years after Jerry Van Dyke starred in the infamous flop My Mother the Car. Though this show actually lasted less episodes, it didn't gain the notoriety of his previous show. It was also a far less silly show as the pilot episode dabbled almost in much as drama as comedy. It felt closer to a heartwarming family movie than a sitcom. I'd be curious to see if the rest of the series kept that balance or got a little more comedic. It was fun to see 60s Las Vegas and not in a period piece. The pilot didn't even move to the farm to meet Sue and Tracy until almost halfway through the episode which I felt like was a little long to get to the main thrust of the premise with all the main characters. The show was definitely a gentle one, it wasn't afraid of long pauses between lines. It felt more like a real gentle 50s comedy rather than its contemporaries like Green Acres or Get Smart. 

This was probably the most reserved version of Jerry Van Dyke I've seen including his earlier turns as a guest on his brother's show or on My Mother the Car or much later turns like his successful run on Coach. Although I like him in Coach, I have often felt like he tries too hard in his roles so it's a little bit refreshing to see him not being manic although he practically seems depressed with how much he downplays everything. Lois Nettleton was fine but not very memorable (and she wasn't given a lot to do) and the kids were pretty decent by 60s TV kids standards. I was also a fan of the odd and jazzy rendition of "Old McDonald" that served as the show's theme!

What Went Wrong:

It must have been tough to be Jerry Van Dyke in the 1960s. His brother, Dick, had a beloved show for the first half of the decade and was also finding success on the big screen and on Broadway. Jerry Van Dyke had guest starred in a few episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show and then starred in the epic bomb that was My Mother the Car. By the time Accidental Family rolled around, Jerry's first show was already a running gag in the industry. Accidental Family was placed on NBC on Friday nights. While Friday nights were not the wasteland they later became in 1967, it was still a tough slot for a show to break out. It followed Star Trek, which became a phenomenon but was not a highly rated show in its original network run.

Jerry Van Dyke publicly complained about the timeslot but it was to no avail. In that same interview, he even questioned his own abilities as an actor so it's clear it was getting to him. The series received decent reviews and may have been a better fit on CBS which was still knee-deep in rural sitcoms at the time before its famous Rural Purge in 1971. The ratings fell apart quickly. By the second week, it was in the bottom five of the TV ratings and the writing was on the wall. Jerry Van Dyke had a couple more flops in the 1970s but of course his story has a happy ending as he finally made it with his Emmy-nominated long-running turn on Coach more than two decades after the demise of Accidental Family.

Tomorrow: A look at the seventh and final season of Parks and Recreation!

Next Wednesday: A One Season Wonder look at 1970s flop The Good Life!