TV WEEK / TV GUIDE – GALE GORDON

August 4, 1962

On August 4, 1962, Gale Gordon appeared on the cover of TV Week, a supplement to the Sunday Chicago Tribune newspaper.  At the time, most all newspapers provided some sort of pull-out, stand-alone TV and/or radio guide.  

Although Lucille Ball was then filming episodes of her new series, “The Lucy Show” for CBS, her return to television after leaving Lucy Ricardo behind in April 1960, Gordon’s appearance here is not related to the famous redhead. 

In March 1962, Gordon had finished up playing Uncle Paul in CBS’s “Pete and Gladys” (1960-62). The show aired its final episode in June 1962. In May he was introduced as John Wilson on “Dennis the Menace,” filling in after the illness and eventual death of Joseph Kearns, who played George Wilson. Kearns was seen on “I Love Lucy” as Dr. Tom Robinson and as the Theatre Manager of “The Most Happy Fella.”  Although Lucille Ball was anxious to re-team with Gordon (her “My Favorite Husband” radio foil and first choice for the role of Fred Mertz) for her comeback in “The Lucy Show,” he had already signed on to play Mr. Wilson and was contractually obliged to stay with the show until it ended in spring 1963. It was then that Ball decided not to let him get away again and quickly dismissed the actor playing her banker (Charles Lane) and hired Gordon to play the new role of Theodore J. Mooney.  This pairing lasted until the end of their lives, reprising their comic relationship in “Here’s Lucy” and “Life With Lucy.”  

The Chicago Trib’s placement of Gordon on their cover was not accidental, it was timed to coincide with the cover of their main competitor, TV Guide, the national magazine and pre-eminent source of TV listings in the US. On the very same date, Gordon shared the cover with his co-star on “Dennis the Menace”, Jay North. Gordon’s first TV Guide cover was in 1955, sharing the cover with Eve Arden, his co-star on “Our Miss Brooks.”  

A 1966 episode of “The Lucy Show” reunited North and Gordon, who played his rambunctious nephew, Wendell Mooney. His uncle calls him a “menace”! 

INSIDE TV WEEK

“The Many-Voiced GALE GORDON Overcame a Speech Defect” 

Born as Charles Aldrich in London, England, he had a cleft plate. He had two painful surgeries and then speech lessons to improve his speaking abilities. When he was 8 years old his mother (Gloria Gordon of “My Friend Irma”) moved them to New York City to pursue acting work, where she suggested her son changes his name to Gale Gordon. While working in a Canadian production of “The Dancers”, actor Richard Bennett noticed Gale’s slight speech impediment and encouraged him to develop his voice. He studied with such dedication that his voice became what John Barrymore said was one of the best voices on radio with perfect dictation. In 1926, Gale Gordon made his debut on the radio and by 1933 he was the highest paid radio actor in Hollywood earning $150 a week, including on a show starring Lucille Ball, “My Favorite Husband.”  

“Audrey Meadows Rebels Against Kitchen Slave Roles”

Meadows is perhaps best remembered for her portrayal of Alice, the deadpan wife of Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) on “The Honeymooners” (1955-56) as well as on episodes of “The Jackie Gleason Show” (1957). 

During the summer of 1962, Meadows was seen on screens in That Touch of Mink, playing opposite Gig Young in the Cary Grant / Doris Day film. 

In 1986, Meadows played Lucille Ball’s sister on “Life With Lucy”.  Although critics admired the chemistry between Ball and Meadows, they hated the show, which was canceled after that episode aired. 

TV WEEK LISTINGS

The listings for Monday, August 6, 1962 include a morning re-run of “I Love Lucy,” (no episode details, however) and an evening re-run of “Lucy Goes To Alaska” (LDCH S2;E3), first aired in February 1959. Monday evenings were typically Lucy nights on CBS, and the tradition continued after the cancellation of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” and before Ball returned to Monday’s with “The Lucy Show” in October 1962. 

The evening also features a re-run of “Pete and Gladys” on CBS, although the episode is not one of the nine that featured Gale Gordon. 

A cartoon depicts a husband on the roof adjusting a TV antenna while the wife shouts up about the picture. Before the advent of cable television, good reception relied upon a properly adjusted antenna! 

Coincidentally, this was also the subject of a season one episode of “The Lucy Show” in November 1962.

Lucille Ball appeared on the cover of the Chicago Trib’s TV Week at least ten times, including in November 1956, October 1963, January 1965, March 1966, December 1967, May 1970, and June 1976. 

It is also coincidental that Monday, August 6, 1962 was Lucille Ball’s 51st birthday.