Occasional Wife
Occasional Wife
| 13 September 1966 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Reviews
    TimGiangiobbe

    Peter Christopher was the lead man . He played a bachelor (Michael) who was determined to never marry in spite of his bosses family values Peters boss baby food mogul Max Brahms was controlling and Michael had to ask a beautiful hat check clerk (Greta Patterson) to pose as his wife and the charade became out of control and the antics off the wall. Yet they continued to fool Michaels boss.What Michael did not realize is that his neighbor (Bryan Obyrne) was a peeping Tom because he watched the comings and goings from the Sixth floor where Michael lived to the eighth floor where Greta lived.There may have been a few sparks of love but cupids arrow did not hit its target in the first season and cupid had no other seasons to score . So the possibility of them marrying was left hanging

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    Axella Johannesson

    When this show debuted, I was all of 8 years old. I loved it! Firstly, I would've married Michael Callan in 1966, if he'd only asked! I thought he was gorgeous. And Patricia Harty? Adorable.The premise of the show sounds ridiculous now, but back then, there really wasn't any fuss and bother about discrimination in the workplace (or sexual harassment - just watch "Mad Men"!). If a boss said you had to be married to receive a promotion in his company, then you had to be married. Now, of course, if your boss laid down such a condition, you'd engage a lawyer and sue. But in 1966, you couldn't. What you could do was find a female friend, and pretend to be married, as far as your boss was concerned.Luckily for Callan's character, he earned enough money to pay for an apartment in his building to house his "occasional wife". This not only helped to seal the deal - it also ensured that she was close at hand when needed. And having the apartments two floors apart gave us the opportunity to see the comic facial expressions of the guy who lived in between, as the Occasional Spouses ran up and down the fire escape.The show was pretty racy for its time. The characters appeared to have sexual relationships without intending for them to end in marriage. Woooooooo....In the pilot, Callan's mother nagged him about still not being married. She said, "You're not... 'eccentric'... are you?" (what a funny way of enquiring about his sexuality!), which he exasperatedly and quickly denied. It cracked me up.I wouldn't mind seeing more episodes of this show, but I think it really was a bit of a one-trick-pony. There would've been only so many times where the boss showed up uninvited, or one or the other partner was seen with someone else... I don't see how it could've gone on longer than a year, now that I think about it.Still, I thought it was a fun show to watch, and enjoyed seeing the pilot again.

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    country_tanner

    I remember watching Occasional Wife back in the 1980s when it aired on the old CBN cable network. While the show itself was OK ( it had its moments ) but the opening of the show pretty much, well was the show. The plot and everything can be found within the first 30 seconds of the program.A previous post wondered why this show isn't available on DVD. I think I have a hunch as to why. The act of a company hiring only those who are married is illegal today and if a company was found to do such a thing they could find themselves into very big trouble. Prehaps its for this reason why we may never see Occasional Wife come to DVD or even be seen anywhere on TV again.

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    jerryandfrank

    I was 11 when O.W. premiered in 1966 and I really enjoyed this very amusing sitcom. I too was sad to see this series end only after one year. I remember reading that NBC was on the fence about canceling O.W., but they decided to go ahead and cancel this charming show. In 1992 Comedy central aired the reruns of O.W. and I was thrilled. I taped a handful of them and I still watch them occasional:) I hope that this show is released on DVD someday. Many short-lived shows have been released on DVD recently...The Monkees; Good Morning World; Ned & Stacy; Lotsa Luck; Gidget; well the list goes on and on...Please release O.W. and include interviews with Michael Callan, Patricia Harty and Bryon O'Byne. There is an audience out there who would love to get their hands on this series!

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