Harris Against the World
Jack Klugman in Harris Against the World.
GenreSituation comedy
StarringJack Klugman
Patricia Barry
ComposerJack Marshall
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
ProducersJoe Connelly
Devery Freeman
Running time22–24 minutes
Production companiesKayro-Vue Productions
Universal Television
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseOctober 5, 1964 (1964-10-05) –
January 4, 1965 (1965-01-04)
Jack Klugman, Patricia Barry, and David Macklin in Harris Against the World.

Harris Against the World, also known as 90 Bristol Court: Harris Against the World, is an American situation comedy that stars Jack Klugman in the title role of Alan Harris as the superintendent of a large Hollywood movie studio who is frustrated with most things in his life. It aired from 1964 to 1965.

Synopsis

Alan Harris and his family — wife Kate and children Dee Dee and Billy — live at 90 Bristol Court, a fashionable apartment complex in Los Angeles, California. Harris is the plant superintendent at a large Hollywood movie studio. Kate is a spendthrift who always finds Harris second jobs to work part-time to pay the bills — taking up what little spare time he has — and his two children are very active and hard for him to keep up with. Harris is frustrated and overwhelmed by the many challenges he faces in his life, both at work and at home — with money, his family, his bosses, taxes, and people in general — and is prone to complaining about them, although underneath it all he is a good and soft-hearted person. Helen and Norm Miller are Harris's good friends, and Cliff Murdock is the superintendent and handyman at 90 Bristol Court who frequently greets residents and visitors as they come and go at the apartment complex.[1][2][3][4]

Cast

90 Bristol Court

Harris Against the World was one of three 30-minute situation comedies — along with Karen, aired immediately before it, and Tom, Dick and Mary immediately after it — broadcast Monday nights under the umbrella title 90 Bristol Court. Despite all three shows being set at the same Los Angeles apartment complex with the address 90 Bristol Court, the only connection the three series had was the character of handyman Cliff Murdock (portrayed by Guy Raymond), who greeted the residents and visitors to 90 Bristol Court. After the last episodes of Harris Against the World and Tom, Dick and Mary aired on January 4, 1965, 90 Bristol Court ceased to be a programming entity. Although Karen continued to air after the demise of the other two series as a stand-alone show, handyman Murdock disappeared from Karen along with the 90 Bristol Court concept.

Production

Harris Against the World was produced by Kayro-Vue and Universal Television,[5] which also produced The Munsters for CBS that season.[6] Thirteen black-and-white episodes were produced.[4][5]

Broadcast history

Harris Against the World premiered on NBC on October 5, 1964, and aired at 8:00 p.m. on Monday throughout its run. It drew low ratings — for the November-to-December 1964 reporting period, the Nielsen ratings ranked it 91st among the 96 prime-time network television shows — and was the least-watched of the three 90 Bristol Court series, although Karen and Tom, Dick and Mary did little better. In mid-November 1964 The New York Times reported that NBC planned to cancel both Harris Against the World and Tom, Dick and Mary, effective in early January 1965. Harris Against the World thus lasted only half a season, and the 13th and final episode aired on January 4, 1965.[1][2][5][7]

Peter Tewksbury wrote, produced, and directed all three episodes that aired as part of 90 Bristol Court on November 23, 1964, and used the philosophy of Henry David Thoreau regarding simple living as a starting point for each of them: On Karen, Thoreau influenced Karen and her complicated love life when she mistakenly made three dates for the same Saturday night; on Harris Against the World, Thoreau inspired Harris to take his family fishing, only to find that he has to renew his driver's license that day; and on Tom, Dick and Mary, Dick used Thoreau's philosophy as he attempted to fix several broken household appliances.[7]

Episodes

SOURCES [4][5][7][8][9][10][11][12]

No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date
1"Harris Against His Secretary"UnknownUnknownOctober 5, 1964 (1964-10-05)
Harris is horrified to discover that a report he needs to submit to his superiors at the movie studio has not been typed because his secretary has eloped. Guest stars: Hope Holiday, Madge Blake, and Alan Reed.
2"Harris Against His Family"UnknownUnknownOctober 12, 1964 (1964-10-12)
The Harrises plan to make Kate’s handsome, successful college boyfriend, bachelor Gregg Albright, wish he were a happily married family man like Harris. Guest star: Elliott Reid.
3"Harris Against the Old Rah-Rah"UnknownUnknownOctober 19, 1964 (1964-10-19)
Harris's boyhood archrival comes to town, reviving their old sports rivalry. Guest star: Hans Conried.
4"Harris Against His Dancing Teacher"UnknownUnknownOctober 26, 1964 (1964-10-26)
As a wedding anniversary surprise, Harris buys a mink stole for Kate and signs up for dancing lessons for himself — but the lessons lead to trouble with Kate. Guest stars: Joyce Jameson and Hal Baylor.
5"Harris Against Kid Parties"UnknownUnknownNovember 2, 1964 (1964-11-02)
Harris must attend to children at Dee Dee's birthday party before he can head to an important golf match. Guest stars: Michael Blake and Hugh Sanders.
6"Harris Against Sundays"UnknownUnknownNovember 9, 1964 (1964-11-09)
Harris finds that the only way he can have a relaxed Sunday is to leave 90 Bristol Court and get away from guests who drop by.
7"Harris Against Aunt Cora"UnknownUnknownNovember 16, 1964 (1964-11-16)
Kate's Aunt Cora hasn't spoken to the Harrises since their wedding 17 years ago, but Harris thinks he can still patch things up with her. Guest stars: Ruth Donnelly, Vaughn Taylor, and Ross Elliott.
8"Harris Against the Simple Life"Peter TewksburyPeter TewksburyNovember 23, 1964 (1964-11-23)
The philosophy of Henry David Thoreau inspires Harris to take his family on a fishing trip, but on the day of the trip he discovers it is the deadline for him to renew his driver's license.
9"Harris Against the Studio"UnknownUnknownNovember 30, 1964 (1964-11-30)
Harris invites movie star Press Diller to a quiet gathering at the Harris apartment at 90 Bristol Court, but when the word gets out that Diller will be there, the guest list begins to grow. Guest star: Peter Mann.
10"Harris Against the Stock Market"UnknownUnknownDecember 7, 1964 (1964-12-07)
Harris gives a stock market tip to some friends, and they appoint him to buy the stock.
11"Harris Against His Housekeeper"UnknownUnknownDecember 14, 1964 (1964-12-14)
Kate hires a new maid who works out just fine, except that she dislikes men — and cannot stand Harris. Guest star: Kathleen Freeman.
12"Harris Against His Son, the Drop-Out"UnknownUnknownDecember 28, 1965 (1965-12-28)
Billy announces that he is quitting high school, and Harris wants to convince him not to — so Harris gets him a job.
13"Harris Against Anniversary Gifts"UnknownUnknownJanuary 4, 1965 (1965-01-04)
Harris frantically races to exchange an anniversary gift and still be on time for the anniversary party. Guest stars: Jacques Aubuchon, Patty Regan, Howard McNear, John Hart, and Bill McLean.

References

  1. 1 2 McNeil, Alex, Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, Fourth Edition, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, ISBN 0 14 02 4916 8, p. 361.
  2. 1 2 Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–present (Sixth Edition), New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, ISBN 0-345-39736-3, pp. 438–439.
  3. ↑ IMDB Harris Against the World (1964–1965) Accessed 6 November 2021
  4. 1 2 3 Nostalgia Central Harris Against the World Accessed 6 November 2021
  5. 1 2 3 4 Classic TVA Archive Harris Against the World, Accessed 6 November 2021
  6. ↑ Classic TVA Archive The Munsters, Accessed 6 November 2021
  7. 1 2 3 Television Obscurities 90 Bristol Court Accessed 6 November 2021
  8. ↑ Television Obscurities TV Guide 365: Monday, October 12th, 1964 Accessed 7 November 2021
  9. ↑ Television Obscurities TV Guide 365: Monday, October 19th, 1964 Accessed 7 November 2021
  10. ↑ Television Obscurities TV Guide 365: Monday, October 26th, 1964 Accessed 7 November 2021
  11. ↑ Television Obscurities TV Guide 365: Monday, November 2nd, 1964 Accessed 7 November 2021
  12. ↑ Television Obscurities TV Guide 365: Monday, November 30th, 1964 Accessed 7 November 2021
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