Some of my favorite TV shows when I was a kid were shows like My Favorite Martian, Bewitched, Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, etc. Probably not surprising.
I really liked My Favorite Martian for some reason. The show starred Bill Bixby as Tim O’Hara, hep young, human bachelor (who was also the Hulk and the Magician, as well as the father in The Courtship of Eddie’s Father) and Ray Walston, as “Uncle Martin,” the martian. The show ran from 1963 to 1966.
I think it was a combination of the cute upstairs apartment, it was in L.A., I had a crush on Bill Bixby,-- and, he played a reporter, another cool thing, lol -- I was fascinated by the idea of having a Martian for an "uncle." I liked the music too. (I just thought of something, how ironic and frustrating for the character, Tim O'Hara, to be a reporter and yet not get the scoop on the biggest news of the century; that a real live Martian was living in your apartment!)
Like most of the sit coms where the main character is different, usually non-human (like a genie, or a Martian or from space, or a witch, etc.) only one human knows the truth. Human and alien/witch/genie/what have you get into all kinds of trouble because of this, all while trying to keep everyone else from finding out that the relative, wife, nanny, etc. are non-human, magical beings of some kind. And there’s usually a human that’s suspicious -- they’re not sure what, or why, exactly, but they know something isn’t right. Remember Mrs. Ghostly in Bewitched? Or detective Bill Brennan in My Favorite Martian.
Uncle Martin spent much of his time trying to repair his spaceship so he could get back to his planet. His attempts at fixing his craft often caused all kinds of problems for everyone around him.
1 comment:
don't forget snuffalopagus too...
...and that whole desperate secrets and suspicion-of-a-magical-being idea was also used in 70's sit-coms with issues of sexual identity: notably bosom buddies and three's company.
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