My Favorite Foreign Shows - STAR BYTES By Butch Francisco

When I came out with my list of favorite local shows not so long ago, a lot of a people came up to me to say that those in my list were more or less the programs they used to watch on TV during the days before and after martial law. Oh, what fun we had recalling those golden days of Philippine television. And now, these same people are asking me to publish this time my list of favorite foreign shows. So, here it is:

I Love Lucy – I guess this is on the list of anyone who loves situation comedies. Although I never cared much for the talent of Desi Arnaz, I adored Lucille Ball. My favorite episode here was the one where Lucy and Ethel (Vivian Vance) got tired of doing household chores and challenged their spouses to switch places. Lucy and Ethel went out to get a job, while their husbands stayed home to do the housework. The men attempted to make a chicken and rice dish, but ended up destroying Lucy’s kitchen. Lucy and Ethel, on the other hand, tried working at a candy factory and were assigned to wrap chocolate balls. When they couldn’t keep up with the fast-moving conveyor belt, they ended up stuffing the chocolates into their mouths and dresses.

Get Smart – A detective comedy starring Don Adams as Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) and Barbara Feldon as Agent 99, Maxwell’s beautiful and brainy partner. This ran in the US from 1965 to 1970, but was aired by ABS-CBN only after 1970 – on the Sunday late night slot.

The Three Stooges – What kid didn’t enjoy this slapstick comedy that was later criticized for its sugar-coated violence?

Bewitched – A lot of Pinoys in the late ’60s were bewitched by this series’ really funny comic situations and the beauty of its lead star, Elizabeth Montgomery, who then resembled Pilar Pilapil.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents – A real gem of a series, this suspense anthology was aired on American TV from 1955 to 1965, but was still being syndicated all over the world – including the Philippines – until the early ’70s.

The Wild, Wild West – A western set in the 1870s. Its star, Robert Conrad (James West in the series) disappointed a lot of Filipino fans when he visited the Philippines sometime in 1975. No, he wasn’t snooty or anything. His Pinoy followers just got so dismayed when they found out that at 5’6" or something, he wasn’t all that towering after all in person.

Gilligan’s Island – Even as a kid, I was already a late-riser. But I’d always make an effort to get up early just so I could catch this sitcom which used to be aired every morning on Channel 7.

The Flying Nun – Based on a book entitled The Fifteenth Pelican, this half-hour sitcom is about a novice, Sister Bertrille (played by Sally Field), who could fly every time a stiff wind caught the starched cornette worn by members of her religious order. Although her ability to fly could sometimes be a blessing, it could also be a curse. Once, she was almost shot down after being mistaken for an enemy plane. And then, there was this pelican that fell hopelessly in love with her. My favorite character here, next to Sister Bertrille, was Sister Sixto (Shelley Morrison), the mulata nun who had trouble speaking the King’s language.

The Girl With Something Extra – After The Flying Nun, I watched everything that had Sally Field in it. The Girl With Something Extra was about a newly-wed couple, Sally Field and John Davidson (he later hosted That’s Incredible with Cathy Lee Crosby), faced with a unique problem: The wife had ESP and could read minds – including her husband’s. Although this sitcom had many hilarious episodes, it wasn’t a hit among American viewers and lasted on the air for only less than a year. Here in the Philippines, it proved to be a bigger flop when Channel 4 aired it sometime in 1997.

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice – In 1969, Paul Mazursky came up with a daring comedy about two couples: one modern (Natalie Wood and Robert Culp) and the other conservative (Elliot Gould and Dyan Cannon). The title of this film was Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. It was both a critical and commercial success in the US and overseas. Four years later, the American TV network NBC tried to cash in on the success of this film and produced a television series using the same format and title. (It starred Robert Urich, Anne Archer, David Spielberg and Anita Gillette). Unfortunately, there are things you can show in the movies which you cannot show on television. The TV series Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice proved to be very tame – to the disappointment of the viewers, especially those who had seen the movie. This TV show – though well-produced – was canceled after only one season.

Batman – An adventure series I used to watch with an older brother who fancied himself as Batman, while I had to content myself playing Robin, the sidekick and second banana, every time we did some play-acting.

This series was also the cause of my biggest resentment toward my parents: As a child, they never bought me a Batman suit.