MovieChat Forums > Hazel (1961) Discussion > Pardon my French, but the last season tr...

Pardon my French, but the last season truly sucked!!!

posted 9 years ago by chihuahuaboydh-724-612855
18 replies | jump to latest

To merely cut costs being the chief reason for Don DeFore & Whitney Blake being dropped from the cast during "Hazel"'s last season was a very poor choice made by the producers (even though the switch of networks), as replacing these two actors - professional actors with two younger actors with less experience is why any show would tank. In the last season, the storylines suffered, thus DeFore's & Blake's replacements couldn't act their way out of a paper bag. The tension between the George Baxter & Hazel Burke characters is the reason this sitcom became quite successful. Having DeFore & Blake replaced was a big mistake!

Larry Appleton: "I have..."
Balki Bartokomous: "Oh, God!"
Larry Appleton: "...a plan!"

[–] darkridedan 9 years ago

It does, and unfortunately Antenna got back to this season awfully quickly... Unless I was previously watching this on MeTv.
EDIT:
Fortunately at the 1/2 hour today, Hazel goes back to the B&W episodes on Antenna TV.

[–] WhateverLolaWantsLolaGets 9 years ago

I agree it was a huge mistake. I couldn't stand the younger Baxters. Steve Baxter came across as an arrogant prick while George just seemed slightly cantankerous. In addition to the mistake of replacing Don and Whitney, I also feel the show should've stayed B&W. The color episodes just don't have the same feel as the b&w.

I survived because I was tougher than anybody else.- Bette Davis

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] hammer4 9 years ago

Only the first season (1961-62) was in black and white, with one episode (#6) in color. I don't feel the show suffered merely because it was filmed in color. There were three full seasons (1962-65) featuring Don DeFore and Whitney Blake that were in color and these included some of the best episodes in the series, in my opinion.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] hammer4 9 years ago

I would tend to agree about the last season of Hazel. In fact, when my local station first began airing the Hazel reruns many years ago I don't think they even included the fifth and last season.

Regarding The Andy Griffith Show, I think that like a lot of long running TV shows, things just went a bit stale towards the end with the writing and the acting.

[–] acornbtd-488-468227 7 years ago

Regarding The Andy Griffith Show, I think that like a lot of long running TV shows, things just went a bit stale towards the end with the writing and the acting.
Re: Pardon my French, but the last seaso

Totally agree! When Don Knots left Andy Griffith to pursue a movie career which never really took off, the show went downhill. The addition of "Warren" was a grave failure, in my opinion, as he was more annoying than entertaining.

With respect to Hazel, the same applies. When "Missy and Mr. B." left the series, it should have ended on the high note, instead of miscalculating the importance of these 2 characters and producing the last season, which was not only bland, but just awful

[–] hammer4 7 years ago

Good post. Regarding "Hazel" as others have also indicated, it was evidently a money issue, coupled with the fact that the show's rating had slipped significantly in the '64-'65 season. The producers/network wanted to wring out at least one more season, and as I understand it DeFore and Blake wanted to continue. They weren't willing to take a substantial pay cut however. Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden were unknowns and no doubt came cheap. They were counting on Booth being able to carry the show.

Back to "Andy Griffith", I also never cared for Jack Burns' (Warren) "style". Obviously, many viewers agreed with this assessment. At the time, Burns was fairly well known from his comedy act with Avery Schreiber. But a nightclub act isn't nearly the same as having an important role on a weekly series.

The thing about Don Knotts leaving to do feature films, this was certainly understandable. The films that he starred in in the mid to late 1960s have been savaged by the critics. However, they apparently were commercially successful or he wouldn't have been able to have made as many as he did. He may have gotten a nice new house and car out of it, at any rate.

[–] acornbtd-488-468227 7 years ago

The thing about Don Knotts leaving to do feature films, this was certainly understandable. The films that he starred in in the mid to late 1960s have been savaged by the critics. However, they apparently were commercially successful or he wouldn't have been able to have made as many as he did. He may have gotten a nice new house and car out of it, at any rate.

After writing my response, I found a site and evidently, Andy Griffith was only slated for 5 years, but because it was doing so well, they continued. However, Don Knots wanted a small portion of the show, as Andy and Sheldon owned quite a bit of it. Thinking Don wanted half of Andy's share (which was by no means the case) they declined his request so he moved forward but remained great friends with Griffith.

What really surprised me while reading this article was the real issue all cast members had with Bavier. She actually hit George Lindsay with her umbrella and was so out of control, she had to be physically restrained. She also was very unkind to Ron Howard (although he is very kind about the way she was) and thankfully, she did call Andy months before her passing to apologize for being so difficult during those years on the show.

[–] jhonwask 8 years ago

The only reason I don't like the look of the color Hazel episodes is because the color is inconsistent. One episode will have rich, natural color and another will have a faded, yellowed, or green tint. I love the 1st color episode; it's one of my favorites when Hazel gets the color TV.

As for the 5th/final season, it wasn't too bad, but it was a completely different show, almost like when Dick York left Bewitched. Plus, you get to see a very young Ann Jillian working in Steve's office. The Chrysanthemum episode is my favorite season 5 episode.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] goldenpet 8 years ago

Re: Steve Baxter's behavior... he was arrogant, wasn't he. I couldn't figure out why I disliked him so much but you nailed it. There was almost nothing redeeming in his character... no real reason to like him at all. In contrast George Baxter was a lot of fun and had a sense of humor about himself. I always liked what he said when Dorothy asked him why he bid on some of Hazel's junk in an auction, and he replied, "Because I'm a numbskull." Very funny line.

I always think of the last season as "Real Estate 101." A real snoozefest.

I'd put a stupid saying here but I won't.

[–] CarolT2 8 years ago

I was too young to watch & enjoyed watching reruns of Season 4, now it's Season 5 & it does suck. Steve is an arrogant ass & is bad actor too.

[–] ScottLovesIsrael 8 years ago

I like season 5. The actors are okay, it's just a different dynamic with Hazel since they're younger. They're definitely better replacements than Dick Sargent was as Darren on Bewitched.

The camping and "haunted house" episodes from S5 are among my favorites of the entire series.

Perhaps I'm a bit biased, since the last season is what I remember most from reruns as a kid.

[–] snsurone 8 years ago

Hi, Scott--it's good to hear from you again.

AntennaTV is back to running Season 1 (the B&W one) now.
See if you can watch them.
You'll see that Don DeFore and Whitney Blake are far better that Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden.

BTW, I too love Israel AND your avatar.

[–] wheresjohnny 8 years ago

I don't see the last season as that different in tone from the previous seasons.
Don DeFore and Ray Fulmer were about the same and with Whitney and Lynn it was mostly a choice of who you thought was better looking. The show was still okay.It wasn't as big a drop in talent as when Sargent took over for York on Bewitched. I thought Fulmer and Borden had some appeal.

[–] kwestmo (4294) a month ago

Very strange analysis.

[–] CarolT2 7 years ago

I managed to miss Season 1 in B&W. I've been watching on Antenna TV. Now Season 5 is on.