The Eve Arden Show
The Eve Arden Show is a 26-episode American sitcom which aired during the 1957–1958 season on CBS, alternately sponsored by Lever Brothers and Shulton, Inc. (Old Spice). Overview. The show, starring Eve Arden, is about a widowed mother, Liza Hammond, of twin daughters who earns money from writing books. It features actress Frances Bavier, the future Aunt Bee of "The Andy Griffith Show", as Nora, Arden's mother and housekeeper. In eight of the twenty-six episodes, Allyn Joslyn portrays George Howell, her agent and potential boyfriend. The series was produced for Arden's Westhaven  Enterprises by Desilu. The show was filmed with three cameras in front of a live audience, although a laugh track was used for sweetening purposes. The show was based on author Emily Kimbrough's book "It Gives Me Great Pleasure". Eve Arden had enjoyed a very successful run on radio in the CBS program "Our Miss Brooks" from 1948 to 1957. When it premiered as a television series in the fall of 1952, it was very popular with audiences and ran for four years on CBS. During its final season, the ratings fell and the show was canceled in the  spring of 1956. In the fall of 1957, Desilu Studios, which had produced "Our Miss Brooks", attempted to resurrect Arden's television career with "The Eve Arden Show" and CBS scheduled it for Tuesday nights. With this new program, Arden was not able to duplicate the success she had with "Our Miss Brooks". Despite the fact that it followed "The Phil Silvers Show" (which during its first two years had been one of the top 30 programs on television), both sitcoms failed to beat its competition on ABC - "Cheyenne" (with "Sugarfoot" on alternate weeks) and The Life and Times Of  Wyatt Earp. After the 1957–1958 season, "The Phil Silvers Show" was renewed for one more year but "The Eve Arden Show" ended its one-year run after its 26th episode. For the next several years, Arden continued to work on television as a guest star on several programs. Then, in 1967, Desi Arnaz brought her back to weekly television in an "NBC" sitcom co-starring singer-comedian Kaye Ballard called "The Mothers-In-Law". The series was only moderately successful and lasted two years. Cast. Guest stars include Philip Ahn, Mary Jane Croft, Bill Goodwin, Mary Beth Hughes, Kathryn Card  and Danny Richards, Jr., as Liza's nephew, Melvin. DVD release. Four episodes of the series were released on Region 1 DVD on February 26, 2008 by Alpha Video.