The Terrible Catsafterme

SEASON 1 – CBS

Created by Edmund L. Hartmann and Don Fedderson

Theme music composed by Frank De Vol

• 001. Buffy – 9/12/1966
  • Successful consulting engineer for Davis & Gaynor, Bill Davis (Brian Keith) lives the life of a playboy bachelor in Manhattan, assisted by his stiff English butler Giles French (Sebastian Cabot). Family member Fran Heiger (Louise Latham) shows up one night from Terra Haute, Indiana with Davis’s niece Buffy Patterson (Anissa Jones), the daughter of his late brother who was killed with his wife in a car accident. She has decided that Buffy does not get along with her husband, and before Bill can give her an answer, she has abandoned Buffy. Uncle Bill tries to convince Buffy that she might like to attend a school in Switzerland, but this causes her to run away and hide in the basement. With the help of his friend Miss Faversham (Heather Angel), French retrieves her and Uncle Bill tells her that she can stay with him. As Bill is getting ready to leave on a business trip for Peru, another relative Bess Melville (Barbara Perry) shows up with Buffy’s twin brother Jody (Johnny Whitaker). Bill rushes off leaving the kids with Mr. French. After he’s gone, relative Alice Grayson (Shirley O’Hara) shows up with their older sister, 15-year-old Cissy (Kathy Garver). Philip Ober is Bill’s business partner Ted Gaynor. Lisa Seagram is Bill’s date Miss Larrabee. Sandy Wirth is Bill’s other date Miss Hodges. 10/16/14

• 002. Jody and Cissy – 9/19/1966
  • While Uncle Bill is in Peru, he finds out via phone that Cissy has now joined her younger siblings at his house. Upon his return, he decides to keep the twins but to send Cissy back to the Graysons. Cissy overhears him dictate a letter to his secretary Miss Lee (Betty Lynn) telling Mrs. Grayson that he didn’t appreciate having Cissy dumped on him while he was gone. Cissy pretends that she wants to go back to the Graysons, but then lets it slip that she was hoping to find the ‘magic of people loving’ in New York. Bill decides to let her stay as well. Mr. French senses that it would be best if the children had a motherly type, so he decides to quit. But when he finds Buffy’s doll Miss Beasley in his suitcase, he returns home to stay – just in time to save the family from having to eat Cissy’s terrible cooking. Noel Drayton is French’s fellow butler Hardcastle. 10/16/14
• 003. The Gift Horse – 9/26/1966
  • Uncle Bill returns from a business trip from East Africa and gives out gifts to all the children. In return Cissy gives him a tie that she hand-knitted. Jody and Buffy feel bad that they don’t have a gift for Uncle Bill, so they pool their money and come up with a $1.07 to spend. After realizing that he has all the pens and key chains he needs, the kids discuss their problem with the local carriage driver Mr. McGovern (Paul Hartman). Since he is getting ready to retire, he suggest that they buy his horse Rosie for Uncle Bill. They give him their money, and then he drops the horse off at their home. Mr. French finds out about it and chastises McGovern, and takes him to retrieve the horse…but not before Jody and Buffy present it to Uncle Bill. He is touched by the kids’ sincerity so decides to keep the horse to live in some stables in Connecticut, where they can visit it. 10/16/14
• 004. The Matter of School – 10/3/1966
  • School is getting ready to start and Uncle Bill is letting Cissy make the decision where she wants to go, although pushing toward the private school Bryerfield in Connecticut. Cissy is attracted to a grocery delivery boy named Freddy (Eugene Martin), and wants to attend the local Lexi High where he goes, but she chooses Bryerfield in order to offer relief for her uncle. Uncle Bill drives her there and promises that he’ll pick her up on Friday and take her out for a nice date afterward. When the day comes, he forgets to pick her up because he is so wrapped up in a business deal with clients from Afghanistan. He also goes out with them to celebrate after closing the deal and forgets his date with Buffy. Meanwhile Jody and Buffy are register for school by Mr. French, who cannot produce their birth certificates. When Cissy mentions that she is ‘in Uncle Bill’s hair’, they start to think they are being a burden to Mr. French, who so they try to find a different ride home from school, which leaves French panicked. When they express their fears to Uncle Bill, mentioning what Cissy said about being a burden, he realizes his mistake, withdraws Cissy from the Bryerfield, and takes her out for a night on the town. Gertrude Graner is Mrs. Hedgemot. Sarah Selby is Mrs. Brown. John Hubbard takes over the role of Ted Gaynor. 10/20/14
• 005. Marmalade – 10/10/1966
  • Bill’s date Ellen Latimer (Mary Murphy) is so impressed with French that she recommends him to her boss Mr. Hayden (Woodrow Parfrey) to appear in an advertisement for Dunholt’s Marmalade. Bill is certain he will refuse, but agrees to ask him. French is very reluctant, but does it for Bill’s sake. Once the ad appears in the paper, the local women start to recognize him and he eats up the attention. When Hayden offers to hire French to go on a national tour as spokesmen for the marmalade, Bill thinks he will refuse, but he is actually gung-ho about it. But once he tastes the marmalade and hates it, he gets out of the contract by threatening to express his distaste at each personal appearance. Hayden rips up the contract, and much to Bill’s surprise, Ellen respects French for it and continues dating Bill. Richard Peel is Mr. Withers. Peggy Rea is Miss Peters. 10/26/14
• 006. Room with a Viewpoint – 10/17/1966
  • Uncle Bill’s latest girlfriend Nedra Walcott (Kathleen Crowley) notices that the room in which Cissy and Buffy are living is not decorated for girls. She undertakes a project to redecorate each half of the room accordingly to the girls’ ages. In addition, Uncle Bill has allowed Cissy to get her own telephone line. Buffy becomes very distant with everyone, largely ignoring Cissy completely. Bill has no idea what is wrong, but assumes that Buffy wants her own privacy and works on installing a divider wall between them. When she locks herself in the room, Cissy is finally able to win her over by spending time talking to her about her own foibles as a child. It turns out that she was afraid that Cissy was moving further and further away from her by simply growing up. Uncle Bill and Cissy chat with her and assure her that Cissy hasn’t changed and everyone grows up. 10/26/14
• 007. Mrs. Beasley, Where Are You? – 10/24/1966
  • Buffy leaves her doll Mrs. Beasley with Mr. French when she and her sibling go to a park, and he accidentally knocks her off the terrace and is unable to find her. Meanwhile, Bill gets in an argument with his neighbor George Nelson (Frank Maxwell) about hitting their car doors into each other’s cars. Bill and he flip a coin to decide which one will re-locate and Bill loses, but he also notices that George’s daughter Melissa (Pamelyn Ferdin) has a doll exactly like Buffy’s. He brings Buffy down to identify it, but it is not her doll. Buffy is inconsolable and Cissy explains that the doll was her only solace while she was shuffled around after her parents’ deaths. Jody offers his turtle, and Cissy offers to sleep with her. While on a date with Diane (Joan Vohs) from the apartment below, Bill realizes that anything dropped off the terrace should have landed on her terrace. Diane remembers that there was a basket of clippings there, so they both go through the trash – along with a ‘ragpicker’ (Andy Albin) – and locate the doll, much to Cissy’s delight. Then Jody loses his turtle. Cathleen Cordell is the toy saleslady and Ann McCrea is Mrs. Nelson. 11/23/14
• 008. Who’s Afraid of Nural Shpeni? – 11/7/1966
  • Uncle Bill is away on business in Lebanon and is to be accompanied back to the states by Dr. Sakis (Abraham Sofaer), so that he can get more financing for the project that Bill is working on. When Bill expresses his enjoyment of the Middle Eastern cuisine, Mr. French visits Fuad’s Middle East Delicacies and meets Nural (Magda Harout). Her cousin Fuad (Nestor Paiva) and her brothers Alam (Henry Corden) and Mohad (Peter Makamos) see the opportunity to set Nural up with French, by offering her services to help him learn to cook the food, and then telling him that tradition dictates if a single man cooks for a single woman in their culture, this betroths her to him. French is dumbfounded and feels trapped, but Bill get him out of it by having Dr. Sakis, whom the family respects very much, tell them that when the woman is over 30, the family must give the groom half of their belongings. Later the family shows up and asks French to release Nural for her vow so she can marry Chamas the cop (Vic Tayback). 11/24/14
• 009. A Matter for Experts – 11/14/1966
  • Mrs. Brown (named as Mrs. Bryant in the credits) calls Bill into school to express her concern that Jody and Buffy are so inseparable. Uncle Bill doesn’t want to address the issue since they’ve been through so much, but finally he consults child psychologist Edith Morse (Jane Engstrom) and she agrees with Mrs. Brown. Bill takes action and splits the into different classes, and encourages them to participate in activities separately. Neither wants any part of it, but Jody does find a friend named Peter (Randy Whipple) who invites him to his family farm in Connecticut for the weekend. Buffy is nearly inconsolable while he is gone, and Jody acts reserved during his trip. When he returns, they plot to skip school by painting on measles. Uncle Bill is on to their ruse, but he decides that he loves them too much for them to be separated at all, so he reverses his decision with the school. Susan Davis is Mrs. Hughes. Kym Karath is the little girl leading Simon Says (named as Barbara in the credits). 1/5/15
• 010. Beware the Other Woman – 11/21/1966
  • An old friend of Bill’s named Louise Marshall (Rita Gam) returns to New York and she and Bill go out for a night on the town. Bill wants her to get to know the kids, and she comes bearing gifts and with offers to spend time with them. Meanwhile Cissy meets a girl in the building named Sharon James (Sherry Alberoni) who is somewhat jaded by having had three step-mothers, who warns Cissy that a new woman might worm her way into Uncle Bill’s life and then send them away. Cissy and the kids try to do favors for Uncle Bill to show how much they are needed, but Bill alludes to the fact that one day he might ‘add on’ to the family. Cissy finally breaks down to Jody and Buffy, and French has to call Bill and Louise back from their date because all three kids are crying. Louise talks to Cissy and finds out what is behind the breakdowns. Uncle Bill first assures Jody and Buffy that they are stuck with each other, then explains to Cissy that Louise was the wife of his good friend who was killed in Korea. He explains that one day he might get married – perhaps even to Lousie – but that he will never let any woman drive the kids away. 1/5/15
• 011. Take Two Aspirin – 11/28/1966
  • Uncle Bill is getting restless by staying in New York for several months and not working in other countries, so he is pleased when his old friend Dave McCovey (Norman Alden) shows up and offers him some work in the jungles of Yucatan. Bill starts to get homesick when he gets a letter from Jodie telling him that his turtle died. When he calls home, he finds out that Mr. French has the flu, and future calls indicate that French can’t get up. Jodie and Buffy attempt to make food for him, but French recovers enough to take them out to eat. When Bill calls again, he gets no answer and worries even more. A huge storm in the Yucatan causes all of the calls to drop, and Bill’s imagination leads him to believe that the worst has happened. Even once he gets hold of French, he believes that the apartment has been robbed and they are in the midst of a hurricane. Once Bill gets home and sees that everyone is alright, he suggests to Cissy that she write her upcoming composition on ‘imagination’. 2/28/15
• 012. Love Me, Love Me Not – 12/5/1966
  • Jody breaks a goblet with a golf club and isn’t punished, so when he sees his friend Pepino (Ricky Cordell) punished by his father Umberto (Romo Vincent) for breaking a window, he questions the reason. Umberto tells him that it is because he loves his son and want’s him to grow up respectful, which causes Jody to deduce that Uncle Bill doesn’t love him. Jody gives away Uncle Bill’s favorite ski sweater to their doorman Scotty (Karl Lukas), plays hooky, and messes up the chess board that French is playing long distance with a friend in London, and they all go unpunished. When Jody runs away at night, Uncle Bill finally punishes him… but then later feels guilty and takes it back. But when Jody tells him that he equates punishment with love, Uncle Bill takes away his trip to the museum, his TV privileges to watch his favorite show Captain Hippopotamus, doesn’t buy him a space helmet, deflates his football, and gives him a slight spanking… all of which makes Jody happy. 4/12/15
• 013. The Thursday Man – 12/12/1966
  • Cissy does a report about Mr. French and her teacher Miss Elliot (Ila Britton) challenges her to follow it up with a more in-depth paper about his life. French clams up about his past so Cissy starts investigating. She finds out from Miss Faversham that French was once in love, and she finds out from Mr. Withers that French once had a strange reaction when someone asked him about “Old Bertie.” When Cissy asks French about Bertie, he clams up again and sternly asks her for his privacy, then wistfully pulls out an old stuffed dog from his dresser. Cissy then starts prying into what French does on Thursdays, his day off. Cissy’s friend Freddy finds out from Mrs. Mariani (Lillian Adams) that French visits a Mrs. Allenby (Kathryn Givney) every Thursday, so Cissy interviews her. She finds out that French was once much in love and won “Old Bertie” for his love interest at a carnival. French later lost his love during an attack during the war, and when he went looking for her in the rubble, he only found the stuffed dog. French has been visiting Mrs. Allenby on Thursdays to help her tidy up, having served as a butler for her and her husband back in London. Cissy decides to keep French’s secrets and does her report on herself, a nosy teenager. 4/12/15
• 014. Think Deep – 12/26/1966
  • Cissy begins to exhibit some strange behavior by asking to switch seating at the table so Uncle Bill doesn’t dominate, and by calling Mr. French by his first name. Cissy continues to stir things up by trying to ‘liberate’ French from his ‘serfdom’, and by telling the kids that Uncles Bill’s fairy tales are not rooted in reality, all the while quoting the teachings of someone named Julian, who turns out to be Julian Hill (Robert Reed), her teacher with whom she is clearly infatuated. Uncle Bill visits Julian and invites him to have dinner hoping to expose his ‘feet of clay’. Cissy is both elated and nervous and invites her friend Gail (Diane Mountford) to join them so she doesn’t have to face him alone. Cissy and Gail fawn over his every word, but when Jodie and Buffy spill coffee on him and he nearly flips out, she realizes that he is fallible and becomes completely disillusioned. Bill confesses that he brought him to dinner for that very purpose, but is sure to tell her that he is still a good teacher, but not necessarily a hero to worship. 2/28/15
• 015. Hard Hat Jody – 1/2/1967
  • Uncle Bill has two problems: his company has signed a lucrative deal with Japanese tycoon Mr. Misawa (Dale Ishimoto), but feels like he needs to stay home more with the kids and not go to Japan, and Jody is acting like an Indian night and day. Bill discusses it with Ted, who mentions that if they can score the Pennington account locally with the elusive Owen Pennington (Brian Donlevy), he wouldn’t have to go to Japan. Bill tries to re-direct Jody’s interest to becoming a construction worker, rather than Indian. Jody takes this role seriously too and ends up wandering to a construction site and is given a job by the sympathetic Pennington himself. Not knowing that Jody is working for Pennington – whom he calls ‘Oney’ – Uncle Bill takes his hard hat away when he finds out that Jody was riding in an open elevator at the construction site. Jody brings Pennington home, and Pennington awards Davis and Gaynor the contract for Pennington Plaza, so that Uncle Bill can stay home with Jody. William Boyett is the foreman. 7/6/15
• 016. That Was the Dinner That Wasn’t – 1/9/1967
  • Cissy becomes sad when her school has a Mother-Daughter Dance. Uncle Bill knows something is wrong with her but can’t get her to talk. He even cancels a date with the seemingly unforgiving Maria Cantelli (Jacquiline Bertrand) in order to spend time with Cissy. It is not until he is ready to leave for Mexico City that he runs into Cissy’s friend Gail (Diane Mountford) that he finds out about the dance. He cancels on Maria once again and instead has French send Cissy to the airport with a supposed important letter. There he has a nice dinner with her before he leaves and makes her feel better, even referring to her as a daughter. Maria witness this and forgives Bill and promises to trust him. 7/6/15
• 017. All Around the Town – 1/16/1967
  • Ted Gaynor invites the kids to come down a see the ocean liner that he will on as he embarks for a vacation with his wife Florence (Andrea King). While on board, Jody and Buffy misunderstand Uncle Bill and think they are going out to eat with him and tell this to Mr. French and Cissy, who then take off for dates of their own, French to a poetry reading with Miss Faversham, and Cissy to see the Velvet Vultures with Freddie. When Uncle Bill leaves without them, they manage to get off the boat… but find themselves alone in New York City. Florence alerts Bill that she thinks she saw them alone waving at the boat, but he assumes they must be with either French or Cissy. The twins find a twenty dollar bill and attempt to find the owner, but then start to get tired, hungry, and scared as they roam the streets. Eventually they come upon a nice man down on his luck named Jose Garcia (Harry Davis) in a dark alley who helps the twins find their way home, just as Bill, French, and Cissy have all returned to the apartment and are reporting the missing kids to the police. The twins give Garcia the twenty dollar bill, and Bill offers Jose a job. Danielle Aubrey and George Dega are the French couple. Harold Fong is the Chinese deliveryman. Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. is Caravalho. Jack Tesler is the chestnut salesman. 9/4/15
• 018. One for the Little Boy – 1/23/1967
  • Uncle Bill and the kids return from Terre Haute to find that Mr. French has left home temporarily to accompany the Queen of England to visit various capitals of the commonwealth in England. French’s brother Nigel “Niles” French (John Williams) comes to stay with the family in Mr. French’s absence. Meanwhile Jody gets tired of playing with the girls in the house, the new Mr. French has no knowledge of baseball, and Uncle Bill is too busy with work. Fearing that he is neglecting Jody, Uncle Bill lets Jody come with him and Ted to a baseball game, but Jody gets bored and falls asleep. Bill then offers to take him fishing, but a business meeting in Rochester threatens to cancel the trip. When Bill sees Jody’s disappointment, he decides to take Jody with him and go fishing up there. The fishing portion of the trip is delayed when Bill’s meetings run late, then the camper he rented stalls on the way, and finally they find out that the lake has run dry. Bill considers the trip a disaster, but Jody is just happy to have spent the time with his Uncle Bill… and finds that Bill feels the same way. David Brandon is the fill-in doorman. 9/4/15
• 019. Fancy Free – 1/30/1967
  • Jody and Buffy are excited to tell Uncle Bill that they have been promoted to the Upper First Grade, but Bill is busy working on a construction site in New Jersey. Bill’s colleague Tim Keating (Roy Roberts) invite Bill to have dinner with him and his daughter Meg (Kipp Hamilton), which is intended to set the two up. Meg is single and lives a fancy free lifestyle, and Bill tries to keep up by agreeing to go on a sailing trip with her for the weekend. Meanwhile back at home, Jody and Buffy are struggling with their New Math, and end up turning to the window cleaner Mr. Franck (Sterling Halloway). Bill later finds out that the twins are failing the math class and that Mr. Franck, despite his best intentions, is giving them the wrong answers. Bill decides to pull the plug on the trip so that he can stay home and give the kids the tutoring that they need – especially before he has to leave again for a business trip to Yucatan. Andrea Sacino is Meg’s niece Sally. 12/3/15
• 020. A Helping Hand – 2/6/1967
  • Bill throws a dinner party and hires a server named Adele Prentis (Myrna Loy) from an employment agency to assist Niles with a dinner party. Adele is completely inept and ruins two French’s food dishes before she even gets started. He fires her at first, then takes pity and keeps her on and helps her get through the evening. Neighbors and party guests Ken (Carleton Young) and Sheila Bicknell (June Vincent) are impressed enough to hire her on, despite her complete lack of experience. French tutors her through her cooking duties, often sacrificing the family’s meals. He finally leaves her on her own to host the Bicknell’s dinner party, but she fails miserably and gets fired, blaming French for abandoning her. Meanwhile Bill goes overboard in helping the twins construct a model of McKenzie Dam for a class project, making it look professional and earning a stern warning from their teacher. Bill and French agree to make the family motto “don’t get involved”… but when Cissy tells them both how much she admires what they did, they decided to spend the evening at home overseeing the twins re-construction of the dam model. 12/4/15
• 021. Once in Love with Buffy – 2/13/1967
  • Uncle Bill is forced to skip an evening bowling and refuse a date because a scheduling conflict with French dictate that he watch the kids. Buffy overhears Uncle Bill tell both parties that he is ‘stuck’ with the kids. Later the kids relative Aunt Fran shows up from Terra Haute trying to convince Bill that her and husband Harold’s (Bill Zuckert) circumstances have changed and they now want not only Buffy, but Cissy as well. Fran promises that Aunt Helen lives nearby them and has promised to take Jody. Bill wants to do the right thing by the girls, and after discussing it with Giles, ultimately leaves the decision up to them. Buffy recalls Uncle Bill saying that he is ‘stuck’ with the kids, and the girls make the decision to go to Terra Haute. However at the last minute, neither girl can bear to leave Uncle Bill and desperately cling to him. Bill announces to a disappointed Aunt Fran that he will not let them leave. 2/1/16
• 022. Ballerina Buffy – 2/20/1967
  • Buffy is taking ballet with Madam Leonton (Lili Valenty), and she brings in professional ballerina Margo Dunbar (Judith Landon) to assist with the class performance of Little Red Riding Hood. Margo casts Buffy in the title role while Davis neighbor Melissa Nelson (Cindy Eilbacher) is cast in the second role of the Big Bad Wolf, much to the chagrin of her parents. It also turns out that Bill had once dated Margo in Venice and the two renew their friendship with a date. Naturally the Nelsons assume that this is how Buffy got the role. An off-hand remark to Buffy about becoming a prima ballerina and traveling the world like Margo gets her worrying that she is going to have to leave her family for long stretches of time. She and Jody concoct a plan where she performs terribly during the play, much to the delight of the Nelsons. When Jody remarks that he’s glad that Buffy won’t have to leave, Uncle Bill and Margo figure out what happen, and Uncle Bill assures Buffy that she’ll never have to leave home. John Lawrence is Bill’s co-worker Seeger. 2/1/16
• 023. The Mother Tongue – 2/27/1967
  • Jody and Buffy have a new friend at school named Marilyn Chen (Lisa Fong) who teaches the kids to be polite and helpful, and when they invite her over for a visit, Mr. French learns that she is Chinese and only speaks Cantonese. The kids have a good time playing, but Mr. French observes that they can’t communicate, so he decides to brush up on the language to give Marilyn agreeing. However when he speaks to her in her tongue to tell  her that she has ‘the eyes of a fawn and face of an angel’ she gets upset and runs home. Marilyn’s father Bin Ho (Richard Loo), who is a Chinese Nationalist Consulate representative to the United Nations, visits Bill and tells him that Mr. French actually said was that she had the ‘ears of a pig and face of a horrifying demon’. Chen understands the mistake and sends Marilyn back over to play with the children, but this time French accidentally calls her a serpent. Chen’s wife (Noel Toy) and her mother (May Lee) insist that Marilyn not play with the kids any more. Mr. French goes to visit the Chens and ends up telling them that they look like two beautiful flowers in a bowl of rubbish. Everyone ends up seeing the humor in the situation and the Chens allow Marilyn to return to playing with the twins. 4/17/16
• 024. Everybody Needs Somebody – 3/13/1967
  • Mr. French feels guilty when he punishes the twins for running through the house by taking away TV and their favorite show Captain Hippopotamus. Later the twins overhear French congratulate his friend Mr. Withers on his upcoming marriage, remarking that he’s like to be in his shoes. The twins think that Mr. French desires a wife, so they try to build up Miss Faversham to him and make plans for her to move into their apartment, since their friend Peter (Kevin Cooper) and his family, for whom Miss Faversham acts as a nanny, are moving away. Mr. French misunderstands and thinks that the twins are conspiring to replace him with her. Bill suggest that French be extra nice to them, so he gives them punch and cookies before dinner, but still notes that their adulation of Miss Faversham continues. As the twins check out his room to see if she will fit in there, French again thinks he is being marked for replacement, despite the fact that the twins have told Uncle Bill how much they love French. When finally confronted point blank, the the twins are forced to reveal their secret… which comes as a huge relief to French, who realizes the twins are trying to make his life happier. Uncle Bill explains to them that marriage isn’t what necessarily makes everyone happy. Pitt Herbert is the store clerk. 4/18/16
• 025. The Way It Was – 3/20/1967
  • Uncle Bill plans to work at home for the weekend that the kids are starting Spring break, but with the constant ruckus he is continually interrupted. When he gets a call from his old friend Norm Brailey (L.E. Young), who is running a Summer camp, he sees it has a great opportunity to get the kids out of the apartment. The kids head to Qui Hansig with Cissy as one of the counselors, and soon Bill realizes that things are just like they used to be, leaving him free to go to the theatre for a series of dates with Marie Stafford (Lynn Borden), Olivia Mirrorford (Julie Parrish), and Laurie (Annabelle Garth). All of his dates get irritated however because all Bill can talk about are the children. Meanwhile at camp, Jody and Buffy struggle to write a letter telling their Uncle Bill how much they miss him. Bill and French lament the fact that they’re not receiving any letters or messages from the kids, and then decide to head to camp for the purpose of bringing Mrs. Beasley to Buffy. As they are getting ready to leave, the kids show up at home, having left camp early because they miss Uncle Bill and haven’t heard from him. Bill and French realize that they’ve spent so much time worrying about getting a letter that they neglected to send one themselves. 8/1/16
• 026. All Nephews Are Created Equal – 3/27/1967
  • Giles’ nephew David (Martin Horsey), the son of his brother Algernon and an exchange student, stops in New York en route to California from England, just as Uncle Bill heads toward a business trip in San Francisco. French is aghast that David is socializing with Cissy, and even more so when he finds out that David wants to become a dentist rather than a ‘gentleman’s gentleman’, which has run on the family for several generations. Giles wants to have a chat with David, but Sharon comes over and takes David and Cissy to a jazz festival. French gets irritated when Buffy refers to David as Cissy’s boyfriend when they go for a bike ride, and again when David asks Buffy to see him off at the airport. French suggests to David that it is inappropriate, and asks that he uninvite Cissy, which he reluctantly does. Cissy is upset when she finds out that it was French who persuaded him to do so. Bill explains to French that he can’t live the life of his nephew, and French reconsiders and allows Cissy to go to the airport with him. Uncle Bill gets a letter from Giles in Ottawa, Canada, letting him know that his service to Her Majesty’s Service has come to an end and he will be returning. The kids hope that both Mr. Frenches can stay, but Uncle Bill tells him that they have to trade Nigel for Giles. Maurice Dallimore is Mr. Middlebrook. 8/2/16
• 027. The Prize – 4/10/1967
  • The twins enter a jingle contest for Crispy Flakes cereal to try and win a houseboat. They are notified by representative Mr. Smith (Paul Kent) that they have won a runner-up prize, and they can choose either an encyclopedia or a live baby lamb. It is delivered by a messenger boy (Robert Broyles) much to the chagrin of Mr. French, and eventually Uncle Bill, who plans to have them donate it to a children’s zoo. The kids name it Snowball, and when Bill sees how attached they are, he lets them keep it for one night. After complaints from upstairs neighbors George Mayfield (William Kendis) and his wife (Jennifer Lea), Bill asks French to sleep out on the terrace with the lamb. While he is still sleeping the next morning, the kids take Snowball out for a walk and lose him. The lamb is picked up by the police and taken to the Humane Society where their representative Mr. Fisk (Olan Soule) tells them that the children’s zoo would love to accept the lamb. Bill convinces the kids to come up with the idea of sending Snowball there on their own, by telling them how much the lamb misses other lambs. 10/8/16
• 028. What Did You Do in the West, Uncle? – 4/17/1967
  • Uncle Bill takes the week off to spend with the kids as a family. Cissy is out however when one of her friends invites her to stay in Long Island, but Bill starts off his week with the twins by taking them to a rodeo at Madison Square Garden. One of the riders is an old cowboy friend of Bill’s named Gabe Nelson (John Agar), and Bill takes the kids backstage to meet him and then invites Gabe to come stay with him. Gabe offers to take the kids back to the rodeo the next day, which scuttles Uncle Bill’s plans to take them to see Hansel and Gretel at the theater. Gabe then invites them yet again to go to the railroad yard the next day, and Bill starts to feel that the kids see Gabe as more of a hero than him. French fills in Gabe about how Bill’s plans have interrupted, so Gabe embellishes a story to the kids to make it appear that Bill saved Gabe’s life from a grizzly bear. When the kids tell Bill about it, he confronts Gabe, who tells him that he was trying to make Bill seem like a hero. Bill tells Gabe that he wants to be a hero in his own right, and then tells the kids the truth. They say that no one will ever take Uncle Bill’s place whether he ever saved anyone or not. Uncle Bill lets Gabe take the kids, who promises to have them by noon, and orders up four tickets for Hansel and Gretel, one for French as well. 10/8/16
• 029. The Award – 5/1/1967
  • Uncle Bill receives a trophy for his work in construction, which prompts Jody and Buffy to try and make their own reward out of clay to present to him as Best Uncle. Meanwhile after the twins get French to take them to a Punch and Judy show on his day off, Uncle Bill tells him that they cannot let the twins run their lives, and to make an example, tells them that he can’t take them to the zoo that weekend because he is golfing. Jody starts to suffer from an itchy arm, so French takes him to see Dr. Felson (Oliver McGowan) who does some patch testing, but tells French that it may be caused by frustration in Jody’s life. Consequently, Bill takes the twins to the zoo as originally planned, but Jody’s itch doesn’t improve, and Buffy starts scratching her arm as well. Later the doctor visits the apartment with the results of the patch test and indicates that the kids may be allergic to modeling clay. Not wanting to give away the surprise, they say they haven’t been playing with any, which causes Uncle Bill to punish them when the doctor finds clay on their hands. All is forgiven and Bill is touched however when he receives the ‘trophy’ from the twins. Templeton Fox is Miss Dana. 1/12/17
• 030. The Butler Method – 5/15/1967
  • Bill’s famous actor friend Orson Caldwell (Christopher Dark) is going to be playing a butler in his next play Gentleman’s Gentleman, and French agrees to let him shadow him to get a feel for the part. Meanwhile Cissy has her friend Wanda Cross (Lynette Winter) over to call boys to find a date for the Girls Tag Dance, while Buffy rooms with Jody to make room for the guest. Cissy ends up down to the bottom of the barrel Virgil Corkson (Patrick Moore), but he claims to have suddenly broke his leg. Wanda seems to be rubbing it in in the guise of trying to make Cissy feel better, and although Uncle Bill volunteers to be her date, Cissy decides to just stay home. French then suggests that Orson take Cissy to the dance, but Cissy turns him down since he is so much older than her. Just then Virgil shows up in a cast and on crutches and says he can go to the dance if he doesn’t actually dance. 1/12/17

SEASON 2

• 031. Birds, Bees, and Buffy – 9/11/1967
  • When nanny Miss Livingtone (Athena Lorde) introduces the new Bartlow baby to Mr. French and the children, Buffy and Jody begin to become curious about where babies come from. Their friend Wendy (Pamelyn Ferdin) tells them that the stork brings it, and Uncle Bill and Mr. French are perfectly willing to go along with that explanation, much to Cissy’s chagrin. She feels the kids should be told something much closer to the truth and seeks the advice of her Biology teacher Miss Pringle (Viola Harris). Meanwhile when the kids figure out that the stork story isn’t possible, Mr. French tells them a story about getting babies from the cabbage patch, an idea he gets from Miss Faversham. Uncle Bill ignores Cissy’s advise, but when the kids tell their friend Richard (Randy Whipple) the cabbage patch story, his mother gets irritated and angrily calls Bill. Finally Uncle Bill decides to tackle the problem and tells the kids about how the tremendous amounts of love in the house work to produce children like them. It satisfies their curiosity, but Mr. French worries how he will explain rabbits if asked. Pauline Drake is Miss Graham. 4/18/17
• 032. First Love – 9/18/1967
  • Buffy develops a crush on an football tutor and older sixth grade friend of Jody’s named Andy (Joel Davison), but when Jody invites him over to impress him, Andy spends more time trying to impress Cissy than in having any interest in Buffy or Jody. Meanwhile Bill tries to court a business associate, geologist Lise Lowell (Lee Meriwether). Buffy is depressed about the unrequited love, and ends up finding common ground with Uncle Bill who strikes out with Lise since she is planning to be married the next month. Merri Wood-Taylor as Miss Turner, and Towyna Thomas are fellow nannies. 4/18/17
• 033. Go Home, Mr. French – 9/25/1967
  • While taking the kids to the park, Mr. French runs into Lorna Frasier (Anna Lee), a former love interest and nanny for the Duke (Patric Knowles) and Duchess of Glenmore (Cathleen Cordell) for whom he used to work. Lorna is accompanying the Duke’s children Jonathan (Riley Mills) and Elizabeth (Nicci-Ann Frank) while they’re all on holiday visiting New York, and the kids enjoy playing with them in the park. French is still smitten, and Bill gives him some time off to spend time with Lorna and visit with the Glenmores. The Duke visits Bill and asks him to help convince French to return to the Glenmore family where he will be promoted within the hosuehold. Bill is reluctant but feels out French’s thoughts on the matter, and although he has declined the Duke’s offer, Bill makes it clear that he doesn’t want French’s loyalty to keep him from returning home. Bill also convinces the kids to not rely on French so much, so he will be more inclined to do what is best for him. Bill and the kids gradually start to do more things for themselves, leading French to tender his resignation even though he recognizes the family was only acting. As French is packing to leave, he expresses to Bill that he feels he made a mistake, but has already given the Duke his word. Bill goes to see the Duke and asks him to allow French to renege on his offer. Bill later meets with the kids and says he’s introducing their new caregiver… who turns out to be Mr. French, who later gives a fond farewell to Lorna, agree that they can only recapture their memories, not relive them. 12/7/17
• 034. Arthur, the Invisible Bear – 10/2/1967
  • Bill returns home from work and finds that Jody now has an imaginary friend, a bear named Arthur. It seems harmless at first, but it begins to affect Jody’s behavior as he leaves toys out for him, uses Cissy’s hairspray on him, and ignores Buffy in favor of Arthur. The bear also causes Jody to lock himself in Mr. French’s room and disrupt his classroom. Mr. French tries to convince him that there really is no bear, but Jody won’t relent… and soon Buffy claims to see him as well. Miss Ainsley (Mitzi Hoag) sends both the kids home from school and calls home to report their behavior. Bill takes Jody to see child psychiatrist Dr. Dorothy Cramer (Adrienne Marden), who diagnoses Jody’s behavior as repressed hostilities which are manifesting themselves as hostile and agressive behaviors in the bear. She advises Bill that the family should not only accept Arthur, but see him as well. Bill even allows Arthur to suggest serving hot dogs and hot fudge sundaes for dinner. Bill tries to figure out who Jody’s hostilites are directed against but Jody seems to be happy with everyone, thus convincing Bill that the doctor’s analysis is incorrect Bill convinces Jody that Arthur should be living in an invisible forest, so they drive out into a field and Jody agrees to let him go. Susan Bejamin and Kevin Cooper are fellow classmates Sue Evelyn and Howard. 12/7/17
• 035. The Other Cheek – 10/9/1967
  • Jody and Buffy get in a fight over a game of Checkers, and Uncle Bill warns Jody that he shouldn’t hit girls. The next day in school, when Buffy goes off with her friend Alicia (Kellie Flanagan), a bigger girl named Jeannie Michaels (Claire Wilcox) threatens to hit Jody if he doesn’t trade her his sandwich for hers. Jody tells Uncle Bill about the situation and he tells Jody that he did the right thing. The next day Jeannie continues to harass Jody, and slugs him in the eye when Jody eats his sandwich with the janitor inside. Cissy tries to go talk to Jeannie, but she runs to her mother (Kathleen O’Malley), who warns Cissy to stay away from her daughter. After Jody gets a second black eye, Uncle Bill gets involved and goes to see Jeannie’s father (Sean McClory), who is every bit as standoffish as his daughter. Uncle Bill refrains from fighting him, and coaches Jody to try to talk it out with her. The next day Claire wants a sandwich a nickel for a drink from Jody, but he counter-offers a dime a day if he can keep his sandwich. When Bill find out Jody is being extorted, his only recourse is to return to see Mr. Michaels, who delivers Bill a sucker-punch. He is forced to punch Michaels in return, and then returns home with his own black eye. From then on, Jeannie is nice to Jody and pays back the money and the sandwiches. Uncle Bill makes sure they understand that he didn’t start the fight. The twins tell Bill they understand the difference in looking for trouble verses defending themselves. 8/10/18
• 036. The Candy Striper – 10/16/1967
  • Uncle Bill thinks he will have a quiet Saturday with nothing on his agenda, but he is called to assist the family in various ways: Jody tells Uncle Bill that he is going to play with his new best friends Pete and Herbert, Cissy needs Uncle Bil to talk to hospital administrator Mrs. Russell (Alice Frost) to convince her that even though she isn’t sixteen yet, she would make a good candy striper, and Buffy needs him to take her and join her up with the Brownies. Problems arise when Cissy gives water to patient Mrs. Elkins (Nydia Westman) who is scheduled for surgery and gets scolded by Mrs. Russell. However Bill gives her a pep talk, and she returns the next day and assists a lone patient named Alice Warren (Karen Green) in the maternity ward. She finds this work exceptionally rewarding. Meanwhile Bill lets it slip to Cissy’s friend Randy Thompson’s (Debi Storm) mother (Audrey Dalton) that Cissy is only six years old, and despite the fact that she’s already earned two merit badges, isn’t old enough to be in the Brownies. Uncle Bill has to deliver the news that she’s eject from Troop 407. She is cheered up when she realizes that she only has 94 more days until her seventh birthday. Jody’s two best friends become best friends with each other and he loses both of his best friends.
• 037. Fat, Fat, the Water Rat – 10/23/1967
  • Mr. French drops Buffy off at her dancing school, not realizing that class has been cancelled. After being told this by her instructor Mrs.  Brown (Sandy Wirth), Buffy waits outside and meets a group of kids led by Mike (Ted Baron) and his sister Katie (Sheila Duffy) who are playing a game called Fat, Fat, the Water Rat. She enjoys playing with them very much, but since they live in the slums, Buffy realizes they won’t like her if they know she comes from the rich area of town. Mr. French on the other hand tries to discourage her from playing with them in order to remain a gentlewoman. Uncle Bill understands Buffy’s side, and goes behind French’s back to take her to play with the kids, and even lets her pick out old clothes from a rummage sale. Bill is befriended by the kids’ father Tim Callahan (Jackie Coogan) and mother (Marcia Mae Jones), who thinks that Bill and his family are even poorer than he is and offers to give them some of his kids’ hand-me-downs. When Mr. French comes to find Bill to deliver him a business message, the truth comes out. Tim thinks that Bill was just having fun with him by ‘slumming’ it, while French feels betrayed that they’ve gone behind his back. All is made right when Buffy tells Mr. French that she needs him to stay with the family, even if they see things differently. Bill also goes to visit the Callahans for a rent party and they make amends after Bill accuses Callahan of actually being the snob, and Buffy steps in and tells Callahan that she only lied because she wanted to play with his kids. Callahan also realizes that it was Bill who pulled some strings to get him a job. Lovyss Bradley is the woman at the rummage sale. 3/26/19
• 038. The Toy Box – 11/6/1967
  • Uncle Bill and Mr. French are tired of the twins leaving out their toys, so Bill decides to handle things like he did in the army: if they leave something out, it gets thrown in the closet – the ‘slob box,’ or in this case the ‘toy box.’ The quickly each lose a beloved toy to the toy box. Meanwhile Bill and his latest girlfriend Joanne Wilson (Cary Forester) try to steer Cissy toward dressing with ‘quite elegance’ rather than the way her new hippy friends are dressing. He also tries to dissuade her from her new boyfriend Ronny Oliver (Dennis Olivieri). And especially after he comes home and finds Cissy, Ronny, and her friends all dancing to rock music in the living room, he seems particularly irritated with them. Cissy tells Bill that she had only hoped that he could meet them and see that they’re all a nice bunch of kids, no matter how they dress, but that if he disapproves, she will dress how he likes and drop her friends. Bill sees the nearsightedness in his ways of judging a book by its cover, and tells Cissy to invite them back over. He also softens on the toy box, when Miss Beasley almost winds up in the closet. Susan Swetnam is Cissy’s friend Betsy. 3/26/19
• 039. Take Me Out of the Ball Game – 11/13/1967
  • While taking a walk one day, Jody, Buffy, and Mr. French happen upon a stickball team called the 63rd Street Tigers. Player Randy Porter (Stephen Liss) hits his ball and knocks off Mr. French’s hat and then invites Jody to try out for the team. Jody is excited, mostly because he wants his own team shirt. Uncle Bill not only gives him permission to try out, but gives him a lesson on how to hit, breaking a lamp in the process. Jody’s first crack at trying out is a flop, so the kids give him until Saturday to show that he can hit the ball. Uncle Bill has sympathy because he didn’t make stickball team as a child, so he takes interest in helping Jody practice in the park. During his tryout, Buffy catches one of the balls, and when they ask if she can hit, she demonstrates that she is great at that too. Jody and Buffy return home both wearing a Tigers shirt. Jody doesn’t seem phased that he is only doing tasks like acting as score keeper, bat boy, and water boy. Uncle Bill stops by to watch the game and is surprised to see that only Jody is actually playing the game. Bill is convince that Jody must be embarrassed and inconsolable. Jody doesn’t seem upset at all, but Uncle Bill encourages him to cry and tells him he can’t possibly be happy with his assignments. Jody however is in fact perfectly happy with his position and that his roles are important as well. Uncle Bill also tells Buffy it’s okay if she misses the next practice in favor of a tea party, sinc esitck ball ruins her hair. Robert DoQui is Officer Wilson. Johnny Silver is the cab driver. Miguel Monsalve is Roberto. Rudy Battaglia is Jose. David Brandon is Sam. 1/24/20 
• 040. You Like Buffy Better – 11/20/1967
  • Jody is working on building a bridge for a school project and discusses getting help from Uncle Bill. Buffy also wants to tell Uncle Bill that she was one of four to get selected out of her ballet class to audition for a TV program appearance. Bill is interrupted when his date Pat Petterson (Olga Kaya) arrives. Jody feels a little snubbed by Uncle Bill, while Cissy overhears Buffy talking to Miss Beasley about how Uncle Bill is more interested in Jody, and tells him about it. Cissy also wants to talk to him about her new boyfriend Ronnie Bartlett (Gregg Fedderson), but he puts her off until the next day. She approaches him again while he is trying to make things right with Buffy, and then Cissy feels ignored as well. Jody also feels ignored and turns to French to help him with his bridge, and winds up destroying it. Bill tries to help him, but has to leave for the audition for Buffy. Bill knows Eric Langley (Del Moore), the TV executive choosing the dancer, and accompanies her while she performs to the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Nevertheless, Langley doesn’t choose Buffy, who is heartbroken over the rejection. They arrive home to find that Jody has thrown the bridge into the trash, thinking that Uncle Bill likes Buffy better. While trying to console Jody, Cissy brings Ronnie over to meet him to announce they are going steady and plan to get married. Bill has a talk with Ronnie and manages to scare him off, further upsetting Cissy. Bill feels bad, but French advises him that the kids are being a bit selfish in monopolizing his time. Bill sits the kids down and gives them all loving advice, while telling them he is doing his best and is only one person. Buffy requests just one thing: a new pair of leotards since she threw her other pair out the window. Charlotte Askins is the secretary. Katey Barrett is Alicia’s mother. 1/24/20
• 041. Freddie – 11/27/1967
  • Jody is trying to come up with ways to stave off the advances of his classmate Sue Jeanette Minter (Susan Benjamin), and Cissy is excited about the prospect of making some money by some night babysitting for the Kingsleys. Uncle Bill promises they’ll put the whammy on Sue Jeanette at the upcoming first grade Open House, and reluctantly gives Cissy permission to babysit. Bill’s old friends Greg (Willard Sage) and Frederica “Freddie” Parkhurst (Diane Brewster) are visiting New York from Terra Haute. Bill had previously dated Freddie, but she was eventually won over by Greg. With Greg’s time consumed by business, Freddie spends time with Bill and getting to know the three kids. She takes over tucking the kids in for the night, and even joins Bill at the Open House. She is mistaken by Sue Jeanette’s mother Ruth (Barbara Collentine) for being Bill’s wife. Uncle Bill advises that Jody simply stare back at Sue Jeanette when she stares at him, but she just seems to like him better. Bill and Freddie go to dinner afterward and she confesses that she often plays the game ‘what-if’, implying her unhappiness with her child-free life with a husband married to his work. When he arrives home that night at 2am, Cissy isn’t home yet and soon is brought home by Officer Brennan (Michael Harris) for curfew violation. Bill blows his top and tells her that her babysitting days are over. Later however he puts her in charge of babysitting the twins when he has Greg and Freddie over. She decides she’d rather just be the sister when the twins take advantage and believe that because she is the babysitter, she should cater to their every whim. When Greg sees Freddie with the children playing with the bubbles she brought them, he decides to tell her that he has reconsidered, and is ready to visit an adoption agency. 5/9/20
• 042. Our Friend Stanley – 12/4/1967
  • On the way to school one morning, Mr. French and the twins run into a new boy named Stanley Winters (Michael Freeman) who has moved into the building. His mother Estelle (Sally Forrest) appears to be snooty and is clearly sheltering him because Stanley wears a leg brace. French cautions the kids not to be insensitive, but asks that they befriend and try and help Stanley at school. Jody tries to recruit Stanley to play marbles, but the other boys change the game to leapfrog. Estelle spots Stanley playing with Jody and falling down, causing her to bark at the kids and tell Stanley to no longer play with them. It also turns out that Estelle’s husband Doug (John Lupton) is an old friend of Bill’s, and they have drinks together and he meets Stanley as well. When Bill finds out about Estelle’s sheltering of Stanley, he attempts to address it with Doug over lunch and offers to take Stanley along to fly kites with the kids. He reluctantly agrees but doesn’t think he can convince Estelle to back off the sheltering. When Stanley arrives to fly kites, he is standoffish with Jody, because Jody had punched a kid at school named Eddie who called Stanley ‘gimpy’. Wanting to stand up for himself, Stanley picks a fight with Jody, and Bill convinces them to Indian wrestle instead. Estelle arrives to take Stanley back home, not thinking he is up to kite flying, and then sees the boys arm wrestling. She is beside herself at first, but when Stanley wins and his spirit is lifted, she allows him to go fly kites. He falls down as they play, but he gets right back up again. Buffy sees what Uncle Bill has done for Stanley and gives him the credit. Ila Britton is Miss Jerome. Gary Dubin is Eddie. Rae Sunshine Lee is Ruthie. 5/10/20
• 043. Somebody Upstairs – 12/11/1967
  • Cissy and Buffy have been spending a lot of time visiting with the lady in the upstairs apartment, and Mr. French is becoming concerned. The girls have been seeing former Broadway star Laura London (Joan Blondell), and when Mr. French goes up to meet her, he finds her very course and expresses his concern to Uncle Bill… but Bill has actually been a longtime fan. He goes to meet her himself and the two enjoy drinks together, and then reports to Mr. French that he has nothing to worry about. Ms. London has been telling the girls how much talent they possess and hopes they will pursue a career in show business as a sister act. Cissy tells Uncle Bill that she wants to drop out of school, and Mr. French finds out that Buffy put on a burlesque show for ‘show and tell’ day at school. Uncle Bill wants to see the girls perform so they go upstairs to use Ms. London’s piano. Her housekeeper Ruby (Ernestine Wade) lets them in and they do a duet to Let Me Entertain You. Uncle Bill goes out for drinks with Ms. London and he tells her that the girls are talking about dropping out of school and hopes she will convince them otherwise. She meets with the girls and tells them how lonely show business is when you’ve become forgotten, and how actors only get by on the love from the audience because they don’t have it elsewhere. That night Cissy tells Uncle Bill that they still want to pursue show business careers, but only after they have finished school. 8/23/20
• 044. Star Dust – 12/18/1967
  • Uncle Bill meets a movie star named Carol Haven (Martha Hyer) at a party, and she calls Bill to arrange a dinner date to get to know him. Cissy is giddy as she is a huge fan. At dinner, they are interrupted by a photographer (Ray Ballard) and an autograph seeker (Helyn Eby-Rock), so they arrange another date at Bill’s apartment. Carol spends the evening helping Cissy with her hair, playing charades with the family, and tucking Buffy and Jody into bed. They all begin to get closer, and soon the twins are asking Uncle Bill if he intends to marry her. Mr. French is bombarded in the park by a reporter (Grace Lenard) and other nannies (Nora Marlowe, Gwen Watts Jones) asking questions about Carol. Uncle Bill tells the family that whoever he marries is going to be a wife and mother and not a Hollywood actress. Carol meets with her agent Myron Fox (John Howard) and turns down a role to play St. Joan in a feature being shot in Spain because she wants to stay with Bill and the family. Bill questions about how happy she will be out of the spotlight and she assures him that she is ready to step into this new role as a wife and mother. His hesitation makes her realize that he has never asked her to marry him and she wonders if she is just trying to play a part as she would in a movie. Bill suggests she take a year to film in Spain and then return and see how they feel about each other. As she shoots the film in Spain, she sends home gifts for the kids a press clipping for Bill indicating that she has signed a six-picture deal that will keep her in Spain for the next three years. Charles Giorgi is the headwaiter. 8/24/20
• 045. Best of Breed – 12/25/1967
  • Mrs. Hobson (Gerry Lock) – pronounced ‘Hobston’ by the kids – walks Buffy and Jody home from school one day, and after she leaves, the kids notice that a dog has followed them home. They name the dog Puppy and sneak it into the house and wash it so Mr. French will be more likely to let them keep it. Uncle Bill however informs them that the lease states he can’t have any pets, even though Mrs. Porter has been permitted to keep her pedigree dog. Mr. French takes Puppy outside, but it follows him back into the apartment without him knowing. Uncle Bill agrees to talk to the landlord, but he declines the request to keep the dog. Mr. French takes Jody and Buffy to a dog show in order to show them what it means to be a pedigree dog. The kids can’t see the difference, so Bill gets an idea, and requests a permit to hold his own mutt show, complete with real dog judges. Puppy wins the first prize in several breed categories since he is a mutt, and the judge (Larry Thor) also awards him the Best in Show. Bill and the kids take their trophy and medals to see the landlord Mr. Lewis (Richard Bull), and he finally agrees that if one champion dog can stay in the building, then both dogs can stay. Mrs. Porter’s daughter (Kym Karath) turns up her nose when she sees Puppy with all of his awards, but when both of the dogs run after a cat, it proves that they are both just dogs at heart. Meanwhile Cissy gets accepted into the exclusive Marvels campus club at school, while her less fortunate friend Ingrid Johanson (Terry Burnham) does not. Instead of joining the Marvels, she and some of the other  rejected friends form their own club. 12/9/20
• 046. Family Reunion – 1/1/1968
  • The Davis family is invited by Aunt Fran and Uncle Harold to return to Terra Haute for a family reunion. Uncle Bill is worried that visiting there might stir up some difficult memories for the kids, but they assure him they will be okay and they are excited to go. Upon arrival, Fran tells Bill that she hopes the kids might want to stay with her, and although this is what Bill feared, he said he will see how the kids react after being there for a few days. The twins take Mr. French to their old school and park, and they are surprised how small everything now seems. Buffy goes on a date with her old classmate Harvey (Jim Henaghan) and they hit it off. In fact, he asks if she might be able to return for Junior Prom. Cissy asks Uncle Bill if she might be able to fly back for the dance, as Jody and Buffy are raving about how they got to ride an old friend’s pony. Fran suggests that he leave the kids there for a few weeks until after the dance, coaxing him by telling him that it will be a nice break for him and French. He says that if the kids want to stay on the last day, he will let them. That night Jody wakes up Buffy and Cissy and expresses his concern about being left there, and the girls seem to share the same fears. At breakfast, they tell Uncle Bill their worries, and he assures them that they don’t have to stay, and that Cissy is too young to fly back for the dance. Later Jody and Buffy go on a walk with Mr. French, reminiscing about times with their parents. They find the toy store where Buffy’s mother bought her Mrs. Beasley, and sadly tells him that this was the ‘last thing.’ Jody remembers going into the Barbershop with his father. Suddenly he too becomes sad, and the kids ask to go back. In fact they tell Uncle Bill that they no longer want to stay for the reunion and want to go home right away. The catch the first flight to New York City, and upon arrival, the kids are thrilled to see their pet turtle and goldfish again. 12/9/20
• 047. A Man’s Place – 1/8/1968
  • While shopping at Charlie’s grocery store, Mr. French runs into Florence Cahill (Ann Sothern), the widow of his former acquaintance Tom, and she invites him to dinner at her place. He then reciprocates and take her to dinner and back to the Davis house. During both dates, she questions why such an educated man became a gentleman’s gentleman, and doesn’t have a place of his own to live. He tries to explain that he has been trained for this job since boyhood, but when Mr. Davis comes home with his date Miss Martin (Kaye Elhardt) unexpectedly, he feels awkward, and acknowledges privately to Florence that he does in fact agree that he should have his own life and career. She offers to financially back him in a restaurant venture, so he opens up Our Mr. French restaurant. Uncle Bill has to explain to the kids why it is a good thing for Mr. French to follow his dreams, and they accept it, even though they will miss him. He makes sure to interview his own replacements, and after Mr. Harold Tyburn (Leslie Randall) seems unsuitable, he recommends Mr. Smyser (Laurie Mann), who is much more to his liking and agrees on the way he sees raising children in the proper way. The restaurant does a booming business and gets terrific reviews, but when he runs into the kids with Mr. Smyser in the park, he realizes that he is raising them with an iron fist and not letting them have much fun. He can’t take his mind off of it, even in the face of great reviews at the restaurant. Florence tells him that clearly he knows his true calling, and is willing to let him be free of the restaurant and will continue to make a go of it on her own. Mr. French returns to the Davis household and three happy children, who do not seem to mind following Mr. French’s strict, but loving, rules. Ralph Manza is the grocery store clerk. 4/2/21
• 048. The Great Kow-Tow – 1/15/1968
  • Bill has his Chinese friends Paul (Benson Fong) and Betty Chang (Lisa Lu) over for a visit, and they meet the twins, who are interested in the Chinese culture. The Changs invite the Bill and the kids to celebrate the Chinese New Year at their place. There they not only enjoy the festivities, but meet Paul’s father (Keye Luke) who takes a liking to the children. Paul explains to Bill that his father feels useless and is counting down the days until his death. After their evening, Mr. Chang sends a bird to the twins as a gift. They return to see him and tell him that they don’t have a grandfather, and ask him if he will be theirs. Grandfather Chang accepts and begins teaching them Chinese writing and culture, which they in turn share with their class at school. However Mr. Chang’s caretaker Liang (Beulah Quo) tells Paul that she doesn’t think it is right for the kids to be pretending to care about him in order to make him feel better. Grandfather overhears this, and becomes disconnected again, thinking he must indeed be useless if they are sending strangers to lie to him. Bill brings the kids over and asks Liang if they can tell him in their own words how they feel. They related to Grandfather Change how much he means to them, and how much their classmates want to meet him. This again inspires him to not wish for death so soon. 4/2/21
• 049. The Fish Watchers – 1/22/1968
  • Uncle Bill has been spending his days and evenings at work, leaving Mr. French and the kids to fend for themselves. Bill is concerned about materials being stolen on a construction job, which has pushed them nine days behind schedule. He discusses this with his bookkeeper (Gene Tyburn) and decides to go undercover on the job site as a welder. There he befriends a fellow worker named Scott Norvell (Ray Baxter). Bill discusses with Scott how they both miss their families, since Bill has to moonlight as a personal trainer during evenings, which leaves him no time to learn the draftsman trade. Scott advises Bill to get his family involved in a project that will occupy their time, in his case the project being tropical fish. Scott gives Bill two guppies, one of which is pregnant. When Bill and the kids move the guppies into an aquarium, they can hardly see them, so they populate it with more tropical fish from the pet store. They go through various trials with the fish including the mother giving birth and larger fish eating the babies, and a sick fish that they stay up all night watching after putting it in salt water to save it. One day on the job, Bill spots a truck driver (Jack Lilley) and his helper (Guy Way) leaving the site with a truck full of materials that the foreman had signed off as being empty. Scott and guard (Howard Culver) on duty help subdue the men and call the police. Bill offers to train Scott as a draftsman and work in his office. The family is surprised when Uncle Bill comes home in the evening, and he suggests they all watch the fish. When the kids all seem uninterested in that, they decide that not all people have to have one common interest to keep them together. Bill decides to give the fish to Scott since his family seems to enjoy them. Gene Benton is the pet store salesman. 7/29/21
• 050. The Day Nothing Happened – 1/29/1968
  • Uncle Bill is planning for a big hunting trip in Maine with his colleague Charley (Ray Kellogg) to get away from it all. Mr. French visits with his brother in Long Island the evening before the trip. A blizzard happens overnight and French can’t get home, while Uncle Bill’s flight is cancelled. Bill is forced to spend the day homebound with the twins, who invite several friends over to play in the apartment, and with Cissy, who has come down with a cold, and is forced to miss her first date with Norton Weberly because she has come down with a cold and is confined to bed. She spends the afternoon sulking because he has not only taken someone else on a date, but has failed to check on her to see how she is doing. The kids run amuck through the apartment, so Bill is temporarily able to occupy them with the TV, but he ends up blowing it up while trying to repair Cissy’s hair dryer. After the kids try to build a snowman in the living room, Bill finally sends them home. Bill hears from Charley that he hasn’t even been able to hunt, because he was occupied making a major deal all afternoon. Charley invites Bill to join up with them as they seal the deal, but he declines, and then tells French when he finally makes it home that what he had really needed was a day with the kids. A deliveryman (James Victor) brings flowers for Cissy from Norton, ending her depression. Bill invites the twins to come out on the terrace to start building a new snowman. 7/29/21
• 051. A House in the Country – 2/5/1968
  • Bill is on a date with a lady named Marcia (Lynn Borden), but seems completely distracted because he has it in his head that New York City life is not doing justice to the children. He is further irritated when he cannot get a cab and has to walk home in the rain. He also hears about Buffy’s friend Pamela (Debi Storm) nearly getting hit by a car on the busy streets. The fact that he doesn’t care for the box boy Danny (Dennis Olivieri) who Cissy is dating adds to his decision. He finds a nice country house in Connecticut and takes the family out to see it. They all have a great time, and Cissy even meets a respectable boy named Jim Rogers (Patrick Moore), so they ask if they can come back for a visit the next weekend. He then privately asks the owner Mr. Pendergast (Mauritz Hugo) if they can negotiate a deal. The kids are all shocked when he tells them the news. Even Mr. French is disappointed by the move, and expresses his concerns to Miss Faversham. Buffy visits with Pamela, and Jody visits with Scotty the doorman to express their sullen concerns. Cissy, however, tells the twins that they should not say anything to disappoint Uncle Bill after all he has done for them, so they all keep quiet. Bill even hires an engineer Mr. Burgess (Walter Reed) to make the house more of a paradise for the kids. The family completes all of the packing and moving, when Uncle Bill overhears them all talking about how much they want to stay in the apartment. He then tells them that if they feel so strongly about it, they don’t have to move, but questions why they changed their minds. They tell him that they never wanted to move, but they thought that he did, so kept quiet. Cissy explains further that the apartment is where they first came together as a family, and they all feel a warm, safe feeling there. Mr. French concurs, as they all settle back into the old apartment. 1/27/22
• 052. A Matter of Tonsils – 2/12/1968
  • Just before Uncle Bill is getting ready to depart to Chicago for business, Mr. French notices that Buffy is favoring her throat and isn’t interested in eating pancakes. Bill asks French to take her to Dr. Felson and report back to him with the results. When the doctor tells French that she may need an operation to have them removed, he panics and immediately calls Bill to come back home. He cancels his meetings and rushes home, where he finds that the doctor is at the apartment checking up on her. They decide to get her to the hospital that night for an operation in the morning. The twins sadly say goodbye to each other as she heads out. Although the men are nervous wrecks, Buffy is bravely facing the situation in the children’s ward. Jody starts to tell French and Bill that his throat is hurting as well, but they think it is either a matter of him missing Buffy and wanting to go along, or being jealous of the attention she is getting. After the successful operation, they come to see Buffy and bring Jody along, since the school nurse sent him home from school. The doctor takes a look at his tonsils and determines that they are worse than Buffy’s were. Uncle Bill cancels another trip to Chicago, so he can be with Jody while he gets his tonsils taken out. Now side by side in the hospital, the twins agree that they need to try and calm Uncle Bill and Mr. French down since they seem so scared of hospitals. Carol Nugent is Miss Jones. 1/28/22
• 053. A Member of the Family – 2/19/1968
  • Cissy is doing caricatures of the entire family that will be displayed publicly at the Scofield exhibit. Mr. French gets his feelings hurt when Cissy doesn’t mention drawing him, and he believes she doesn’t consider him as part of the family. He takes Jody and Buffy roller skating in the park, and runs into Miss Faversham as well as fellow gentlemen’s gentlemen Mr. Hardcastle (Noel Drayton) and Mr. Withers (Richard Peel), who is soon going to go along to Europe with the family who employs him. This makes Mr. French feel even worse, until he goes home and accidentally find the caricature that Cissy drew of him. He is very touched, and Uncle Bill tells him that Cissy had wanted to surprise him when he saw the exhibit for the first time. Mr. French promises to act surprised. Later, Mr. French overhears Buffy and Jody and their friend Peter teasing a boy named Ellis for being too skinny. Mr. French scolds them and then tells them how his classmates used to call him Fatty, and although he played along, it really crushed him and he went to bed crying regularly. He admits to Miss Haversham that he embellished the story to make a point and that it really didn’t bother him at all when they called him Chubby. Jody and Buffy, however, take this information back to Cissy, so she decides not to hang his painting for fear of hurting his feelings, but unbeknownst to her, French has already asked Faversham, Hardcastle, and Withers to attend the exhibit so they can see her drawing of him. In turn, Miss Faversham suggests that they hold a Bon Voyage party for Withers. Cissy’s friend Sharon James invites her to out on a school night, and Mr. French has to stand in for Uncle Bill and tell her that she can’t go. Although she initially shows disappointment, she realizes that French is looking out for her and that because of his decision, she won’t fail an exam she’s getting the next day. On the day of the Scofield Exhibit, Mrs. Scofield (Joan Vohs) shows French the exhibit before Cissy gets there, and he is crushed to see that his painting is missing, and thinks it is because of the decision he made with Cissy. Uncle Bill arrives directly from the airport at the exhibit, and French tells him how he’s been excluded because of their disagreement. Uncle Bill rushes home to get Cissy and tells her how Mr. French is hurt that his caricature isn’t included with the family. When French’s friends arrive at the show, French tries to keep them away from the exhibit, but Mrs. Scofield takes them directly to it. French is the surprised, pleased, and grateful to see that his piece of artwork there after all. Withers also has to drop the news that he’s not going to Europe after all, as the family chose to take the lady’s mother there instead. 6/3/22
• 054. His and Hers – 2/26/1968
  • Uncle Bill attends Parents Night in Buffy and Jody’s class at school, but he seems more interested in the widowed mother  Margaret Williams (Coleen Gray) of Jody’s friend Timmy (Tony Fraser) and Cissy’s friend Jill (Martine Fraser). Additionally, Margaret has a 16-year old daughter named Vicky (Kay Cole) who is Cissy’s age. They hit it off and begin seeing each other for dinner, raising the hopes of the twins that Uncle Bill and Margaret will marry and they will form an instant family of six. One night when they go out for dinner, all three of Margaret’s kids come over and stay with Davis kids. It all starts off well, but soon Jill is infringing on Buffy’s relationship with Miss Beasley, and Timmy has talked Jody into playing ball in the house and getting them in trouble when they break a vase. Cissy and Jill plan to go out on double-date with Cissy’s boyfriend Norman (George Winters) and his friend Alan (Mickey Sholder), but once Vicky and Norman start talking and hit it off, Cissy is stuck with his friend Alan. They all then decide that they no longer want Margaret to be their new-stepmother, mostly because they don’t want the step-siblings. At dinner, Margaret starts talking about how they all seem to be a ready-made family, but Uncle Bill finally realizes that they may be dating for the wrong reasons. He tells her that this all would be nice, but that they would want to make sure that they were really in love before taking any steps like this. She is clearly disappointed, but pleased that Bill is an honest man. When he gets home that night, he tells the family and Mr. French that he has no intention of marrying Margaret at this point, and they are all quite relieved. 6/3/22
• 055. The New Cissy – 3/4/1968
  • Buffy keeps getting mouth-breathing phone calls from her classmate Leonard Plimsoul. Jody has purchased a Venus Flytrap Orchid for $1. Cissy thinks none of the boys like her, while her friends Laura (Diane Mountford) and Trish (Susan Abbott) get all of the attention. Uncle Bill suggests that she throw a little gathering at the apartment and invite a few boys and a few girls over so that she can show off her relaxed personality. She is quite nervous about the party, and only the homely bookwork Wendell Owens (Charles Herbert) ends up showing up. They spend an awkward couple of hours together, and then he goes home. Cissy thinks her girlfriends didn’t show up so that Cissy would have the chance to shine, but then none of the boys showed up since the other girls weren’t going. Bill says that they need to find an expert in boys to see what she is doing wrong. They visit with several women that Bill knows so that Cissy can be coached by a model (Lynn Borden) who shows Cissy how to walk with poise, a drama teacher (Jenifer Lea) who teaches her how to talk and flirt with boys, a hairdresser (Danielle Aubry) who gives her a slick new hairdo, a psychologist (Jackie Russell) who recommends her new wardrobe, a psychologist (Jackie Russell) who plays word association games with her and then coaches her on how to realign her thinking about boys, and a dress stylist (Maurine Dawson) who recommends her new wardrobe. When she goes off to school and uses her new sense of style and attitude, she immediately captures the attention of several of the boys Rick (Oaky Miller), Eddie (Patrick Thomas), and Jeff (Scutter McKay), who start following her around like lost puppies. The other girls can hardly believe it, and Wendell is shocked by her appearance… and then snubs her, because he says she no longer knows her. When she gets home that evening, she has a hand full of phone messages, but is shocked she didn’t get more. Bill admits that he wishes he had the old Cissy back. Jody realizes that his Orchid is actually an onion plant. The next morning, Cissy heads off to school looking and acting like the old Cissy, admitting to Uncle Bill that she looked like an orchid, but inside she was still the onion. She also remarks that it was only Wendell who seemed to notice that she was no longer the real Cissy. Buffy asks Uncle Bill if she can go through the makeover that Cissy did, and adamantly says no. Cissy is glad because she can’t even seem to manage Leonard Plimsoul. 9/27/22
• 056. The Family Outing – 3/11/1968
  • Uncle Bill and Jody are planning a fishing and camping trip together, but when Mr. French mentions sending along a recipe for Trout Sauté Mozambique, Uncle Bill invites Mr. French to come along so he can do the cooking. French reminds him that Buffy and Cissy shouldn’t be left alone, so Uncle Bill decides to make it a family camping trip. The girls aren’t interested in the trip at all, but they decide to go along with it in order to not hurt Uncle Bill’s feelings. Jody is concerned that the girls will cut into his fishing time. The girls give it their best shot right off the bat, but soon Cissy has fallen into the lake and Cissy has broken a fingernail. Mr. French struggles to put up his tent, so Uncle Bill takes over while he prepares the meal, which is only waiting for the trout. Bill and Jody spend the afternoon fishing, but come away with nothing, so Mr. French goes with steaks. After dinner and some singing of There’s a Long, Long Trail – and Buffy swallowing a buy – they all decide to turn in. Buffy gets scared of lions, so she climbs in the sleeping bag with Cissy. Mr. French’s tent collapses, so he just sleeps that way. The next morning, Cissy’s radio runs out of batteries during breakfast. Uncle Bill realizes he made a mistake, and asks the girls if they’d like to go home. Jody is disappointed when he thinks he has to leave so soon. Uncle Bill tells him that they are going to stay all day and fish, while French can take the girls home, and order a car from the General Store to pick them up later. Jody is thrilled to do more fishing, but the fish still aren’t biting. When Jody goes to make sandwich, Bill catches a fish. He wishes to himself that Jody had caught it, so he attaches it to Jody’s pole’s hook and pretends that he caught it himself. Jody is very excited and says it’s the most fun he ever had. Bill then feels guilty about lying to him, so he tells him the truth about planting the fish. Jody is very disappointed and doesn’t understand why Uncle Bill would do that. Bill acknowledges he made a mistake, and said he only wanted Jody to have fun, but then realized that such an important memory in his life shouldn’t be fake. Jody understands, and now sees himself and Bill as a couple of guys, and not just a little kid and big man. 9/27/22
• 057. Mr. French’s Holiday – 3/18/1968
  • Mr. French is going on a two-week vacation exploring the American Old West. He offers to postpone it or cut it short as to not leave Bill with the kids for too long, but Bill insists that he go. French strictly follows his itinerary on the trip and sends a postcard to the family and tells them. After a couple of days, Bill gets a call from his office and is needed for a trip to Rio in South America. Cissy offers to babysit the kids, but Bill notes that she’ll be in school, and the kids need an adult. Cissy suggests that she and Buffy stay with Gail upstairs in the building, and that Jody stay with his friend Richard. Bill leaves all of his contact info with his secretary Miss Lee. On Jody’s first morning with Richard, he wakes up to find that Richard has caught the mumps. Cissy calls Miss Lee, who calls Mr. French. Since Jody doesn’t want to spoil French’s vacation, they decide that Jody will fly out and join Mr. French on his trip.  Upon Jody’s arrival, French can see that Jody isn’t thrilled with his itinerary of museums, churches, and libraries, so he arranges to take Jody to an old ghost town after breakfast. There they encounter a group of Indians led by Jim Tallfeather (Dennis Cross), who are actually movie extras, who invite them to join the for lunch and visit the movie studio. Mr. French again gives up his itinerary items to do what Jody wants. Back home, Gail’s father finds out that Cissy and Buffy were exposed to Jody, who was exposed to Richard’s mumps, and since he hasn’t had them, he has to ask the girls to leave. They call Miss Lee again, who calls French, who then has the girls join them on his trip. Cissy meets a local boy named Danny Stone (Danny Llorens) on the plane, and he tells her about a local discotheque. French again waylays his plans to visit the Indian burial ground in order to go to the disco. He even agrees to eat burgers and fries there when he sees how much fun the kids are having. When they get back home, Uncle Bill has returned, and he notes how French gave up his vacation for the kids. He tells them that even though he had to stray from his plans, the kids really breathed life into the trip. Adele Claire is the hostess. NOTES: The character of Richard is named as Peter in the credits, and also referred to by that name by Cissy in the episode. Actor Randy Whipple had played the character as both Richard and Peter in earlier episodes. Miss Lee is referred to as Miss Carter in the credits. Gail is referred to as Sharon in the credits. 1/21/23
• 058. The Beasley Story – 3/25/1968
  • While Jody and Buffy are tussling over Buffy’s doll Mrs. Beasley, they accidentally rip her arm off of her body. Mr. French tries to tend to the doll with a tourniquet, he doesn’t know how to repair it nor how to calm down the kids. He calls Uncle Bill, who is busy at work on a project with two East Indians (Aly Wassil, Naji Gabbay). He rushes home to check on them and runs into Cissy who has just come home as well. She suggests a doll hospital, which is a place where they repair dolls. Mr. French takes the kids and Mrs. Beasley there where he meets the ‘doctor’ Mr. Green (Tim Graham) and his wife, the ‘nurse’ (Natalie Masters). They take the matter seriously and act as if she is going through a real operation. When another customer Mr. Foster (Ivan Bonar) makes light of the situation by asking if a special doctor flew in from Vienna, Mr. French threatens him with his umbrella. After a little over a half-hour, they bring out Mrs. Beasley fully recovered. As they make calls to Uncle Bill to keep him update, the East Indians are incredulous that Americans have doll hospitals. Once they get Mrs. Beasley home, Jody takes over as doctor and Cissy takes over as Mrs. French. They enjoy giving her extra attention, because it means they get candy, desserts, and soda pop for themselves, since Dr. Jody prescribes it for the patient. When the kids get snippy about the phone ringing and waking up Mrs. Beasley, Uncle Bill thinks the kids have gone far enough. He offers to take them to Kiddie Land the next day, but then has to recant his offer since Mrs. Beasley is still ‘recovering’. The kids assure him that Mrs. Beasley is now fully back to normal and that they can all now go to Kiddie Land. 1/22/23
• 059. The Baby Sitters – 4/1/1968
  • Uncle Bill is getting ready to go on a business trip to Hong Kong, but before leaving, he breaks his dental bridge. He tries to get hold of his dentist Dr. Perry (Carleton Young). He also breaks his briefcase, so Mr. French sends Bill off to his briefing with Mr. Lin (Allen Jung) and Mr. Chung (James Hong). Uncle Bill enlists Cissy to watch the kids and get them to bed while they are both out. However, when her friend Danny (Dennis Olivieri) stops by to go to the Velvet Vultures concert, she agrees to go if she can get her friend Sharon James to watch the kids until Mr. French returns. Sharon reluctantly agrees, and Jody begins taking advantage of having more cookies and milk before bed. As Sharon is getting ready to put the twins to bed, they notice that she has blotches all over her face with hare either chicken pox or measles. She calls her mother (Doris Singleton) to come down and take her place with the kids. When Sharon starts to feel worse, she phones her mother and then Mrs. James calls her husband Howard (Walter Sande), who is playing poker at Tom Morrisson’s (Barry Brooks) apartment with their friends Jim Vickers (Robert Whaley), Bob Ryan (Dick Winslow), and Paul Perry. James brings all of his friends to the Davis apartment with him and they set up their poker table there. Jody and Buffy watch the game intently, and then try to help set them up with snacks. Uncle Bill then comes home and is irritated to see that his house is full of strangers, The only saving grace is that Bill is finally able to locate Dr. Perry… in his own living room. Cissy makes sure to mention this when Uncle Bill questions her for shirking her responsibility. Mr. French comes home with a new briefcase and puts the kids to bed, while Dr. Perry takes Bill to get his bridge fixed. Jody has a belly ache from eating milk and cookies with each sitter. 7/5/23
• 060. Family Portrait – 4/8/1968
  • Uncle Bill is away on business in the jungles of Nigeria for two months, and when he returns home, he realizes how much he has missed in such a short time. With plans to head to India, Iran, or Brazil next, he decides to scrap the traveling and sends his employee Ward Halsey (John Milford) in his place. Bill starts immediately spending more time with the kids, even taking over the reading of Winnie the Pooh to the twins. Bill also begins dating a lady named Eileen Moran (Pippa Scott), who immediately helps Jody remove a splinter. She also opts to make lunch for a picnic and accompany them all to see a drive-in movie. When Cissy plans to buy a typewriter, Uncle Bill suggests that Cissy should have talked to him so that they can make the decision together. Ward Halsey calls Bill to tell him that his dam project in Brazil is off to a rocky start and that the job may be too big for him. However, he decides to stick it out for a while. Mr. French expresses his concern that the services he used to perform for the children are no longer required since the situation in the family has changed to a more ordinary family. While the family are on another picnic, Jody meets a boy (Eddie Rosson) and brags about Uncle Bill’s exotic travels. However, when the boy doesn’t believe him, Uncle Bill has to verify that he used to do things, but now goes to an office. Eileen gives Bill that maybe he should stop trying to be the person that he thinks the kids want him to be, but to just be himself as he was. After being out for the day, a tired Uncle Bill and the twins return. Bill returns the job of reading Winnie the Pooh to Mr. French. He then goes and books himself a ticket to Rio to check on the new project. Cissy comes to him for advice on setting up a secretarial service, but he tells her that she can make up her own mind and that he trusts her judgement. When he tells the kids and Mr. French about his trip to Brazil, Buffy says they will be alright with him gone as long as they have Mr. French. Ed Deemer is Tyler, Bill’s assistant in Nigeria. 7/5/23

SEASON 3

• 061. The Latch Key Kid – 9/23/1968
  • Buffy can’t understand why she can’t get her hair done at the beauty parlor like Cissy, nor why she can’t stay after school and play on the playground like Jody. Uncle Bill has to admit it is because she is younger, and she is a girl. Later at school. Buffy meets a new girl named Lana (Susan Neher), who is eating fruit pies for lunch instead of sandwiches. She tells Buffy that she is able to do whatever she wants, including going to the beauty parlor, and is able to cook her own meals when she is alone after school. She invites Buffy to come over to her place the next night, but she has to get clearance from Mr. French and Uncle Bill. Buffy starts using the name ‘Ava’ instead of ‘Buffy’ since that is the name that Lana would have had if her mother (Eve Brent) hadn’t gone with Lana. Mr. French walks home from school with Buffy and Lana and they stop by Lana’s apartment, which shows no sign of any parents and is quite run down. Mr. French recommends that Uncle Bill not allow Buffy to go over to Lana’s place, but Uncle Bill decides to allow her to go since he has been turning her down a lot lately and has seen no reason not to trust her judgement in friends. Lana and Buffy spend the evening at Lana’s place unsupervised, wearing Lana’s mother’s shoes, making frozen pizza, curling Buffy’s hair, and watching a scary movie. Buffy has a great time, but when Uncle Bill picks her up, he is somewhat surprised that Lana’s mother is out on a date and won’t be home until later. He tells Lana that she can stay at their place the next night if she is permitted. Lana is surprised when she stays at Buffy’s place that there are so many rules to follow including doing their homework right after school, playing on the terrace rather than watching movies, and getting to bed promptly at 8:30. Lana agrees to be tucked in by Uncle Bill since it is one of the house rules. The next night, Buffy walks Lana home but has to leave right afterward. Lana begins to cry and tells Buffy that she wishes she has someone to tell her what to do as it clearly means that they folks care about her. Buffy decides then and there to go back to being Buffy again, rather than Ava. That night, Lana phones Mr. French to ask permission to watch a scary movie. French declines the request and tells her that she should concentrate on her homework. Buffy is quite cordial when Uncle Bill tells her that she needs more light to read, having realized that she is only made to do things because the people in the house care about her. 11/2/23
• 062. By a Whisker – 9/30/1968
  • Jody feels like a grown boy when Uncle Bill agrees to let him go across the street to the supermarket by himself to pick up some gruyere cheese. While he is out, Jody runs into a neighborhood boy named Frankie (Butch Patrick) who admires his basketball. Jody invites him to play, but Frankie tells him that he has a club meeting with the 64th Street Daredevils. In order to get use of Jody’s basketball, he brings him to the meeting with gang Skinny (Russell Schulman), Jose (Rick Natoli), Sparky (Lindy Davis), and Merv (Gerald Edwards). The kids all agree that he can join the club if he performs one act of bravery. Whereas Merv had to jump across building, they assign Jody to get a lock of Mr. French’s beard whiskers as his challenge. Jody doesn’t want to disrespect Mr. French’s feelings but agrees to rise to the challenge anyway. That evening, Jody can’t keep his eyes off of Mr. French’s beard, and he asks him several questions about how long it took to grow. Jody plans to snip a lock of his beard off of him when he goes to sleep, but when Cissy goes off to a rock festival with Sharon, Buffy returns to the apartment prematurely and catches Jody in the act. She decides to form an alliance with him and help him cut off a piece of his beard at night. She sets her alarm at midnight to wake up and help him. They nearly complete the task, but the phone rings and wakes him up with a wrong number and they have to scurry off to their bedrooms. That Monday, Jody returns to a meeting of the gang without the lock of hair. They all call him a ‘baby’, which makes Jody even more resolute in his efforts. He once again tries to snip a couple of locks of his beard and this time he is successful… but Mr. French wakes up and catches him in the act. Furious at having his privacy violated, he tells Uncle Bill what Jody has done. Bill demands to know why Jody did it and threatens to punish him severely if he won’t tell, but Jody will not violate the secret ritual of the club. However, when the Daredevils come to the door and see Jody and apologize for giving him such a hard task, and then request that Bill tell him that he’s in the club even if he doesn’t complete the task or bring his basketball, Bill and French both realize that Jody had merely been keeping a gentleman’s secret. They respect him for that, and even more so when Jody tells them that he’s ready for his punishment because he is unable to tell the secret. Bill rewards him by sending to the store once again to pick up the newspaper. A.G. Vitanza is Mr. Amalfi, the shopkeeper. 11/2/23
• 063. A Waltz from Vienna – 10/7/1968
  • Cissy has been dating an Austrian man named Karl Krug (Mark de Vries) for several months, and although Cissy is only seventeen years old, he asks her to marry him one night at dinner. They get the blessing of Karl’s father Freidrick (Karl Bruck) and mother Anna (Eva Szorenyi), but when they all go to see Uncle Bill, he says that she is too young to get married, and if they are really in love, they should be willing wait five years or so. Cissy is devastated, but Uncle Bill tells her that he is concerned that she is simply in love “with love” and not Karl himself. Cissy gives Uncle Bill the silent treatment, and he starts to question whether he made the right decision. Meanwhile, Johnny Archer (Hank Jones), the grocery delivery boy, laments that Cissy won’t give him a date lately. Mr. French tells Bill that the Krugs ae one of the oldest and wealthiest families in Europe, but Bill feels in his bones that a marriage would be wrong. Anna Krug comes to see Bill at work and asks him to consider allowing Cissy to come spend a couple of weeks in Vienna with the family to see if she would even be open to the lifestyle. He is reluctant but agrees to think about it. In the meantime, Cissy visits a clothing store and hairdresser (Ila Britton), where a saleswoman (Annette Cabot) outfits her in fancy women’s clothing and she gets an older woman’s hairstyle. When Bill sees how much a woman she looks like, he agrees to let her go for two weeks. After she leaves, Jody and Buffy become lonesome and question why she would ever want to get married, but Bill explains that her desire is natural, and it could happen to them as well. In Vienna, the Krug family throws her a fancy ball, and Cissy is swept up by the romance, and when Karl once again asks her to get married right away, she agrees to call Uncle Bill and run it by him again. He gives her the same answer of no, much to her annoyance once again. The next day, Karl suggests that they elope and then tell Uncle Bill afterward, so he will have no choice but accept their marriage. Cissy tells Karl about a dream that she had that was full of romance and enchantment, and she suddenly realized that her life with Karl too closely resembles a dream and doesn’t feel real and natural. She decides that she wants to go back home, having understood exactly what Uncle Bill meant about being love with love. At home, Mr. French prepares maple fudge, but the twins can’t understand why since it is a food that Cissy likes. Mr. French tells them that if they wish really hard for her to return, their dream may come true. Cissy then comes in and embraces her family. Johnny sees her return and invites her to go The Shanty to see a new band, and she gleefully accepts it. Mr. French notes that they are a family again. Jan Arvan is the waiter. Charlotte Boerner is a guest of the Krugs. 3/7/24
• 064. Your Friend, Jody – 10/14/1968
  • Uncle Bill is boxing at the gym with his friend Ruby (Archie Moore), when Ruby gets distracted and punches Bill in the face. He explains to Bill that his mind is elsewhere because he is worried about his son Mike (Ezekial Williams), who doesn’t seem to like playing with other boys and instead plays girl games with his sisters Minnie and Sue. Bill doesn’t think it is anything to worry about, but nevertheless, Bill recommends Camp Anawanda in Moose Lake as a great place for boys to congregate. After the conversation, Mike finishes helping clean out the gym lockers and wants to get home to his sisters. Bill reciprocates the punch to Ruby’s face. When Uncle Bill gets home, he notices that Jody is wearing an apron and acting as a dressmaker’s dummy for Buffy. Bill starts to think about Jody’s lack of exposure to other boys, so he offers the opportunity for Jody to go to Camp Anawanda as well. Jody seems excited but is disappointed that Buffy and Cissy can’t go along with him. Nevertheless, he believes that if Uncle Bill wants him to go, then it is in his best interest. On the day that the camp driver (John Lawrence) comes to pick him up, Jody continues to stress who wonderful the week will be, even though he sees the other boys in the car crying. The driver explains that they often start off homesick, but once they get there, they have a blast. They arrive at the camp, where Jody meets his counselor (Robert Broyles) and is introduces to his cabin and bunkmates Mike, Allen (Ricky Cordell), and Charlie (Michael Barbera). Allen admits right off the bat that he doesn’t like being at camp, but that his parents go to Europe and need to get rid of him. In fact, all three of the other boys wish they could go home. Jody tells them that he has a great home, but that Uncle Bill wanted him to come. After some time passes, Bill calls Jody while he’s in the mess hall, and Jody goes overboard to tell him wonderful everything is at camp and what a great time he is having. Buffy becomes suspicious when he also describes his calf’s liver as ‘wonderful.’ Postcards from Jody all repeat the word ‘wonderful’, even as he describes rain, poison ivy, and bellyaches of the other kids. Bill then finds out that Ruby began to feel guilty when they talked to Mike, and he wouldn’t stop crying. He tells Bill that he went to pick him up. Mike tells Bill that Jody was brave and didn’t cry like he and Charlie did. He also tells Bill that Charlie’s parents came and got him as well, leaving only Jody and Allen in their cabin. Bill decides to take the girls to the camp to visit, but the head dean George Sperling (L.E. Young) tries to talk them out of taking Jody. When they ask Jody how he is doing, he tells them how wonderful everything is and takes Uncle Bill on a tour of the camp. Although Jody does everything he can to let Bill know how great he thinks camp is, Jody tips his hand when Uncle Bill tells him that he is going to send Buffy to camp when Jody gets home. Uncle Bill tells Jody he no longer has to pretend, and that it will better for him to be home where he belongs with his family. 3/7/24
• 065. The Substitute Teacher – 10/21/1968
  • Jody and Buffy are surprised when their teacher Miss Cummings doesn’t show up, and they get a substitute teacher named Miss Evans (June Lockhart), who says she will be there for the week as Miss Cummings is dealing with an illness in the family in Chicago. Jody gets on the wrong side of Miss Evans initially when he tries to get up from his seat and is told to sit back down. She will not allow any explanations in class, but he later catches her at recess and apologizes, saying that he was supposed to feed the fish. Later when Jody is knocked down on the playground while playing keep-away, Miss Evans hugs him and nurses his injury. At the end of the week, Miss Evans announces that Miss Cummings will be back on Monday, and she tells the class how much she enjoyed meeting them. Jody draws a picture of Miss Evans and presents it to her. The next week, as Cissy works on an autobiographical scrapbook for school, Uncle Bill gets a call from Miss Cummings (Joan Vohs) to ask him to come and talk about Jody. She says that he seems very unfocused and consequently, his schoolwork is suffering. Uncle Bill confronts Jody, who tells him that since Miss Evans left, he feels like he is lost and can’t find his way home. Bill makes arrangements for Jody to visit with Miss Evans in hopes that this will help. Mr. French takes him to see her and tells Miss Evans that Jody is an orphan, and she tells him that he and Uncle Bill will have to show him how loved and important he is. Uncle Bill later asks Miss Evans to come and visit them at their home, and when she shows up, she looks very familiar to him. When Cissy sees her, she also finds her to seem very familiar, then leaves the room and returns with a photo of their mother, who is a ringer for Miss Evans. Bill shows Jody the picture, and Jody explains that he gets the same feeling when he leaves Miss Evans that he gets when he is away from Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill tells Jody that whenever he gets that feeling to think about the picture of his mother. Jody adds that he would like to think about him and Mr. French as well. Michael Barbera is the student Rand. 7/19/24
• 066. Oliver – 11/4/1968
  • Buffy and Jody come back from the park and tell Uncle Bill about their friend Oliver. They ask him if Oliver can stay with them for three days while his family goes out of town. He agrees to allow Oliver to stay, not realizing that Oliver is actually a giant dog. When Oliver arrives, it is also clear that he does not like Uncle Bill and attempts to chase him all over the apartment. Uncle Bill initially tells them that they will have to take him to the kennel, but the kids tell him that he gave his word, and they gave their word to Oliver’s owner Danny that Oliver wouldn’t have to go to a kennel where he would be ‘heartbroken.’ Uncle Bill agrees to keep to his word, even though it means that he is up most of the night when Jody joins him in bed because Oliver is in his bed… and then Oliver joins both of them. Bill can hardly stay awake the next day at work as he and his colleagues Mr. Brown (Hap Holmwood) and Mr. Rogers (Vince Howard) attempt to be a contract bid together. The next night, in order to get some sleep, Uncle Bill had Mr. French takes Oliver to the park to walk around and get tired, but after an hour and a half of walking, Oliver takes over chasing after another dog and cat. Bill then has to get up and put in calls to the police to try and track Oliver down. It turns out he is found by a policeman (David Brandon) after Oliver ran into a dress shop and destroyed a good deal of merchandise. Bill had to go to the shop and deal with its owner Madame Antoninette (Danielle Aubry). The next day, Uncle Bill once again falls asleep during his meeting and has to put it off until the next day. When Bill gets home that evening, the building manager Mr. Ross (Richard Bull) is waiting for him, insisting that he send the dog to a kennel, as Oliver is keeping the neighbors up as well. Jody and Buffy remind Uncle Bill of their promise to Danny, so Mr. French agrees to spend the night in the kennel with Oliver so that he won’t be brokenhearted. Uncle Bill is finally able to get some sleep before his meeting. Once it is all said and done, Jody and Buffy both admit to Uncle Bill that they manipulated him by not telling him that Oliver is a dog. They decide their own punishment of a week without television or dessert. They ask Uncle Bill if he still likes them and he says no, but then laughs and hugs them anyway. NOTE: The landlord’s name was formerly Mr. Lewis. 7/21/24
• 067. Christmas Came a Little Early – 11/11/1968
  • Jody and Buffy have a little bedridden girl named Eve Bowers (Eve Plumb), who attends classes from home via an intercom system since she is too ill to come to class. Their teacher Miss Cummings asks Buffy to deliver their new textbook on Latin America to Eve’s apartment, which is on her way home. Buffy is anxious to meet her in person, even if Eve knows almost all of the answers in class. When Buffy arrives, Eve’s mother (Ann McCrea) asks her if she would like to meet Eve, and the two girls hit it off, and learn about each other and their lives. Buffy is convinced that if only Uncle Bill could meet her, he could help Eve get better since he can do anything. Buffy later tells this to Uncle Bill, so he takes on the challenge to do what he can. When Buffy and Jody go over to play with her the next time, he stops by to pick them up so that he can meet Eve and her mother. Then he puts in a call to Dr. Flanders (Ivan Bonar) to ask if he can look her, and he asks that any bill come directly to him. Both Mr. (Paul Sorenson) and Mrs. Bowers are very appreciative, but unfortunately after Dr. Flanders checks her out, he isn’t able to bring any good news. He also can’t tell how long Eve will live but implies that it won’t be very long. One evening, Mrs. Bowers comes to visit Uncle Bill and suggests that it might not be a good idea for Buffy to visit any longer, as Eve is getting weaker and is clearly running out of time and that it might be too much for Buffy to handle. Uncle Bill has a talk with Buffy, but Buffy makes it clear that Eve still needs her as a friend and knows that Eve would do the same for her. Uncle Bill agrees that she can still visit Eve if it is okay with her mother. One day, Uncle Bill tells all three kids that he might be called to Central America for a job soon and isn’t sure if he will be back for Christmas. He suggests that they all go Christmas shopping now in case he isn’t back for the holiday. He also suggests that Buffy invite Eve, but since Eve can’t leave her apartment, they asks the Bowers if they can celebrate at their apartment. Eve enjoys watching form her wheelchair as everyone erects the Christmas tree. Mister French then poses as Santa and brings a doll for Eve that she truly seems to love. That night, Uncle Bill tells French that he did a great job as Santa and then comments that it is a good thing that the kids don’t understand what is happening with Eve, believing that they couldn’t have handled the party if they did know. However, as he heads to bed, he hears Buffy crying in her room and sees that she is hugging Mrs. Beasley and sobbing. Understanding that she truly is aware of what is going on, he embraces her. 11/23/24
• 068. The Unsound of Music – 11/18/1968
  • Uncle Bill renews a relationship with a famous singer named Julie Madden (Kaye Stevens) and visits her at a jazz club where she performs the song, You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You. Uncle Bill returns home and gives Cissy an autographed LP of Julie to Cissy. Buffy is intrigued by the fame that can come from singing, so she decides she would like to grow and become one herself. The next in school, Buffy attends music class taught by Miss Scranton (Irene Hervey), who also announces that there will be tryouts for the school glee club. Buffy is quite excited about this, but as soon as class starts, and they begin singing My Bonnie, it becomes clear that Buffy is completely off-key and is bringing down the harmonies of the class. Miss Cummings takes her aside and asks her to merely mouth the words to the song. After school, she is told that is no accepted to the glee club. Crestfallen, she returns home to Uncle Bill, who decides to ask Julie if she will give Buffy some private lessons. However, after going through scales and hearing her sing My Bonnie, it becomes clear that Buffy simply has no ear for music. Uncle Bill tells her that she has other talents where some children do not, and that you win some, and you lose some. The next day at school, Jody says that if he can sing My Bonnie, Cissy should be able to also since they are twins. Miss Scranton overhears Jody singing it to Buffy and is surprised by how good he sounds. She immediately invites him to join the glee club and to sing a solo on Parents Night. Whereas Buffy wants to sing and cannot, Jody doesn’t want to sing at all and fears it will make him look like a sissy. Uncle Bill tells him that he doesn’t have to, but it would sure make him proud if he did. Buffy also gets a consolation as she is asked to join the glee club and be the official page turner for Miss Scranton at the piano. She also is the one to introduce her brother as he sings Every Little Boy Can Be President. After the performance, Julie comes back to the apartment with the family. Uncle Bill tells Jody how proud he is of him, and Buffy wonders if she might ever get her photo on a record album for page-turning. 11/24/24

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