Love on a Rooftop

Love on a Rooftop is an American sitcom about a newlywed couple, Dave and Julie Willis, and their humorous struggles to survive in San Francisco on Dave's apprentice architect's salary of $85.37 a week. Matters were complicated by the fact that Julie's rich father did not approve of their less than luxurious lifestyle and often took it upon himself to try to improve it, much to Dave's chagrin.

Love on a Rooftop
Love on a Rooftop cast:
(Top, L–R) Peter Duel (Dave Willis), Judy Carne (Julie Hammond Willis), (Bottom, L–R) Edith Atwater (Phyllis Hammond), Herb Voland (Fred Hammond)
GenreSitcom
Created byHarry Ackerman
Bernard Slade
StarringPeter Deuel
Judy Carne
Theme music composerHoward Greenfield
Jack Keller
ComposersWarren Barker
Mundell Lowe
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes30
Production
Executive producerHarry Ackerman
ProducerE.W. Swackhamer
CinematographyEmil Oster
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time22–24 minutes
Production companyScreen Gems
DistributorSony Pictures Television
Release
Original networkABC
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseSeptember 6, 1966 (1966-09-06) 
April 6, 1967 (1967-04-06)

The series was produced by Screen Gems, the production company behind shows such as Gidget, Bewitched, and I Dream of Jeannie. It premiered on September 6, 1966 on ABC and stars Pete Duel, credited at the time as Peter Deuel, and Judy Carne in the leads. Also in the regular cast were Rich Little and Barbara Bostock as the Willis’ neighbors, and Herb Voland and Edith Atwater as Julie's parents. All thirty episodes of the series were filmed in color.

Plot

Apprentice architect Dave Willis meets art student Julie Hammond when his liverwurst on pumpernickel sandwich falls into her bag while she is passing by a building on which he is working. In pursuit of his lunch, he chases after her until she stops in a local park. Upon getting his first good look at Julie, Dave loses interest in the sandwich and the two start to talk. So begins a whirlwind courtship that quickly leads to marriage, despite Dave's misgivings about getting married while he only makes $85.37 a week.

In need of a new place to start their lives together, Julie finds an unfurnished converted store room with no windows that has one major perk: direct access to the roof of the apartment building which offers a beautiful view of San Francisco. Julie feels that the place has charm and atmosphere, plus the rent is cheap.

The newlywed couple becomes friends with fellow tenants, Stan and Carol Parker. Stan quickly develops the habit of coming into their apartment unannounced in order to share his ideas with them. Also in the habit of showing up unannounced, although much less welcome than Stan, is Julie's father, Fred Hammond, who is always finding a way to meddle in Dave and Julie's lives, while his ever-patient wife, Phyllis, watches in amusement. Dave, however, is adamant that he and Julie will not accept Fred's help, especially if it is monetary, a stance that causes much contention between the two men.

The humor in the series is formed, not simply out of the situations in which the characters find themselves, but out of the ways in which the differing personalities that regularly pass through the Willis’ apartment react to the situations and, in the process, to each other.

Characters

Dave Willis (Pete Duel) is an apprentice architect who strongly believes in the importance of being practical. His wife, Julie Willis {born Julie Hammond} (Judy Carne), an art student, is the opposite, placing more emphasis on attending to the needs of the heart and soul than on keeping the budget.

Fred Hammond (Herb Voland) is Julie's father. He owns nine used car lots and is quite wealthy because of it, a fact that he often points out to Dave. Fred is reluctant to let go of his daughter and spends much of his time trying to protect her from what he sees as the life of abject poverty to which Dave has doomed her. Phyllis Hammond (Edith Atwater) is much more understanding than her husband and does her best to welcome Dave into the family, even though Fred would prefer he get out.

Stan (Rich Little) and Carol Parker (Barbara Bostock) live in the same apartment building as the Willises. Stan is an eccentric who never holds a steady job because he spends most of his time coming up with inventions and oddball moneymaking schemes. Carol is his devoted wife who has full faith in all of his ideas. Both are Dave and Julie's best friends.

Episodes

Title Directed by: Written by: Original air date
1"Pilot"E.W. SwackhamerAlbert MannheimerSeptember 6, 1966 (1966-09-06)
Note: The unaired version of the pilot episode credits Bernard Slade as the sole writer.
2"117 Ways to Cook Hamburger"E.W. SwackhamerBernard SladeSeptember 13, 1966 (1966-09-13)
3"My Husband, the Knight"E.W. SwackhamerBernard SladeSeptember 20, 1966 (1966-09-20)
4"The Big Brass Bed"E.W. SwackhamerBernard SladeSeptember 27, 1966 (1966-09-27)
5"The Six Dollar Surprise"E.W. SwackhamerBernard SladeOctober 4, 1966 (1966-10-04)
6"The Chocolate Hen"E.W. SwackhamerBernard SladeOctober 11, 1966 (1966-10-11)
7"Homecoming"E.W. SwackhamerBernard SladeOctober 18, 1966 (1966-10-18)
8"One Picture Is Worth…"E.W. SwackhamerBernard SladeOctober 25, 1966 (1966-10-25)
9"Chinchilla Rag"Robert RosenbaumJames HenersonNovember 1, 1966 (1966-11-01)
10"Who Is Sylvia?"Claudio GuzmánRichard BaerNovember 15, 1966 (1966-11-15)
11"War on a Rooftop"E.W. SwackhamerBernard SladeNovember 22, 1966 (1966-11-22)
12"Dave's Night Out"Claudio GuzmánJohn McGreeveyNovember 29, 1966 (1966-11-29)
13"There's Got to Be Something Wrong with Her"Jerry BernsteinJohn McGreeveyDecember 6, 1966 (1966-12-06)
14"But Is It Really You?"E.W. SwackhamerBernard SladeDecember 13, 1966 (1966-12-13)
15"The Fifty Dollar Misunderstanding"Alex GrashoffJames HenersonDecember 20, 1966 (1966-12-20)
16"Frocks of Trouble"Claudio GuzmánBarbara AvedonDecember 27, 1966 (1966-12-27)
17"Going Home to Daughter"Robert EllensteinJames HenersonJanuary 3, 1967 (1967-01-03)
18"Let It Rain"E.W. SwackhamerDorothy CooperJanuary 12, 1967 (1967-01-12)
19"King of the Castle"Jerry BernsteinBernard SladeJanuary 19, 1967 (1967-01-19)
20"My Father, the TV Star"Richard KinonBernard SladeJanuary 26, 1967 (1967-01-26)
21"Who Was That Husband I Saw You With?"Gene ReynoldsMarty RothFebruary 2, 1967 (1967-02-02)
22"Shotgun Honeymoon"Mack BingDorothy Cooper FooteFebruary 9, 1967 (1967-02-09)
23"Musical Apartments"Jerry BernsteinJames HenersonFebruary 16, 1967 (1967-02-16)
24"Low Calorie Love"Russell MayberryTom August,
Helen August
February 23, 1967 (1967-02-23)
25"The Sell Out"Leo PhillipsRon FriedmanMarch 2, 1967 (1967-03-02)
26"The Letter Bug"Russell MayberryJames HenersonMarch 9, 1967 (1967-03-09)
27"Debt of Gratitude"Russell MayberryJohn McGreeveyMarch 16, 1967 (1967-03-16)
28"Murder in Apartment D"Jerry BernsteinBernard SladeMarch 23, 1967 (1967-03-23)
29"One Too Many Cooks"Mack BingJames HenersonMarch 30, 1967 (1967-03-30)
30"Stork on a Rooftop"E.W. SwackhamerBernard SladeApril 6, 1967 (1967-04-06)

Production

The series was based on the broadway play Barefoot in the Park.[1]

The series initially aired Tuesday nights at 9:30,[2] but it was later moved to Thursday nights at 9:00.[3]

In an interview conducted while the series was still in production, Judy Carne stated that she and co-star Pete Duel had "a love-hate relationship" and that many of the problems that they had on set were caused by Carne's insistence on punctuality and Duel's tendency to show up late.[4] However, Carne would also later remember Duel as a kind and caring man who was very protective of her.[5]

Reception

Love on a Rooftop premiered with ratings of 30.4 million viewers, and a market share of 56.8.[6] The series premiered during an advance premiere week, where ABC-TV premiered its new programs a week before the other networks. This likely led to the first episode having better ratings than it would have had otherwise, because it virtually had no other competition.[7] The series received fairly positive reviews, with Variety calling it "one of the pleasanter entries of the new season."[8]

The ratings quickly dropped as the season went on, and the series was moved from Tuesday to Thursday night.[9] The series was cancelled at the end of its first season. However, both Judy Carne and Peter Deuel continued with their television careers – she, as a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, which ended when she left the series in late 1969 – and he changing his name to Pete Duel and co-starring in Alias Smith and Jones, which ended shortly after his death in 1971.

During the summer of 1971 (when Duel was starring in Alias Smith and Jones), ABC re-broadcast Love On a Rooftop. The series was never sold into syndication and has not been seen on television since. It has been cited as an influence on 1990s sitcom Dharma and Greg.

References

  1. "ABC Buys Rooftop", Weekly Variety, 15 February 1966, 30.
  2. Weekly Variety, 7 September 1966, 6.
  3. "Second Season--3 Net Schedule", Weekly Variety, 7 December 1966, 30.
  4. Melvin Durslag, TV Guide, "Judy Carne—Brash, Confident, Scared!", cited at Alias Smith & Jones Collection.
  5. Judy Carne, Laughing on the Outside, Crying on the Inside, cited at Alias Smith & Jones Collection.
  6. "The Overnight Scores", Weekly Variety, 14 September 1966, 30.
  7. Murray Horowitz, Weekly Variety, "ABC's Quick Kick Off Clicks Gets Corner on Sampling, Bally", 14 September 1966, 31.
  8. Weekly Variety, 7 September 1966, 6.
  9. Dave Kaufman, "ABC-TV Axes '12 O'Clock High', 'Rounders', 'Never Was', Berle", Daily Variety, 26 October 1966, 1.
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