Many Happy Returns (TV series)

The show starred character actor John McGiver. Known for his emphatic, precise, dogmatic bearing and firm command of the English language, McGiver played the part of a widower, Walter Burnley, the manager of the complaints department at the fictitious Krockmeyer's Department Store in Los Angeles.

Elinor Donahue played McGiver's daughter, Joan Randall. Mark Goddard played Joan's husband, Bob Randall. The Randalls' daughter, Laurie, was played by Andrea Sacino. Elena Verdugo (Marcus Welby, M.D.) played complaint department employee Lynn Hall.

Others on the series were Richard Collier as Harry Price, Jesslyn Fax as Wilma Fritter, and Mickey Manners as Joe Foley, all cast as store employees. Character actress Doris Packer played the role of Cornelia. Russell Collins was cast as Burnley's demanding, often unreasonable boss, Owen Sharp.

The program was directed by Gene Reynolds, who later went on to work on several episodes of M*A*S*H. Episode titles of Many Happy Returns include:

Many Happy Returns was technically the successor to The Danny Thomas Show (for the same sponsor), which stopped production in 1964 after eleven years on the air, first on ABC, then on CBS. It aired at 9:30 Eastern on Mondays opposite the short-lived sitcom The Bing Crosby Show on ABC and The Andy Williams Show, alternating weekly with The Jonathan Winters Show, on the NBC schedule. Many Happy Returns theoretically benefited from having followed The Lucy Show on CBS. It preceded the drama Slattery's People.[1]

• 1964-65 United States network television schedule

• Many Happy Returns at IMDb