To Rome with Love (TV series)
To Rome with Love is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 28, 1969, to February 24, 1971.
| To Rome with Love | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Joan O'Brien |
| Directed by | Earl Bellamy Frederick de Cordova James Sheldon |
| Starring | John Forsythe Kay Medford Peggy Mondo Vito Scotti Walter Brennan |
| Composer | Frank De Vol |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 48 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Don Fedderson |
| Producer | Edmund L. Hartmann |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company | Don Fedderson Productions |
| Distributor | Sony Pictures Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | September 28, 1969 – February 24, 1971 |
Synopsis
To Rome with Love is the story of widowed college professor Michael Endicott, who decided to leave his native Iowa following the death of his wife and accept a new position as an instructor at the American Overseas School of Rome. The culture shock of his children in reacting to their new environment, and to an extent, his own, provided the main humor in the series. Family situations provided most of the rest. Early on, much of this came from Endicott's single sister, Harriet, who followed them to Rome, apparently for the sole purposes of dissuading them from living there and to cajole them into returning to Iowa. Harriet soon departed, but her place was taken shortly afterward by Andy Pruitt, Endicott's father-in-law and the children's grandfather. He came to Rome for a brief visit, but wound up staying indefinitely.
Broadcast history
| Season | Time slot (ET) |
|---|---|
| 1969–70 | Sunday at 7:30 pm |
| 1970–71 | Tuesday at 9:30 pm (Episodes 1-15) Wednesday at 8:30 pm (Episodes 16-22) |
Episode list
Season 1: 1969–70
| Nº | Ep | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Fred de Cordova | Edmund Hartmann | September 28, 1969 |
| 2 | 2 | "Hello, Aunt Harriet" | TBA | TBA | October 5, 1969 |
| 3 | 3 | "The Roman from Iowa" | TBA | TBA | October 12, 1969 |
| 4 | 4 | "Goodbye Aunt Harriet" | TBA | TBA | October 19, 1969 |
| 5 | 5 | "The Telephone" | TBA | TBA | November 2, 1969 |
| 6 | 6 | "We Want to Go Home" | TBA | TBA | November 9, 1969 |
| 7 | 7 | "A Palazzo Is Not a Home" | TBA | TBA | November 16, 1969 |
| 8 | 8 | "The Long Road Home" | TBA | TBA | November 23, 1969 |
| 9 | 9 | "A Secret Day" | TBA | TBA | November 30, 1969 |
| 10 | 10 | "An Affair of Honor" | TBA | TBA | December 14, 1969 |
| 11 | 11 | "And One More Spring" | TBA | TBA | December 28, 1969 |
| 12 | 12 | "Anything Can Happen in Rome" | TBA | TBA | January 4, 1970 |
| 13 | 13 | "A Gown for Alison" | TBA | TBA | January 11, 1970 |
| 14 | 14 | "One Coin in the Fountain" | TBA | TBA | January 18, 1970 |
| 15 | 15 | "To Go Home Again" | TBA | TBA | January 25, 1970 |
| 16 | 16 | "The Pied Piper of Rome" | TBA | TBA | February 1, 1970 |
| 17 | 17 | "My Daughter Penny" | Charles Barton | Blanche Hanalis | February 8, 1970 |
| 18 | 18 | "Beautiful People" | Charles Barton | John McGreevey | March 1, 1970 |
| 19 | 19 | "Birds, Bees and Romans" | TBA | TBA | March 8, 1970 |
| 20 | 20 | "The Pretty Little Girl" | TBA | TBA | March 15, 1970 |
| 21 | 21 | "Father's Choice" | TBA | TBA | March 29, 1970 |
| 22 | 22 | "A Friend for Penny" | TBA | TBA | April 5, 1970 |
| 23 | 23 | "Spring Vacation" | TBA | TBA | April 26, 1970 |
| 24 | 24 | "West of Rome" | TBA | TBA | May 3, 1970 |
| 25 | 25 | "Our Friend Gino" | TBA | TBA | May 10, 1970 |
| 26 | 26 | "We Remember Mama" | TBA | TBA | May 17, 1970 |
Season 2: 1970–71
| Nº | Ep | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 1 | "Here Comes Andy" | Earl Bellamy | Robert Pirosh | September 15, 1970 |
| 28 | 2 | "A Day in the Country" | TBA | TBA | September 22, 1970 |
| 29 | 3 | "Baby of the Family" | TBA | TBA | September 29, 1970 |
| 30 | 4 | "Roman Affair" | TBA | TBA | October 6, 1970 |
| 31 | 5 | "A Boy to Remember" | TBA | TBA | October 13, 1970 |
| 32 | 6 | "Rome Is Where You Find It" | TBA | TBA | October 20, 1970 |
| 33 | 7 | "Lire from Heaven" | TBA | TBA | October 27, 1970 |
| 34 | 8 | "Grandpa in Charge" | TBA | TBA | November 10, 1970 |
| 35 | 9 | "The Catnip Club" | TBA | TBA | November 17, 1970 |
| 36 | 10 | "The Rose Garden" | Earl Bellamy | TBA | November 24, 1970 |
| 37 | 11 | "The Boy Next Door" | TBA | TBA | December 1, 1970 |
| 38 | 12 | "The Runaways" | TBA | TBA | December 8, 1970 |
| 39 | 13 | "Fly Away Home" | TBA | TBA | December 15, 1970 |
| 40 | 14 | "Doctor Andy" | TBA | TBA | December 29, 1970 |
| 41 | 15 | "Making the Scene" | TBA | TBA | January 5, 1971 |
| 42 | 16 | "Bonzai or Bonsai" | TBA | TBA | January 13, 1971 |
| 43 | 17 | "Beauty and the Judge" | TBA | TBA | January 20, 1971 |
| 44 | 18 | "Age of Life" | TBA | TBA | January 27, 1971 |
| 45 | 19 | "Mike and the Countess" | TBA | TBA | February 3, 1971 |
| 46 | 20 | "The Stray Cat" | TBA | TBA | February 10, 1971 |
| 47 | 21 | "Yankee Trader" | Earl Bellamy | TBA | February 17, 1971 |
| 48 | 22 | "Boy Meets Penny" | Earl Bellamy | TBA | February 24, 1971 |
Reception
Originally airing on Sunday nights, the show never garnered the ratings CBS had hoped for. Also, Kay Medford as Aunt Harriet did not catch on with viewers and, as a result, was phased out of the series shortly after its premiere. Nevertheless, the network agreed to renew the show for a second season. To Rome With Love was switched to Tuesdays at 9:30 in September, 1970.
In order to give Forsythe a strong co-star, Walter Brennan joined the cast as Michael Endicott's father-in-law, Andy Pruitt. However, the second season did even worse than the first. In January, 1971, in an attempt to salvage the series, CBS shifted the show to Wednesdays to make room for a new CBS sitcom: All In The Family. The move did not help, and the series was canceled in the spring of 1971.
Crossover episodes
"Roman Affair" (Season 2, Episode 4) features Anissa Jones and Johnnie Whitaker as their Family Affair characters Buffy and Jody, respectively. "Rome Is Where You Find It" (Season 2, Episode 6) features William Demarest, Don Grady and Tina Cole as Uncle Charley, Robbie Douglas and Katie Douglas respectively from My Three Sons.
Cast
- John Forsythe as Michael Endicott
- Kay Medford as Harriet Endicott (first season only)
- Walter Brennan as Andy Pruitt (second season only)
- Peggy Mondo as Mama Vitale
- Vito Scotti as Nico
- Joyce Menges as Alison Endicott
- Susan Neher as Penny Endicott
- Melanie Fullerton as Mary Jane "Pokey" Endicott
References
- Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows