The Doris Day Show

[quote] She’s was 49 in this 1971 episode

Did you mean to have a link?

Her face was full of freckles and the filter erased them.

The show was rather unique, when CBS decided to purge rural programing, they dropped the ranch, then when MTM became a hit, they dumped the kids and made her a swinging single.

After Doris' husband and manage Marty Melcher died in April1968, she discovered that Melcher had committed her to do the CBS series without her knowledge, and that Melcher had left her with virtually penniless.

Day's career and earnings had been managed by Melcher as her agent and his attorney Jerome Rosenthal during their long marriage, years in which Day had been one of the top-earning movie stars in the country.

Day and her adult son Terry Melcher felt they had to keep Doris' dire financial state a secret to avoid weakening Day's negotiating position with the network.

Day sued Jerome Rosenthal for fraud and malpractice and won a $22.8-million judgment in 1974. But Rosenthal jeopardized that award by filing for bankruptcy. Day ended up settling for something around $6 million.

Although Day's show lacked story continuity and regularly changed the supporting cast, it did well in the ratings for most of its 5 seasons on the air. CBS was ready to renew the show at the end of the 5th season, but it was said that Day made the decision not to continue with the show.

While Day was a likeable enough personality, she didn't have the depth or comedic skills to carry a weekly sit-com. The show lacked a consistent premise or vision. The writing was consistently bad, and often just cartoonish.

Although I enjoyed the show as a child and had fond memories of it, I find it almost unwatchable now.

While Lucy used the "redecorating" plot device on her series to get free furniture for her house, Doris seemed mainly interested in wearing "mod" wigs and clothes on her show.

I don't remember a single episode where Doris sang during the entire series.

The Doris Day Show is mainly remembered for Doris' spectacular descent down that modern circular staircase in the opening of the show...

a move re-enacted endleslly by young gaylings all over the US of A

(r5) Doris did sing a few times, most notably, "Silver Bells" in a Christmas episode that aired in December of 1970, and she sang "I Left My heart in San Francisco" with guest Tony Bennett on another episode.

Doris obviously used some of the lawsuit money to get boob job in 1974 before she started promoting the book on talk shows and other public appearances.

On this appearance on the "Tonight Show" in 1974, she's suddenly got huge boobs.

And in 1975 on the Mike Douglas, she's also proudly showing off those huge new knockers.

Here's Doris' "Tonight Show" appearance link...

as she bounces around during the interview, it's obvious she's not wearing a bra....

[quote]Doris did sing a few times, most notably, "Silver Bells" in a Christmas episode that aired in December of 1970, and she sang "I Left My heart in San Francisco" with guest Tony Bennett on another episode.

Was "Silver Bells" also her hair color?

I mean come on, if you pay for them you want show them off.

Here's the video of Doris' spectacular staircase descent...

Day was always well-endowed except during periods when she lost weight. Here she is in 1966 in "The Glass Bottom Boat"

and in 1973 on her show - at 51.

Come on, she's not wearing a bra in her mid 50s...those babies have been lifted and plumped.

The Doris Day Fashion Show pt. 1

The Doris Day Fashion Show pt. 2

The Doris Day Fashion Show pt. 3

The Doris Day Fashion Show pt. 4

The Doris Day Fashion Show pt. 5

The Doris Day Fashion Show pt. 6

The Doris Day Fashion Show pt. 7

Doris started her career in the late 1930s and the 1940s as a "girl singer" (as they were known then) with the traveling big bands, mostly famously she eventually sang with the Les Brown Band.

In those days, girls who traveled on the road with all-male bands were known as "whores"!

It was only with her movie career in the 1950s and 1960s, she reinvented herself as the virginal girl-next-door.

As Oscar Levant famously said, "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin."

Every gay man of a certain age remembers Doris' fashion show episodes.

There were some episodes (12 according to imdb.com) of the show where Doris's old pal Billy de Wolfe appeared. Frequently as her irascible next door neighbor.

A nice addition to the sugary Doris.

Two of her neighbors were definitely gay. They show up at tenants' meeting. Not too flamboyant but you can tell.

(r27) Lester and Lance were their names.

Her son from the show, Philip Brown. All grown up.

I loved the way the show handled the gay couple. They were just there and accepted, as I recall. Very progressive for 1971.

Can't watch the early shows with the ranch and brats, but once she gets John Diener as her boss, I enjoy those episodes.

The filters on Doris were nothing compared to the vats of Vaseline smeared on the lenses during the final years of Dynasty.

They had to trowel on the makeup to cover her freckles.

Monday night for many years on CBS:

9 pm. Family Affair

9:30 pm. The Doris Day Show

10 pm. The Carol Burnett Show

[quote] they dumped the kids and made her a swinging single.

Those children only got in the way of Doris's erotic lifestyle.

[quote] then when MTM became a hit, they dumped the kids and made her a swinging single.

Well shit. When Doris Day does it she gets another season on TV. Me? I get tried for fucking murder!

Did she ever do a fashion show?

R36 - No. But I did try to turn band-aids into a fashion accoutrement for children.

God, those fashion shows. Just one model: her.

Speaking of her erotic lifestyle, it was pretty ballsy of Doris to have several black boyfriends.

Her skin tone in the later seasons is the same as Trump's.

The show was so bad. Even the laugh track just kind of lightly grumbles.

Considering having a mini Doris Day movie double/triple feature this weekend. Some of her mid to late 60’s films like Caprice and Glass Bottom Boat I’ve never seen before. Which ones do DL recommend?

Midnight Lace (1960). A little too young and a little too soon for the Hagsploitation sub-genre.

Caprice is awful. Really bad.

The Glass Bottom Boat is OK. Arthur Godfrey plays Doris's father who runs a glass bottom boat off the California coast. Doris dons a mermaid costume to swim by his boat. Her mermaid tail is hooked by the fishing line of nearby Rod Taylor's boat. That's the start. Oh, and the theme song is OK.

DD had a bad case of creeping pucker since the mid 60s

I had to look it up, because I thought the Doris Day Show was the one set in the country where she's living with her father Denver Pyle, and it is. She switched to being a single city girl on the same show? How did that even work?

I liked "Julie" where widowed Doris is now married to Louis Jourdan and she begins to think he's violently jealous.

Solid supporting by Frank Lovejoy and Barry Sullivan.

Is Billy Rose’s Jumbo worth the watch?

Here one video is the opening to ALL seasons of The Doris Day Show.

R49, thanks for sharing that. Thank god those brats were missing after the first season

(r50) The kids were on for the first three seasons.

As far as the filters and how the show was technically filmed - I think she just didn’t care. She was depressed and showed up and did the job and that was it - the first few seasons anyway. She had a habit of handing control over to other people sometimes it worked - sometimes not. Handing control over to Ross Hunter was fantastic - letting her husband call the shots was a disaster. She leaned on son Terry during the show to make decisions. She was very lucky that she had great looks and talent - she had wonderful self confidence but not that much drive in her own career. If she had had a Desi Arnaz in her life or a Grant Tinker she could of had a great show.

As part of her contract negotiations, she was granted full creative control, which accounted for the wildly changing storylines. But she held firm about doing just five seasons even though the show was still getting decent ratings at the end.

It seems fishy that Doris Day was able to retire from five seaons of 1960s/early 1970s TV money.

[quote] It seems fishy that Doris Day was able to retire from five seaons of 1960s/early 1970s TV money.

She had a cooking/lifestyle show on early cable that a very sick Rock Hudson famously appeared on.

That didn't last long, did it? And early cable wasn't big bucks. Maybe she made some smart investments.

It's threads like this that make me love DL.

Where else can you take strolls down memory lane like this on a regular basis with bonus trivia, snark and wit.

Not anywhere I tell you. Just nowhere but here.

Watching CAPRICE now

Was Doris a big smoker and sun worshipper? She looked rough by her mid/late 1960s movies. The LucyMAME linoleum filter was invented for Doris, I'd say.

....

[R59] Doris was a notorious teetotaler and never even smoked in movies. Her idea of a good time was a root beer float.

R49 Interesting how they eventually copied the MTM opening with Doris driving into the city. Mary had a Mustang. Doris a Barracuda. We get shots of skyscrapers and the music is given more punch.

Doris was best in sophisticated settings. The show should have been conceived from the beginning with Doris living in NYC working in fashion, that sort of thing, not down on the farm.

R42, I'd suggest you go back earlier in time of mid 60's instead of later 60's. The Glass Bottom Boat was the last good film Doris made. I'm surprised you haven't seen it as it seems to be the Doris Day film most played on TV. I'd then suggest you watch her other film she made with Rod Taylor (at his hunkiest), Do Not Disturb from 1965, and then Send Me No Flowers from 1964 (her last one with Rock Hudson).

If you get a chance, also watch her very first film in 1948, Romance on The High Seas. It is very good.

Caprice is blah. Billy Rose's Jumbo isn't great either, mainly because Doris Day just seems too old for the role (surprisingly).

R63, thanks! Send Me No Flowers is next on my watchlist

The child actor Philip Brown who played her older son, is that the same Philip Brown who grew to play a psycho stalker on Knots Landing? The blue eyes look the same.

(r65) Yes, the same actor.

Wow, Caprice is a hot mess and a half. But LOVE Doris’ mod outfits

(r59) Doris had an enormous number of freckles which would become very pronounced when she was even briefly in the sun. Because the kind of roles she played from "Pillow Talk" on were often supposed to be more sophisticated working girls, the filters became more obvious in an effort to lessen the "freckle effect" and need to wear the kind of make-up to hide them. In "The Glass Bottom Boat" she uses less make-up and allows the freckles to show and except for a dream sequence, foregoes the more intense soft fucus. It creates less distractions and allows the viewers to enjoy the comedy.

Jan Brady tried in vain to get rid of her freckles.

The heavy 1960s make up did nothing for Doris either. She looked better in the 1970s.

In her final film, "With Six You get Eggroll" she uses no filters or "linoleum over the lenses" as she jokingly referred to it. The close-ups do not cause eye strain or headaches for the viewer watching. At 46, Day looks refreshing and natural. She also seems able to relax into a charming performance, handling some physical comedy with ease and really seeming to be the mother of three sons. Nowhere near her best work but thanks to a sterling cast (Brian Keith, Barbara Hershey, George Carlin, Pat Carroll, Alice Ghostly) is part of a very amusing 90 minutes. The film was her most successful at the box-office since 1963's, "Move Over, Darling".

Doris claimed she was happy to forgo the filters but she then turned up on set like this...

I remember that Monday night lineup, R33. If we did well at school that week, we got to watch Family Affair at 9pm. Sometimes.

Doris Day was a bridge too far. In bed by 9:30, no exceptions.

Gays loved her. Women loved her. But was she ever considered a sex symbol by straight men. Like dat Marilyn was?

It's not just filters but lighting. Recall Bob Hope at an advanced age doing a standup on Carson. They hit him straight on with an intense key light to wash his wrinkles away. Would've thought it blinded him so much he couldn't read the cue cards.

Can't Help Lovin' Dat Marilyn.

If you are going to watch "The Glass Bottom Boat" keep watch for a very quick cameo (complete with theme song) of Napoleon Solo of "The Man From Uncle" (aka Robert Vaughn). I think it's in the party scene.

Reason: Lots of spy stuff in this movie as Rod Taylor plays a scientist working on a top secret project that the bad guys want.

Glorious.

There's one episode where she's on a farm or something and she's in this hideous purple pantsuit and purple hat. Well, she HILARIOUSLY falls in the horse trough and the water turns purple as she's splashing around.

How and where did her husband who was also her manager spend all the money he stole from her?

Doris always had a spectacular figure. Her show was gayling primetime comfort TV-viewing.

Loretta Young did the whole clotheshorse twirl thing, too.

R80 he invested it in Vaseline

R42 the last mediocre film Day made was Pillow Talk (1959) and from there on it was almost steadily downhill. The Glass Bottom Boat is a kiddie matinee film that feels like a Disney film especially with that awful theme song, looks like a standard sitcom and is comprised of actors recognizable from TV: Paul Lynde, Arthur Godfrey, Dick Martin, Alice Pearce, Ellen Corby.

I enjoy watching "Please Don't Eat The Daisies".

which predictably became a sitcom R85

R84

That is exactly the glory of “The Glass Bottom Boat” - all those 60s character actors.

You forgot to mention that Paul Lynde does drag in it.

(^.^) does not a good movie make

I know this thread is about her TV show, but I liked her best in It’s a Great Feeling (lots of fun cameos from the Warner Brothers stable) , and Calamity Jane, which featured a tight plot, good songs (including the Oscar-winning Secret Love) and a subtle gay vibe.

[quote]The show should have been conceived from the beginning with Doris living in NYC working in fashion, that sort of thing, not down on the farm.

True, but her show aired when rural sitcoms were very popular. That changed almost overnight in 1970 or 1971, with the so-called "rural purge." I don't know if Doris was asked to change the setting for the show, or if she decided on that herself.

[quote] "Loretta Young did the whole clotheshorse twirl thing, too."

I've seen a few of those episodes R82, and REALLY enjoyed them. Rod Serling's influence is omnipresent, but they're always entertaining, if not thought provoking.

A favorite film of mine is "Move Over Darling". filmed in 1963 with sexy James Garner. Very funny.

Doris became half-owner of the Cypress Inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, a small, charming hotel built in 1929. So she must have had money to invest. Per her love of dogs, the hotel was dog-friendly, though staying there with a dog required a substantial extra charge. The hotel was decorated with movie posters and memorabilia from her movies. I don't know if it still is. Sadly no spiral staircase, that I know of, for twirling.

(r93) The spiral staircase from her television series was installed in the home she built in Carmel, where she permanently moved in 1981.

Although she prevailed in Court in 1974 against the lawyer who worked in cahoots with her husband of 17 years, Marty Melcher, who had died in 1968, she only received about 7 million. The lawyer appealed the matter before finally settling for about 1/4 of what had been mismanaged from Day's earnings. Doris invested wisely, sold her Malibu Beach home and later her Beverly Hills home. Day's 1975 autobiography written with A.E. Hotchner topped the NY Times best-seller list throughout 1976 and made her a comfortable sum.

Fortunately, Day and Melcher's production company, Arwin Productions, co-produced most of her films beginning with "It Happened to Jane" (1959) until "Eggroll". That ensured a steady revenue stream from television airings (NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, etc.) as well as later airings and finally video and DVD, where some titles sold enormously well. When she passed in 2019, she left a large estate.

Doris was never driven to have a career and turned down scores of lucrative film and television offers into the early 2000's. The animal welfare work that dominated the last 40 years of her life, became her "calling" and she excelled at it.

[quote] When she passed in 2019, she left a large estate

And most of it went to a "fan" who ingratiated himself into her life. Her grandson got zilch.

She made a career out of running down spiral staircases dressed as the Morton Salt girl.

(r95) Indeed. It was another example of her trusting the wrong people, a pattern that went back to the 1940's. Because Doris was a genuinely trusting person who always wanted to believe the best about others, she could never believe that people used one another. She never did that herself and foolishly failed to recognize the number of people who wanted to hitch their wagon to her gravy train.

R95 What’s the story behind this fan who inherited her estate?

[quote] A favorite film of mine is "Move Over Darling". filmed in 1963 with sexy James Garner.

That was actually Marilyn Monroe's last uncompleted film. After she died, they recast and renamed it, with Doris taking Marilyn's role and Garner taking Dean Martin's role.

It's a matter of public record that her animal charity has over $5 million.

Doris does Latin for Lovers

(r101) One of her very best albums. I know people who don't like Doris as an actress or vocalist but love this album. Ditto for her "Duet with Andre Previn" album.

This is corny AND cute.

R58- I prefer this Caprice

I kind of admire her confidence to try, shall we say, questionable hair choices.

Our Doris singing a song from Godspell- oh dear!

(r103) She and Denver were having a fling while doing this special in late 1974 (it aired in February of 1975).

R107- Really. John Denver was cute in ca. 1974 but he doesn't come across as very sexual.

Younger cock has its charms R108

(r108) Day was a guest on Denver's December 1974 special, and he was one of her guests on the February 1975 special. They instantly bonded and Day, in fact, spent time in Colorado with Denver in early 1975. On her special, there is a sequence when she slaps his ass on-camera, something that was ad-libbed and kept in. Immediately after, he sings "Follow Me" to and with her and the chemistry is fiery between them. He later told Carl Reiner, for him he made his movie debut (Reiner had co-written Day's 1963 hit, "The Thrill of it All") that when singing "Follow Me" he meant every word of the song specifically to Day.

When Denver's plane crashed on his way to the Monterey Peninsula, one of his reasons for going beyond playing golf, was to have lunch with Day, with whom he'd remained friends. Denver was hung like a horse; in case you're wondering.

R110- I was a gayling when I saw Oh God in 1977. Something was going on down there when he's standing in front of God ( George Burns) naked.

Too bad he never posed for Playgirl full frontal.

I always assumed John Denver was a eunuch.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R105 I work with a woman who always wears her hair in a bun and tendrils the hair that grows at the nape of her neck. She also wears some disgusting grandma perfume that I can't recognize. You can tell where she's been.

I love this thread. Thank you OP and all the Doris Day fans on here. I LOVED her show as a child. I was born in 1966 so is has a familiar dreamlike memory. Her later season as the single gal about town seasons are more clear to me. Example, I vaguely remember Rose Marie but seeing Jackie Fisher totally came back to me. Life looks so nice back then. Feeling nostalgic on this cloudy East Coast Sunday morning.

John Denver... Sly Stone... Doris loved musicians.

R115 You should have been born in the early '50s. What a good time in America, up till around '68.

I recognize Philip Brown from his many TV commercials. Is he gay?

(r118) You will have to ask TCM host, Dave Karger.

R57- Threads like this and the Covid Mommie Dearest thread- which was hilarious at times make dl the best.

Philip Brown frequented West Hollywood's Studio One in the 1980's. I saw him there regularly. He was gorgeous and those eyes!!!

Love the cover version by the great Tracey Ullmann of this Doris classic:

Tracey Ullman's covers had none of the charm of the originals.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn in Crompton Road, London in 1994. Upon arrival, reception apologized that my reserved accommodation was not available. In compensation, I was upgraded to a two-floor suite! On entry, I immediately noticed the spiral staircase surrounded by bay windows. Of course, I had to do the Doris Day descent singing Que Sera Sera.

^^Sorry, in Cromwell Road, London.

Years back, an obviously very talented behind the scenes industry veteran told us of his childhood obsessions with Lucy and Doris. As a boy, he recreated the Lucy puppet dance (complete with wink) and also did the Doris opening with stacked books substituting for the staircase and a magnifying glass to simulate the zoom. He said that after he showed his mom the Lucy dance, she went to bed in tears.

[Quote] with stacked books substituting for the staircase

He was lucky he didn't break his neck.

R126, tears of disappointment rather than joy I imagine

I know a lot of gays who were similarly obsessed with that Lucy puppet.

[quote]True, but her show aired when rural sitcoms were very popular

That Girl, Love on a Rooftop, He&She....there were a few that bucked the trend.

Does her son still own the Cypress Inn in Carmel?

Her son died in 2004

Yappy Hour at the Cypress Inn:

r62, if it hasn't been mentioned yet, they didn't copy the opening from Mary Tyler Moore (though they certainly copied other things later). All the shots of Doris driving into the city in the opening started with season 2 in 1969, a year before the Mary Tyler Moore Show started.

Thanks to this thread I’ve had Doris on my Bluetooth all morning while doing chores (and getting a little misty eyed at the same time, Mary!)

R135- This is probably my favorite Doris Day Song- God, I'm so GAY

Another favorite. The intro reminds me of A Summer Place. This song was also covered by Amanda Lear In 2021.

Doris Day is best remembered for showing the world how easy it is to get a great parking space.

Doris recorded nearly 800 songs in her career and was named top female vocalist multiple times. It is a real shame that some of her best work is rarely heard today because they equate her with the perkiness of "Que Sera Sera" and think of her as a lightweight.

THIS is actually her best song.

Attention must be paid to the spiral staircase entrance, but what made it iconic was the fabulous TRIPLE ZOOM on Doris!

This is the sort of thing that should be taught in Gay Cinematography School.

Doris was nominated for The Oscar once and I wonder if they thought she was going to win with who they got to present it....

The year she was nominated, she looked absolutely stunning in a gown designed for her by Irene. Doris was filming "Midnight Lace" at the time and wore this gown in the film.

It’s been years since I’ve seen Room at The Top. Did Simone deserve it?

(r144) It was a gutsy performance and Hollywood was impressed with Simone's work. Hollywood was also put-off by Marty Melcher, Day's husband and his pushiness. For much the same reason that Diana didn't win, deservedly, for "Lady Sings the Blues", Doris never had a chance to win for anything including her very good work in "Love Me or Leave Me". People hated Melcher.

Doris was offered an Honorary Oscar at least twice and declined. They even offered to come to Carmel to present it, but she said no. The Hollywood Foreign Press was more generous in their nominations, nominating her six times for acting (3 comedies, 1 drama and 1 musical, as well as for her television series), also awarding her World Film Favorite on three occasions and bestowing on her the DeMille Award in January of 1989 for her career. nShe kept her awards in a garage, not displaying them around the house which she felt was ostentatious.

R119, are you saying that Dave Karger and Philip Brown are secretly dating each other?

Aren’t we forgetting something?

(r146) Philip is happily married to a woman at the present, BUTT, old habits die HARD! Dave is an adorable bottom in an open relationship.

I hadn't heard the song and at a dinner party, I mentioned it, saying "Que Sarah Sarah". I was met with loud laughter and then a large table full of people singing it as "Que Sarah Sarah".

[Quote] They even offered to come to Carmel to present it, but she said no.

Wise decision.

(r150) I think Myrna Loy agrees with you Mary!

They give you that award, then you die

Doris and Charlie Manson were both born in my hometown of Cincinnati.

I didn’t realize that Doris made a movie with Betty Bacall in 1950 called Young Man With A Horn. Now I have to see that!

He's not R118. I was good friends with his stepsister when I was in high school in the late 70s and she told me he wasn't. I asked her.

[quote]Denver was hung like a horse; in case you're wondering.

Way to bury the lead!

[Quote] I didn’t realize that Doris made a movie with Betty Bacall in 1950 called Young Man With A Horn. Now I have to see that!

Betty plays a married lesbian. Kirk Douglas co-stars as her husband.

[quote]I didn’t realize that Doris made a movie with Betty Bacall in 1950 called Young Man With A Horn. Now I have to see that!

Wait till you see his horn!

"Is that a trombone in your pants or are you just happy to see me?"

I thought it was her son Terry who straightened out her finances and invested well.

R157 is correct, and they're fairly blatant about it for 1950. It's also a very cool movie.

Did Betty Bacall do Doris' talk show?

I remembered reading her autobiography years ago and she made some bizarre conclusions. Her first husband beat her up when she went onstage because he said everyone could see up her dress. She said that she felt people should live together because if she had lived with him, he would have beaten her up and she never would have gotten married to him.

R97- She was a trusting person who believed the best in others- For instance she trusted that Rock Hudson was NOT sucking cock and getting fucked up the ass.

R144 Yes, she did though it could be seen as a supporting role like Patricia Neal in Hud and Anne Bancroft in The Graduate. Otherwise, Audrey Hepburn in the Nun's Story was Signoret's main competition. Day was good in Pillow Talk but arguably funnier in Julie and Midnight Lace. Truly!

(r164) Day knew that Hudson was gay and was more than accepting. Publicly, she said nothing at his request and out of respect for his privacy. Privately, Hudson and various male friends were guests at Day's Beverly Hills home and her Malibu Beach home. She was very close to a number of gay men including Billy DeWolfe, Sydney Guilaroff, Van Johnson as well as lesbians such as Kaye Ballard and Mary Wickes.

[quote] Way to bury the lead!

It's lede, not lead.

R167 This fellow, not you, has got it right.

[quote] This fellow, not you, has got it right.

Take it up with Merriam-Webster. And a thousand other places.

R54, in the 60s and 70s, the conventional wisdom was if you were a regular on a series for 5 years, you would never have to work again. (Unless you were really stupid with your money.)

I once heard the great actress Madeleine Sherwood say that she never had to take a job for money, because The Flying Nun set her up for life. She ended her career doing smaller productions of plays she loved off-Broadway, because she had the Flying Nun fuck-you money.

R170- The same can be said for Patrick Stewart appearing on Star Trek: The Next Generation. That show gave him FUCK YOU 💲 so he could choose only the plays , movies etc that he really liked.

R169 Suggest you take a look at how your treasured M-W also defines lead (n):

"(1) : an introductory section of a news story : lede "edit the lead to grab the reader's attention."

That is, they both work. You get an "F" boy, and it's well deserved.

[quote] You get an "F" boy, and it's well deserved.

Moving on...

Too bad Doris never made a guest appearance on The Rockford Files with James Garner.

(r174) That was never going to happen.

Day and Garner had a torrid affair in 1962 while filming "The Thrill of it All" (released in 1963). In fact, in late 1962, Day briefly separated from Marty Melcher and Garner from his wife, Lois. Ultimately both couples remained together. Day and Garner co-starred a second time in "Move Over, Darling" under the very watchful eyes of Mrs. Garner. In "Darling" Day looks very thin and almost gaunt in places. She took the break-up very badly.

Mrs. Garner demanded that Jim never associate off the set with Day again. The only time they were photographed in the same situation was at the June 1963 world premiere of "The Thrill of it All" at the Village Theatre in Westwood. Because it was a Ross Hunter production, the stars of his films were required, by their contract, to attend the world premiere of the film.

The two Day-Garner films were hugely successful and there were offers to reteam, but Mrs. Garner enforced her insistence that Doris and Jim not work together after "Move Over, Darling" and not occupy the same space. Even the Hollywood Foreign Press could not get Garner to personally present Day with her DeMille award in January of 1989, although he taped a video tribute which aired.

Mrs. Garner did allow the two stars to periodically chat on the phone during Garner's latter years, after he had serious health issues, but after the premiere of "Thrill", which coincided with the conclusion of filming "Move Over, Darling" they never met face to face again.

Garner adored Day because she was not the typical Hollywood star and did not engage in gossip or talk about the industry. It was refreshing for him and she, likewise, found him to be everything her increasingly manipulative husband, Marty Melcher, was not. It was Garner who nicknamed Melcher, "Farty Belcher".

Doris was so great in Love me or Leave Me. Shame that she was not nominated that year.

Thank you R175, fascinating backstory I did not know.

What did Mrs. Garner feel about Betty Bacall? And did Betty phone the Garner residence if Jim was late?

Obviously, there were no legal complications in obtaining the rights to "Que sera sera" for the opening credits of The DD Show.

She should have won the Oscar for The Man Who Knew Too Much. The scene where Jimmy Stewart sedates her is remarkable.

I agree R180, it's one of her best comedic performances

[quote]Too bad Doris never made a guest appearance on The Rockford Files with James Garner.

Or "McMillan & Wife."

Doris Day was considered very hot when she was the girl singer with the les brown orchestra in the1940s. My father went on and on about her. Love me or Leave me with Cagney was a terrific movie…harsh and glamorous and violent. It had many Oscar noms. She also, of course, was one of Hitchcock’s blondes. But there wasn’t much room for a film noir dame who could sing. The comedies were her best bet and made her a huge star and an emblem of the pre-pill era.

Doris was never a film noir dame.

Day's fans were not limited to gays and women. Men also found her very attractive and accessible - much more so than Elizabeth Taylor or Marilyn Monroe. By that I mean, they loved her sexy body (Here she is in 1966 at age 44 in "The Glass Bottom Boat") and the fact that she'd rather jump on a bike than get into a limo or head off to a Lakers or Dodgers game instead of a Hollywood party. She was also someone they might be able to share a laugh with at a cookout. She didn't exist in a universe far removed from theirs.

Doris Day and Linda Evans looked like they could have been related

I don't see it.

R86- No.

But Bo Derek and Linda Evans looked liked they could have been related- years ago.

I meant to write R186

Kaye Ballard on The Doris Day Show.

Nowadays Candice Bergen resembles Rose Marie

Here is Doris at the Golden Globes in January of 1989, accepting the DeMille award. She does resemble the Linda Evans of the 1980's "Dynasty" era and Aaron Spelling tried to get Day to join the show.

I still don't see it. Doris didn't have an obvious nosejob.

She was very attractive but in a wholesome looking way, with a sturdy body, and seems like she would also know how to milk a cow, bale hay and do other chores around the farm, as needed, unlike that lazy ass character Eva Gabor played in "Green Acres."

Olly-vah!

Day was never a real Hitchcock blonde--she was a blonde housewife, not a "cool blonde" like Grace Kelly or Tippi Hedren.

R188 because they had the same husband and plastic surgeon

Doris was not an icy blonde, which is why she said in an interview that working with him was a very pleasant experience. No creepy behavior from Hitch towards her at all and I think he genuinely treated her with respect during the shoot

This BBC podcast hosted by Mark Kermode contains excerpts from a rare 1989 British interview with Doris, where she talks about working with Hitchcock, and talks candidly about her public image and some of the sadder moments of her life.

What roles do we think Doris could have done in the 1980s and 1900s? Doris in Postcards from the Edge?

BBC interview, 1989.

R200, thank you! I didn’t realize that interview was on YouTube

Here is Part 1.

Part 2.

Part 3.

Part 4.

The Doris Day Show- Doris Cuts Costs

Added bonus at 1:09- two witch friends/relatives of Endora- they tried to take Tabitha away from Samantha and Darren to be trained at a special school for witches.

Some queen on the YouTube video I posted said that in real life Denver Pyle who played her father on the show was actually only TWO years older than Doris Day.

Denver Pyle ALWAYS looked old.

I wonder if she introduced Denver Pyle to Rock Hudson.

R208- Why- Was Denver Pyle a HOMO too?

People said he and Rock got married.

LOL. That was Gomer Pyle.

Oh. Well, I knew it wasn't Missi Pyle.

Love the love for Doris on this thread. I miss her so

R213- as much as you miss GROWING OLD AIN'T FOR SISSIES- Bette Davis or NO WIRE HANGERS EVER- Joan Crawford?

Miss Day and Miss Crawford were friends.

R213 - I miss Rose Marie more.

R216- There's no love here for Miss Kaye Ballard?

Desi wasn't getting any on The Mothers-in-Law set that's for sure.

A clip from The Doris Day Special 1975

That silvery, ash blonde looked great on Doris.

How would you know such intimate details of their marriage R175?

The girl Locker behind Tim Conway with Doris on her special is Toni Basil.

(r221) I was a close friend of Day's son, Terry Melcher, for many years. Terry was very forthcoming about his mom's marriage to Melcher. He adored his mother but loathed Melcher and told his mother, many times, that it was too bad she hadn't ended up with Garner or someone else.

R223 how did you get to know Terry Melcher?

Did Doris ever discuss Manson in any interviews, or her autobiography?

(r224) Terry and I met in 1974 at a private party. I was 20 and he was 32. We hit it off because we had a similar and sometimes cynical sense of humor. By the early 80's, he started talking about writing an autobiography about being the son of a major star and trying to find his own identity. He'd seen the success his mom had with her 1975 autobiography written with A.E. Hotchner. She had received tens of thousands of letters thanking her for sharing her experiences with others. Terry hoped that his book might do the same.

We spent about a year tossing around a concept and his sharing stories that I taped at his request. We looked at it more seriously in the late 80's when he was happily married and a father. I actually was able to write about 150 pages before his life spiraled. Another divorce, another marriage, some health issues, etc. While we stayed in touch and he kept wanting to return to the book, it wasn't to be. He was a remarkable man, totally disarming and bluntly honest. He expected nothing less from others. It would have been a fascinating book.

Any “intimate “ moments?

(r227) I blush a bright red!!!

Did he ever comment on his relationship with his mother?

My grandmother always said Doris looked like an idiot wearing a rainhat and raincoat in that tiny open convertible in the credits.

"If it's going to rain, why not put the top up?"

She had a point.

(r229) Yes, regularly. In fact, that was one of his favorite topics. He genuinely loved his mother but was frustrated whenever she would not listen. He considered her way too trusting, whether of her fans, husbands or business dealings. He thought she lived as though she were living in some small town where you could leave the house without locking the doors and where nobody had an ulterior motive. He always said, however, that she was the most real person he had ever known.

[Quote] told his mother, many times, that it was too bad she hadn't ended up with Garner or someone else.

What was the point of telling her that? Anyway, I doubt Garner was a walk in the park as a spouse. We know he had affairs with Doris and with Betty Bacall.

Did Terry Melcher confirm that Doris had a fling with Sly Stone?

(r233) YES!!

[quote] I doubt Garner was a walk in the park as a spouse.

I read his autobiography.

This is one angry guy. He was forever punching people out which showed frequently in the book.

The really bad story I remember was his becoming so enraged when someone passed him on the freeway that JG raced ahead and began tailgating the other driver at high speed.

That relaxed Maverick/Rockford persona covers a really, really angry man.

And this was an autobiography.

[Quote] YES!!

Interesting. I think Doris made a point of denying it in her 1975 memoir. I believe she also denied dating a few black celebrities - one wrote about their affair in his early 1990s memoir. I forget his name. He was a sportsman.

[Quote] a really, really angry man.

Second leads are like that.

(r236) Hotchner who collaborated with her on the autobiography made a lot of decisions as to what to include or not to include. Doris was much more willing to reveal information since she had no real intention of returning to work in the entertainment business. Hotchner, however, was guilty of retaining some of the vestiges of her "image". Day wanted to include her actual year of birth (1922) in the book but was advised by Hotchner not to do so.

All of Day's marriage licenses and Terry's birth certificate contained her actual date of birth. Warners changed it in 1947 when she signed with them, to 1924. On a personal level, Day told friends it was 1922 and her "surprise" at discovering the 1922 date several years ago, was some of her best acting.

Have you considered turning the Melcher draft into an article?

(r239) I considered it, but the truth is, there are not a lot of people who know who Terry Melcher is. Maybe 18 years ago after his passing but his mom, who read the draft in 2000, asked for it to be "held".

[Quote] there are not a lot of people who know who Terry Melcher is.

If Angelyne can get a much discussed article (from a few years ago) that led to a TV biopic, I don't see why Terry Melcher can't, especially if there are enough famous names who "cameo" in his story. Hell, the Manson story (myth?) alone would generate interest.

I have to agree. There is enough interest still in Doris Day and certainly in the Manson family. Plus his connections to the 1960s LA music scene add an entirely new layers of intrigue to the man. You could definitely craft a good article about Terry.

For many years, I've found it fascinating that this guy who was part of the flower power music scene ended up overseeing his mother's career, all before he was 30. Things shared about him in this thread have only added to my fascination.

Let him get his own thread...!

[quote]Gays loved her. Women loved her. But was she ever considered a sex symbol by straight men. Like dat Marilyn was?

In her prime she was considered to have the best ass of any Hollywood actress. Bob Hope, a fuckbud in the '50s, called her "Jut Butt" or "J.B."

I can confirm what r244 says.

Doris was thought to have the best ass and one of the best all-around bodies of any woman in Hollywood in the 150s. Her great athletic body is gorgeously showcased in this spectacular number from "Love Me or Leave Me."

Best Ass in Hollywood.

Doris is introduced and walks through the audience and onto the stage to praise James Cagney when he received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1974.

I think she was 52 here.

The opening credits for TDDS were conceptualized and shot by Reza Badiyi, who went on to conceptualize and shoot the opening credits for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, so it's no coincidence that the two pieces of film have similarities.

Here's a clip of Badiyi talking (very slowly) about TMTMS credits.

Just saw this by chance on Reddit.

Husband Melcher had terrible taste in movies "Caprice" is a genuinely bad movie and Doris was bad in it. It was silly spy stuff and there is a scene where here character goes to see Doris Day in 'Caprice".

I wish the Razzies had existed in the 60’s. Caprice probably would have gotten a few noms

That Doris Martin was a card.

I subscribed to Today's World magazine just because she was working on it.

I remember reading that when Doris read the script for "Caprice", she told Melcher, "Boy, am I glad I don't have to do this" and Melcher told her that, yes, she did.

A question: Whatever was Richard Harris thinking that he signed up for "Caprice"?

Richard Harris has a swinging bed in the movie, which is featured several times in the trailer. See link below.

He was thinking: "They're paying me HOW MUCH?!?"

This was right before Harris did "Camelot". When it was shot, in 1966, Doris was still the top FEMALE moneymaking star in America, per the most recent Quigley Poll (December 1965). It was a chance for Harris to co-star with a top female lead, and at the time the film's director, Frank Tashlin, was receiving kudos for directing Day's summer of 1966 release, "The Glass Bottom Boat". "Boat" was very popular with even the stuffy Saturday Review noting it might be the funniest Day comedy. On paper, "Caprice" looked promising.

I can remember seeing that exact scene from Caprice when I was an impressionable child. In my twisted memory, Michael J Pollard didn't just flirt with the edge of her skirt; he stuck his whole hand up there and grabbed her by the pussy. I remember being shocked by this scene and left wondering why she just sat there while this ugly guy who looked like Alfred E. Neuman groped her.

(r255) That scene made me squirm as a youngster, too. At first, when she entered the Carthay Circle Theatre to see "Caprice" starring Doris Day, I thought "How cleaver". I also enjoyed her singing of the title song in the background. The fishnets she had on were amusing, too. However, once Pollard slid his hand up her dress, it just became disgusting. No doubt, for her too, it was unpleasant to do the scene.

He was yet to be Oscar-nominated but he was still pretty grotesque in an interesting way.

[quote]"Caprice" looked promising.

And it was part of the whole 1960s "spy" craze started by the James Bond films.