Take It from Me is an American television situation comedy that was broadcast on ABC November 4, 1953 - January 6, 1954. It was also known as The Jean Carroll Show. [1]
Jean Carroll portrayed a housewife with Alan Carney as her "bumbling husband" Herbie. [2] An "awkward, somewhat dopey daughter" [3] played by Lynn Loring completed the New York City family. [2] Alice Pearce was their neighbor. [1] Scenes were set in the family's apartment or in the adjacent neighborhood. [2] A structure similar to that of The Jack Benny Program [4] had Carroll beginning each episode with a monologue. The sketch that followed typically had her using her wiles to get Herbie to do something. At times Carroll made humorous remarks about the sketch to the audience. [2] Carroll's character was "a lower-middle-class housewife beset by endless household drudgery and a miserly, gluttonous husband". [5]
Alan Dinehart produced and directed Take It from Me. The writers were Coleman Jacoby and Arnie Rosen. [1] Bernard Green provided music. [3] Eleven episodes were produced. [3] The show was sustaining [5] and it was broadcast on Wednesdays from 9 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, [2] originating from WABC-TV. [6] Its competition included Strike It Rich on CBS, Colonel Humphrey Flack and Chicago Symphony on DuMont, and Kraft Television Theatre on NBC. [4]
Financial struggles were a problem for ABC at this time, and when Take It from Me was canceled, the network replaced it with The Big Picture , a military documentary series that the U. S. Army provided at no cost. [4] The trade publication Billboard described the cancellation as an indication "that ABC-TV is on an economy kick", noting that Take It from Me was the network's "top budget sustainer". [7] ABC cancelled two daytime programs at the same time. [7] The network retained its options for the show, hoping to resume it in the spring of 1954 with a sponsor. [8]
John Lester, writing in the Staten Island Advance , called the premiere episode "successfully funny". [9] He acknowledged that the premiere was flawed, but said that was to be expected for any new series and he felt that those problems could be overcome. [9] The positive aspects included "good, crisp dialog", "interesting characterization", and "broad and friendly but terse satire". [9]
Bill Coleman wrote in The (Brooklyn, New York) Tablet that Carroll "is tremendous in a vehicle well suited to her particular style of humor". [10] He described Carney as "very funny" and predicted that the two of them "will become the next big comedy team to win national fame on television". [10]
A review in TV Guide called Take It from Me "a good show" and said that Carroll "is great, both in her monologues and in the action scenes". [11] It also complimented Jacoby's and Rosen's writing and Carney's acting. [11]
The trade publication Broadcasting classified the series as ABC's contribution to bad comedy shows. A review that focused on the December 9, 1953, episode said, "The show was thrown together. It lacked continuity, showmanship and the polish an audience justly expects of network productions." [12] It noted that the episode contained three unrelated situations, each of which "could have been developed into a half-hour script. Jointly they got nowhere." [12]
The trade publication Variety described the show as "fluid and funny" and said the writers had "hit a paydirt format". [13] Its review said that Carroll "shines all the way" as the star, and it complimented Carney's performance as her foil, the directing of the show, and its musical score. [13]