DORIS DAY ON TELEVISION

The Doris Day Show  was first seen in September of 1968 and quickly became a series marked for its constant premise changes, with only one constant, Doris Day played Doris Martin for all five years. During the first season, Doris Martin was a widow raising two young sons, Billy and Toby, on her own. The Martins lived on a family ranch and much of the story lines revolved around them adjusting to rural living. The ranch was run by Buck Webb, Leroy B. Simpson was the hired hand and Aggie was the housekeeper who was replaced by Juanita in late 1968.

The second season saw a few changes. Doris got a job as a secretary for a magazine in San Francisco, called Today's World. Thus, she commuted daily to work from the ranch. New characters were added, Michael Nicholson was the editor and boss, Ron Harvey was the assistant editor and Myrna Gibbons was another secretary.

The third season had additional changes in that Doris, Toby, Billy and their dog, Lord Nelson, moved into an apartment in San Francisco. The apartment was owned by Angie Palucci and her husband Louie who also ran an Italian restaurant on the first floor. This season also saw Doris get a promotion, and she began writing some stories for the magazine.

The fourth season saw the most dramatic change yet, Doris was still working for Today's World, but now she was a single, staff writer, who no longer had children or a dog. She was a single working girl. Cy Bennett was her new boss and Jackie Parker was his secretary. 

After a long line of changes, both the fourth and fifth season stayed the same, premise-wise, with the addition of different actors as love interests for single Doris.

Theme  Song: "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera Sera)" Written by: Ray Evans and Jay Livingston Sung by: Doris Day
 
Nielsen Ratings: (Top 30 or Better) # 10 in 1969-1970 (This was considered an amazing record for the show considering how much it changed from year to year. It had nothing to do with the story and everything to do with the popularity of the star.)

SEE THE MAJOR EPISODES OF THIS SHOW ON THE ARCHIVED SAMPOD FORUM UNDER THE TOPIC "ALL ABOUT DORIS DAY". You will find it on page 4 with the title "The Doris Day Show from the beginning to the very end".

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THE DORIS MARY ANN KAPPELHOFF SPECIAL 1971

Doris appeared in a one hour special which combined mostly music and a little dance along with a fashion show. Guest stars were Perry Como and Rock Hudson. On this show, Doris did what she does best...she sang. Here is a short sequence of outtakes from that special, which was highly rated:

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In 1974, Doris guest starred on the John Denver Show, where they did various skits making fun of Doris' "family" movies. In a reciprocal arrangement, John appeared on her 2nd and last tv special in 1975, "DORIS DAY TODAY". The best sequence from that show was a segment called "The Sunshine Medley", seen below.

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The entire Doris Day TV Show Series and the 3 Specials are available now on DVD.

1985-86: Doris Day came out of retirement and started the "Best Friends" show. The main focus was her love for animal welfare. Her first friend on the show was Rock Hudson. She also had visits from Kaye Ballard, Denver Pyle, Robbie Benson, Howard Keel and many others. Although the show was shot on a low budget, the heart of it was in the right place. It was also exciting to hear Doris sing again. She recorded a handful of songs especially for the show, including the theme. The most touching moment is how she shared her love for her favorite friend "Biggest". He was a dog who was also featured in an episode of the Doris Day show. She had attempted to put him in a loving home but he always ended back in her arms. He had a wonderful long life living with this lovely lady. This show has not yet been released on DVD, despite clamorings each year from faithful fans. Some episodes (like the one below) can be viewed on youtube.

This was the opening theme for the show, another of those songs that might have been a hit, had it been released for sale at the time.

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DORIS DAY IN A SHORT TV RETROSPECTIVE
JULY 2009