The Mothers-in-Law
| The Mothers-in-Law | |
|---|---|
DVD cover, with Kaye Ballard (left) and Eve Arden
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| Genre | Situation comedy |
| Created by |
Bob Carroll, Jr. Madelyn Davis |
| Directed by |
Desi Arnaz Elliott Lewis |
| Starring |
Eve Arden Kaye Ballard Herbert Rudley Roger C. Carmel Richard Deacon Jerry Fogel Deborah Walley |
| Theme music composer | Jeff Alexander |
| Composer(s) | Jeff Alexander Wilbur Hatch |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 56 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Desi Arnaz |
| Producer(s) | Al Lewis Elliott Lewis |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Desi Arnaz Productions United Artists Television MGM Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | September 10, 1967 – April 13, 1969 |
The Mothers-in-Law is an American sitcom starring Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard as two matriarchs who were friends and next-door neighbors whose children's elopement made them in-laws. The show aired on NBC from September 1967 to April 1969. Executive produced by Desi Arnaz, the series was created by Bob Carroll, Jr., and Madelyn Davis.
Eve (Eve Arden) and Herb Hubbard (Herbert Rudley) have lived next door to Kaye (Kaye Ballard) and Roger Buell (played first by Roger C. Carmel and later by Richard Deacon) for 15 years. Herb is a successful lawyer, while Roger is a television writer who works at home. The Hubbards are very straitlaced, the Buells off-the-wall and fun-loving. Despite their differences, including an age disparity of about twenty years, they are best friends. In spite of their friendship, though, they do tend to get into more than their share of squabbles.
The Buells' son Jerry (Jerry Fogel) and the Hubbards' daughter Suzie (Deborah Walley) fall in love while in college, marry, and set up house in the Hubbards' garage apartment. The two sets of parents have different ideas of how their children should live their lives, and the constant meddling of the mothers-in-law provides the premise for the series. One of the differences between the two couples is that Kaye allowed Suzie to call her Mother Buell, but Eve would not allow Jerry to call her Mother Hubbard without objecting. During the second season, the young couple have a set of fraternal twins, a boy and a girl named Joey and Hildy (from the middle names of Kaye and Eve).
Most of the episodes were written by Madelyn Pugh Davis and Bob Carroll, Jr., who had worked with series producer Desi Arnaz on I Love Lucy. Unlike most sitcoms of the era, The Mothers-in-Law was filmed before a live audience; standard practice at the time was to film an episode on a closed set and add a laugh track during post-production. However, a laugh track was still used to fill any gaps in audience reactions or missed punchlines.
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