Reception
The show was considered to be an instant hit when it debuted, and its first season was fourth in the 1961-1962 Nielsen's ratings. Shirley Booth received two Emmys, (1962 and 1963) for "Hazel" and an Emmy nomination for her third season (1964). The actress received a Golden Globe nomination for Best TV Star (1964), and two nominations for the TV Land Award, Favorite Made-for-TV Maid (2004 and 2006).
In its first season, Hazel won such ratings as to force the cancellation of its principal competitor, the new ABC sitcom Margie, starring Cynthia Pepper, set during the Roaring Twenties.
ABC loosely copied the Hazel theme in the 1962-1963 series Our Man Higgins as an English butler to a suburban American family. Stanley Holloway played the lead role, along with Audrey Totter and Frank Maxwell.
At the end of the 1963-1964 season, the ratings had slipped from #15 the previous year to #22. By the time NBC canceled the series in the spring of 1965, Hazel had fallen out of the top 30 programs. CBS picked up the sitcom for the 1965-1966 season, however there were a number of cast changes made. Bobby Buntrock remained in the cast as Harold Baxter, however Don DeFore and Whitney Blake were dropped and replaced with Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden, respectively. Child actress Julia Benjamin was added to the cast as Susie Baxter. CBS scheduled Hazel on Monday nights at 9:30 P.M. (E.S.T.) in September, 1965 as part of a powerhouse lineup of programming which included The Lucy Show and The Andy Griffith Show. The series received decent ratings and CBS was planning to renew Hazel for a sixth year, but Booth was ill and tired and decided not to continue the program when the season ended. As a result, in the spring of 1966, Hazel ended its primetime network run.
The story of how Hazel came to be a maid is told for the first time in Love Is The Reason For It All...The Shirley Booth Story by Jim Manago, with radio research by Donna Manago, and foreword by Ted Key. BearManor Media, ISBN 978-1-59393-146-9
Read more about this topic: Hazel (TV Series)
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