Week of May 7: Of "House Calls and "Chicken Soup"

Lynn Redgrave, who died earlier this week at age 67 of breast cancer, had a fascinating television career, if not a long one.

First, she co-starred in the CBS hit comedy "House Calls." Patterned after the hit 1978 romantic comedy film that starred Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Art Carney and Richard Benjamin, the show starred Wayne Rogers (M*A*S*H) as Dr. Charley Michaels. Redgrave played hospital administration employee Ann Atkinson. Character actor David Wayne (the 1949 film "Adam's Rib") played the semi-senile Dr. Amos Weatherby. Ray Buktenica (Rhoda) played Dr. Norman Solomon.

During the first two seasons, the show was a hit and Redgrave was nominated for an Emmy. Before Season 3, she had a falling out with Universal Studios, which produced the show for CBS. The most prominent story has been that the studio was not willing to accept Redgrave bringing her then-newborn daughter, Annabel, on the set or letting Redgrave breastfeed her.

John Clark, who was married to Redgrave at the time, wrote years later that it wasn't as simple as that:

http://www.johnclarkprose.com/house-calls-house-calls-what-really-happened.html

In any case, even with the talented Sharon Gless coming aboard, "House Calls" didn't last very long after Redgrave left. But the public battle gave a prominent face to the concerns of working mothers.

Her next television series was "Teachers Only," more notable for who produced it (Johnny Carson's production company) and who co-starred in it (Norman Fell of "Three's Company" and Jean Smart, later of "Designing Women," "24" and possibly the new "Hawaii Five-O"). It lasted one season on NBC, 1982-83.

Redgrave did her last, and possibly strangest, series in 1989. It was called "Chicken Soup," and paired her with comedian Jackie Mason as a couple in an interfaith (she Catholic, he Jewish) relationship. The show was produced by Carsey-Werner, the team behind "The Cosby Show" and "Roseanne." It followed "Rosanne" in the ABC schedule and drew viewers early, but couldn't follow up on the success and was cancelled after seven episodes. Mason made disparaging remarks about David Dinkins, soon to become mayor of New York, in the period the show was on the air.

None of the shows has been released on DVD. Here's hoping "House Calls" gets the call, in tribute to Redgrave.

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