one of my absolute favorites!

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Blistering performances.

Peter Christopher was the lead man . He played a bachelor (Michael) who was determined to never marry in spite of his bosses family values Peters boss baby food mogul Max Brahms was controlling and Michael had to ask a beautiful hat check clerk (Greta Patterson) to pose as his wife and the charade became out of control and the antics off the wall. Yet they continued to fool Michaels boss.What Michael did not realize is that his neighbor (Bryan Obyrne) was a peeping Tom because he watched the comings and goings from the Sixth floor where Michael lived to the eighth floor where Greta lived.There may have been a few sparks of love but cupids arrow did not hit its target in the first season and cupid had no other seasons to score . So the possibility of them marrying was left hanging

On a scale (for television sitcoms) I'd be generous if I gave OCCASIONAL WIFE a "4" out of "10". I seem to be in a minority on this thread, but I watched it two or three times while it was on the air in 1966, and it was always too situation oriented. Meaning it was too mechanical to be believed.The story is that Michael Callan works for a baby food company: the Brahams Baby Food Company. It is run by Mr. Brahms (Jack Collins - an obscure moon faced character actor). Since the company is named for it's owner, the attempt to do a type of pun (for want of a better term) regarding Johannes Brahms famous musical piece (his lullaby, that we sing the words, "Lullaby, and good night..." to.)is there. Mr. Brahms is one of those hundreds of self-centered bosses on television (and in the movies) who think they know best. He has a company that deals in baby food, so the executives should be married men, preferably with children. Brahms tells Callan that unless he is married, he cannot work for Brahms. That this stupid point of view overlooks that Callan is a hard working young man who does a good job never enters the idiot boss's mind. He reminds me of Edward G. Robinson in GOOD NEIGHBOR SAM, as the puritanical dairy company millionaire, Mr. Nurdlinger.Facing dismissal, Callan gets the idea that he must have what is a stand-in wife. He knows Patricia Harty from her job as a hat check girl (and she lives in his apartment house - how she does this given the disparity of their salaries is never explained). He offers her money if occasionally she will agree to be his "occasional wife." One of the running jokes is that they will both use the interconnecting fire-escape outside the living room window to meet on the floor between in front of the window of their other neighbor (Bryan O'Byrne) confusing him while he is in the middle of a wide variety of personal activities which he proceeds to botch up while he watches them on his fire escape.Each episode dealt with a different "crisis" that Callan had to face dealing with his own boss and job, and how his arrangement with Harty keeps interfering with her own personal life (it's hard for her to go out on dates if she is on call for Callan to satisfy the idiocies of his boss). I recall (vaguely) an episode where the situation gets reversed, with Harty being romanced by a pest named Bernie, who learns of the existence of Callan. Instead of simply introducing Callan as her husband, she introduces him to Bernie as her brother. Wonderful - Bernie introduces Callen to his dippy sister Bernice. So in that episode Callan and Harty had to keep running between his and her apartments to satisfy the idiot boss about being married, while then satisfying the stupid brother and sister thinking they were on a cool, promising double date with another unattached brother and sister.The acting was reasonably good, but not the most memorable. As it lasted one season, I suspect the script writers did not know how it would end exactly, but presumably (had it lasted as long as CHEERS or COSBY) Callan's and Harty's characters would have eventually actually married. But it was not worth keeping beyond one season - it was a mediocre comedy.

This was my favorite show when I was in the sixth grade, and I was heartbroken when it was canceled. Michael Callan and Patricia Harty had terrific chemistry (they would later marry, although not for long). Jack Collins was also perfect as Callan's boss, and the reaction shots of the Man In The Middle (i.e. the guy who had the apartment in between those of Callan and Harty) were priceless. Back in the 60s, we accepted absurd premises on TV shows without giving it a second thought -- the beauty of Occasional Wife was that the actors performed as if there was nothing at all absurd in their situations. Sure would love to see it again!

This series is a complete, total and utter non-sequitur. Visually it's bright colors and stark scenery (this is a 1960's TV budget) are firmly planted in 1959. The story line superficially is pure Doris Day/Rock Hudson. The execution is more Larry David/Monty Python. This situation comedy is so surreal that it could never last more than a season in a world where HBO/Showtime would not exist for 20 years. From the bongos in the opening title music to the avant-garde narration you know you are in a parallel universe. The plots are totally stupid...hello, Jerry Sienfeld! The resolutions make no sense and the stories turn on a dime...Why?...Why not! As the playboy who hires a hat check girl (this is a time when men wore hats) to pose as his wife so he can get a job promotion (the president of a baby food company does not give promotions to unmarried men), Michael Callan makes an excellent self-centered playboy...and he sleeps with women he is not married to. Is this 1966 TV? Patricia Harty proves herself to be an incredible comedian. Cute, perky, smart and thoroughly self-absorbed; she is an utter gem (Coutney Cox, Jennifer Aniston and Debra Messing can't hold a candle to her talent). To add to the sideshow, the third billed character who appears in the opening manages to not say a word in the entire series. The guest stars are a "Who's Who" of 60's TV including Sally Field and John Astin. If you are a devoted fan of "The Beverly Hillbillies" or "The Andy Griffith Show", please move on. For the rest of us, sit back and enjoy.