good back-story, and good acting

An Exercise In Nonsense

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Blistering performances.

While Joi Lansing was indeed the supermodel adored by all male viewers Barbara Nichols was indeed memorable as ditzy blonde Marian Billington whose catch phrase was to affectionately refer to Bob as "Liddy-bear!" ~ The show's instrumental theme song actually had lyrics. Mickey Rooney performed that song "I'm a bachelor guy" on a prime time variety show but sadly I'm unable to find any video or recording of Mickey or anyone singing the song.

THE RECENT PASSING of Anne B. Davis has put us to mind of those sitcoms of a now bygone era; a time when you could get into trouble for just saying words like pregnant, hell, damn or water-closet on the air. My, how things have changed! MOST ALL OF the attention concerning the death of Miss Davis, at 88 years of age, pertained to her portrayal as the droll housekeeper, Alice on THE BRADY BUNCH. Well, we "Boomers" seem to recall her equally humorous characterization of Glamor Photographer Bob Collins' (Bob Cummings) wise cracking secretary/receptionist, "Schultzie" on THE BOB CUMMINGS SHOW (1955-59).THE SHOW'S HIGHLY successful run on NBC owed the longevity to Anne's on screen wisecracking, loyalty and acting as 'mother hen' to her boss. We aren't alone in this evaluation; for Miss Davis claimed two Emmys for her thespianic acumen.AS FOR THE show, THE BOB CUMMINGS SHOW was the story of a former World War II Army Air Corps Pilot; who now operated a glamour photographic studio. This, of course, meant that there would be a plethora of 'gorgeous' models being constantly moved trough each episode.ON THE OTHER side of what can only be described as a dichotomy of fundamentals, we have Bob the family man. As the male protector of his widowed sister, Margaret MacDonald (Rosemary De Camp)and her teen-aged son, Chuck (Dwayne Hickman). Bob played big brother to the extreme; even in constantly warning Margaret that his old Air Force buddy, bachelor Paul Fonda (Lyle Talbot) was a 'Wolf!' IN BOLD CONTRAST we see Bob's behavior at the office; which usually wound up as make-out sessions between photographer and model. Quite often, as a concession to the latent voyeurism that lurks mildly in all, Schultzie would often sneak peek in on the photographic shoot.THIS LAST POINT brings us to one final conclusion about what the series was all about. It was a socially acceptable way of bringing a 1950's audience the commodity that always sells so well, namely S-E-X!

Bob Cummings was a pioneer in the early days of sitcoms, making this show worth viewing if you're interested in the history of television programming. There's a certain "live on tape" feel to some episodes, when actors accidentally step on each others' lines, which also makes the atmosphere a little more natural than today's highly polished (tightly edited) sitcoms.It's a treat to see a young Ann B. Davis, best remembered today as "The Brady Bunch"'s housekeeper, Alice. In the 50s, she was considered a fairly major TV star, and she was an undeniably inventive comic actress. In many episodes of "The Bob Cummings Show," she has a pretty substantial amount of screen time -- far more than she usually got in the Brady household. Another classic sitcom star is on hand: Before Nancy Kulp played Miss Jane Hathaway on The Beverly Hillbillies, she honed her TV skills in "The Bob Cummings Show." Her character, a snooty, sexually aggressive bird-watching enthusiast has much in common with Miss Jane. In fact, in many ways they're practically identical. In later years, Kulp came out of the closet and lived as an openly gay woman. Her character in "The Bob Cummings Show," while aggressively pursuing Bob, certainly has a lesbian vibe. In the episode "Bob Goes Bird Watching," for example, when Kulp enters the episode, she's clad in a very masculine suit, with a "butch" hairstyle, but throughout the scene she's trying to persuade Bob abandon his swimsuit-clad models and join her at Griffith Park, to check out some "tit mouse" birds -- no double entendres were wasted in this show...Dwayne Hickman is also in the cast, perfecting his Dobbie Gillis character. Like Kulp, he carried this character's basic traits into another show -- so it's interesting to watch him learning his craft here. Like many shows of this time period, "The Bob Cummings Show" was performed at a pace most viewers now find stunningly slow. But many of the scripts hold up fairly well, and the acting, though a bit stagey at times, is naturalistic and enjoyable. If you want lightening- quick repartee, tune into "Will and Grace," but if you're ready for some relaxing old-time humor performed by some of the best actors from TV's early days, check out "The Bob Cummings Show."

I watched this show on Nick-At-Night and I'm not sure why this was a big hit. It was a show about a fashion photographer and his adventures. The man's name is Bob Collins(Cummings) and he gets help from his assistant Schultzy(Davis). Bob is surrounded everyday by what they called back then, models. Today they would be laughed at and called fat. Robert Cummings is not what I'd call a really great looking guy. I could never understand why he was always getting dates with these "beauties". Poor Schultzy was always the "old maid" in the love game.This show had alot of "stars" in it, Other than former movie star Cummings and future Brady maid Ann B Davis. It had the future Dobie Gillis Dwayne Hickman, future Hillbilly's secretary Nancy Kulp , "Yankee Doodle Dandy" mother Rosemary DeCamp and famous B actor Lyle Talbot. If you get the chance to see this, watch it if only to see these guys back when.