Eve and Herb Hubbard have lived next door to Kaye and Roger Buell for over 20 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 and the Hubbards' daughter Suzie 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 because of the name's association with the English nursery rhyme. During the second season, the young couple have a set of fraternal twins, a boy and a girl named Joey and Hildy.
Production
The majority of the episodes were written by series creators Madelyn 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 “sweeten” audience reactions or fill in gaps of missed punchlines. When choosing the two lead roles, executive producer Desi Arnaz approached two longtime friends Eve Arden and Ann Sothern. Both actresses had been friends of Arnaz and his former wife Lucille Ball since the 1930s while working at RKO Pictures and M-G-M. Sothern, who had starred in two successful sitcoms: Private Secretary from 1953 to 1956 and the Desilu-produced The Ann Sothern Show from 1958 to 1961, had also guest starred in seven episodes of The Lucy Show as the Countess Framboise. However, NBC found Sothern and Arden's comedic style too similar and passed on casting Sothern. Singer-comedian Kaye Ballard, another old friend, auditioned for and got the part of the neighbor, Kaye Buell. Actress Kay Cole, who would later appear on Broadway in the original cast of A Chorus Line, portrayed the role of Suzie Hubbard in the unaired pilot; however, after the series was picked up, Cole was replaced by actress Deborah Walley who would remain with the series for its entire two-year run. The scenes featuring Cole were re-filmed for the aired version of the pilot, “On Again, Off Again, Lohengrin”. Cole can be briefly glimpsed in the final shot before the end credits.
Characters
Eve Arden as Eve Hildegarde Hubbard, wife of attorney Herb Hubbard and mother of Suzie Hubbard Buell. A housewife, she and Kaye tend to meddle and interfere with the kids' marriage and lives, which serves as the premise of the show. When she got annoyed with her husband, or her male in-laws, she would utter coldly, "Beast!" She also had a tendency to sarcastically mock in a high voice when she is shown something that she is in disbelief of, namely when it comes from Herb or Kaye. The name of her granddaughter, Hildy, whom she spoils and dotes on, comes from her middle name.
Kaye Ballard as Katherine "Kaye" Josephina Buell, wife of Roger Buell and overprotective mother of Jerry Buell. She is known for not being too enthusiastic at being a housewife, for speaking in Italian, and for smacking her husband when she got annoyed with him, especially when they were in bed, and she would smack him the back. She had once had a career in show business, when she was a singer with various bands like Ozzie Snick and Charlie Banks and his Ten Tellers. She is also known for being overly emotional; her catch phrases included "Oh, Reeeeally?", "Good luck with your MOUTH!", "This, THIS, is the thanks I get!", "Rats!" and "Yes, YES, I am!". She is affectionately nicknamed "Cookie". The name of her grandson, Joey, whom she spoils and dotes on, as she does his father, comes from her middle name.
Herbert Rudley as Herb Hubbard, a successful attorney who tended to get very exasperated with the wives' constant meddling and interfering with the kids and their marriage. He tended to be very temperamental as well. When he and Eve argued, they would invariably repeat what the other was saying in anger.
Roger C. Carmel and Richard Deacon as Roger C. Buell, a bombastic television script writer who often worked from home. He, like Herb, got very exasperated with the wives' continual interference with the kids and their marriage and lives. When he got annoyed with Kaye, he would call her by her full given name, Katherine, and would also announce, "Now you hear this...". He is affectionately nicknamed "Cutes", is sometimes a target of Kaye's wrath, and is also known for being a miserly cheapskate.
Jerry Fogel as Jerome "Jerry" Buell, a college student married to Suzie Hubbard and father of twins, Hildy and Joey. Eve didn't think that Jerry was good enough for Suzie to marry, and she wanted her to marry someone who was more financially stable. Although she did like Jerry, she refused to let him call her "Mother Hubbard". He is overly protected by his doting mother, Kaye, who calls him her "darling baby boy". Jerry and Suzie had grown up together and had known one another all their lives.
Deborah Walley as Susan "Suzie" Buell, a college student married to Jerry and mother of twins, Hildy and Joey. Kaye didn't think Suzie was good enough for Jerry to marry, and she wanted him to marry an Italian girl. Despite it all, she loved Suzie enough to allow her to call her Mother Buell. She, like her mother, would utter "Beast" at her husband when she was annoyed with him. She could also become overly emotional.
Desi Arnaz, who produced and directed the show, appeared in four episodes, using his Ricky Ricardo accent and trademark mispronunciation of words to full effect. He appeared as a matador named Raphael Delgado y de Acha III, whom the wives had called as a result of a wrong number, and became somewhat of a family friend. This is one of the rare occasions in which the characters had the same first names as the actors portraying them. In the first season, the notable exception was Deborah Walley who played Suzie. In the second season, Richard Deacon played Roger C. Buell replacing Roger C. Carmel and joined Deborah in that distinction.
Episode list
Ratings
Despite being sandwiched between Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and Bonanza, the show never garnered the ratings NBC had hoped for. The first season ranked 37th with an 18.8 rating and the second season ranked 40th with a 19.4 rating. The network considered canceling the show after the first season, but agreed to renew it for the same price as the first season. All cast members agreed to do the second season for the same money except for Carmel, who was replaced with Richard Deacon. Season 2 performed worse than Season 1, leading to its cancellation. On The Doris Day Show Season 4 DVD, Ballard remarked that the network and sponsor wanted The Bill Cosby Show to replace The Mothers-in-Law during the 1969–70 season.
released the complete series of The Mothers-in-Law on DVD in Region 1 on July 27, 2010. This release includes a new introduction from Desi Arnaz, Jr., who appeared in two episodes as Tommy, a drum playing friend of Jerry and Suzie Buell; an interview with Kaye Ballard; the original unaired pilot episode ; original sponsor tags; cast commercials; scripts for unproduced episodes; The Carol Channing Show, a comedy pilot which starred Carol Channing, Jane Dulo and Richard Deacon; and Land's End, a dramatic pilot starring Rory Calhoun. The latter were two failed pilots from Desi Arnaz Productions.
