Transcript: Jimmy Stewart's Forgotten Sitcom: The Jimmy Stewart Show

Greetings Classic Cinema and TV fans, this is Pastor Jay here with you once again. And this time around we're talking Flashback Friday. What is Flashback Friday? Well, Flashback Friday is a time when we talk about some of those older releases that don't get a lot of love. And that's what we're going to talk about today. And today we're talking about this show. Yeah, the Jimmy Stewart Show. Many people know Jimmy Stewart as an amazing actor. They know him as the man from many, many Hitchcock films. The man that played in so many westerns. The man that was in one of the funniest little films, Harvey. An amazing resume of films, but what about TV? Did you even know he was in a TV series? I actually didn't know this until Warner Archive released this. I had no clue that this was even a thing. And I consider myself a fairly well-read person when it comes to TV and movie, and yet I did not know this even existed. really a very interesting thing. So the Jimmy Stewart show, what is it? Well, Jimmy Stewart, an amazing icon of movies, in the early 70s decided to transition to TV in a situation comedy. And in this Jimmy Stewart plays a college professor of a fictitious college and he you know living life has an older son that married and has a young boy, Jimmy Stewart's grandson. But beyond that, Jimmy Stewart also has a son, a second son, that just happens to be about the same age as his grandson. Kind of strange, Kind of weird, but hey, life happens, you know? Interesting, and while this all seems kind of strange, and it gets a lot stranger, in the fact that while his son, his older son, and his wife are away, he's taking care of his grandson, kind of watching him at their house. Well, he's smoking a big cigar, and he falls asleep, and the cigar falls out, and starts burning up the couch, and then burns down the house. Now, everybody gets out safe, of course, but the house is destroyed. What are they going to do? Well, Jimmy Stewart has an interesting idea. Come back home. Live with us. Well, as you can tell, as you can pretty much figure out, there's going to be a lot of stuff going on there because a lot of people living in one house, there's bound to be trouble. There's bound to be stuff going on. And it is. This show just plays that whole thing out. And them trying to find a way to finally get another house, get out of from under dad and mom and kind of live life again. And all the stuff that goes on. And it's just a really interesting little sitcom. I think what makes the Jimmy Stewart show so much better than just a regular sitcom is two things Number one is they allow Jimmy Stewart to be sort of like George Burns If you remember George Burns and Gracie Allen their show George Burns would step out of character and talk to the audience. They kind of let Jimmy Stewart do that at the beginning and the end of the shows, and I think that is so cool. While everything's going on at the end of the program, Jimmy Stewart steps out of scene, comes close to the camera, and thanks you for joining them on that episode. It It really feels really cool. The second thing that makes this series work, in my opinion, is the fact that it's Jimmy Stewart. The genuinely honest and just sweet human being that was Jimmy Stewart. Jimmy Stewart was just a sweet human being. You can just tell it in the way he was when he would have interviews, when he would talk to people. You could see that. I remember my aunt who just recently passed away telling stories of when she worked at a coffee shop where Jimmy grew up. And he would come in long before he was a star and come in every day and have some coffee. And she would serve him and talk with him. And he was just a genuinely kind human being. And I'll tell you, that makes that so much better when you know that an actor is not spoiled by fame and fortune. He was a genuine, kind human being, and I just think that makes it so much cooler. The Jimmy Stewart show actually didn't last as long as I feel it should have. And I think that has a lot to do with Jimmy Stewart himself. I don't think Jimmy Stewart felt comfortable in this character here. While it was a very kind and genuine character I don think Jimmy felt comfortable And from all accounts he asked to allow this series to end because he didn feel comfortable And that is a shame because it is a really good show. But if you've never seen this release, this TV series, I do highly suggest picking this up. It's from Warner Archive. It is a three-disc set made on demand, as you can see. But it is really just a very, very sweet little series. And so if you're looking for something to flashback with, definitely check out The Jimmy Stewart Show. It is really cool. It is available now on Warner Archive, made on demand. go to Amazon.com and search it out I think you'll be surprised with the quality is great and I think you'll be surprised with the series itself it's really good alright that's all the time we got today for Flashback Friday we will be back next week with another flashback taking a look at some other type of show or movie and until we see you next time this is Pastor Jay reminding you that if you want to see a great film check out a classic be sure to go to retroac.blogspot.com for all kinds of awesome content. Until we see you next time, have a blessed day. Bye.