PATTY DUKE SHOW, THE (TV SERIES) - DVD review

In 1963, 17-year-old Patty Duke took the stage to accept a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her dramatic and inspired performance as the blind Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker." That same year, she cut loose--split, you might say--as a goofy, boy-crazy American teen whose demure, identical cousin from Europe comes to stay with the family. Duke played both a Gidget-type in Patty Lane, and a reserved, almost matronly young woman in cousin Cathy, with well-traveled character actor William Schallert as the father and Jean Byron the mother. Paul O'Keefe played little brother Ross, who was basically there for the cousins to react to and everyone to pick on. I'm sure he's in therapy now.

But seriously, the Sixties were a golden age for sitcoms, and in 1963 the top show in America was "The Beverly Hillbillies." Seven out of the top 10 shows were sitcoms. "The Patty Duke Show" finished at Number 18, ahead of shows like "Gunsmoke," "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color," "McHale's Navy," and "Dr. Kildare." Duke was a cutie and she had charisma--times two, in this show--so drawing a 23.9 share of the audience was really not surprising, given her Oscar star power.

It was a decent show, as sitcoms go, with Duke bringing a nice energy to each episode. What makes it an average sitcom rather than a superior one are the hackneyed plots that seem to be standard-issue for situation comedies: the comic adventures that come from having to earn money for something special, or a visiting tyrannical relative, a crush on a teacher, high school elections pitting family member against family member, or something borrowed turning something blue. Produced by William Asher (who gave us "Bewitched"), "The Patty Duke" show relies on the old formulas and hits some of them several times this season. That they're still entertaining is more a tribute to the cast and dialogue than the formulas themselves.

Thirty-six episodes are included on six single-sided discs, housed in three slim, clear plastic keep cases and tucked inside a colorful cardboard slipcase. Here's a rundown on the episodes:

1) "The French Teacher." Patty's grades are failing until a new, handsome French teacher tries to inspire her . . . and instead, gets her to fall in love with him.

2) "The Genius." Paul Lynde guests as a computer expert who goes from school to school testing for geniuses. And he finds one . . . in PATTY, who, alas, did a little cheating.

3) "The Elopement." When Patty and her boyfriend, Richard (Eddie Applegate), go to the license bureau to get a fishing license for an anniversary surprise her mother is planning, Martin's boss sees them and thinks they're eloping.

4) "House Guest." When an aunt comes for a surprise visit, the race is on to retrieve her gifts from storage and find places to display them. But when Aunt Pauline takes over the household, they're wishing the next gift she gives them is her departure.

5) "The Birds and the Bees Bit." Clueless Ross is invited to a dance by a southern girl, and Patty and Cathy try to teach him everything he needs to know about girls.

6) "The Slumber Party." Ross tape records Patty and Cathy's slumber party and uses it to blackmail the girls.

7) "The Babysitters." Patty goes into the babysitting business in order to raise the money for a new gown.

8) "The Conquering Hero." Patty causes a stir when she suggests the school's star basketball player move in with them to enable him to keep playing after his parents move out of the district.

9) "The President." Patty and Cathy run for president of the Girl's League, and things get nasty between them.

10) "Double Date." The switch is on as the girls try to pass for each other to get out of a tight fix.

11) "The Actress." The cousins become rivals again when the school puts on a performance of "Anthony and Cleopatra."

12) "How to Be Popular." Tired of being in Patty's social shadow, Cathy writes to a lonely hearts columnist for advice that turns out to be a disaster.

13) "The Song Writers." When Patty writes a poem to woo her boyfriend back from a rival and Cathy sets it to music, somehow they end up competing in a Jimmy Dean Songwriter Contest.

14) "The Princess Cathy." Cathy falls in love with an exchange student who happens to be a prince. And he proposes to her.

15) "Christmas Present." The family learns that Cathy's journalist father has been imprisoned on assignment abroad. Now Martin tries to figure out how to tell Cathy.

16) "Auld Lang Syne." Martin's brother tries to write his autobiography.

17) "Horoscope." Patty tries to earn money by pretending to be an astrologist.

18) "The Tycoons." Patty and Cathy go into the dressmaking business after one of the garment's Cathy made draws rave reviews.

19) "Author! Author!" Patty gets a contract to publish a novel she wrote from the American teen's point of view.

20) "The Continental." Paris or bust? Martin is transferred, but the family is less than excited about moving.

21) "Let 'em Eat Cake." When the girls scarf down a cake intended for a church bazaar, they have to hurriedly bake another one.

22) "Going Steady." Richard asks Patty to go steady, and Patty's parents are ready to break things up.

23) "Are Mothers People?" Natalie feels unwanted and tries to teach the family to better appreciate her.

24) "The Con Artist." A smooth-talking salesman pulls a Hoover on Cathy, and Patty tries to help her get rid of the clunker.

25) "The Perfect Teenager." Patty enrolls in a course for models, thinking that she'll never make it academically.

26) "Chip Off the Old Block." Patty turns the school newspaper into a gossip rag in order to increase circulation, but it only increases the principal's blood pressure.

27) "The Wedding Anniversary Caper." Ross enters his sister's photo in a beauty contest in an attempt to win money to buy their parents an anniversary present.

28) "Pen Pals." Patty loses interest in Richard when she gets romantic letters from a pen pal . . . who turns out to be Richard!

29) "A Slight Case of Disaster." Cathy accidentally gets a stain on a new dress that Patty hoped to return after one wearing.

30) "The Friendship Bit." Turns out that Patty is allergic to her cousin?? Funny how it took 29 episodes for anyone to notice.

31) "Patty, the Foster Mother." Somehow Patty ends up adopting a Korean orphan.

32) "Drop Out." Richard decides to quit school, and so of course all the Lanes try to talk him into staying.

33) "Leave it to Patty." Patty tries to get elected prom chairperson by using Cathy's friendship with a rock star as leverage.

34) "The Little Dictator." When Cathy becomes Student Principal, it turns into hell week for Patty.

35) "The Working Girl." Patty gets overwhelmed by an after-school job at an ice cream parlor.

36) "The Cousins." A flashback episode has the cousins recalling when Cathy first came to live with the Lanes. Uses edited footage from a pilot that never aired.

Video:
Shout! Factory did a nice job with this release, with more sharpness and less grain than you'd expect for a 1963 title. It may not be as pristine as "The Dick Van Dyke Show," but contrast levels are good and there isn't much in the way of film flaws that made it past the clean-up artists. "The Patty Duke Show" is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio.

Audio:
The audio is a little more inconsistent. Volume levels vary slightly and are generally recorded and transferred at a low volume, so if you try to turn up the volume you get a little hiss. It's not a bad Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack, just noticeably inferior to the strong visuals.

Extras:
Kudos to Shout! Factory for giving fans a full-color, 11-page booklet that gives full details for each episode, including airdates and guest stars, among them John McGiver, David Doyle, Estelle Parsons, Margaret Hamilton, Frankie Avalon, and Jimmy Dean. It's a classy publication.

The only other bonus feature is short but sweet . . . and touching. We learn that Duke's real father stepped out of her life, and "I realized that this was my chance at a real live dad." Duke and Schallert both appear on this retrospective, which combines clips of them interviewed separately with clips from the show. "Who knew that I'd be 62 years old and still talking about 'The Patty Duke Show'?" Duke laughs.

"It was difficult pretending to be a teen, because my life had bee so cloistered up until then. I didn't have friends my own age, and I certainly didn't know the music and the dances. They had to bring kids in to teach me the dances that were the rage of the country, and I was in the dark."

Though it isn't a long feature, what's here is full of insight and emotion.

Bottom Line:
"The Patty Duke Show" may not be one of the top sitcoms from the Sixties, but as Duke says, people still talk about it, and it's a pretty solid show that still provides wholesome family entertainment.