The Courtship of Eddie's Father
The Courtship of Eddie's Father is a
1963 comedy film directed by
Vincente Minnelli. It tells the story of a widower played by
Glenn Ford, with a young son played by
Ron Howard who believes his father should marry but disapproves of the women his father is interested in. It also stars
Shirley Jones,
Stella Stevens,
Dina Merrill and
Jerry Van Dyke.
The Courtship of Eddie's Father was based on the popular
1963 movie of the same name that had gained some respect in theaters, and it was also based on a book written by Mark Toby. The
ABC television network had acquired the rights to do a weekly
television dramedy which ran on from
1969 until
1972, where it dealt with a young, sole, thirtish year old father, who was trying to raise a young son, while connecting with other ladies for dates. It gained popularity for the first two seasons, as it had with other hit
comedies that dealt with
single parents (whom are all
widows/
widowers) such as,
The Andy Griffith Show,
My Three Sons,
Family Affair and
Julia. This show also tackled the many real-life issues that Tom's son struggled but overcame. This is also another show that set the tone for the last four
1970s
comedies that dealt with
widowhood and/or traditional family values like,
The Brady Bunch, (which debuted just 9 days after
Courtship),
The Partridge Family,
Sanford And Son and
Eight is Enough.
The show starred
Bill Bixby as Tom Corbett,
Brandon Cruz as Eddie Corbett,
Miyoshi Umeki as their housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston (she called Tom, "Mr. Eddie's Father"),
Kristina Holland as Tina Rickles, and
James Komack as Norman Tinker (who also served as executive producer of the show). The theme song of the television show, "Best Friend", was written and performed by
Harry Nilsson, and was played over opening credits showing Bixby and Cruz in various happy moments. The song has often been used since as an
iconic indication of father-son bonding. (An
MP3 file of the theme song can be heard here: [
1])
After the death of Eddie's mother (though the name was never mentioned nor what she died of), Tom Corbett, a magazine publisher and widower from
Los Angeles was one of the many eligible bachelors who handled the responsibility of raising a freckled-faced, six-year-old son, Eddie Corbett, who connived and used his own father, very often. His popularity grew, when he persuaded his own father to start dating women, being lovingly connected with prosperous brides, and even started having a charisma with other women. In certain terms of having a woman around the house, both Tom & Eddie would usually have a wonderful and questionable housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston, who was very political and sometimes shattered, but could deliver her own words of wisdom (compared to
handyman, Dwayne Schneider on the long-running
dramedy show,
One Day At A Time, but unlike this show, it dealt with a
divorced mother who raised two teenaged daughters). At work, Tom would usually work for Tina Rickles, who was his secretary at a magazine company. And very often, Norman Tinker, who would be the head of another family, worked as a radical photographer at the same company that both Tom & Tina worked in. On occasion, Eddie would usually be friends with classmate Joey Kelly (
Jodie Foster) and her father (
David Ketchum), and towards the end of the shows' run,
Jerry Stiller and
Anne Meara made 2 guest appearances, including the series' finale.
Starting in 1970, Bill Bixby made his debut as a director, directing several episodes of the show.
It was eventually cancelled when Bixby had a falling out with producer
James Komack on the direction of the show. Many of the later episodes focused on Komack's character, Norman Tinker, rather than on the relationship between Tom Corbett and his son, Eddie.
In
2003, filming began on a new television pilot which starred
Ken Marino and
Josh Hutcherson, but it didn't get ordered to series. The child star of the previous series, Brandon Cruz, played a supporting role.
