Welcome to the Muppet Central Forum!
Back to the Rock Season 2
Sesame Street Season 54
The Muppets Mayhem premieres
Bear arrives on Disney+
Sam and Friends Book
Steve Arino
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2019
- Messages
- 66
- Reaction score
- 10
Hello Everyone,
A few days late, but as promised, in the 2nd Installment of every single TV series ever made and/or acquired by The Walt Disney Company, I'd like to share with you readers information on a recent Disney acquisition: "Mr. Belvedere," the hit '80s sitcom which originally aired for 5 seasons on the ABC Television Network (owned by Disney since August 1995) from March 15, 1985 - July 8, 1990.
Created by Gwen Davenport, "Mr. Belvedere" was conceived as a novel in 1947 titled "Belvedere," and was later adapted 3 times by The Rupert Murdoch Company (my own personal joke name for 20th Century Fox, named after the Studio's pre-Disney owner, Rupert Murdoch) for the big screen: "Sitting Pretty" in 1948, "Mr. Belvedere Goes to College" in 1949, and "Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell" in 1951; whereas Belvedere's original Big-Screen portrayer, Clifton Webb, was an American from Indianapolis, Indiana who feigned a British accent, his '80s sitcom counterpart, Chris Hewett, was as authentically British as they came.
Of half British and Irish extraction, Christopher Michael "Chris" Hewett was born on April 5, 1921 in Sussex, England, UK and was a Maternal Descedent of Irishman Daniel O'Connell; before becoming a Naturalized U.S. Citizen, settling in Los Angeles, California, Chris served in the Royal Air Force after receiving his O-Levels (the British equivalent of the American High School Diploma); after his Air Force stint, Chris became successful in British Theater as an Actor and Director before being cast in the original Mel Brooks musical "The Producers."
In early 1985, Chris, at age 63, succeeded American actor Clifton Webb after being cast as Mr. Lynn Belvedere in a sitcom adaptation of "Mr. Belvedere" for ABC, where Chris appeared alongside, among many others, Bob Uecker as Sportscaster George Owens, whose family employed Belvedere as their live-in Housekeeper and Nanny; the series was Adapted for Television by the duo of Frank Dungan & Jeff Stein, with "Mr. Belvedere" spending its first 4 years (1985-1989) airing Friday nights at 8 P.M. after the '70s sitcom "Benson" (and later "Full House" in 1987-1988) before moving permanently to Saturday nights at 8 P.M. in September 1989, shortly after older episodes were Syndicated in Reruns to local Independent TV stations with new episodes airing Saturday nights at 8 P.M. on ABC.
In December 1989, though never a Ratings hit, ABC cancelled "Mr. Belvedere," with the Cancellation made official in February 1990, due to the move to Saturday night further plummeting the already Marginal Ratings to a Tee.
As a result, 8 episodes of the series remained unaired until late 1990 in rerun Syndication as part of the Season 5 package--as well as the last 2 episodes of Season 4 taped a year earlier, after Bob Uecker survived a Mild Heart Attack.
In the hour-long Series Finale (split into 2 parts on July 1, 1990 and July 8, 1990, respectively), Lynn Belvedere began a short Courtship with Louise Gilbert (Rosemary Forsyth), whom he met and fell in love with at the Laundromat; after a short Courtship, at Finale's End, Lynn and Rosemary got married, and with that, Lynn decided, after 5 years with the Owens family, to relocate to Rwanda, as the supportive husband of his new wife Louise, a rising Journalist.
In the year 2000, Chris Hewett, then age 79, was interviewed by People Magazine in a "Where Are They Now?" segment for the June 26, 2000 issue; at age 80, on August 3, 2001, Chris, a long-time Type 2 Diabetic, passed away due to Complications from Diabetes. Ironically, in the aforementioned People Magazine interview, Chris joked that a friend of his told him he was going to live to be 100, and his response was "I Hope Not." Though Chris Hewett died in Los Angeles, California, he was buried at Brookwood Cemetary in Surrey, England.
Bob Uecker, meanwhile, is 85 years old and still going strong; though his IMDB entry (since corrected) and older Baseball cards listed his DOB as January 26, 1935, in actuality, as Bob himself revealed in 2014, he was actually born on January 26, 1934, joking that "If I Cheated My Age, it'd be more than a year," paraphrasing the interview he gave shortly after turning 80 that year.
Besides his Acting Career, "Mr. Baseball" (as Bob Uecker was famously nicknamed by Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show") has been the radio voice of his hometown team, the Milwaukee Brewers, since 1971, and before that spent 6 years Himself as a Pro Major League Baseball player from 1962-1967, ages 28-33, playing for the Milwaukee Braves, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Atlanta Braves during his Playing Days, where he played only 59 games in 6 years, during which time he was a Below-Average hitter with a career batting average of .200 and a fielding percentage of .981; he did manage, however, to hit a Home Run off of Sandy Koufax. After retiring from Pro Baseball, Mr. Baseball found his niche as a Baseball Broadcaster, a position he still has today.
Besides Baseball, Mr. Baseball is also known for his humor, often poking fun at himself in Talk Show interviews about how he Stank as a Pro Baseball player.
On May 3, 2010, at age 76, Mr. Baseball went through successful heart surgery when his Aortic Valve and a portion of his Aortic Route were successfully repaired; further surgery occured the following October 14, 2010 to repair a tear at the site of his Valve Replacement.
Besides "Mr. Belvedere," as an Actor, Mr. Baseball also played Harry Doyle in the "Major League" trilogy of films--the first released theatrically by Paramount Pictures in 1989 and the other 2 films issued by Warner Bros. in 1994 & 1997.
A few days late, but as promised, in the 2nd Installment of every single TV series ever made and/or acquired by The Walt Disney Company, I'd like to share with you readers information on a recent Disney acquisition: "Mr. Belvedere," the hit '80s sitcom which originally aired for 5 seasons on the ABC Television Network (owned by Disney since August 1995) from March 15, 1985 - July 8, 1990.
Created by Gwen Davenport, "Mr. Belvedere" was conceived as a novel in 1947 titled "Belvedere," and was later adapted 3 times by The Rupert Murdoch Company (my own personal joke name for 20th Century Fox, named after the Studio's pre-Disney owner, Rupert Murdoch) for the big screen: "Sitting Pretty" in 1948, "Mr. Belvedere Goes to College" in 1949, and "Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell" in 1951; whereas Belvedere's original Big-Screen portrayer, Clifton Webb, was an American from Indianapolis, Indiana who feigned a British accent, his '80s sitcom counterpart, Chris Hewett, was as authentically British as they came.
Of half British and Irish extraction, Christopher Michael "Chris" Hewett was born on April 5, 1921 in Sussex, England, UK and was a Maternal Descedent of Irishman Daniel O'Connell; before becoming a Naturalized U.S. Citizen, settling in Los Angeles, California, Chris served in the Royal Air Force after receiving his O-Levels (the British equivalent of the American High School Diploma); after his Air Force stint, Chris became successful in British Theater as an Actor and Director before being cast in the original Mel Brooks musical "The Producers."
In early 1985, Chris, at age 63, succeeded American actor Clifton Webb after being cast as Mr. Lynn Belvedere in a sitcom adaptation of "Mr. Belvedere" for ABC, where Chris appeared alongside, among many others, Bob Uecker as Sportscaster George Owens, whose family employed Belvedere as their live-in Housekeeper and Nanny; the series was Adapted for Television by the duo of Frank Dungan & Jeff Stein, with "Mr. Belvedere" spending its first 4 years (1985-1989) airing Friday nights at 8 P.M. after the '70s sitcom "Benson" (and later "Full House" in 1987-1988) before moving permanently to Saturday nights at 8 P.M. in September 1989, shortly after older episodes were Syndicated in Reruns to local Independent TV stations with new episodes airing Saturday nights at 8 P.M. on ABC.
In December 1989, though never a Ratings hit, ABC cancelled "Mr. Belvedere," with the Cancellation made official in February 1990, due to the move to Saturday night further plummeting the already Marginal Ratings to a Tee.
As a result, 8 episodes of the series remained unaired until late 1990 in rerun Syndication as part of the Season 5 package--as well as the last 2 episodes of Season 4 taped a year earlier, after Bob Uecker survived a Mild Heart Attack.
In the hour-long Series Finale (split into 2 parts on July 1, 1990 and July 8, 1990, respectively), Lynn Belvedere began a short Courtship with Louise Gilbert (Rosemary Forsyth), whom he met and fell in love with at the Laundromat; after a short Courtship, at Finale's End, Lynn and Rosemary got married, and with that, Lynn decided, after 5 years with the Owens family, to relocate to Rwanda, as the supportive husband of his new wife Louise, a rising Journalist.
In the year 2000, Chris Hewett, then age 79, was interviewed by People Magazine in a "Where Are They Now?" segment for the June 26, 2000 issue; at age 80, on August 3, 2001, Chris, a long-time Type 2 Diabetic, passed away due to Complications from Diabetes. Ironically, in the aforementioned People Magazine interview, Chris joked that a friend of his told him he was going to live to be 100, and his response was "I Hope Not." Though Chris Hewett died in Los Angeles, California, he was buried at Brookwood Cemetary in Surrey, England.
Bob Uecker, meanwhile, is 85 years old and still going strong; though his IMDB entry (since corrected) and older Baseball cards listed his DOB as January 26, 1935, in actuality, as Bob himself revealed in 2014, he was actually born on January 26, 1934, joking that "If I Cheated My Age, it'd be more than a year," paraphrasing the interview he gave shortly after turning 80 that year.
Besides his Acting Career, "Mr. Baseball" (as Bob Uecker was famously nicknamed by Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show") has been the radio voice of his hometown team, the Milwaukee Brewers, since 1971, and before that spent 6 years Himself as a Pro Major League Baseball player from 1962-1967, ages 28-33, playing for the Milwaukee Braves, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Atlanta Braves during his Playing Days, where he played only 59 games in 6 years, during which time he was a Below-Average hitter with a career batting average of .200 and a fielding percentage of .981; he did manage, however, to hit a Home Run off of Sandy Koufax. After retiring from Pro Baseball, Mr. Baseball found his niche as a Baseball Broadcaster, a position he still has today.
Besides Baseball, Mr. Baseball is also known for his humor, often poking fun at himself in Talk Show interviews about how he Stank as a Pro Baseball player.
On May 3, 2010, at age 76, Mr. Baseball went through successful heart surgery when his Aortic Valve and a portion of his Aortic Route were successfully repaired; further surgery occured the following October 14, 2010 to repair a tear at the site of his Valve Replacement.
Besides "Mr. Belvedere," as an Actor, Mr. Baseball also played Harry Doyle in the "Major League" trilogy of films--the first released theatrically by Paramount Pictures in 1989 and the other 2 films issued by Warner Bros. in 1994 & 1997.