Season 1 – The Patty Duke Show

Audience Reviews

View More

Mike P @RT35394098 02/11/2024 Formulaic high concept sitcom about twins from Sydney Sheldon; sparked a little bit by Oscar Winner Patty Duke's acting; and sparked by the novelty of the concept in 1963...A show about teen twins...Which had never been done before...And which laid the groundwork for future hits like The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Sister Sister, and Double Trouble... And Duke actually plays both twins... That was the gimmick here... And it featured pretty convincing special effects...(Their twin special effects were more convincing than the special effects Sherwood Schwartz used on the Brady Bunch a decade later; for example; when he did three or four twin themed episodes on his show.) And THIS show is about twin COUSINS; (as opposed to twin siblings); just to make it goofier for it's sitcom format... And yet; this isn't really about twins. I mean, weirdly enough, Patty Duke upstages HERSELF on this show...As one character; straight-laced Kathy Lane; is really just window dressing; and only pops up in about 2 minutes of each story...Just to pat her goofy cousin on the head and encourage her... And NONE of the episodes star Kathy, really... Whereas the other cousin, Patty, is clearly the star...Patty who "Likes to rock and roll... a hot dog makes her lose control"...She's the goofy one, the eccentric one...The ditzy, feisty underachiever; thats always tripping over herself...She's kind of a Lucy Ricardo Junior, here... And she really sucks up all the show's attention... That crazy Patty...Always scheming; always plotting; always screwing up...Just to redeem herself in the last 5 minutes; and get a pat on her head from her condescending doppelganger... And the rest of her classic 1950s type nuclear family... (I guess the show concept came from Sydney Sheldon; who observed Patty Duke for a couple days...And noticed she had manic, crazy "Patty" type aspect to her persona...And also a reserved, proper "Kathy" type aspect to her personality...So the famously manic depressive Patty Duke was cleaved into two SEPARATE CHARACTERS...) The supporting cast, including William Schallert and Jean Bryon; as her even keeled; tolerant parents; are all just fine...Although the idiot boyfriend Richard, played by Eddie Applegate, who is handsome; but who also has a tendency to shout all his lines, is awfully grating... And yet most of the episodes are watchable and entertaining; and often contain cool cameos like Margaret Hamilton; Marcia Strassman, Robert Goulet; Daniel J Travanti, Charles Nelson Reilly, David Doyle, Paul Lynde, Kathy Garver, Sammy Davis Junior, Troy Donahue; Frankie Avalon and Sal Mineo among others; to make them interesting. That's a lot for a teenage-focused show from the early 60s...(And that's all you could really expect from a show about teenagers in 1963. It wouldn't be for a full 30 years later, in the early 90s, until we finally got a show starring a teenager as the central character, with any real bite or edginess...And that was My So Called Life).... So...Overall..Very mild recommendation for nostalgia fans. See more Read all reviews

The Patty Duke Show — Season 1

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING