The Hathaways Information

The Hathaways is a 26-episode situation comedy which aired on ABC from October 6, 1961, to March 30, 1962, starring Peggy Cass and Jack Weston as suburban Los Angeles "parents" to a trio of performing chimpanzees. Weston portrays Walter Hathaway, a real estate agent. Cass is his wife Elinore, the "mother" and booking agent to the Marquis Chimps, named Candy, Charlie, and Enoch. The chimps had earlier appeared on CBS's The Ed Sullivan Show and did some commercials in 1960.

Supporting roles were filled by character actress Mary Grace Canfield as Mrs. Amanda Allison, a housekeeper; Barbara Perry as Elinore's friend and neighbor, Thelma Brockwood, and Harvey Lembeck as Jerry Roper, the theatrical agent of the chimps, Another neighbor, Mrs. Harrison was played by Belle Montrose, the mother of comedian Steve Allen.

The premiere episode is entitled "Love Thy Neighbor": the Brockwoods decide to purchase the house next door despite reservations about the chimps being their neighbors too. Joe Flynn, guest-starred as Freddie Winkler in the third episode "Walter Takes a Partner", which aired on October 20. Vaughn Taylor played a veterinarian Dr. Dorsey in "Candy's Tonsils" (November 10). Robert Q. Lewis portrayed Barney Holt in "TV or Not TV" on (November 24). Other episodes were entitled "The Hathaways Sleep Out", "Grandma's Lamp", "TV or Not TV", "The Practical Joker", "Help Wanted", "The Shrewd Trader", "A Man for Amanda", and the series finale, "Elinore's Best Friend".

Ratings for the Screen Gems series were so low that ABC had largely to self-sponsor the program (although the series was sponsored on alternate weeks, throughout most of the season, by Ralston-Purina). The writers included Tom Adair and James B. Allardice; story consultants were Hugh Wedlock and Howard Snyder, who co-wrote the premiere episode with Dick Wesson. Some of the directing was handled by Richard Kinon. The series followed another short-lived ABC series, Straightaway starring John Ashley and Brian Kelly as race-car enthusiasts. It preceded the popular cartoon series The Flintstones. Its principal competition was the Clint Eastwood western series Rawhide on CBS.

Despite the lack of television success, The Hathaways produced a comic book of the chimpanzees in 1962.

Episode list

Episode #	Episode title	Original airdate
1-1	"Love Thy Neighbor" (pilot)	October 6, 1961
1-2	"Elinore Buys A Hat"	October 13, 1961
1-3	"Walter Takes A Partner"	October 20, 1961
1-4	"Elinore's Guilt"	October 27, 1961
1-5	"Income Tax Rebate"	November 3, 1961
1-6	"Candy's Tonsils"	November 10, 1961
1-7	"Trash Day"	November 17, 1961
1-8	"TV Or Not TV"	November 24, 1961
1-9	"The Kids Go To School"	December 1, 1961
1-10	"The Practical Joker"	December 8, 1961
1-11	"Double Birthday Party"	December 15, 1961
1-12	"The Hathaways Sleep Out"	December 22, 1961
1-13	"The Jingle Contest"	December 29, 1961
1-14	"Waltzing With Walter"	January 5, 1962
1-15	"Foxy Chimp"	January 12, 1962
1-16	"It's In the Cards"	January 19, 1962
1-17	"The Headliners"	January 26, 1962
1-18	"The Paint Job"	February 2, 1962
1-19	"Grandma's Lamp"	February 9, 1962
1-20	"Help Wanted"	February 16, 1962
1-21	"Swami Chimp"	February 23, 1962
1-22	"A Man For Amanda"	March 2, 1962
1-23	"Pop Goes the Budget"	March 9, 1962
1-24	"Charlie Goes To the Races"	March 16, 1962
1-25	"The Shrewd Trader"	March 23, 1962
1-26	"Elinore's Best Friend"	March 30, 1962

Reception

Later-day television critics Castleman and Podrazik (1982) have called The Hathaways "possibly the worst series ever to air on network TV", criticizing the production, scripts, acting, the "utterly degrading" premise, and the overall "total worthlessness" of the program.