mathmaniac I don't think this generation realizes how successful an actress and singer Doris Day was in the 50s and 60s (for starters). She starred in movies with some of the greatest leading men of the day. She was a talented jazz singer. She was a fashion icon. She seemed to have no 'dark side' or addictions. And then she had this television series. From what I've read in scattered reviews of books about her, she didn't want to be a television actress. However, the ineptitude of her husband's managing her career put her so deep in debt that she had to perform in a television series because he had signed a contract obligating her to do so. Such is the danger of power of attorney!Scriptwriters veered toward the sickeningly sweet dialogue and plots sometimes. When I watched the old 'Doris Day Show,' season 1, there was not much of that defect in the stories. Later, I think the writers fell into bad habits, but early on, Doris just seems to play Doris. That person is just a really nice person, one you love and want to know. I enjoy seeing these old episodes of Season 1. Doris loves her animals and she loves her family! You would think these themes would be enough. Less talented writers forgot these important things but for a while, the series had the actress coming through as a very natural self, with high aspirations for her parenting role and a commitment to live on the ranch with her family. Nostalgic? Yes. But it's that lovely nostalgia that doesn't prompt you to laugh but instead miss all those 'family values' that used to rule television.

qualityguyftl You all know the backdrop of this series so I won't bore you with it. I love this show and I too like the season 2 and 3 shows the best. As far as format changes go, I think they did a really good job going from season 1 to 2 to 3. It was a logical progression, Doris gets a job, then she moves the family into town etc. I hate the way they changed the format in season 4 and 5. Had I been around at that time to put my two cents in I would have done several things. 1. In season 4 I would have left things exactly as they were in season three and brought in the Peter Lawford character as Doris's serious love interest and possible step father for the boys. This along with the normal goings on would have brought yet another logical advancement. 2. In season 5 I would have Doris and Peter get engaged, Doris gets a new Boss and is promoted to a staff writer position at the magazine. The season finale would have been Doris and Peter's wedding with the entire cast from all the seasons in attendance. This could have been a huge ratings getter and a great way to end the series. I just don't know what they were thinking when they did 4 and 5. There are some episodes that are good but the show is missing the heart it had in 1,2, and 3. As was stated by another poster we cant go back and change history but thankfully there is enough good in seasons 1 2 and 3 that I watch them all the time. A must for Doris Fans.

raysond Its amazing that this series hasn't been seen since the 1980's where it contineously played three times a day on the CBN Network(The Christian Broadcasting Network). But in a sense,"The Doris Day Show",was a disaster waiting to happen,and during the show's seven year run(which ran on CBS-TV,1968-1973)it shows. Where did the producers get off having a major Hollywood star(in her first and only weekly television series)go from being a simple country girl with two boys who lived on a farm outside of the city(which went by the formula of Petticoat Junction and Green Acres)with there uncle(played by Denver Pyle of The Dukes of Hazzard fame later on),and from there go from leaving the country(in which the show's producers by the next season wrote off the two boys from the show and leaving Doris to carry the weight of the series)to live in the big city and by making it on her own(which also went by the basic formulas of The Lucy Show/Here's Lucy/two-thirds of the Lucy trilogy,That Girl,and not to even mention The Mary Tyler Moore Show)as a single girl looking for love and the right opportunity which sometimes came alone. However,when the series premiered in September of 1968 on the CBS Network,the producers came up with the ideas for the series,and also gave way for Doris to have control of the entire status of production for the show(the second woman in Hollywood after Lucille Ball to do so since to gain control of her own TV series through her husband's production company-Irwin Productions). During the shows' first season,it went up against the Number One show in America in 1968, "The Andy Griffith Show",and also stiff competition for ratings during seasons three through five with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show",and "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In",not to mention "ABC's Monday Night Football"..By the late 1960's,Doris Day's film career was officially over and her attention was toward the next phase.........television. However,the show had some tough competition and went up against some very heavy hitters including Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In,The Flip Wilson Show, The Mod-Squad,Gunsmoke,and not to even mention by the early 70's presence of ABC's Monday Night Football which by 1973,the producers of the series knew it was time(due to low ratings and a sorry time slot)to let it go and from there "The Doris Day Show" was cancelled by CBS. Also during this time the career of singer/actress/producer Doris Day was over and to this day in 1973 officially retired from the entertainment industry where she is living peacefully somewhere in her private estate in Hollywood. However,she is still acting and spends her time as an animal activist for certain causes.I would be amazed if TVLand brought back the series since it needs to seen.

SanDiego How this show lasted five years is amazing considering each year the show was about something else. Her trademark theme song said it each week: 'What ever will be will be!' The show aired between 1968 and 1973, a time when women's roles changed in society and on television. "The Doris Day Show" reflected these changes beginning with Doris as a "modern housewife:" a widowed mother of two living in the country, and evolved into a pre-Mary Richards role model for single women in the work place (the first ever on television!) Because each year brought a different look (and different cast) to the show, it is difficult to sell in syndication but perhaps Nick-at-Night which prides itself in the evolution of such shows will have fun with it some day. (My suggestion: Do one of those five nights a week summers where Monday has the first year, Tuesday has the second year, and so forth...each year really was an entity unto itself.) The bottom line is that it features America's sweetheart Doris Day and that's really all that it needed. What ever will be will be.