Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Grant Jennings" data-source="post: 167820" data-attributes="member: 746">As TJames03 noted, &quot;Phyllis&quot; suffered from the loss of two cast members; actress Jane Rose (Audrey) was seriously ill when the second season wrapped. Though ratings had declined toward the end of the second season; overall ratings were better than &quot;Rhoda&quot; (which would be renewed for another season) and equal to &quot;Mary Tyler Moore&quot;. It is believed that the deaths of Colby, Lowry and uncertainty over Rose&#039;s return that led CBS to cancel &quot;Phyllis&quot;.I always loved the Jerry Herman parody theme song. The opening features vintage&nbsp; footage from a Hollywood musical of a male chorus - performing in blackface!I think American audiences at that time weren&#039;t used to lead characters who were complicated and potentially unsympathetic. Even now, such characters are more likely to appear on cable (such as Selina on &quot;Veep&quot;) or streaming shows - never the &quot;big 3&quot;. I think Phyllis has a lot in common with Basil Fawlty, another brilliantly funny, but not always likable character.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Grant Jennings, post: 167820, member: 746"] As TJames03 noted, "Phyllis" suffered from the loss of two cast members; actress Jane Rose (Audrey) was seriously ill when the second season wrapped. Though ratings had declined toward the end of the second season; overall ratings were better than "Rhoda" (which would be renewed for another season) and equal to "Mary Tyler Moore". It is believed that the deaths of Colby, Lowry and uncertainty over Rose's return that led CBS to cancel "Phyllis". I always loved the Jerry Herman parody theme song. The opening features vintage footage from a Hollywood musical of a male chorus - performing in blackface! I think American audiences at that time weren't used to lead characters who were complicated and potentially unsympathetic. Even now, such characters are more likely to appear on cable (such as Selina on "Veep") or streaming shows - never the "big 3". I think Phyllis has a lot in common with Basil Fawlty, another brilliantly funny, but not always likable character. [/QUOTE]

Verification

6 + 4 =