My World and Welcome to It

My World and Welcome to It
Created by Melville Shavelson, based on works by James Thurber
Starring William Windom (John Monroe)
Lisa Gerritsen (Lydia Monroe)
Joan Hotchkis (Ellen Monroe)
Harold J. Stone (Hamilton Greeley)
Henry Morgan (Phil Jensen)
Country of origin USA
No. of episodes 26
Production
Executive producer(s) Sheldon Leonard
Producer(s) Danny Arnold
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Sheldon Leonard Productions, in association with NBC
Distributor NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network NBC
Original release September 15, 1969 – March 6, 1970

My World... and Welcome to It is an American half-hour television sitcom based on the humor and cartoons of James Thurber. It starred William Windom as John Monroe, a Thurber-like writer and cartoonist who works for a magazine closely resembling The New Yorker called The Manhattanite. Wry, fanciful and curmudgeonly, Monroe observes and comments on life, to the bemusement of his rather sensible wife Ellen (Joan Hotchkis) and intelligent, questioning daughter Lydia (Lisa Gerritsen). Monroe's frequent daydreams and fantasies are usually based on Thurber material. My World — And Welcome To It (note slight variation from television title) is the name of a book of illustrated stories and essays, also by James Thurber.

The series ran one season on NBC 1969-1970. It was created by Mel Shavelson, who wrote and directed the pilot episode and was one of the show's principal writers. Sheldon Leonard was executive producer. The show's producer, Danny Arnold, co-wrote or directed numerous episodes, and even appeared as Santa Claus in "Rally Round the Flag."

Show description

Most episodes open with Monroe arriving in front of the house from the Thurber cartoon "Home," which in the original cartoon has a woman's face on one side of it. In the show the house is initially house-shaped. The woman's face is often animated to appear, as Ellen says something to John. The "Home" house, without the face, is used as an establishing shot throughout the episodes. Other Thurber cartoons are similarly animated over the course of the series, sometimes in the opening sequence, sometimes later in the episode. The episode "Cristabel" begins with Monroe lying on top of a cartoon doghouse, a reference to the non-Thurber cartoon character Snoopy. The animation for the series was by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Humorist Henry Morgan had a recurring role as a humor writer for The Manhattanite (clearly a reference to The New Yorker), which was said to be based on the real-life humorist/actor Robert Benchley. Harold J. Stone played the editor, with whom Monroe is often at odds about cartoon content. A female writer who appeared in one episode was also loosely based on Dorothy Parker. Guest-stars included Lee Meriwether, Paul Ford, Joe Besser, Ray Walston, Craig Stevens, Danny Bonaduce, Talia Shire (as Talia Coppola), Cindy Williams, James Gregory and Noam Pitlik.

Live action adaptations of Thurber's writing are another show staple. For example, "Rally Round the Flag," in which Monroe purchases a very large flag as a gift, is loosely based on a Thurber piece called "There's a Time for Flags." An incident with a policeman in "Cristabel" is an almost verbatim transcription of the Thurber story "The Topaz Cufflinks Mystery". Fables for Our Time is another source, as when John Monroe sees a unicorn in the back yard, a reference to "The Unicorn in the Garden". Many of the episode titles are taken from Thurber's Fables for Our Time (e.g., "The Shrike and the Chipmunks") and other writings ("Rules for a Happy Marriage" and many more).

Aside from his obvious resemblance to Thurber himself, John Monroe is based on one of Thurber's characters, who appeared in several short stories including "Mr. Monroe Holds the Fort" and "The Monroes Find a Terminal." Monroe and his family first came to television in a 1959 Alcoa Theatre/Goodyear Theatre production called "Cristabel (The Secret Life of John Monroe)", also written by Mel Shavelson. The dog Cristabel was named after a dog Thurber gave to his daughter.[1]

Despite the liberal use of "drawings, stories, inspirational pieces and things that go bump in the night by James Thurber" (as stated in the opening credits), the show also contains character and story elements that owe little or nothing to Thurber's work. For example, there is no Thurber basis for Monroe and daughter Lydia playing chess throughout "Little Girls Are Sugar & Spice - And Not Always Nice!" Although Thurber material is woven around it, the episode's storyline itself is fairly conventional situation comedy. William Windom, though, was a tournament chess player, so he most likely added that to the storyline as a personal touch.[2]

CBS reran My World and Welcome to It in the summer of 1972.[3] The first CBS rerun was pre-empted locally by WBBM-TV Chicago for the syndicated special, The City That Waits To Die.

Episode list

Episode # Production Code Episode Title Airdate Plot
1 1 "Man Against the World" (pilot) September 15, 1969 John Monroe's wildly imaginative story of Grant and Lee brings a home visit from his daughter's teacher.
2 3 "The Disenchanted" September 22, 1969 Lydia runs away after her father refuses to have her seat changed at school.
3 4 "Little Girls Are Sugar & Spice- And Not Always Nice!" September 29, 1969 Facing defeat in a chess match with Lydia, John envisions three ways out, each of which would make newspaper headlines.
4 6 "Christabel" October 6, 1969 John's magazine article gets him in trouble with his family, his editor and police.
5 7 "The Night the House Caught Fire" October 13, 1969 John retreats into the past to recall the time his sniffles brought out the town's fire department.
6 2 "The Ghost and Mr. Monroe" October 20, 1969 Payless after quitting his job in a huff, fantasy-prone John finds himself begging stock market tips from financial wizard J.P. Morgan.
7 10 "Nobody Ever Kills Dragons Anymore" October 27, 1969 Eleven pickle forks become objects of international intrigue as John escapes into a world of fantasy.
8 5 "Seal in the Bedroom" November 3, 1969 John's imagination goes wild when his mother arrives for a visit after his cartoon is rejected by his editor.
9 9 "The Saga Of Dimity Ann" November 10, 1969 John secretly abandons the family cat after it nips him on the neck and finger.
10 12 "Friend Of the Earth" November 17, 1969 John is miffed when his wife and daughter prefer the town character's witticism to his brand of humor.
11 15 "Maid In Connecticut" November 24, 1969 During his wife's vacation, John's life is complicated by a new maid, who has a deathly fear of new appliances.
12 13 "Native Wit" December 1, 1969 John, and his friend Phil Jensen, match wits with the village wit in an attempt to send him packing.
13 8 "The Shrike and the Chipmunks" December 8, 1969 John is forced to collaborate with one of the most famous authors of children's books.
14 14 "Rally Round the Flag" December 15, 1969 John gives his daughter an unusual Christmas gift and incurs the wrath of the neighborhood.
15 11 "The War Between Men and Women" December 22, 1969 A spilled martini triggers an outbreak of hostilities among friends at the Monroes' party.
16 17 "The Mating Dance" December 29, 1969 When a bully uses brute force to take Lydia to a party by beating up her scheduled escort, John leaps to the defense of the weaker fellow.
17 18 "Darn That Dream" January 5, 1970 John recalls childhood fantasies in his attempt to explain to Lydia that nightmares run in the family.
18 16 "The Human Being and the Dinosaur" January 12, 1970 John attempts to explain to Lydia why inferior viewpoints must sometimes be tolerated.
19 19 "'Dear' Is A Four-Letter Word" January 19, 1970 Ellen insists that a communications gap exists between her husband and their daughter and asks John to seek advice from the school principal.
20 21 "The Middle Years" January 26, 1970 Left alone at home when his wife and daughter head for the mountains, John daydreams about an attractive neighbor.
21 22 "Rules For A Happy Marriage" February 2, 1970 John becomes engrossed in a conversation about the shortcomings of wives and forgets to keep his lunch date with Ellen.
22 20 "The Wooing Of Mr. Monroe" February 9, 1970 John's collaboration on a book with a woman at her apartment is turned into a romantic situation by his wife.
23 23 "The Mea Culpa Bit" February 16, 1970 Several people try to take the blame for the broken arm suffered by Lydia when her father chased her out of his study.
24 24 "The Fourth Estate" February 23, 1970 John is shaken when a sixth grade school newspaper editor rejects two of his cartoons.
25 25 "Monroe the Misogynist" March 2, 1970 Both Ellen and his editor, Hamilton Greeley, accusie John of being a woman-hater.
26 26 "Child's Play" March 9, 1970 John's disgust at a friend's patronization of his son turns into guilt feelings when he forgets a picnic date with his daughter.

Awards

My World and Welcome to It won two Emmy Awards in 1970:[4]

Also nominated for:

Book

My World — And Welcome To It
1969 paperback edition of My World — And Welcome To It.
Author James Thurber
Illustrator James Thurber
Cover artist James Thurber
Country United States
Language English
Genre humor
Publisher Harcourt, Brace and Company
Publication date
 October, 1942
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 324 pages
Preceded by Fables For Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated
Followed by Many Moons

The similarly titled book by James Thurber, My World — And Welcome to It, was published in 1942 by Harcourt, Brace and Company. The current edition is ISBN 0-89190-269-4. Part One of this collection contains 22 assorted Thurber short stories and humorous essays, many of them illustrated with his cartoons. Part Two consists of an eight-part comic memoir about France, written in 1937 and 1938, about twenty years after Thurber first arrived there near the conclusion of World War I.[5] None of these stories, however, feature any of Thurber's "Monroe Family" characters.

The tone of these pieces ranges from lighthearted wordplay and dialect ("What Do You Mean It Was Brillig?") to literary satire ("The Macbeth Murder Mystery") to psychological horror ("The Whip-Poor-Will" and "A Friend to Alexander"). The most famous story is "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," which bears little resemblance to the 1947 film of the same name.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Thurber, James (1955). Thurber's Dogs. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. g. xvii. ISBN 0-671-79219-9.
  2. ↑ Grode, Eric (August 19, 2012). "William Windom, Emmy Winner and TV Everyman, Dies at 88". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ http://myworldandwelcometoit.flyingdreams.org/
  4. ↑ "Past Winners Database: 1969-1970 22nd Emmy Awards". The Envelope: The Ultimate Awards Site. Los Angeles Times. 2005. Archived from the original on 2006-10-31. Retrieved 2006-12-12. line feed character in |first= at position 2 (help); |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  5. ↑ "His Life & Times: A Chronology". The Thurber House: A Literary Center for Writers and Readers. The Thurber House. Archived from the original on 2006-08-30. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
  6. ↑ "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)". Show Preview, AMCTV.com. American Movie Classics. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
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