The Doris Day Show: Season 02 (1969)

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Although The Doris Day Show has posted reasonably good ratings during its first season on the air, neither the star nor the producers felt that the format -- newly widowed city girl Doris Martin (Doris Day) and her two sons leading the simple life on the farm owned by Doris' bucolic uncle Buck Webb (Denver Pyle) -- was truly suited to Day's personality and appeal. Thus, beginning in season two, Doris divided her time between her duties on the farm and her new job in nearby San Francisco, as secretary at "Today's World" magazine. Carried over from season one's supporting cast are the aforementioned Denver Pyle, as well as Tod Starke and Philip Brown as Doris' sons Toby and Billy. New to the series are a pre-M*A*S*H McLean Stevenson as Doris' boss, editor Michael Nicholson, and a post-Dick Van Dyke Show Rose Marie as Doris' coworker and Ethel Mertz-like best friend Myrna Gibbons. Also added to the cast are Paul Smith as Nicholson's assistant Ron Harvey -- who occasionally allows Doris to take on a writing assignment for "Today's World" -- and, on a recurring basis, Uncle Buck's new neighbor, fussy and finicky Willard Jarvis, played by veteran funnyman Billy De Wolfe. Clearly, the format change did a world of good for The Doris Day Show; ranked 30th in the ratings during the previous season, the series shot up to tenth place for season two. However, the notion of dividing the action between the farm and the big city proved cumbersome for both Doris Day and the writers -- and thus another format alteration was prepared for the series' third season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi