Hazel

Controversy surrounded this 1960’s show, where the maid knows so much better than everyone else. It might have been called “Maid Knows Best!” The show grew out of a popular comic strip character syndicated in the Saturday Evening Post, conceived and drawn by Ted Key. It had been running for 19 years when the TV show launched. The main character was “Hazel,” and the bumbling family was the “Baxters”. The star of the show was Shirley Booth, who had acquired a roomful of trophies and awards for productions on Broadway and in the movies. One of the biggest controversies surrounding the show was the overkill in Shirley’s taking on such a seemingly insignificant role at this point in time in her career. Many critics said it was akin to dropping the H bomb on an ant hill. The reviewers hated the show, however the audiences loved it!. Week after week after week the upper class family faced strange problems and approached them with normal wit and intelligence, however they’re maid “Hazel” interfered and with the most incredible approaches and always seemed to bring about the best solutions. The laugh track got a real work out in the show. Variety consistently panned it each season. However Shirley continued to wow the audience and win Emmy awards so it continued on. This was always in island of comedy amidst a season of six guns, ten gallon hats, and whizzing bullets. The western ruled the TV airwaves of the time, and this permitted Hazel to be the jewel in the crown, or should we say, cowboy hat, of television. It was number nine in its last season 1961 to 1962. After its fourth season the NAACP registered a complaint about a white maid in a white household in a white neighborhood and insisted that some black actors be hired. The major sponsor of the show was the Ford motor company, and fearing a boycott, they took a giant step backwards from it, allowing CBS to pick up the show from NBC. CBS had Hazel and the family move in to a spicier neighborhood to look after the brother of Mr. Baxter. This satisfied the NAACP, but the show only lasted a single season on CBS. Shirley Booth picked up two Emmys for her efforts which she added to her Tonys, her Oscar, her Drama Critics Circle Awards, as well as her award for best actress at the Cannes Film Festival. Overall, the show is very straight laced and reaffirmed the family morality of its time. Written by: Ralston Suffield