Billie: A Missed Opportunity to Promote Girl Power

Made between the second and third seasons of The Patty Duke Show, the teen comedy Billie (1965) is a best-forgotten stain on the resumes of its star and her veteran supporting cast. Indeed, the only reason to watch this ill-conceived adaptation of the 1952 Broadway play Time Out for Ginger is to see the cast. In addition to Ms. Duke, there's Jim Backus as her father, Jane Greer as her mother, Susan Seaforth Hayes (Days of Our Lives) as her sister, plus Ted Bessell (That Girl), Dick Sargent (Betwitched), Warren Berlinger, and Richard Deacon.

Jim Backus as Billie's father.

Patty--sporting a disconcerting blonde wig--plays a high school teen who can out-run, out-jump, and out-pole vault any of the boys at Harding High School. Naturally, that earns her a spot on Coach Jones' (Charles Lane) track team. Her father, a male chauvinist pig who is running for mayor, initially rejects Billie's dreams. He's not exactly sensitive to his daughter's teen problems either. When she comments in frustration that she wishes she were a boy, he mutters: "So do I."

However, Dad eventually comes around and supports his youngest daughter. He remains, however, in the dark as to why his oldest daughter Jean has decided to take a break from college. (For the record, I turned to my wife immediately and said: "I bet Jean is married and pregnant.") After some mild misunderstandings, all conflicts are neatly resolved as befits this kind of 1960s comedy.

Billie and her stuffed Wolf.

It's a shame really. Billie could have made an important statement about empowering teenage girls to pursue their dreams and break stereotypical gender molds. I thought Billie might still make that point, but the ending reverses the theme entirely and all that remains is a harmless comedy with a handful of forgettable songs.

Director Don Weis does stage one notable musical number, in which Patty sings "Funny Little Butterflies" to a stuffed wolf in her bedroom. The previous year, Weis directed Annette Funicello warbling Stuffed Animal in her bedroom in Pajama Party. You gotta love coincidences like that! By the way, Weis also helmed several episodes of The Patty Duke Show.

In the original production of the play Time Out for Ginger Melvyn Douglas played the father and Nancy Malone portrayed his daughter Ginger. Her goal was to try out for the boys' football team. I think that might have worked better for Billie. Patty Duke never resembles a track athlete, moving her head back and forth as she hears "the beat" in her head. But, hey, she could have passed for a kicker on the football team. I know...that's nit-picking...but then Billie causes one to start thinking about those kinds of details.

The 5 Best TV Series Star Replacements

When a regular leaves a TV series, the producers are left with three options: (1) write the character out of the show; (2) recast the same character with a new performer; or (3) cast a new performer as a new character. All three options have been tried—some with great success and other with disastrous results. When Dick York left Bewitched, the role of Darren was recast with Dick Sargent and the show hardly skipped a beat. In contrast, Dallas viewers never accepted Donna Reed when she replaced Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie. After a year away from Dallas, Reed was out and Bel Geddes rejoined the show. Below are the five most successful replacements of a TV series star:

1. Diana Rigg, The Avengers. British audiences loved Honor Blackman as Dr. Cathy Gale, the high-kicking partner to Patrick Macnee’s dapper gentleman investigator. When she left in 1964 after two seasons, Rigg joined the show as Mrs. Emma Peel and her chemistry with Macnee was even better. The Rigg episodes were the first ones shown in the U.S., so for many years, most American viewers didn’t even know Steed had an earlier partner (actually several…he worked with others before Cathy).

2. Peter Graves, Mission: Impossible. During the series’ first season, Steven Hill played the Impossible Mission Force’s (IMF) intense leader Dan Briggs. Hill, who was an Orthodox Jew, experienced challenges with the show’s demanding shooting schedule. He left the series and was replaced by Peter Graves, whose Jim Phelps was a more laidback IMF leader. Although the transition from Briggs to Phelps was never explained, audiences accepted Phelps immediately and Mission: Impossible continued to be a ratings hit. During its initial seven-year run, Mission: Impossible replaced numerous stars, proving that the format was what appealed most to viewers—a lesson learned later by Law and Order.

3. Harry Morgan, M*A*S*H. The role of Henry Blake, the easygoing commander of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, propelled MacLean Stevenson to TV stardom. However, during the third season of M*A*S*H, he became dissatisfied with his amount of screen time and asked to leave the series. As a result, Henry Blake was shot down in a helicopter and eventually replaced by the much more rigid, but fatherly, Colonel Sherman T. Potter. Viewers embraced Morgan’s character quickly and M*A*S*H continued for eight more seasons. Stevenson starred in four sitcoms between 1976 and 1983, with none of them lasting longer than a season.

4. Ken Curtis, Gunsmoke. For nine years, Dennis Weaver played Marshal Matt Dillon’s trusty sidekick, Chester, who walked with a stiff right leg (the reason was never given). Though still very popular, Weaver left his most famous role after the 1964 season to star in his own series, Kentucky Jones. It only lasted one season, but Weaver had a moderate hit in the 1970s with McCloud. Ken Curtis first appeared as Festus Haggen in a 1962 episode of Gunsmoke. He joined the cast as a full-time regular in 1964 and subsequently became Matt’s only official deputy (Chester was never deputized!). He appeared on Gunsmoke for 11 years.

5. Dick Sargent, Bewitched. After five years of playing Darrin Stephens, husband to the charming witch Samantha, Dick York had to leave to the show due to a severe back condition. Dick Sargent, who actually bore a slight resemblance to York, stepped in quickly and went on to play Darrin for the final three seasons of Bewitched.