{{Short description|American TV situation comedy series (1963–1964)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = | caption = | genre = Sitcom | creator = | writer = | director = Stanley Z. Cherry<br>Richard Kinon<br>Ralph Levy | starring = Larry Blyden<br>Dawn Nickerson<br>Susan Silo<br>Diahn Williams | theme_music_composer = Stu Phillips | opentheme = "Harry's Girls" | composer = | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = 1 | num_episodes = 15 | executive_producer = Joseph Stein | producer = Billy Friedberg | editor = | cinematography = | camera = Multi-camera | runtime = 22–24 minutes | company = MGM Television | channel = NBC | first_aired = {{start date|1963|09|13}} | last_aired = {{end date|1964|01|03}} }}
'''''Harry's Girls''''' is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from September 13, 1963 to January 3, 1964.
==Plot== ''Harry's Girls'' was based on the film ''Les Girls'' (1957). Harry Burns sang, danced, and managed a vaudeville troupe consisting of three young women: Lois, Rusty, and Terry. Overseeing their off-stage exploits proved exasperating for Burns, and episodes "implied that Burns and the women did not have enough talent to make it in America.<ref name="slts">{{cite book |last1=Hyatt |first1=Wesley |title=Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops |date=October 6, 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0515-9 |page=131 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ty21CgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Harry%27s+Girls%22+NBC&pg=PA131 |access-date=January 23, 2024 |language=en}}</ref> None of the episodes had big-name guest stars.{{Citation needed |date=March 2023}}
==Cast== *Larry Blyden as Harry Burns<ref name=slts/> *Susan Silo as Rusty<ref name=slts/> *Diahn Williams as Terry<ref name=slts/> *Dawn Nickerson as Lois<ref name=slts/>
==Episodes== {{Episode table |background=#000 |overall=5 |title=22 |director=20 |writer=20 |airdate=18 |episodes=
{{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 1 |Title = The Rajah |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|9|13}} |ShortSummary = Susan falls in love with a playboy Rajah, insisting that he has proposed marriage, but Harry sees through the charade to protect her. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 2 |Title = When in Rome |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|9|20}} |ShortSummary = The girls' opportunity to work in a Rome nightclub is jeopardized by both the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of the Interior. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 3 |Title = A Naval Affair |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = Bob O'Brien |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|9|27}} |ShortSummary = The American Fleet hits the Riviera, and Harry thinks he's found a way to make a bet on "a sure thing." |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 4 |Title = The Director |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = Hal Goodman & Larry Klein |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|10|4}} |ShortSummary = The girls decide they want a movie career when they're stranded in a small town where a famous Italian director is making a film. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 5 |Title = Cafe on the Riviera |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|10|11}} |ShortSummary = In the midst of Harry buying a restaurant, the girls go on strike while he hires a knife throwing act to replace them. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 6 |Title = The Forgotten Man |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|10|18}} |ShortSummary = After Harry sprains his ankle, the girls are forced to do their act without him. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 7 |Title = Countess |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|10|25}} |ShortSummary = Broke and stranded in Monte Carlo, Harry meets a statistician who says he has a system to beat the roulette wheel. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 8 |Title = The Star |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|11|1}} |ShortSummary = A fast-talking, slow-moving film producer gives Harry visions of becoming a big star. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 9 |Title = Diamond Necklace |DirectedBy = |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|11|8}} |ShortSummary = A penniless art student gives Lois a diamond-encrusted dog collar borrowed from a stray dog. When Harry attempts to return it to police, he is jailed. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 10 |Title = Made in Heaven |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|11|29}} |ShortSummary = The girls become an "international matchmaking cartel" to find bachelor Harry a wife. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 11 |Title = The Busker |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|12|6}} |ShortSummary = Harry pays the price for attempting to help a faded musical hall celebrity who double-crossed people during his run of success. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 12 |Title = Collector's Item |DirectedBy = Stanley Z. Cherry |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|12|13}} |ShortSummary = Harry concocts a scheme to ingratiate himself with an important booking agent. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 13 |Title = His Highness |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = Joseph Stein & Sid Zylenka |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|12|20}} |ShortSummary = While playing at a French chateau, a plot is being hatched to restore the monarchy in France. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 14 |Title = A Girl's Best Friend |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1963|12|27}} |ShortSummary = Harry's romance becomes complicated when it's discovered that his girlfriend is a jewel thief. |LineColor = 000 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 15 |Title = Bet it All |DirectedBy = Richard Kinon |WrittenBy = |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1964|1|3}} |ShortSummary = A crooked roulette wheel seems to benefit the girls, giving them visions of an early retirement. |LineColor = 000 }} }}
==Production and cancellation== Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television produced ''Harry's Girls'', and the Colgate-Palmolive Company sponsored it. Those companies' contract specified 26 episodes, but they agreed to end the series after 15 episodes because of low ratings and lack of critical acclaim. An NBC executive cited "general agreement that the show had not lived up to expectations."<ref name="t">{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Val |title=N. B. C. Will Drop 'Harry's Girls' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/11/05/archives/nbc-will-drop-harrys-girls-paar-hour-may-be-extended-30-minutes-to.html |access-date=January 23, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=November 5, 153 |page=44|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Billy Friedberg was the producer, and Stanley Z. Cherry was the director.<ref name="slts" /> Bob O'Brien, Joseph Stein, Sydney Zelinka, Harry Goodman, and Larry Klein were among the writers.<ref name="sss" />
The series was filmed in black and white at Studios De La Victorine<ref name="sss">{{cite book |last1=Leszczak |first1=Bob |title=Single Season Sitcoms, 1948-1979: A Complete Guide |date=November 8, 2012 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-9305-0 |pages=69–71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaUqwWnpHLwC&dq=%22Harry%27s+Girls%22+NBC&pg=PA69 |access-date=January 23, 2024 |language=en}}</ref> in Nice, France, and was broadcast on Fridays from 9:30 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time.<ref name="t" /> Its competition included ''The Twilight Zone'' on CBS and ''The Farmer's Daughter and The Price Is Right'' on ABC.<ref name="slts" /> It was replaced by ''That Was the Week That Was''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Val |title=Satiric TV Show to Run Weekly |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/12/04/archives/satiric-tv-show-to-run-weekly-nbc-puts-twtwtw-on-regular-basis-jan.html |access-date=January 23, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=December 4, 1963 |page=73|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0085649}}
Category:1963 American television series debuts Category:1964 American television series endings Category:1960s American multi-camera sitcoms Category:Black-and-white American television shows Category:English-language American television shows Category:Television series by MGM Television Category:NBC sitcoms