My Sister Eileen (TV series)

My Sister Eileen
Stubby Kaye, Shirley Bonne, and Elaine Stritch in My Sister Eileen (1960)
Genre	Situation comedy
Starring	Elaine Stritch Shirley Bonne Jack Weston
Theme music composer	Earle Hagen
Composer	Herbert W. Spencer
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Producer	Dick Wesson
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production company	Screen Gems
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	October 5, 1960 (1960-10-05) – April 21, 1961 (1961-04-21)

My Sister Eileen is an American situation comedy based on a series of autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney originally published in The New Yorker, as well as the 1940 play and 1942 and 1955 film adaptations which they inspired.

The series premiered at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS on October 15, 1960 and ran for one season of twenty-six episodes, the last of which was telecast on April 12, 1961. It aired opposite Hawaiian Eye on ABC and Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall on NBC. The original pilot episode, featuring Anne Helm as "Eileen", was presented on Alcoa-Goodyear Theater as "You Should Meet My Sister" (May 16, 1960).

Premise

My Sister Eileen focuses on Ruth and Eileen Sherwood, sisters from Ohio who moved to New York City to pursue their respective careers. Ruth, the more serious and more sensible of the two, aspires to be a writer, while the younger and more attractive Eileen dreams of achieving success as an actress. The two girls find an apartment in a Greenwich Village brownstone owned by Mr. Appopoplous and befriend reporter Chick Adams. Ruth accepts a job with publisher D. X. Beaumont and becomes close with her co-worker Bertha. However, the better part of her time is spent supervising Eileen, who has a tendency to fall for every con artist and potential boyfriend who crosses her path while her agent Marty Scott struggles to find her auditions.

Cast

• Elaine Stritch as Ruth Sherwood
• Shirley Bonne as Eileen Sherwood
• Jack Weston as Chick Adams
• Rose Marie as Bertha
• Raymond Bailey as D. X. Beaumont
• Stubby Kaye as Marty Scott
• Leon Belasco as Mr. Appopoplous
• Agnes Moorehead as Aunt Harriet (2 episodes)

Among the guest stars were John Banner, Bert Convy, Anne Helm, Jo Morrow, Richard Webb, and Dick Wesson.

References

• Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946 - Present. New York: Ballantine Books 1988. ISBN 0-345-35610-1, pp. 544, 902

External links

• My Sister Eileen at IMDb