Posted on 04/01/2025 2:04:30 AM PDT by DollyCali
I see what I did. My brain inserted “her” before “mother’s”.
Is your honey still a blonde?
Now that’s a breakfast! I love tater tots!
Before *Bewitched* twitched a nose or *I Dream of Jeannie* blinked her way into a bottle, there was *Topper*—a sly, supernatural sitcom that beat them all to the spectral punch. Premiering in 1953, *Topper* was television’s very first fantasy-comedy series, and like many firsts, it’s often forgotten, which is a shame because it’s not only historically significant, it’s genuinely delightful. Based on Thorne Smith’s 1926 novel and the 1937 Cary Grant film, *Topper* followed the misadventures of Cosmo Topper (Leo G. Carroll, with that exquisite bemused dignity he’d later bring to *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.*), a conservative banking executive whose life is upended when he moves into a house haunted by a very unconventional couple and their drunk dog. Yes, really.
George and Marion Kerby—played with winking charisma by real-life husband-and-wife duo Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys—are no tragic phantoms longing for unfinished business. They’re charmingly unrepentant revelers who died in a skiing accident and decided the afterlife was best spent stirring up mischief. Unlike the syrupy sentiment of later ghost fare, *Topper* played its fantasy for clever laughs, spinning a cocktail of dry wit, slapstick, and marital farce that still holds up if you squint past the kinescope fuzz.
But the real comedic gold lay in the central conceit: only Topper could see and hear the Kerbys. Cue endless scenes of him sputtering explanations to his wife Henrietta (Lee Patrick, forever one step behind), the boss at the bank, or an unsuspecting stranger while George and Marion floated around like invisible vaudevillians. It was the kind of high-wire comedic setup that required precise timing, and the cast—especially Carroll, with his gift for elegant befuddlement—delivered. Imagine *Frasier* meets *The Ghost and Mrs. Muir*, but boozier.
And let’s not skip Neil, the Kerbys’ St. Bernard, who was also a ghost and also, according to the show, a raging alcoholic. The image of a ghost dog lapping up ectoplasmic martinis is peak early-TV weirdness, and yet somehow it worked—partly because *Topper* never winked too hard at its own absurdity. It just let the madness unfold with the casual cool of a 1950s martini lounge. In fact, there’s something oddly grown-up about *Topper* compared to its successors. It wasn’t a show for kids—it was about death, marriage, repression, and rebellion, all wrapped in playful banter and screwball antics.
Behind the scenes, *Topper* was ahead of its time, especially in its visual effects. Using trick photography and double exposure to pull off ghostly hijinks on a weekly basis was no small feat in the early days of live-to-film TV. The Kerbys would float hats, pour cocktails, open doors—all executed with old-school sleight of hand and ingenuity. In an era before CGI, the effects were part of the charm: ghostly, yes, but delightfully homemade.
Despite its popularity in the U.S. and even airing across the pond in Britain, only 36 episodes were produced, mostly due to legal tangles and shifting network priorities—proof once again that TV greatness isn’t always rewarded with longevity. But what *Topper* lacked in quantity, it made up for in tone and originality. It set the blueprint for an entire subgenre of “the normal guy meets the impossible” sitcoms that exploded in the ‘60s. Without *Topper*, there’s no *Jeannie*, no *Samantha*, maybe not even *ALF*. Okay, maybe *ALF* would’ve shown up anyway. But the DNA is there.
In retrospect, *Topper* feels like a bridge between the cocktail-soaked screwball comedies of the ‘30s and the domesticated fantasies of ‘60s television. It’s urbane, surreal, and just the right amount of tipsy. Watching it now, you get the sense that it was trying to whisper something sly into the ear of 1950s America: “Maybe death isn’t so scary. Maybe conformity is.” A ghost story disguised as a sitcom, or a sitcom disguised as a ghost story—either way, *Topper* was TV’s first successful haunting, and it still has a lot of life left in it.
\#ClassicTV #FantasyComedy #TopperTV #GoldenAgeOfTelevision #GhostlySitcoms #RetroHumor #AnneJeffreys #LeoGCarroll #1950sTV #SitcomHistory
@TiffanyATrump
· 29m
Welcome to the world our sweet baby boy, Alexander Trump Boulos. We love you beyond words! Thank you for coming into our lives! 5.15.2025 🩵👶🏻🩵
That will be one very spoiled son and grandson
I remember being taught in civics class that the birthright citizenship had to do with the blacks who at the time were not considered citizens.
nope that was a fad for some kids in Japan back then. Well , now it is a nice blend, streaks of various shades of grey with black and some white. I like it. Her hair would bleach out in the sun in the summer, so had a tinge of red in the dark brunette. yep, I like it.
Insider Paper
@TheInsiderPaper
·
29m
JUST IN - HHS, LED BY RFK JR., TO STOP RECOMMENDING ROUTINE COVID SHOTS FOR CHILDREN, PREGNANT WOMEN - WSJ
I don’t know. The Trump family seems to be very level and normal. Kai Trump apparently has turned out well, and the other grandkids seem to be doing quite well. This new baby has been born with a silver spoon in his/her mouth, but based on how the rest of the family is doing, probably will be just as level headed as the rest.
BREAKING: James Comey Calls for President Trump’s Assass*nation On Instagram!
8647: Another One Pops Up
UPDATE: James Comey Deletes Post, Desperately Tries To Walk Back Call For Trump To Be Assass*nated
We are aware of the recent social media post by former FBI Director James Comey, directed at President Trump. We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support.
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) May 15, 2025
Don't know how this can be interpreted as any other way but a threat against President Trump.
James Comey should at the very least get a visit from the secret service.
Also is everyone mentally ill? https://t.co/Gn4Hbpn98f
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) May 15, 2025
BREAKING NOW: 🚨 Secret Service now paying a visit to James Comey after “now deleted” social media post that many are saying called for the ass-ssination of President Trump. https://t.co/f1FyOXn9QH pic.twitter.com/fZjxgM0bGE
May 15, 2025 James Comey’s DISGUSTING Link To The Abortion Pill – “Are You For 86?”
Thank you Dolly, very interesting.
I have been taking ACV capsules for 3 weeks now. 350 twice a day.
Has stopped the itch on my eczema and I am not as hungry.
“Another glass artist I like/follow Chihuly”
That is one of the pieces Hillary took from the White House when they left.
The ceiling at the Bellagio is Chihuly, just beautiful.
Stephen Miller
@StephenM
·
10m
President Donald Trump has just concluded the most successful Mideast trip in US history. He has created a completely new foreign policy paradigm; opened up entirely new pathways for peace and stability; unlocked the region’s staggering potential around a shared desire for prosperity, security, development and commercial partnership with the United States; forged close and lasting bonds with the region’s key leaders around common values, reciprocal gain, honor and trust, and deep cultural respect; reestablished America’s rightful place of global strength and leadership; broken firmly with the failed ideologies and interventions of the past, and unlocked vast economic opportunity and investment for the American People.
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Insider Paper
@TheInsiderPaper
·
9m
JUST IN 🚨 Trump on former FBI Director James Comey’s “86 47” threat: “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant.. That meant ‘assassination.’”
https://x.com/i/status/1923359528931786895
1:06 video
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