Angel

1 9 6 0 – 1 9 6 1 (USA)
33 x 30 minute episode

Events in the lives of the newlywed Smiths: American architect John (Marshall Thompson, later of Daktari) and his young French wife, Angel (Annie Fargé) – short for Angelique – who he met and married during a business trip to France.

Stories focussed on Angel’s difficulties as she struggled to cope with the bewildering American lifestyle.

Angel was very stubborn and had a fiery French temper (and a thick French accent).

Although she tried her best to be a loving and responsible housewife for her new husband (whom she called ‘Johnny’) she frequently ran into problems, usually due to her poor command of the English language.

Susie Carpenter (Doris Singleton) and her insurance agent husband George (Don Keefer) were the Smith’s neighbours in Los Angeles.

Hanley Stafford played Johnny’s boss, Mr Corwin, and Bella Bruck had a very funny recurring role as neighbour and friend, Mrs Spiegelman.

Like some other sitcom stars of the day, Fargé and Thompson routinely appeared in commercials for their sponsors that were included in each week’s episode.

The weekly commercials were often written so as to coincide with the story and play like a final scene in the show. Since Johnson Wax was a major sponsor of the show, the commercials often revolved around Angel’s enthusiastic praise for the company’s new furniture polish, Pledge.

Coming from the Desilu studio, it’s unsurprising that the storyline of Angel was pretty much I Love Lucy in reverse. The two shows also shared the same creator, in Jess Oppenheimer.

Angelique ‘Angel’ Smith
Annie Fargé
Johnny Smith
Marshall Thompson
Susie Carpenter
Doris Singleton
George Carpenter
Don Keefer
Mr Corwin
Hanley Stafford
Mrs Spiegelman
Bella Bruck

Video