Tom Potter (Tom Ewell in his television series debut) was a bumbling California real estate agent who lived in a female-centric household (even the pet dog, Mitzi, was female) at 611 Elm Street in Las Palmas, California.
His beautiful wife Fran (Marilyn Erskine) and his daughters 15-year-old Carol (Cindy Robbins), 11-year-old Debbie (Sherry Alberoni) and 7-year-old Sissie (Eileen Chesis) kept things lively.
The presence of his sceptical live-in mother-in-law Irene (Mabel Albertson) – who Tom called “Mother Brady” – was the icing on the cake.
Plotlines were fairly standard 60s fare; Tom cutting off his wife and daughters from credit cards in order to teach them a lesson about finances; Tom trying to teach his wife to drive; daughter Debbie learning to play the tuba much to the chagrin of the Potter family; Tom finding part-time jobs for his daughters; arguments over hogging the family telephone; and various sibling squabbles and boyfriend troubles.
Tom was a huge sports fan, so he was always seeking male companionship and male bonding to balance out his life, but usually to no avail. There were, however, a few recurring male characters on the show: Norman Fell was Tom’s co-worker, Howie Fletcher; Barry Kelley was Tom’s friend, Jim Rafferty; and Vance Meadows was the neighbour’s boy, Stanley.
The CBS sitcom – also known as The Trouble With Tom – aired between September 1960 and May 1961 on Tuesday nights at 9.00 pm and was broadcast in black & white. Sponsors included Quaker Oats and Procter and Gamble.
Tom Ewell took another shot at sitcom stardom dom in 1981 as Dr Jerome Kullens in the very funny but short-lived Best of the West.
Tom Potter
Tom Ewell Fran Potter
Marilyn Erskine Irene Brady
Mabel Albertson Carol Potter
Cindy Robbins (Cynthia Chenault) Debbie Potter
Sherry Alberoni Sissie (Catherine) Potter
Eileen Chesis Howie Fletcher
Norman Fell
Episodes
Tom Cuts Off the Credit | Debbie Takes Up the Tuba | The Safety Lesson | Tom Takes Over | Tom Puts the Girls to Work | The Second Phone | The Handwriting on the Wall | The Spelling Bee | Site Unseen | The Friendly Man | Salesmanship Lesson | Advice to the Lovelorn | Try It on For Size | No Fun in the Sun | Mr Shrewd | The Middle Child | The Trouble With Mother | A Fellow Needs a Friend | Out of Left Field | Storm Over Shangri-La | I Don’t See It | The Old Magic | Mrs Dynamite | The Prying Eye | The Chutney Caper | Put It On, Take It Off | Big Brother | Handy Man | Passenger Pending | Never Do Business with Relatives
