Barefoot in the Park

1 9 7 0 – 1 9 7 1 (USA)
12 x 30 minute episodes

This TV adaptation of the 1967 movie (which had starred Jane Fonda and Robert Redford) featured an African American cast, with Tracy Reed and Scoey Mitchlll (yes, he spelt it with three “Ls”) starring as Corie and Paul Bratter.

The Bratters were newlyweds living in a run-down one-room walk-up on the top floor of an old brownstone on West 10th Street in lower Manhattan.

Paul Bratter had just landed a job (after six years of law school) at the prestigious firm of Kendricks, Keene and Klein (leading to several KKK jokes).

Paul’s immediate boss, Arthur Kendricks, was played by Harry Holcombe; Vito Scotti portrayed the building’s klutzy superintendent, Mr Velasquez; and Nipsey Russell played a friend of the Bratter’s named Honey Robinson, who was the proprietor of Honey’s Pool and Billiard Emporium.

Honey had a crush on Corie’s sassy widowed mom, Mabel Bates (Thelma Carpenter), who was a maid for a wealthy Park Avenue family.

Guest stars included Agnes Moorehead, Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Jackie Coogan and boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson.

The 1969 pilot episode of this series had a white cast and featured as an episode of Love, American Style in 1969 titled “Love and the Good Deal”.

Sponsors included American Brands, General Foods, Lever Brothers and Warner-Lambert.

Ten of the 12 episodes were later rerun as part of the 1971/1972 season of Love, American Style.

Paul Bratter
Scoey Mitchlll
Corie Bratter
Tracy Reed
Mabel Bates
Thelma Carpenter
Arthur Kendricks
Harry Holcombe
Mr Velasquez
Vito Scotti
Honey Robinson
Nipsey Russell

Episodes

Pilot | The Bed | You’ll Never Walk Alone | In Sickness and in Health | You Gotta Have Soul | The Marriage Proposal | Down with the Landlord | Something Fishy | Corie’s Rear Window | Disorder in the Court | No Fancy Fixture | Nothing But the Truth

Video