View source for Blondie (1968 TV series)

{{Short description|American television sitcom}}
{{Infobox television
| image              = Bumstead Family Blondie 1968.JPG
| caption            = The Bumstead family.
| alt_name           = '''''The New Blondie'''''
| genre              = [[Sitcom]]
| based_on       = {{based on|comic strip [[Blondie (comic strip)|''Blondie'']]|[[Chic Young]]}}
| writer             = [[Danny Simon]]
| director           = [[Norman Abbott]]<br>[[Peter Baldwin (director)|Peter Baldwin]]<br>[[Bruce Bilson]]<br>[[Gene Nelson]]
| starring           = [[Patricia Harty (actress)|Patricia Harty]]<br>[[Will Hutchins]]<br>[[Peter Robbins (actor)|Peter Robbins]]<br>[[Pamelyn Ferdin]]<br>[[Jim Backus]]
| country            = United States
| language           = English
| num_seasons        = 1
| num_episodes       = 14 (1 unaired)
| executive_producer = [[Al Brodax]]
| producer           = Joe Connelly
| runtime            = 24 mins.
| company            = [[Universal Television|Kayro Productions]]<br>[[King Features Syndicate]]
| channel            = [[CBS]]
| first_aired        = {{start date|1968|09|26}}
| last_aired         = {{end date|1969|01|09}}
| related            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Blondie (1957 TV series)|''Blondie'' (1957 TV series)]]
* [[Blondie (comic strip)|''Blondie'' (comic strip)]]
}}
}}

'''''Blondie''''' (also known as '''''The New Blondie''''') is an American [[sitcom]] that aired on [[CBS]] during the [[1968–69 United States network television schedule|1968–69 television season]]. The series is an updated version of the [[Blondie (1957 TV series)|1957 TV series]] based on the [[Blondie (comic strip)|comic strip of the same name]]. The series stars [[Patricia Harty (actor)|Patricia Harty]] as the title character and [[Will Hutchins]] as her husband, Dagwood Bumstead. [[Jim Backus]] played Dagwood's boss Mr. Dithers, with his real-life wife, [[Henny Backus]], playing Cora Dithers. The series also featured [[Peter Robbins (actor)|Peter Robbins]] as the Bumsteads' son, Alexander, [[Pamelyn Ferdin]] as their daughter, Cookie, and character actor [[Bryan O'Byrne]] as the hapless mailman, always getting run over by Dagwood hurrying out the door, late for work.

==Synopsis==
''Blondie'' stars Patricia Harty and Will Hutchins as Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead, a suburban couple raising two precocious children. Plots mixed typical sitcom tropes from home life and work life. The series is best remembered for its opening theme, which featured the comic strip characters in animated form before transforming into the actors playing the characters.

Like [[Blondie (1957 TV series)|the 1957 version]], which lasted only one season, the series was not a hit, lasting a total of 13 weeks before being canceled, with the final episode remaining unaired.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tucker|first=David C. |title=Lost Laughs of '50s and '60s Television: Thirty Sitcoms That Faded Off Screen|url=https://archive.org/details/lostlaughssstele00tuck|url-access=registration|year=2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-786-44466-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/lostlaughssstele00tuck/page/n107 99]}}</ref> Two further episodes were planned, "The Dying Swan" and "Dagwood's Private War", but were never completed.

==Cast==
[[File:Jim and Henny Backus 1969.JPG|thumb|right|220px|Jim and Henny Backus as Mr. and Mrs. Dithers]]
* [[Patricia Harty (actor)|Patricia Harty]] as Blondie 
* [[Will Hutchins]] as Dagwood Bumstead
* [[Jim Backus]] as Mr. Dithers
* [[Pamelyn Ferdin]] as Cookie 
* [[Peter Robbins (actor)|Peter Robbins]] as Alexander
* [[Henny Backus]] as Mrs. Cora Dithers 
* [[Bobbi Jordan]] as Tootsie Woodley 
* [[Bryan O'Byrne]] as the mailman Mr. Beasley

Ferdin and Robbins would later reunite on the 1969 television special ''[[It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown]]'' and the 1969 film ''[[A Boy Named Charlie Brown]]'', being the last time Robbins played [[Charlie Brown]].

==Production notes==
This version of the series, jointly produced by [[CBS Productions]] (which owns the distribution rights in the United States), [[King Features Syndicate]] and [[Universal Television|Kayro Productions]], ran from September 26, 1968, to January 9, 1969.

Cast member Pamelyn Ferdin recalls the series was cancelled so abruptly that the cast was dismissed during the lunch break while an episode was being filmed.{{source?|date=October 2024}}

==Episode list==
{| class="wikitable" style="background:#FFFFFF"
! style="background:#FFD700; width:20px"| Nº
! style="background:#FFD700"| Title
! style="background:#FFD700"| Directed by
! style="background:#FFD700"| Written by 
! style="background:#FFD700; width:135px"| Air date
! style="background:#FFD700; width:20px"| PC
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1
| Title = Sayanora Dagwood
| DirectedBy = [[Norman Abbott]]
| WrittenBy = Gary Belkin and [[George Tibbles]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|9|26}}
| ProdCode = 1
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 2
| Title = My Camp Runneth Over
| DirectedBy = [[Peter Baldwin (director)|Peter Baldwin]]
| WrittenBy = Gary Belkin & [[John McGreevey]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|10|3}}
| ProdCode = 8
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 3
| Title = Blondie-Flower Child
| DirectedBy = Norman Abbott
| WrittenBy =
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|10|10}}
| ProdCode = 4
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 4
| Title = The Gladiators
| DirectedBy = [[Gene Nelson]]
| WrittenBy = [[Danny Simon]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|10|17}}
| ProdCode = 9
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 5
| Title = Angel in Disguise
| DirectedBy = [[Bruce Bilson]]
| WrittenBy =
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|10|31}}
| ProdCode = 10
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 6
| Title = Dither's Damned Dog
| DirectedBy = Norman Abbott
| WrittenBy =
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|11|7}}
| ProdCode = 2
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 7
| Title = Dagwood the Wheeler Dealer
| DirectedBy = Norman Abbott
| WrittenBy =
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|11|14}}
| ProdCode = 6
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 8
| Title = Blondie's Good Citizen
| DirectedBy = Norman Abbott
| WrittenBy =
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|11|21}}
| ProdCode = 3
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 9
| Title = Blondie's Birthday
| DirectedBy = Gene Nelson
| WrittenBy =
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|12|5}}
| ProdCode = 13
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 10
| Title = Marriage Menders
| DirectedBy = Norman Abbott
| WrittenBy = [[Lois Hire]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|12|12}}
| ProdCode = 5
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 11
| Title = Blondie's Masquerade
| DirectedBy = Gene Nelson
| WrittenBy =
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|12|19}}
| ProdCode = 11
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 12
| Title = Once Upon a Guru
| DirectedBy = Norman Abbott
| WrittenBy =
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1968|12|26}}
| ProdCode = 7
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 13
| Title = Pick on a Bully Your Own Size
| DirectedBy = Peter Baldwin
| WrittenBy =
| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1969|1|9}}
| ProdCode = 14
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 14
| Title = Run Buddy Run
| DirectedBy = Gene Nelson
| WrittenBy = [[Bob Mosher]]
| OriginalAirDate = UNAIRED
| ProdCode = 12
| ShortSummary = 
| LineColor = FFD700
}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* ''Blondie Goes to Hollywood,'' by Carol Lynn Scherling. Albany, 2010. BearManor Media. {{ISBN|978-1-59393-401-9}}.

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0062547|Blondie}}
* [http://ctva.biz/US/Comedy/Blondie_1968.htm Blonde_1968 at ctva.biz]
{{Blondie (comic strip)}}

[[Category:1968 American television series debuts]]
[[Category:1969 American television series endings]]
[[Category:1960s American sitcoms]]
[[Category:American English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Television shows based on comic strips]]
[[Category:Blondie (comic strip)]]
[[Category:CBS sitcoms]]
[[Category:Television shows based on American comics]]