Bill Dana Show, The


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

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About

From Wikipedia:

The Bill Dana Show was a United States comedy series starring Bill Dana and Jonathan Harris. The plot followed the daily lifestyle of Latin American, Jose Jimenez, as a bellhop in a New York hotel. The show, sponsored by Procter & Gamble, premiered on 22 September 1963 and ran for a season-and-a-half, before its run ended on January 17, 1965 (the following week, it was replaced by Branded).

The hotel was practically Jose's entire world; he lived in special bachelor headquarters provided for hotel employees, ate in the hotel kitchen, and had social contact only with employees and guests of the hotel. In his goodhearted naivete he saw only the good in the people around him. His biggest problems were his fellow bellhop Eddie {Gary Crosby), who was constantly trying to get Jose to wise up; the less-than-understanding hotel manager Mr. Phillips (Jonathan Harris, who would soon play Dr. Smith on Lost in Space) and the bumbling hotel detective Byron Glick (Don Adams, in a prototype to the character he would soon be playing on Get Smart.) In the second season Maggie Peterson played Susie, a waitress in the hotel's coffee shop.

Walter Mitty-like dream sequences were occasionally used to extricate Jose from the hotel environment.

The show was a spin-off from Make Room For Daddy, which showed him to be an elevator operator before he became a bellhop.

Dana did a cameo as Jose Jimenez on an episode of the Batman TV series. He introduces himself to Batman and Robin by saying "My name- Jose Jimenez".

 

Highlights
Sam Denoff on writing for The Bill Dana Show
00:34
Who talked about this show

Sam Bobrick

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Sam Bobrick on working on The Bill Dana Show
00:47

Bill Dana with Emerson College

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Bill Dana on getting a call from Sheldon Leonard that NBC had greenlit The Bill Dana Show without a pilot or a script
03:02
Bill Dana on replacing Gary Crosby with Don Adams on The Bill Dana Show, as "Byron Glick," the hotel inspector
05:11
Bill Dana on the relationship between his character "Jose Jimenez" and Don Adam's "Byron Glick" on The Bill Dana Show
04:06
Bill Dana on why The Bill Dana Show was cancelled after 42 episodes
01:46
Bill Dana on the character of "Jose Jimenez," which he played on The Bill Dana Show and others, and on the controversy surrounding the character
07:30
Bill Dana on his decision to retire the character of "Jose Jimenez"
03:14
Bill Dana on Don Adams' "Would you believe?" routine used on both Get Smart and The Bill Dana Show
02:42
Bill Dana on the source of his comedy, and his characters, and on Jonathan Harris as "Mr. Phillips" on The Bill Dana Show
02:27
Bill Dana on playing "Jose Jimenez" on The Bill Dana Show, and on the character appearing on The Danny Thomas Show
06:07
Bill Dana on the cancellation of The Bill Dana Show
05:17

Sam Denoff

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Sam Denoff on writing for The Bill Dana Show
00:34

Ruth Engelhardt

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Ruth Engelhardt on packaging Gomer Pyle - USMC, Mayberry R.F.D. and The Bill Dana Show
03:00

Jonathan Harris

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Jonathan Harris on playing "Mr. Phillips" on The Bill Dana Show
05:04
Jonathan Harris on the writing The Bill Dana Show and Sheldon Leonard's direction
04:19
Jonathan Harris on working with Don Adams on The Bill Dana Show, and on the end of the show
01:24

Ted Rich

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Ted Rich on editing The Bill Dana Show
01:05
Ted Rich on editing The Bill Dana Show
02:16

Jay Sandrich

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Jay Sandrich on directing The Bill Dana Show, and on honing his directing skills
01:06
Jay Sandrich on directing a few episodes of The Bill Dana Show before it was cancelled, and working with Don Adams on that set and later on Get Smart

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