Ichabod and Me is an American situation comedy television series starring Robert Sterling and George Chandler that aired in the United States during the 1961–1962 television season. It depicts the life of a New York City newspaper reporter who moves to a small New England town and becomes the publisher of its newspaper.
Premise
Tiring of life in New York City, where he had worked as a reporter at the New York Times, and wanting to raise his six-year-old son Benjie in a different environment, 44-year-old widower Bob Major moves with Benjie to Phippsboro, a small, sleepy rural town in New Hampshire with a population of about 3,000, where he purchases the town's only newspaper, the weekly Phippsboro Bulletin, from its longtime owner and editor, Ichabod Adams. Bob's big-city attitudes and ideas often clash with the small-town ways of the natives of Phippsboro, who are stereotypical rural New Englanders – taciturn, frugal, suspicious of strangers like him, and set in their ways; he is prone to writing inflammatory editorials in the Bulletin calling for progress in the town to bring it into the mid-20th century and raising the ire of the townspeople, who tend to oppose change. Ichabod – who is in his 60s, owns most of the town and serves it in many capacities, including as its mayor for the past 28 years, its school superintendent, and its traffic commissioner — remains involved in the operation of the newspaper. Ichabod is bemused by Bob and friendly toward him, offering him fatherly wisdom and advising him on how to navigate conflicts with his neighbors.
Also in Bob's life in Phippsboro are Ichabod's adult daughter Abby, who lives with Ichabod and at first views the highly eligible Bob with disdain, but then warms to him, takes a romantic interest in him, and eventually becomes his girlfriend; Aunt Livvy, the stern-faced but soft-hearted housekeeper for Bob and Benjie; Jonathan Baylor, a wide-eyed high school student who is Bob's only regular employee at the Phippsboro Bulletin; and Olaf, one of the townspeople. Martin Perkins, a typically taciturn New Englander who runs the local hardware store, and his friend Colby, the owner and operator of Colby's Seed and Fertilizer, are longtime Phippsboro residents who serve on the city council and share a suspicion of Bob and his activities. Bob complains about how hard it is to keep a secret in Phippsboro, where residents – Martin and Colby in particular – listen in on the town's party line to eavesdrop on other people's business.
Cast
Robert Sterling...Robert "Bob" Major
George Chandler...Ichabod Adams
Christine White...Abigail "Abby" Adams
Jimmy Mathers...Benjamin "Benjie" Major (recurring) Reta Shaw...Aunt Lavinia ("Livvy") (recurring) Guy Raymond...Martin Perkins (recurring) Forrest Lewis...Colby (recurring) Jimmy Hawkins...Jonathan Baylor Burt Mustin...Olaf (recurring)
The pilot "Adam's Apples", aired in 1960, had a somewhat different cast. Fred Beir played Terrence "Terry" Major, later recast and renamed Bob Major for the actual series. Dorothy Neumann played Aunt Lavinia ("Livvy"), and Pitt Herbert played Martin Perkins. Burt Mustin, who played the recurring role of Olaf in the series, played a character called Burt in the pilot. Chandler and White appeared in the pilot in their series roles.
Origins
George Chandler created the Ichabod Adams character in 1956 in "Goodbye, Grey Flannel," an episode of the dramatic series Robert Montgomery Presents, with Lee Bowman co-starring as "Mr. Major", a forerunner of the Bob Major character of Ichabod and Me. The success of the episode prompted Chandler to return as Ichabod in a 1957 episode of Robert Montgomery Presents entitled "One Smart Apple."
The two Robert Montgomery Presents episodes led to the filming of a pilot for Ichabod and Me entitled "Adam's Apples." It included George Chandler as Ichabod and Christine White as his daughter Abby, but differed from the regular series in several ways. In "Adam's Apples," a character named Terrence "Terry" Major, portrayed by Fred Beir, gives up life as an advertising executive in New York City and retires to Phippsboro to become a gentleman farmer, and he rents property from Ichabod. Terry is childless, but has a dog named Fownes, after his former boss in New York. Dorothy Neumann portrays Livvy, Pitt Herbert portrays Martin Perkins, and Burt Mustin appears as a character named Burt rather than Olaf. The pilot does not include the Jonathan Baylor, Benjie Major, or Colby characters and makes no mention of Phippsboro's newspaper. It aired in April 1960 as an episode of General Electric Theater but did not sell as a regular series.