It's About Time

So, I am watching "It's About Time Complete Series DVD". There should be a lot for me to like about this since I am a fan of Gilligan's Island and of The Brady Bunch, both by Sherwood Schwartz, as this series is. I am also a fan of Joe E. Ross and Imogene Coca, but there is something about this series that just fails miserably. It plays like an episode of Gilligan with other actors, meaning the reason that Gilligan's Island worked so well is that the actors were usually able to elevate subpar material and make it funny. Here, the material falls flat. The two main actors, Frank Aletter and Jack Mullaney are competent enough, but they don't have that special magic to elevate mundane scripts. As far as Coca and Ross go, Coca comes off best and I have laughed at some things she's said or done on this series, probably because she has the same ability as the Gilligan actors to make so-so material her own. Ross, unfortunately, comes off the worst. I love him in Sgt. Bilko and even more in Car 54, Where Are You? Here, he sleepwalks through his role as Gronk and rarely utters his infamous "Ooh, Ooh" catchphrase. I had seen a few episodes of this series over the years in very washed out prints that were almost unwatchable, so I gave the series a second chance. While the prints are much more colorful and saturated, none of it helps the humor and the scripts, so the entire effort comes off as kind of limp. It is easy to see why this series only lasted a single season.