The Evolution of TV’s Hired Help
One constant in sitcoms over the decades has been the “hired help” character. Whether it was a maid, butler, farmhand or nanny, there was always room in a TV home for a little extra help. However that role didn’t stay the same. From the sixties into the nineties, TV shows have changed the part of the housekeeper in a TV series. In the span of 30 years time, you wouldn’t even recognize these characters as having the same TV job. How has that role changed over the years!? It’s all in The Evolution of TV’s Hired Help.
PHASE ONE: When The Housekeepers Actually Kept House.
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1. Mr. French from “Family Affair.” Loyal and efficient, that was Mr. French. He was the “Gentleman’s Gentleman” and valet to Bill Davis on “Family Affair”. He was a TV butler who actually loved being a butler. All Mr. French wanted to do is maintain the stylish high rise apartment on E.62nd Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. He knew he had it good with Uncle Bill. When the kids, Buffy, Jody and Cissy showed up, there is no endearing himself to the children. In fact, this guy was so loyal to his employer that he would even rat out the kids when needed. Mr. French wasn’t there to be pals, being a butler was a serious business and the man had a job to do.
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2. Mrs. Livingston from “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.” There has never been another TV housekeeper like Mrs. Livingston on “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” starring Bill Bixby. Mrs. Livingston who’s from Japan, didn’t make wisecracks, she didn’t insult her boss, she didn’t do slapstick. What did she do!? She took care of her employer and his son. That was her part. Mrs. Livingston was there to be a voice of calm reason and give wise advice to Tom Corbett (Bixby) a single dad who was doing his best to raise his son Eddie. This character would never work in a sitcom today. Mrs. Livingston was sweet, quiet and calming and always ready to help to take care of Eddie and “Mr. Eddie’s Father”. Something that wouldn’t work now.
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3. Lurch from “The Addams Family.” Lurch the butler was there when you needed him. “You rang!?” Yes, he may have been a Frankenstein’s monster, but before that he was a butler. And nothing got in the way of his duties. Not only did he take care of “The Addams Family” house, the guy entertained as well, giving recitals on his harpsichord. There was none more loyal than Lurch. He had no problem getting tough either by physically carrying unwanted visitors off the premises. The Addams would even refer to Lurch’s day off, showing that he was actually there working.
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PHASE TWO: The Reign Of The Fun and Funny Housekeepers.
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4. Hazel the Maid from “Hazel.” In the show “Hazel”, the maid isn’t a supporting character. She’s headlining and getting all the best lines. Shirley Booth played Hazel Burke who takes care of the Baxter family. This was now a time when the maids and housekeepers had one more thing on their “To Do” list. And that was to be funny. They were still loyal like earlier TV hired help, but now they were also wacky and unpredictable. Every thing you want in someone in charge of your home. Hazel wasn’t just cooking and cleaning. She was a pal to the Baxters. In fact, she was also a better father to the TV son Harold. It’s Hazel that’s out there throwing passes to “Sport” because his dad is too busy. Hazel was a loose cannon. We were now in a time when the TV maid didn’t clean up messes, she made them.
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5. Alice from “The Brady Bunch.” Alice was the real comic relief on “The Brady Bunch”. In earlier shows, the TV hired help went home or retired for the night. But Alice was involved in every thing her TV family did. Now the housekeeper was more of a fun aunt. She even went on vacation with them. For what!? Did Mrs. Brady need someone to vacuum in Hawaii!? No. But they did need someone that could deliver a joke and that was Alice. She’s a housekeeper that does do slapstick. Whether it’s taking a paint brush to face or putting down her own sad love life, Alice is there for the Brady Bunch.
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6. Mrs. Garrett from “Diff’rent Strokes.” A change in attitude was happening with TV housekeepers and you could get a taste of it on “Diff’rent Strokes”. Mrs. Edna Garrett is the new housekeeper for the Drummond family. The last housekeeper died and left Mr. Drummond her two orphaned sons. And yes, this show was a comedy. Mrs. Garrett is fun and always ready to talk about her sexual desires. But she is also the last hold out for the silly housekeepers. Mrs. Garrett gives Mr. Drummond grief about all these kids she has to take care of now. She’s disgruntled and letting her boss know it. If the boys mess up the kitchen, she doesn’t start cleaning it, she shrieks “My kitchen!”. Mrs. Garrett is still doing jokes and is a fun pal for her TV kids, but another change in TV’s hired help was already underway.
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PHASE THREE: My Boss Is An Idiot And I’m Not Doing Any Work.
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7. Florence the Maid from “The Jeffersons.” Florence Johnston was one of those maids that could only be employed on television. She taunted her boss, George Jefferson, about being short and about being bald. She got up every morning with one thought in mind. Florence was going to make life miserable for George. At this time, the TV housekeeper was still getting the comedic lines, but they turned venomous. In earlier shows, Mr. French would have rather thrown himself off the balcony than to treat his employer this way. This took a dramatic turn in the TV boss / housekeeper relationship. Before there would be some mutual respect, some light hearted kidding. With Florence, she hated her stupid her boss and that meant no respect or housework was required.
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8. Benson from “Soap.” Benson, the butler on “Soap” took this attitude to new heights of “I hate this job and I hate this moron family”. Now the TV hired help wasn’t there to take care of the family. On the show, he was the enemy of the Tate Family. He would expose their secrets, insult them to their face and serve them bad food. Instead of working for them, it was more like Benson was holding them hostage. TV hired help had really changed going into the 80s. The joke in this show is that the person that’s supposedly being bossed around and being given orders, is really running the whole show and now the smartest person in the room.
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PHASE FOUR: Things Are Getting Sexy.
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9. Tony Micelli from “Who’s The Boss?” As we start to head towards the 1990’s, the TV hired help is the star of the show, but with one added twist. The housekeeper is now the sexy character on the show. The intro to “Who’s the Boss?” features Tony Danza shirtless in the shower. Imagine if they tried that with Hazel. TV hired help had come along way. The plot of these sitcoms went from insulting the maid’s coffee to sexual tension. Now viewers would sit back and wait season after season to see if Tony and Angela were going to hook up. Which they eventually did, but fans didn’t get a wedding on that show. That would be the next step for TV hired help. Marrying into the family.
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11. Fran Fine from “The Nanny” Played by sexy Fran Drescher, “The Nanny” flirted with people, certainly didn’t dress like a nanny and had dreams about being with her employer Maxwell Sheffield. The Nanny ends up making her dreams come true. She not only dates her boss, but marries him and they have twins together. Hopefully she was getting paid overtime. But this is now the new dynamic of TV hired help and their employers. There’s no longer any need for online dating site. Just hire a housekeeper, wait 5 seasons and then marry her.
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12. Daphne from “Frasier.” By this point, you really don’t even see the TV hired help doing any thing around the house anymore. As “Frasier” went on, Daphne Moon went from someone hired as a live in caregiver for Frasier’s dad to occasionally walking into a scene with a laundry basket. A laundry basket of her own clothes. The character of Daphne wasn’t about having a silly housekeeper, it was built on Niles Crane’s lust for her. And that could only mean one thing in this era of TV hired help. Time for a wedding. Niles and Daphne get married and we get to see their kids in a flash forward. No one ever rooted for Alice to end up with Mike Brady. But that was a different time.
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