| Genre: | Sitcom |
| Creator: | Cy Howard |
| Starring: | Eddie Foy Jr. Victor Maddern Lynn Loring Judy Carne Flip Mark Dennis Waterman Diana Chesney |
| Theme Music Composer: | Cyril J. Mockridge |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 27 |
| Executive Producer: | Cy Howard |
| Camera: | Multi-camera |
| Runtime: | 45 - 48 minutes (Season 1) 22 - 24 minutes (Season 2) |
| Company: | Cy Howard Productions Desilu Productions |
| Channel: | CBS |
Fair Exchange is an American television sitcom that ran from September 21, 1962 to December 28, 1962 and from March 28, 1963 to September 19, 1963 on CBS.[1] It starred Judy Carne.[2] [3]
Eddie Walker and Thomas Finch were World War II veterans and old friends who decided to have their teenage daughters live in each other's households for a year because Eddie's daughter Patty wanted to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
While Patty lived in London with Tommy, his wife Sybil, and their son Neville, Tommy's daughter Heather lived with Eddie, his wife Dorothy, and their son, Tommy, in New York City.
The show focused on the joys and the difficulties that Heather and Patty experienced as they lived in each other's families.
Heather had troubles in trying to deal with a less formality ridden way of life in New York City and in the States, while Patty was trying to deal with the more formal and more tradition-emphasized way of life in London.
The fathers had their own share of difficulties in trying to help the daughters to adjust, while Dorothy and Sybil, while also having to adjust with different girls living in their households, were able to take it more in stride.
Fair Exchange replaced Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone.[4] The series was "an unusual experiment in full-hour comedy",[5] and "television's first one-hour situation comedy".[6] Early reviews of the program were favorable, but its ratings were not good.
Some sources say that after mail protested CBS's decision to cancel the show, the network revived Fair Exchange in a half-hour format, but CBS announced on November 30, 1962, that the program would return in the shorter format. The network had already "agreed to film 13 half-hour episodes for showing next spring."
Again the series failed in the ratings and was finally cancelled. The Twilight Zone would replace Fair Exchange mid-season, albeit in an hour-long format. Preliminary plans had called for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour to replace it.
Episodes were filmed in Hollywood and in England. The 1962 episodes were broadcast 9:30-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Fridays. The 1963 episodes were broadcast 7:30-8 p.m. ET on Thursdays. Competing shows in 1962 included 77 Sunset Strip on ABC and Don't Call Me Charlie! and The Jack Paar Show on NBC. In 1963, the competition included The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and Wide Country on NBC.[7]
Cy Howard was the executive producer, and Ed Feldman was the producer. Jerry Thorpe was the director.