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The Double Life of Henry Phyfe

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The Double Life of Henry Phyfe
GenreSitcom
Created byLuther Davis
StarringRed Buttons
Fred Clark
Parley Baer
Zeme North
Theme music composerVic Mizzy
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes17
Production
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesLuther Davis Productions
Filmways Television
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseJanuary 13 (1966-01-13) –
May 5, 1966 (1966-05-05)

The Double Life of Henry Phyfe is a 17-episode American sitcom broadcast on ABC from January 13 to September 1, 1966,[1][2] and starring Red Buttons.[citation needed]

Plot

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Henry Phyfe (Buttons) was a mild-mannered accountant, until circumstances forced the American Counter Intelligence Service (CIS) to recruit him to impersonate a foreign agent named U-31, who had been killed in an automobile accident. The agent looked just like Phyfe, but the two men's personalities were drastically different. That severe contrast laid the groundwork for many of the episodes.

Phyfe's girlfriend, Judy Kimball, her mother Florence and his boss at the accounting firm, Mr. Hamble, were all unaware of Henry's secret life, with Gerald Hannahan, the regional director of the agency the lone person to know the secret. The characters of the girlfriend and mother-in-law were phased out halfway through the abbreviated run.

A recurring plot line was that U-31 had a wide range of skills (golf, samurai sword fighting, etc) which Phyfe would attempt to learn (generally unsuccessfully) just before his mission.

Cast

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Episodes

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No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date
1"Phyfe and a Filly"UnknownUnknownJanuary 13, 1966 (1966-01-13)
2"Phyfe on a Ferry"UnknownUnknownJanuary 20, 1966 (1966-01-20)
3"Whatever Happened to Yesterday?"Leslie H. MartinsonBen StarrJanuary 27, 1966 (1966-01-27)
4"Phyfe and the Models"UnknownUnknownFebruary 3, 1966 (1966-02-03)
5"The Reluctant Lover"Howard MorrisLeo RifkinFebruary 10, 1966 (1966-02-10)
6"Phyfe's First Felony"Charles R. RondeauRich Eustis & Al RogersFebruary 17, 1966 (1966-02-17)
7"The Unfriendly Persuasion"Leslie H. MartinsonStory by : Charles Marion & Monroe Manning
Teleplay by : Phil Leslie and William Raynor & Myles Wilder
February 24, 1966 (1966-02-24)
8"Phyfe and the Code Book"UnknownUnknownMarch 3, 1966 (1966-03-03)
9"The Old Flame"UnknownUnknownMarch 10, 1966 (1966-03-10)
10"Operation Henry Phyfe"UnknownUnknownMarch 17, 1966 (1966-03-17)
11"Visit to Washington"UnknownUnknownMarch 24, 1966 (1966-03-24)
12"Phyfe Takes a Wife"UnknownUnknownMarch 31, 1966 (1966-03-31)
13"Jail Bird Phyfe"Howard MorrisSloan Nibley & Bill LutzApril 7, 1966 (1966-04-07)
14"Spend a Million Phyfe"UnknownUnknownApril 14, 1966 (1966-04-14)
15"A Shot in the Dark"UnknownUnknownApril 21, 1966 (1966-04-21)
16"Phyfe Goes Skiing"UnknownUnknownApril 28, 1966 (1966-04-28)
17"Will the Real U-31 Try to Stand Up?"UnknownUnknownMay 5, 1966 (1966-05-05)

Overview

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Actor Peter Bonerz (The Bob Newhart Show) had auditioned for the role of Henry Phyfe before Red Buttons was selected.[3]

Buttons noted that, unlike Agent Maxwell Smart in NBC's new hit Get Smart, his character was shy, used no gadgets in his work, and was an impostor, not an actual agent. Phyfe's CIS boss was played by veteran character actor Fred Clark, who bore a superficial physical resemblance to Smart's "Chief" played by Edward Platt.

The show marked Buttons' return to weekly television after his variety show had ended a three-year run in 1955. During the interim, Buttons found roles in 15 different motion pictures, including an Academy Award-winning performance in the 1957 Marlon Brando film, Sayonara.

The concept of an "every man" recruited to impersonate someone of importance has been used for many years in literature (for example, The Prisoner of Zenda). A few months after the series' cancellation, the animated film, The Man Called Flintstone, featured the same premise as Henry Phyfe, while another TV series, The Man Who Never Was, debuted in the fall of 1966 with the premise reversed as a spy found himself impersonating a businessman who had been killed.

References

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  1. ^ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  2. ^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  3. ^ "Peter Bonerz on auditioning for (but not getting) the lead in The Double Life of Henry Phyfe". Television Academy.
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