Magic Mansion

Magic Mansion is an American sitcom that broadcast on the AFRTS television network from January 8, 1965, until June 1, 1968. Its weekly programs were televised live before a studio audience. The sitcom was transitional for television because it was one of the last live non-variety show broadcasts and one of the first to use the new medium of videotape. Air Force Staff Sergeants James Mortensen and David Castle created the show for family audiences in the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM). Sgt. Mortensen produced the sitcom, which was written and directed by US Army Warren Chaney.Internet Movie Database (Magic Mansion Plot Summary and Cast Data) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2001965/plotsummary "Magic Mansion" (1965) - Plot Summary]</ref> The music for the show's theme song was written by Corporal Larry Edisen. A multiple-camera setup format employing three cameras and a studio audience was used during production.
Premise
The main setting for the show was the Magic Mansion, a large rambling manor with unending rooms and secret passages. Although created independently of each other, Hollywood's Magic Castle had a similar themed premise of magic. Unlike Disney's Haunted Mansion (which opened in 1969), Magic Mansion was absent of ghosts, goblins or other haunted visitors. However the show did display a comradship with fellow magicians making guest appearances as did London, England's The Magic Circle. The program would frequently use time at the end of a broadcast to teach viewers a feat of magic or illusion.
The show’s lead known only as The Magician was portrayed by real-life magician/ventriloquist, Warren Chaney. Chaney worked with two ventriloquist dummies, Danny O’Kaye and Bedford Bulkley, both of whom were treated as real children during the production. Feats of legerdemain and stage magic were prominent in the programs but as with the show's ventriloquism, served only as a backdrop for the sitcom’s plot lines and stories.
Assisting the Magician was Harriett (Harriett Zorich), the Mansion’s chief organizer and scheduler Within months of each other, similar characters were introduced to American audiences half way around the globe as Herman Munster and The Addams Family. The three shows, created independent of each other, had one factor in common. They lasted two seasons and closed within months of the other.
Danny O’Kaye and Bedford Bulkley, the two ventriloquist figures appearing on the programs were obviously dummies, but were portrayed as real. The series often used a small child resembling Danny or Bedford to provide on-camera mobility.
The series was considered a trailblazer for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services because of its reach beyond regular broadcast venues. As one of the last sitcoms to broadcast live and one of the first to transition to videotape, Magic Mansion also became one of the last shows to produce fifty broadcasts a year.
Members of the cast dedicated to the entertainment of US military personnel and their families frequently entertained at military bases, organizations and clubs throughout Europe and Asia. Skits from the broadcast were often recreated to the delight of children from military families stationed at overseas bases and outposts. Since the broadcasts were live, family audiences were invited. Chaney would perform prior to the broadcasts as a warm-up comedian for the audiences and following the show, would spend time with the families and children, thanking them for attending.
Executive Producer, Air Force Staff Sergeant James Mortensen, liked the concept but felt that the show needed a live audience. He also wanted to add a clown as part of the regular cast. The idea of a friendly Frankenstein-like monster was Chaney’s. Originally, the show’s Co-Producer David Cameron, acted the role of Rathmore but was later replaced by Army Captain, Earl Klay. Klay and Chaney were long time friends and had roomed together during an earlier military assignment in Atlanta, Georgia.
The show’s costar Army nurse, 1st Lieutenant Harriett Zorich,
The show lampooned most current events of the time providing entertainment to adults as well as children. The show was an excellent vehicle for Chaney whose entertainment experience permitted him to carry out a double act as a ventriloquist, be mysterious as a magician or a straight man for guests on the show. The episodes were live with the military producing early kinescopes of the show for distribution. David Cameron, who produced the series' 120 episodes, continued working in television production until his retirement. In a 2011 online magazine article titled, The Mansion Closes, Cameron reminisced about the series and its final days, "In the years that followed, I retired from the Air Force and spent the rest of my life in television production for many of the major networks. I always wanted to replicate the feeling that I had when we did that show but never did. When the doors on Magic Mansion closed they were shut. An era in pioneering television had passed."
* The Magician (US Army Warren Chaney - the magician resided at a fictional mansion of unknown location. The role went to Captain Chaney following Chaney’s successful Army entertainment tour to multiple countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and the Middle East. During that period, he was both a performer and the officer in charge. AFRTS (the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) decided to cast him in the role following the tour.
* Harriett (1st Lieutenant Harriett Zorich) - the magician’s assistant and curator of the mansion. Zorich portrayed the harried coordinator for the Magic Mansion’s strange activities and even stranger guests. Ten actresses auditioned for the part before Zorich was signed. Zorich, herself an Army nurse, commented in a newspaper interview that she almost did not take the role because of her medical Army work schedule.
* Bedford (Bedford Bulkley) - was the second of the series’ ventriloquist figures. Bedford was the "ignorant" country-bumpkin of the group. Forever dumb, the figure played an important role in many of the show’s plot lines. By “getting it wrong” or conveying incorrect information, he could cause a plot line to turn instantly and go in another direction. As with Danny O’Kay, the Bedford character was operated by magician/ventriloquist, Warren Chaney. In the series, the clown was merely identified as Lounsberry.
* Rathmore (Army Captain Earle Klay) - was a Frankenstein like character who lived at Magic Mansion. Unlike the real Frankenstein’s monster, Rathmore was a tall lumber loveable character always willing to help out but usually bumbling in nature. A year later, a similar character named Herman Munster would appear half way around the world in another sit-com series, The Munsters. Klay replaced the series co-producer who portrayed the character in a few of the series opening episodes. However, cast and crew recollections are close to the military records and it appears that approximately 120 shows were broadcast.<ref name="imdb1"/><ref name="swapsale1996"/>
During the final season, Sgt. Mortenson pushed to have the show filmed using newly developed color video cameras. However, owing to the high costs, this idea was rejected.<ref name="americamovie1989"/><ref name="swapsale1996"/>

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