The "Bob Commings Show" (retitled for syndication, "Love That Bob") had eroticism, patriotism, and family values. The character of Bob Collins was a World War II veteran who was living with and supporting his war-widowed sister and her college student son, Chuck. Bob Collins was both a shameless, one could say addicted, womanizer, and an admirable role model and mentor for his nephew Chuck, played by Dwayne Hickman. "The Bob Cummings Show" was ahead of its time, representative of its time, and influential on its time. It was especially influential on a lot of subsequent shows. "The Dobbie Gillis Show", for instance was almost a direct rip-off of the "Bob Cummings Show" with Dwayne Hickman doing a recreation of his Chuck character with a lot of Bob Collins mixed in. In the "Bob Cummings Show" Dwayne Hickman as Chuck would try to date one of Uncle Bob's models, such as the French bombshell Collette duBois, played by Debra Paget's sister, Lisa Gaye. Collette would consult Bob, asking him about the idea of accepting a date with college student Chuck, "Don't you think it would be like you Americans say, 'stealing the bed?'. " A bit stunned at the expression, Bob would do one of his "takes" and then gasp, "You mean 'robbing the cradle?'" In "Dobbie Gillis" Dwayne Hickman got an awful lot of mileage out of using the same Bob Commings type gasp to yell, "That's Dobbie! With a B!" every time some character called him "Dopie." And Hickman as Dobbie was forever doing a take and responding with some gasp in response to some remark made by either Maynard G. Krebs or Zelda. Zelda, of course, was a rip-off of the Shultzy character on the "Bob Commings Show." Part of the charm of the Commings series was in its predictability of situation and the way the characters played off of one another. College student Chuck would periodically stop by Uncle Bob's photo studio, become ga-ga at the string of gorgeous models parading in and out of the studio in various stages of undress, and stutter, "Ah, ah, Uncle Bob, I feel guilty using your money to go to college. I think it is time I learned a trade. Like, ah, photography." To this, Uncle Bob would chuckle and respond, "No, Chuck, you need to get an education so that you don't end up a tradesman like your uncle. You continue in school and become a doctor." Whether he realizes it or not, I think the American who most of all refined and capitalized on the "take" and on characters playing off one another as influenced by the Commings show was Johnny Carson who captivated the American night audience for 25 years with jokes, takes, and character banter which to me, all seemed to originate on "The Bob Cummings Show."
Review of The Bob Cummings Show
