We almost had a Mr. Belvedere TV Show in the 1950’s and 1960’s?

If you enjoy the TV show, Mr. Belvedere, you might be surprised to learn that the show that we came to love in the eighties was actually the 4th attempt to bring the characters to the small screen. That series was based on a film trilogy that starred Clifton Webb as the Lynn Belvedere, and those films were a big enough hit that they thought it would be a natural hit on the television.

They produced a pilot in 1956, followed by a second pilot in 1959 that starred Hans Conried, who among many things was the voice of Captain Hook in Disney’s version of Peter Pan. Neither of those worked and in 1965 a third pilot was produced. This one starred Victor Borge, the Danish comedian, conductor, and pianist.

Sadly I have not been able to locate any of these pilots, but if they are somewhere between the eighties series and the original films, I think I would enjoy them a lot.

For more info about Mr. Belvedere, check out the Retroist Mr. Belvedere podcast.