Mr. Belvedere

Mr. Belvedere is indeed a sleeper hit in the 1980's. I love this show very much. The story is simple. Mr. Belvedere is a professional housekeeper (or butler) who traveled all over the world and finally landed in a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA. He happens to be a great problem solver too. I love this show very much. In fact this show was going to be cancelled but the people have spoken and ran from 1985 to 1990. Here is an interesting fact: Three cast members appeared in all of the episodes. Ilene Graff, Christopher Hewitt and Brice Beckham. Please forgive me if I spell their names incorrectly. I love all the cast members. The DVDs are extremely popular, well...at least in my mind. I have all four seasons so far. I highly recommend everyone to get all four seasons of Mr. Belvedere. I hope that seasons five and six come out soon.moreless

Though the show had some humorous part to it, it seemed to be a take off on one show or another. The humor was good at times but not outstanding. It may have been the time frame it was in as there were many show's of it's kind. The theory would be an interesting concept to try again now when there are not so many shows of it's kind airing.

Can a horse talk? Of course not. But in this show the creators had you believing that a horse could talk. The show was interesting and entertaining but to unrealistic to have a long running series. The funniest part of the show was the interaction between the horse and the humans and his thoughts that remained unheard by them. Not a real block buster but still it had some funny parts.moreless

I loved the character of Lynn Belvedere. He brought so much class and statliness to the family he patiently worked for and mentored. I loved Wesley's relationship with him - tense and rebellious, yet loving, as he grew to appreciate Mr. B's old-world, austere disciplinary ways. Everyone needed Mr. B, and way down deep inside, Mr. B needed to be needed. The shows were creative and funny with good plots and resolutions. The character of Mr. B contrasted with that of Bull in a China Shop dad George was priceless.moreless

There was a reason why I ended up seeing every show aired though. I thought this show was mildly entertaining when I was in school, and it was on at a convenient time as well every day on one of our local stations.

Sure, the show didn't have alot of substance and it CERTAINLY didn't have any stars in it. That is, unless you include Bob Uecker in the "star" category. Anybody who is a baseball fan (like me) or a fan of the movie Major League (Again, like me) may think he's a valuable addition to a show. He had his moments and generally did a good job portraying the role of the father. Christopher Hewitt also did pretty well in the role of the butler, Mr. Belvedere. The rest of the cast was pretty much throwaways. The little kid Wesley was a pretty annoying character actually, and the "very special" episode with him getting touched in some very private places was pretty cheesy as well.

I remember watching this show in syndication fondly and I have wished they would bring it back. I don't think that'll happen since this show never was really popular when it was in first run episodes, and certainly not in syndication. I suppose it just didn' thave the star power, nor the appeal of other 80s sitcoms. However, I still found it to be mildly funny, albiet not outrageously funny, and hope to see it again sometime.

(Don't hold your breath for a Mr. Belvedere DVD set any time soon.)moreless