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The Don Knotts Show (1970-71)
 Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by: Rina Fox
references:
TV Guide / Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive
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THE DON KNOTTS SHOW
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NBC
Tuesdays at 8:00 (15Sep1970 - 6Jul1971)
Executive producer Nick Vanoff / Producer William O Harbach
Director Norman Abbott
Writers George Balzer, Sam Perrin, Elias Davis, David Pollock, Sid Green,
Dick Hollis (possibly Dick Hills) , Roger Price, Chuck Stewart, Ken Hecht
(Dick Hills was Sid Green's writing partner, more famous in the UK
writing for British comedians Morecambe and Wise)

US Comedy Variety series 1970-71  24 episodes x 60 min

Host Don Knotts

regulars
Elaine Joyce
Kenneth Mars
Gary Burghoff
Frank Welker
Mickey Deems
John Dehner
Eddie Carroll
Bob Williams and his dog Louie

Nick Perito Orchestra

A regular segment of the show was the sketch "The Front Porch" in which Don and his guest star would sit
in rocking chairs and exchange "live changing philosophies".

Don Knotts - Archive Interview Part 1 of 7
Don Knotts - Archive Interview Part 2 of 7
Don Knotts - Archive Interview Part 3 of 7
Don Knotts - Archive Interview Part 4 of 7
Don Knotts - Archive Interview Part 5 of 7
Don Knotts - Archive Interview Part 6 of 7
Don Knotts - Archive Interview Part 7 of 7

############ The Don Knotts Show #############
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NBC Tuesdays at 8:00pm (some Sources say 7:30-8:30pm ET) (15Sep1970 - 6Jul1971)

[01] The Don Knotts Show
15Sep1970 NBC Tue
with regulars
Elaine Joyce, Bob Williams and his dog Louie.
guests
Eydie Gorme
Anthony Newley
The Carpenters
and dozens of familiar characters from "Disney on Parade".
Highlights:
Chet Huntley makes a cameo appearance at the opening of Don's program.
Eydie Gorme and Anthony Newley offer a medley of songs.
Eydie sings "My World is Getting Smaller Every Day".
Anthony Newley sings "There's No Such Thing As Love".
The Carpenters perform "Close to You".
Don and Elaine duet with "One More Time".
Don and Anthony Newley do a ventriloquist act with a dummy as Tony gives Don a few pointers.
Walt Disney characters make their debut; including Alice in Wonderland portrayed by Merilee Magnuson,
the Mad Hatter and Mickey Mouse of course.
A sketch with Don buying a "killer dog" to protect him goes totally awry when the dog tries to lick everyone to death.
Andy Williams pops up at the show's closing.

[02] The Don Knotts Show
22Sep1970 NBC Tue
with regulars
Elaine Joyce, Bob Williams and his dog Louie, Kenneth Mars.
guests
Dan Blocker
Leslie Uggams
Tommy Roe
Highlights:
Leslie Uggams sings "Everybody's Talkin'".
Tommy Roe performs "We Can Make Music".
Don tries his tried and true technique of first aid on Dan Blocker, his patient.
In a Western sketch, Dan plays a Bad guy bully intimidating Don, the saloon bartender.
Don plays a loner who never stops bragging until he gets help from Dan.
*NOTE: Kenneth Mars nearly steals the show from Don.

[03] The Don Knotts Show
29Sep1970 NBC Tue
guests
Chuck Connors
Mac Davis
The Lennon Sisters
Highlights:
In "The Porch" sketch Don and Chuck sip apple juice and discuss drunkenness.
In another skit Chuck lets dynamic Don take charge in a lifeboat.
In a restaurant skit Chuck watches Don "protecting his plate".
Don attends a banquet and can't find his seat, and tries to teach Louie, the Wonder Dog tricks.
Mac Davis sings "In the Ghetto" and "Friend, Lover, Woman, Wife".

[04] The Don Knotts Show
06Oct1970 NBC Tue
guests
Jill St. John
Robert Morse
The Association
Highlights:
Don conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra with an assist from Robert Morse and Nick Perito and his orchestra
to a version of "Peter and the Wolf".
Robert Morse dusts off a show stopper, "I Believe in You" from his hit musical "How to Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying".
Jill St. John heralds the winter season in her singing rendition of "Snowbird".
Jill joins Robert, Don and Elaine Joyce in a "blind date" sketch.
Another comedy sketch is about a meeting for those who have successfully quit smoking.
Don's attempt to find a seat in the theater and a visit with a modern cultural professor.
The Association perform.

[05] The Don Knotts Show
13Oct1970 NBC Tue
guests
Irene Ryan
Bobby Sherman
Jack Weston
Ann Elder
The Tapestry, a singing group making their first television appearance.
Highlights:
Elaine Joyce as Don's girlfriend persuades him not to cancel his show merely because his own hometown didn't watch it.
Bobby Sherman sings "Julie, Do You Love Me".
Irene Ryan represents the "Women's Lib" in a subway sketch with Don and Jack as unsuspecting victims of Irene's bitterness.
Ann Elder makes a special appearance to aid women's equality.
Other songs include "Make Your Own Kind of Music", "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" and "Hard to Handle".

[06] The Don Knotts Show
20Oct1970 NBC Tue
guests
Dennis Weaver
Lesley Ann Warren
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
Highlights:
Dennis and Don are in a sketch about a "rare plant" and also portrays a hotel desk clerk in another sketch in
which Don finds a horse in his bed.
Dennis and Don do "The Front Porch" sketch on moon rocks.
Lesley Ann gets a few lessons in disguise from Don and sings "Goodbye Joe".
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles perform "Tears of a Clown" and "The Long and Winding Road".

[07] The Don Knotts Show
27Oct1970 NBC Tue
guests
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
Chuck Connors
Highlights:
Chuck and Don talk about girls in "The Front Porch" sketch.
Don is a panicked expectant father with Chuck calming him down.
Don and Elaine are in a sketch about a couple dealing with boarder problem named Chuck.
Roy Rogers sings "Money Can't Buy Love".
Dale Evans sings "Snowbird".
They both do Western medley featuring Roy's yodeling.

[--] The Don Knotts Show
03Nov1970
pre-empted for election coverage

[08] The Don Knotts Show
10Nov1970 NBC Tue (rerun 20Apr71)
guests
Bill Cosby
Flip Wilson
Florence Henderson
Highlights:
Bill Cosby plays a Baseball manager pulling pitcher Don Knotts out in the first inning.
Bill and Don chat about investments in "The Front Porch" sketch.
Bill takes Don on a tour of heaven.
Don in an "Airplane Mime" is joined by Bill and Flip.
Don lectures on sex education to young ladies.
Florence sings two songs.
Glenn Ash strums his guitar and Don plays on his ukulele.

[09] The Don Knotts Show
17Nov1970 NBC Tue
with regulars Elaine Joyce, Bob Williams (and Louie), Eddy Carroll, Frank Welker and the Nick Perito Orchestra
guests
Andy Griffith
Jo Ann Pflug
The Celebration
Highlights:
Andy cannont divorce Don from the Barney Fife image and joins him in a "Front Porch" discussion of modern radio.
Andy gives Don a lesson in square dance calling and listens to Don recite the Gettysburg Address.
Andy in a cafeteria sketch gets lessons from Don on how to succeed in a singles bar.
Jo Ann Pflug hears Don's impression of her movie hit, "M-A-S-H" and sings "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"
and "Goin' Out of My Head".
Jo Ann and Don do a prison reform sketch.

[10] The Don Knotts Show
24Nov1970 NBC Tue
guests
Donald O'Connor
Barbara Feldon
Freda Payne
Highlights:
Donald O'Connor dances in a "Top Hat and Tails" routine and portrays Don's boss in a restaurant sketch.
Donald and Don do a pantomime sketch in a woman's dress shop.
Barbara Feldon sings a medley including "Look at That Face" and "The Look of Love".
Freda Payne sings "Band of Gold" and "Deeper and Deeper".
In a sketch Barbara appears in a Parisian seting with American tourist Don Knotts.

[11] The Don Knotts Show
01Dec1970 NBC Tue
guests
Mama Cass Elliot
Steve Lawrence
Louis Nye
Highlights:
Don introduces a new character in "The Small World of Jesse Fender" sketch.
Louis Nye leads off with his version of a U.N. interpreter, a linguistic wonder in a sketch with Don.
*NOTE: Bob Sweeney was hired for Don's show his reputation as TV fix-it-man tries to turnaround the floundering ratings.

[--] The Don Knotts Show
08Dec1970
pre-empted for Special

[12] The Don Knotts Show
15Dec1970 NBC Tue
guests
Raymond Burr
Jimmy Durante
Connie Stevens
Highlights:
Jimmy Durante asks for help in a Carnegie Hall performance of the old "Inka-Dinka-Doo".
Connie Stevens gives husband Don Knotts a rough time in one skit and plays the mother of a youngster Don is
about to sneak into an adult movie theater.
Shipping line magnate Raymond Burr calls his designer Don on the carpet to explain the sinking of the Titanic.
Don as Jesse Fender is a security man for the public library.

[13] The Don Knotts Show
22Dec1970 NBC Tue
guests
Gina Lollobrigida
Van Johnson
The Dillards
Highlights:
In a trial sketch, defendant Gina works her charms and magic on prosecuting attorney Van Johnson.
In another sketch Gina gives Don a hard time in a foreign movie takeoff.
Don and Van play a couple of parachuters in a skit.
Don plays his character Jesse Fender in another sketch.
The Dillards perform "Tennessee Breakdown" and "Dooley".

[14] The Don Knotts Show
29Dec1970 NBC Tue
guests
Sid Caesar
Doug McClure
Lulu
Highlights:
Doug plays a cowboy long enough to demonstrate his singing ability.
Caesar plays a sheik in a silent movie routine with Don.
Don receives cooking lessons from Sid.
Doug and Don are brave western soldiers in a spoof.
Don adds another chapter to the life of Jesse Fender, library security officer.
Lulu sings "I Got Life" and does a duet with Doug.

[15] The Don Knotts Show
05Jan1971 NBC Tue
guests
Sebastian Cabot
Louis Nye
The Lennon Sisters
Highlights:
Sebastian and Don play off each other like the North and South Poles.
The Lennon Sisters sing "Yellow River" and "Come Saturday Morning".
Don as Jesse Fender, the dauntless defender of the public library finds himself responsible for a missing $40,000 book.
Louis and Don do a slapstick version of a cheap foreign movie.
In another sketch Don and Louis play cops in pursuit of a purse-snatcher Sebastian Cabot.

[16] The Don Knotts Show
12Jan1971NBC Tue
guests
Lloyd Bridges
and his sons Jeff and Beau in their first television appearance together.
singer Nancy Wilson
Tommy Roe
Highlights:
The Bridges family and Don form a barbershop quartet for a rendition of "Lida Rose".
Lloyd helps Don with final funeral arrangements and Beau gives Don a flying lesson.
Nancy sings "I've Got Love" and "Joe".
Tommy performs "We Could Make Music".

[17] The Don Knotts Show
19Jan1971 NBC Tue
guests
Bill Cosby
Highlights:
Bill introduces a rare bird which mates every six years.
In the "Front Porch" sketch, Bill and Don discuss computer dating.
A crowded elevator scene reveals that one of them has forgotten to dress completely.
In another sketch, Don and Bill take over a small band in a bar to render "Honeysuckle Rose".
Elaine Joyce does her first song and dance on the show to the tune of "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma"
accompanied by dancers and Nick Perito and his orchestra.

[18] The Don Knotts Show
26Jan1971 NBC Tue (rerun 02Mar71)
guests
Tommy Smothers
Gwen Verdon
The King Cousins
Highlights:
Tommy Smothers is on the show because he believes Don is his brother Dick.
Tommy dishes up some organic food for Don in a sketch at a health bar.
Gwen performs "I Won't Dance".
Gwen and Don duet with "Do You Love Me?"
Gwen plays Don's cleaning lady who doesn't understand English and her performance is complete with castanets
and flamenco dancing.
Gwen sings and dances "It's a Fine, Fine Day".
The King Cousins perform "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and join Don, Tommy and Gwen in "Mame".
*NOTE: Episode might have been postponed until March 2, 1971 instead of a rerun.

[19] The Don Knotts Show
02Feb1971 NBC Tue
guests
Bob Newhart
singer Mary Costa
The Dillards
Highlights:
Newhart's monologue describes a man who is trying to return Christmas toys to a department store in April.
Bob portrays a man in charge of a dancing studio who sells Don the complete course.
Bob joins Don and Elaine Joyce in a police sketch.
Mary Costa sings the aria "Ah, Je Veux Vivre".
Mary and Don duet with "Why Do I Love You?"
The Dillards play and sing "One A.M." and are joined by Mary in "Ebo Walker".

[--] The Don Knotts Show
09Feb1971 NBC Tue
pre-empted for the award winning special "It Couldn't Be Done" about the men who created such outstanding
projects as the Mount Rushmore Memorial, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Panama Canal,
the Hoover Dam and the Holland Tunnel. Lee Marvin is the host and narrator.

[--] The Don Knotts Show
16Feb1971
pre-empted for an NBC news special on "The Everglades" from former Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel.

[--] The Don Knotts Show
23Feb1971
pre-empted for Bill Cosby Special

[--] The Don Knotts Show
02Mar1971 (rerun from 26Jan71)
guests
Tommy Smothers
Gwen Verdon
The King Cousins

[20] The Don Knotts Show
09Mar1971 NBC Tue (rerun 22Jun71)
guests
Michael Landon
John Davidson
Gloria Loring
Charles Nelson Reilly
Highlights:
Michael Landon portrays a hometown hero who returns home but can't remember a little guy (Don) who keeps tagging
after hime.
Charles Nelson Reilly is an NBC tour guide who brings tourists to Don's set but has trouble finding any stars.
"The Small World of Jesse Fender" finds Linda (Elaine Joyce) dropping Jesse to date their boss.
John sings "Make Your Own Kind of Music".
Gloria does a song then duets with John.

[21] The Don Knotts Show
16Mar1971 NBC Tue
guests
Richard Crenna
Juliet Prowse
Doug Kershaw

[22] The Don Knotts Show
23Mar1971 NBC Tue
guests
Barbara McNair
Edie Adams
Louis Nye
and The Mob
Highlights:
Edie sings a medley then joins Louis for a duet.
Edie plays Don's wife in a sketch and appears as Don's date in another sketch where he tries to prove
"he's not like all the others" when he dates a go-go dancer.

[--] The Don Knotts Show
30Mar1971
pre-empted

[23] The Don Knotts Show
06Apr1971 NBC Tue
guests
Tony Randall
Claudine Longet
The Three Degrees

[24] The Don Knotts Show
13Apr1971 NBC Tue
guests
Steve Allen
Tom Poston
Louis Nye
The Establishment
*NOTE: If this edition of The Don Knotts Show had been scheduled earlier, perhaps it wouldn't have been the
last new show of a cancelled series.
It's a reunion of the old Steve Allen gang — Don. Tom Poston and Louis Nye — and they prove once again what
a really hilarious group they are. All the old bits are here: Man in the Street interviews (about X-rated films),
Crazy Smots. the Allen Bureau of Standards (with Don, Louis and "Tom as potted judges testing wine*.
Steve as a Late Show pitchman (with such films as "Lassie Takes the Pill" and "Tugboat Annie Goes Topless" 1
and a desk and chair discussion of the good old days, showing some great highlights.

[--] The Don Knotts Show
20Apr1971 (rerun from 10Nov70)
guests
Bill Cosby
Florence Henderson
Glenn Ash

[--] The Don Knotts Show
22Jun1971 (rerun from 09Mar71)
guests
Michael Landon
Johnny Carson
Gloria Loring
Charles Nelson Reilly

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