History Series / MyMotherTheCar

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MyMotherTheCar.gif
[[caption: [[ExpositoryThemeTune A 1928 Porter; that's my Mother, dear.]]]]

[[caption: [[ExpositoryThemeTune A 1928 Porter; That's my Mother, dear.]]]]

-->''Everybody knows in the second life we all come back sooner or later,\\
As anything from a pussycat to a man-eating alligator.\\
Well you all may think my story is more fiction than it's fact,\\
But believe it or not, my Mother dear, decided she'd come back,\\
As a car.\\
She's my very own guiding star.\\

She helps me through\\
Everything I do\\
And I'm so glad she's here.\\
My Mother the Car. My Mother the Car.''

[[caption: [[ExpositoryThemeTune A 1928 Porter;\\ That's my Mother, dear.]]]]

[[caption: [[ExpositoryThemeTune A 1928 Porter; That's my Mother, dear.]]]]

[[caption: [[ExpositoryThemeTune A 1928 Porter; --That's my Mother, dear.]]]]

[[caption: [[ExpositoryThemeTune A 1928 Porter; That's my Mother, dear.]]]]

[[caption: [[ExpositoryThemeTune A 1928 Porter; That's my Mother, dear.]]]]

[[caption: A 1928 Porter. That's my Mother, dear.]]

[[caption: A 1928 Porter.
That's my Mother, dear.
She helps me through,
everything I do,
and I'm so glad she's here.]]

[[caption: A 1928 Porter. That's my Mother, dear. She helps me through, everything I do, and I'm so glad she's here.]]

[[caption: A 1928 Porter. That's my Mother, dear. She helps me through, everything I do, and I'm so glad she's here. [[TitleDrop My Mother The Car]].]]

[[caption: Mother.]]

In 1965, Creator/{{NBC}} put a show on opposite ''Series/{{Combat}}'' and ''Series/{{Rawhide}}'' about the antics of lawyer Dave Crabtree ([[Series/{{Coach}} Jerry Van Dyke]]), a typically hapless sitcom family man who discovers that his mother has returned from the grave as a 1928 Porter open touring automobile. Most plots involved Dave getting into situations with his family, neighbors, and the hazards of owning a [[TheAllegedCar vintage]] car. It found a recurring villain in Captain Manzini, an obsessed automobile collector who wanted to acquire Mother to complete his collection. (Apparently it was the only make and model of the car to exist.) There is no real-life "1928 Porter," the company was meant to be fictional and the actual car used on-set was one of two variations of a Ford Model T. One version was made for normal driving shots. The other was a "stunt" car, built to be driven by a hidden driver (to make it appear like a SentientVehicle). The "stunt" version was modified by the then-ubiquitous George Barris, who also did the [[Music/TheMonkees Monkeemobile]] and the 1960s [[Series/{{Batman}} Batmobile]]. Both cars survive. The normal version is owned by a fan, and the "stunt" car is on display at the Star Cars Museum in Tennessee.

In 1965, Creator/{{NBC}} put a show on opposite ''Series/{{Combat}}'' and ''Series/{{Rawhide}}'' about the antics of lawyer Dave Crabtree ([[Series/{{Coach}} Jerry Van Dyke]]), a typically hapless sitcom family man who discovers that his mother has returned from the grave as a 1928 Porter open touring automobile. Most plots involved Dave getting into situations with his family, neighbors, and the hazards of owning a [[TheAllegedCar vintage]] car. It found a recurring villain in Captain Manzini, an obsessed automobile collector who wanted to acquire Mother to complete his collection. (Apparently it was the only make a model of the car to exist.) There is no real-life "1928 Porter," the company was meant to be fictional and the actual car used on-set was one of two variations of a Ford Model T. One version was made for normal driving shots. The other was a "stunt" car, built to be driven by a hidden driver (to make it appear like a SentientCar). The "stunt" version was modified by the then-ubiquitous George Barris, who also did the [[Music/TheMonkees Monkeemobile]] and the 1960s [[Series/{{Batman}} Batmobile]]. Both cars survive. The normal version is owned by a fan, and the "stunt" car is on display at the Star Cars Museum in Tennessee.

In 1965, Creator/{{NBC}} put a show on opposite ''Series/{{Combat}}'' and ''Series/{{Rawhide}}'' about the antics of lawyer Dave Crabtree ([[Series/{{Coach}} Jerry Van Dyke]]), a typically hapless sitcom family man who discovers that his mother has returned from the grave as a 1928 Porter open touring automobile. There is no real-life "1928 Porter," the company was meant to be fictional and the actual car used on-set was a Ford Model T modified by the then-ubiquitous George Barris, who also did the [[Music/TheMonkees Monkeemobile]] and the 1960s [[Series/{{Batman}} Batmobile]].

The show was critically lambasted and caused NBC to be something of a laughingstock for green-lighting it in the first place. The {{ratings}} were horrid across the board, except among the younger {{demographics}} who were more inclined to watch something silly than the two serious dramas competing in the time-slot. But, back then, networks only looked at total number of watchers in deciding what shows to renew. (And at the time, most households only owned one [=TV=] and the parents got to decide what to watch, limiting viewers further.)

* InvincibleClassicCar

* SentientVehicle: Sort of zigzagged. The car moves by itself sometimes, in addition to the Mother talking through the radio. Dave clearly is driving it and controlling it other times.

* TheyFightCrime
* WhatAPieceOfJunk: Everyone except Dave and his family treat it like TheAllegedCar. It actually performs rather well. This is likely aided by Dave taking it to the mechanic ''very'' often.

The show was critically lambasted and caused NBC to be something of a laughingstock for green-lighting it in the first place. The {{ratings}} were horrid across the board, except among the children and young-adult [[{{Demographics}} demographic]] who were more inclined to watch something silly than the two serious dramas competing in the time-slot. But, back then, networks only looked at total number of watchers in deciding what shows to renew.

Despite this, NBC left the show on for an entire 30-episode season, likely to burn off the episodes and recoup some sort of investment (a common tactic in television).

* TemporalParadox: How does a dead mother get reincarnated into a car that ''already exists?'' Presumably, the writers took "reincarnated" to mean "got stuck in a car and possessed it".

The show was critically lambasted and caused NBC to be something of a laughingstock for green-lighting it in the first place. The {{ratings}} were horrid across the board, except among the children and young-adult demographic who were more inclined to watch something silly than the two serious dramas competing in the time-slot. But, back then, networks only looked at total number of watchers in deciding what shows to renew.

In 1965, Creator/{{NBC}} put a show on opposite ''Series/{{Combat}}'' and ''Series/{{Rawhide}}'' about the antics of lawyer Dave Crabtree ([[Series/{{Coach}} Jerry Van Dyke]]), a typically hapless sitcom family man who discovers that his mother has returned from the grave as a 1928 Porter open touring automobile. There is no real-life "1928 Porter," the company was meant to be fictional and the actual car used on-set was a Ford Model T modified by the then-ubiquitous George Barris, who also did the [[Music/TheMonkees Monkeemobile]] and the 1960s [[Series/{{Batman}} Batmobile]]).

The show was critically lambasted and caused NBC to be something of a laughingstock for green-lighting it in the first place. The {{ratings}} were horrid across the board, except among the children and young-adult demographic who were more inclined to watch something silly than the two competing serious dramas in the time-slot. But, back then, networks only looked at total number of watchers, which was still low.

In 1965, Creator/{{NBC}} put a show on opposite ''{{Combat}}'' and ''Series/{{Rawhide}}'' about the antics of lawyer Dave Crabtree ([[Series/{{Coach}} Jerry Van Dyke]]), a typically hapless sitcom family man who discovers that his mother has returned from the grave as a 1928 Porter open touring automobile. There is no real-life "1928 Porter," the company was meant to be fictional and the actual car used on-set was a Ford Model T modified by the then-ubiquitous George Barris, who also did the [[Music/TheMonkees Monkeemobile]] and the 1960s [[Series/{{Batman}} Batmobile]]).

The show was critically lambasted and caused NBC to be something of a laughingstock for greenlighting it in the first place. The {{ratings}} were horrid across the board except, interestingly, in what we now call the young-adult demographic...but back then, they didn't keep track of that sort of thing.

Despite this, NBC left the show on for an entire season, likely to burn off the episodes and recoup some sort of investment (a common tactic in television).

* AndStarring: Miss Ann Southern.

* WhatAPieceOfJunk: Everyone except Dave and his family treat it like TheAlledgedCar. It actually performs rather well. This is likely aided by Dave taking it to the mechanic ''very'' often.

In 1965, Creator/{{NBC}} put a show on opposite ''{{Combat}}'' and ''Series/{{Rawhide}}'' about the antics of lawyer Dave Crabtree ([[Series/{{Coach}} Jerry Van Dyke]]), a typically hapless sitcom family man who discovers that his mother has returned from the grave as a 1928 Porter open touring automobile (a Ford Model T modified by the then-ubiquitous George Barris, who also did the [[Music/TheMonkees Monkeemobile]] and the 1960s [[Series/{{Batman}} Batmobile]]).

* MyNameIsNotDurwood: Driven absolutely into the ground by Captain Manzini. All of Dave's lines when talking to him have to start with "That's Crabtree."

In 1965, Creator/{{NBC}} put a show on opposite ''{{Combat}}'' and ''{{Rawhide}}'' about the antics of lawyer Dave Crabtree ([[Series/{{Coach}} Jerry Van Dyke]]), a typically hapless sitcom family man who discovers that his mother has returned from the grave as a 1928 Porter open touring automobile (a Ford Model T modified by the then-ubiquitous George Barris, who also did the [[Music/TheMonkees Monkeemobile]] and the 1960s [[Series/{{Batman}} Batmobile]]).

* OldShame: JamesLBrooks wrote two episodes before hitting it big. Naturally, he doesn't boast about his involvement in this. (A ''[[TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' DVDCommentary joked that mentioning said involvement around the studio is cause for being fired.)
** The co-creator of the show was Allan Burns, who went on to create ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' with Brooks. (Amusingly, the WJM program grids hanging on the station manager's wall list ''My Mother the Car'' several times each day.)
** Burns and his partner on ''My Mother the Car'', Chris Hayward, also went on to write episodes of ''Series/GetSmart''.

In 1965 Creator/{{NBC}} put a show on opposite ''{{Combat}}'' and ''{{Rawhide}}'' about the antics of lawyer Dave Crabtree (Jerry Van Dyke from ''{{Coach}}''), a typically hapless sitcom family man who discovers that his mother has returned from the grave as a 1928 Porter open touring automobile (a Ford Model T modified by the then-ubiquitous George Barris, who also did the [[Music/TheMonkees Monkeemobile]] and the '60s [[Series/{{Batman}} Batmobile]]).

The show was critically lambasted and caused NBC to be something of a laughing-stock for greenlighting it in the first place. The {{ratings}} were horrid. (Except in what we now call the young-adult demographic. Back then, they didn't track that sort of thing.) In spite of all that, NBC left the show on for an entire season.

!!''MyMotherTheCar'' provides examples of:
* AndStarring: Miss Ann Southern

** The co-creator of the show was Allan Burns, who went on to create ''TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' with Brooks. Burns and his partner on ''My Mother the Car'', Chris Hayward, also went on to write episodes of ''GetSmart''.
** If you look closely at the program grids hanging on the Station manager's wall in ''TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' you'll see that WJM showed ''MyMotherTheCar'' quite frequently.
* TemporalParadox: How does a dead mother get reincarnated into a car that ''already exists?''
** Presumably, by "Reincarnated", the writers meant "Got stuck in a car and possessed it."

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** The co-creator of the show was Allan Burns, who went on to create ''TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' with Brooks.