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Shirley Booth played an opinionated, talkative, even bossy maid for five seasons on "Hazel" -- but there was never a more lovable, or more loved, maid on television.

As portrayed in the popular "Saturday Evening Post" cartoon by Ted Key, Hazel was almost a little too brash. But Miss Booth took some of the harshness out of the cartoon character and replaced it with the warmth and love she brought to her award-winning movie, Broadway and radio roles ("Come Back, Little Sheba," "Duffy's Tavern"). In its debut season of 1961-62, "Hazel" was #2 among all TV programs in the Nielsen ratings.

Hazel never met a person she didn't like--much to the chagrin of her employer, corporate attorney George Baxter (Don DeFore). Even a simple meeting with Frank Gifford (then of the New York Giants), in the 1963 episode "Hazel and the Halfback", goes delightfully awry as Hazel tries to inject her thoughts about football, bowling, and the risks of investing in a bowling alley for which George is negotiating a deal with Gifford.

When George married his wife Dorothy, Hazel came along. As the maid for Dorothy's family, Hazel had raised "Missy" virtually from childhood. While she was supposedly a free-lance interior decorator, Whitney Blake's Dorothy was cast as a typical 1960's TV sitcom housewife--a role at which she chafed until DeFore and she left the series at the end of the 1964-65 season. In one 1964 episode, however, Dorothy joins forces with Hazel to have George break down and remodel their kitchen with side-splitting results.

Hazel was pal and confidante to their son Harold (Bobby Buntrock), and many episodes focused on her helping and motivating "Sport" to be the best he could be, often with unexpected results. In fact, when DeFore and Blake left the series, CBS felt transplanting Hazel and Harold to live with George's real-estate brother Steve (Ray Fulmer), his wife Barbara (Lynn Borden) and their daughter Susie (Julia Benjamin) could keep the continuity going. (Ironically, "Mr. Steve" never appeared in any NBC episode; George's sister Deirdre Thompson, played by Cathy Lewis, was virtually a semi-regular.)

While changing characters, settings and networks often weakened existing series, "Hazel"'s ratings were fairly strong during its CBS run despite being up against the new Monday night episodes of "Peyton Place" on ABC. Miss Booth, herself, was not. As far back as 1964, DeFore was concerned about jeopardizing her health and worked to reduce her load in fourth-season episodes. Indeed, other than a few guest appearances and the short-lived series "For the Love of Grace" in the 1970s, Shirley Booth's TV career ended when "Hazel" left the air in 1966.

Other shows tried to copy "Hazel's" magic, from "Our Man Higgins" with Sterling Holloway in 1962-63 to Fran Drescher as "The Nanny" in the 1990s. No one has come close, and probably no one ever well. To quote Shirley Booth's favorite catchphrase, "Hazel" continues to be "a doozy" half a century later!

Since this show predates my birth, I'm so happy I discovered it on two cable networks. The gifted Shirley Booth, who won two consecutive Emmys for her performance in this gem of a sitcom, always saved the day for the Baxter's, her employers, Harold, their son, and many others who passed through Hazel's world. Hazel knew no boundaries, but we forgive her because of her huge heart and innate kindness. She also loved animals and did volunteer work. I wish there were more 'Hazels' in this crazy world of ours. We miss you Shirley!

The wonderful thing about this unusually good-natured domestic sitcom is that an older woman is the star. I remember enjoying it immensely. Acting, plots, camera are all respectful of the viewer: no slapstick, no mockery or denigration. This is very rare in comedy, where cruelty is usually a major component. When will they show this gem again?

Despite winning one Best Actress Oscar film rarely saw any of Shirley Booth. But the small screen had her for 7 years as a series was made of the popular comic strip Hazel. She was the perfect maid who helped out the Baxter family in all kinds of crises.

In an era where moms like Elizabeth Montgomery and Mary Tyler Moore always looked chic because they never did any house work at least you could understand it in Whitney Blake's case, she had Shirley Booth there. She could be a full time mother to Bobby Buntrock although Hazel helped there too.

Don DeFore was Mr. Baxter known as Mr. B by Hazel. He may have thought he was head of the household like a general in charge of the army. But we know it is non-coms that run an army and Hazel was a great platoon sergeant. If they disagreed on a matter it was Hazel who eventually won out.

DeFore and Blake left the show a year before it was concluded and his TV brother and his wife Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden took over. Although some might not see the parallels the relationship between Shirley Booth and Bobby Buntrock was something along the lines of Debby Ryan and her charges in Disney Channel's Jessie. Sadly Buntrock was killed in a car crash shortly after the series ended.

Shirley Booth as Hazel was a wise woman. We all envied the Baxters back in the day.

Oscar winner Shirley Booth surprised friends when she signed on to do the television series of "Hazel." Many thought that the role was beneath the star of "Come Back, Little Sheba." Remember, her blowzy wife had brought her the Oscar in 1952 as best actress.

At times, Hazel could be confused but the love that she shared for the people that she worked for was memorable. Remember how she was always watching the weight of her employer, played by Don De Fore. Whitney Blake had just what it took to be the wife of DeFore. Bobby Buntrock was adorable as their son. Too bad that he was killed tragically at such a young age.

Remember DeFore's boss? He could be a crusty old codger, but eventually he would come around due to Hazel Burke. She often reminded him of his mother.

Remember that snotty sister of DeFore? She was always planning the social event of the season.

A great show highlighting wonderful interpersonal relationships.

Shirley Booth must have truly been a talented actress. Her performance in Hazel was so good, I could only watch it in small doses. She played Hazel so annoyingly well. I know her character was supposed to be an annoying and meddling maid, but I really could not watch it too often.

I have loved "Hazel" since I was a little kid and saw it on the network. When the DVD came out last year I did not hesitate to buy it. Re-viewing the series confirms why Shirley Booth won two Emmy awards playing this role. She makes the character Hazel Burke into a lovely, believable woman. The writing and direction of the show was pretty good and holds up well over the years. One reviewer commented on the change in the set decoration in the episode "Dorothy's Birthday." I too noticed this and I think this could be the pilot film, which would possibly explain this difference. Also, another reviewer noticed that while the film quality on this DVD was generally excellent, some of the end credit sequences were "a bit ragged" as though taken from 16mm sources. This could possibly be because the original end credits were superimposed over a series of Ford cars driving down a highway. Ford sponsored the series, and I remember seeing the end credits in this way. In any case, I loved and continue to love this series and will continue to enjoy it on my DVD set. Flash forward to August 2013: I now have the first three seasons of Hazel on DVD and love having them. It's had a lot of national exposure on Antenna TV and people are once again appreciating this fine series.

This is not a spoiler review.I watched the show when I was a very young boy and still watch reruns on Antenna TV from time to time.But one thing that I realize now even though I thought Shirley Booth had a very successful career as a film and TV actress I believe that the comments made between her and Don DeFore as George Baxter would have had people writing today about the fact that in just about every episode he would ask for more of whatever they were eating or they had a guest that she would offer a brownie or cake to and he would state that he wanted something to eat and she would refuse him by saying that he couldn't have anything because of his"diet" and he would just accept it.Anyone today I think would remind her of who was paying her salary and bounce her out the door because at that time in her career she wasn't the slimmest actress around by any means.

For the five seasons that it was on the air,Oscar-winning actress Shirley Booth played an independent,opinionated,extremely talkative,in control housekeeper on "Hazel",but on the other end there was never a more lovable and respectable maid who became television's favorite.

Based on the popular single-panel comic strip by cartoonist Ted Key which appeared in the "Saturday Evening Post",the producers(James Fonda along with executive producers Harry Ackerman and William D. Russell for Screen Gems) took some of the harshness out of the cartoon character and replaced it with the warmth and wholesome family values that made "Hazel" a huge television hit for the early-1960's.

"Hazel" ran for five seasons on two major television networks running from 1961 to 1965 producing 154 episodes. The show aired during the first four seasons on NBC's Thursday night Prime-Time lineup from September 28,1961 until March 25,1965 for 125 episodes with the first season episodes in black and white producing 35 episodes(with the exception of "What'll We Watch Tonight",from Season 1,Episode 6 that was the only episode in its first season in color)airing from September 28,1961 until June 7,1962. The next three seasons of the series were "Brought To You In Living Color" for 90 episodes airing from September 20,1962 until March 25,1965(Seasons 2 thru 4). The fifth and final season saw the series moved from NBC to CBS for 29 color episodes airing from September 13,1965 until the final episode of the series on April 11,1966. The broadcast history of the series aired on NBC's Thursday night schedule for the first four seasons of the show's run at the 9:30 eastern/8:30 central time slot where it preceded "Dr. Kildare" from 1961-1965. After the series was canceled by NBC in the Spring of 1965 saw the series moved to CBS in its final season from Thursday nights to Monday nights at the 9:30 eastern/8:30 central time slot preceding "The Andy Griffith Show" in its prime time slot until April 11,1966.

Interesting point about the cast here only actors Shirley Booth and Bobby Buntrock were the only cast members of the series that stayed throughout its entire run and appeared in all 154 episodes. Actors Don De-Fore and Whitney Blake were the only cast members that appeared in 125 episodes in Seasons 1 thru 4 when the series aired on NBC from 1961- 1965. Both De-Fore and Blake left the series after the end of Season 4. In the final season of "Hazel" actors Ray Fulmer, Lynn Borden, and Julia Benjamin appeared in all 29 episodes in color when the series was on CBS from 1965-1966. During the first four seasons, "Hazel" was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company and during Season 4(the show's final season at NBC)was sponsored by The Bristol-Myers Corporation. In the show's final season the sponsors were The Proctor & Gamble Company and Philip Morris.

The show's first season placed fourth in the 1961-1962 Nielsen ratings. Actress Shirley Booth won two Prime-Time Emmys in 1962 and 1963 for Best Actress in a Series and was nominated for her third season in 1964. Booth also received a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series in 1964. Out of the 154 episodes that were produced William D. Russell directed 136 episodes of the series. Charles Barton directed 10 episodes while E.W. Swackhamer directed 7 episodes. Veteran director Hal Cooper was behind one episode. Outstanding writers for "Hazel" consisted of Ted Key(the show's creator for 153 episodes) along with Peggy Chantler Dick, Robert Riley Crutcher, Norm Liebmann, James Fonda, Dorothy Cooper, Phil Leslie, Keith Fowler, Louella MacFarlane, and R.S. Allen.

The notable guest stars that appeared on "Hazel" were Frank Gifford, Howard Smith, Cathy Lewis, Mala Powers, Alan Hale Junior, Ellen Corby, John Astin, Leif Erickson, Dick Sargent, Lee Meriwether, Claude Akins, Harvey Korman, Ken Berry, Parley Baer, William Schallert, Virginia Gregg, Malcolm Atterbury, James Doohan, Leo G. Carroll, to Sterling Holloway, Jack Dodson, Luciana Paluzzi, Gloria Henry, Eleanor Audley, Alan Hewitt, Jamie Farr, Hugh Marlowe, Dub Taylor, Harold Gould, and Oskar Homolka and Bonnie Franklin just to name a few of the guest stars that were on the show.

The first four seasons of "Hazel" saw huge ratings but when the series when to CBS in its final season it had fallen out of the top 30 programs and this is when the producers made numerous cast changes when lead to its abrupt cancellation in the Spring of 1966(the series was replaced in the fall of 1966 when CBS replaced it with the Don Fedderson produced series "Family Affair")

Hazel was a television series from 1961-1966. Post war growth boom. Shirley booth is hazel, the live-in maid for the baxter family. Don defore and whitney blake are george and dorothy baxter. With a son harold, played by bobby buntrock. Hazel had a heart of gold, and meant well, but she frequently goofed things up, that had to straightened out later. Blake was a writer/creator for the original one day at a time in 1975. Shirley booth won the oscar for come back, little sheba in 1953. And sadly, the kid, bobby buntrock died young in a car accident.

This show was in reruns on UHF when I was a kid. And like a bad case of the shingles after having chicken pox as a kid, it's back in reruns again.

I'm not sure which annoys me most about this show. Is it Shirley Booth's incredibly annoying nasal voice, the vocal equivalent of nails on a chalkboard? Is it how she walks in what looks like a slow run, head pointed down, swinging her arms as if she has a large metal object in her nether regions? Or is it the fact her character is a condescending, interfering, obnoxious control freak.

Every episode is the same. The main character assumes everyone, including her employer, is below her. In her mind, she has all the wisdom in the world, and everyone else is a moron. Hence, condescending. Then she always comes up with some sneaky plot to right all the wrongs the morons around her are making. Hence, interfering. This plan is always underhanded, conniving, never involves honesty and always causes a problem. Hence, obnoxious. But in the end, she always wins and gets her way. Hence, control freak.

Possibly the most annoying TV show ever to disgrace the airwaves. All in all, it only stayed on the air because it was basically a 30 minute commercial for Ford automobiles. Which still suck. It reminds me of when my ex mother-in-law lived with us for almost a decade. She was just like Hazel, a condescending, interfering, obnoxious control freak. Her antics and sneaky plots ended up destroying a marriage. Only difference was she didn't cook or wear a little paper maid hat. But that goes without saying.

The 154 half-hour episodes (34 in B&W, 120 in color) of the situation comedy "Hazel" were originally broadcast on NBC (last season on CBS) from 1961-1966. It was an extremely popular baby boomer show although it is now in the "dead man walking" category as none of the original four principal actors are still alive.

George Baxter (Don Defore who already had a following from his years as Thorny on "Ozzie and Harriet") was a successful and wrapped a little too tight attorney who had married Dorothy (Whitney Blake) a woman with her own lifelong nanny/housekeeper (Shirley Booth in the title role). They had a young son Harold (Bobby Buntrock). George is a klutz around the house and most of the conflict revolves around his frustration when he is routinely shown-up by the much more competent Hazel. Dorothy Baxter ranked #1 on the list of most erotic 1960's television wives, with the tightest skirts, highest heels, and a fantasy level bust to waist ratio.

Hazel pretty much runs the family, sorting out the Baxter's weekly problems and keeping the frustrated blustering George in line. Living with Hazel was a lot worse than living with Amos McCoy because she was rarely (if ever) wrong or repentant as she incessantly meddled in everyone's life.

In its last season the producers shake things up and ship George and Dorothy off to Saudi Arabia. Hazel and Harold move in with George's younger brother Steve (Ray Fulmer), his wife Barbara (Lynn Borden), and his daughter Susie (Julia Benjamin); 1960's television was notorious for finding creative ways to back fill with younger children when the original ones grew too old to appeal to their intended demographic.

Steve, Barbara, and Susie constitute the most physically attractive family in television history, but Hazel soon took over their household as well; although Steve and Barbara do stand up to her better than their predecessors. The popular theory at the time was than George and Dorothy just made up the Saudi story so they could escape Hazel's domination and live out their lives somewhere else with some degree of independence.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

This is truly one of the best 60's sitcoms ever. It is so full of love and decency. AND, Shirley Booth is addictive. She makes you long for your own Hazel.

I recently discovered this little sit-com gem from the early 1960's (although it feels like the 1950's). I'd never even heard of this show before, but I'm glad that it's survived and some station director (Antenna-TV) decided to re-run it.

The first time I saw it I nearly turned it off, the main character Hazel has a rather 'distinctive' voice but I stuck with it. After viewing a few more episodes I came to love the character because of the nutty predicaments she gets herself and the family in and the fact that she's got a heart of gold. Things always turn out Okey-Dokey by the end of the 30 minute show as would be expected in a 50's sit-com. The best analogy I can make is if The Brady Bunch gave Alice the maid a spin-off with good writers and an affable supporting cast. Overall it's really tame TV, but fun to watch.

"Hazel" is a good, old school, innocent and clean t.v. sitcom. While totally plot predictable it still manages to entertain. Of course, Shirley Booth carried the show with good support from Don Defoe and Witney Blake. Especially appreciated is that unlike in today's sitcoms kids are respectful & obedient and not smart mouthed brats who have wise remark for everything an adult says. I once read that Shirley Booth was criticized for taking on a t.v. sitcom after having been an established actress and Oscar winner (in the days when Oscars were moreso awarded for acting vs. diversity or politics). The pundits thought that she "lowered" herself doing t.v. Booth expressed an Hazel-esque attitude in effect saying, "so what!? It's a study acting job, people like the show and I'm getting a good, study salary."

Everyone would love to have Hazel in their lives. I love her wisdom and all of her good meals.

A full time live in maid, a rich successful husband, a kid in school all day Whatever did Mrs. B do with herself all day?? Am I missing something? Did she have friends? Did she have charity work? What kept her busy??!

When I was growing up in New Jersey in the 60s, I remember watching the reruns of Hazel on Channel 5. It was a very good sitcom, thanks to the outstanding performance of Shirley Booth as the title character. It was her breakout TV role that won her a couple of Emmys.

Also adding to the show's success was Don DeFore as George (Mr. B) Baxter, Whitney Blake, who later went on to co-create the hit CBS sitcom One Day at a Time as his wife Dorothy aka "Missy" and Bobby Buntrock as their young son Harold. Sadly, Buntrock was killed in a car accident at the age of 21.

Not only was Hazel an outstanding maid, she was also a really good bowler. I remember the episode where she competed in a bowling tournament.

Unfortunately, I don't remember any of the fifth season episodes, where DeFore and Blake were replaced by Ray Fulmer as Steve and Lynn Borden as Barbara. Those two have rarely been heard from in years.

Coming from Screen Gems, who had a hit with another sitcom based on the comic strip Dennis the Menace, Hazel ran for five years and ended its run, not because of declining ratings but because Booth was tiring of the role. The show was in reruns for years and later disappeared. But fear not, thanks to the new digital broadcast network Antenna TV, viewers can finally see this lost gem of the 60s.

As the theme song stated early in the run "Who's the gal that's everybody's pal? It's Hazel."

I am too young to remember the comic strip on which this series was based, but I can't help but feel cartoonist Ted Key must have been pleased with the characterizations on the television show.

My personal favorite, and I feel the true anchor of the show, was Don DeFore as Mr. Baxter, Hazel's employer (for the first 4 seasons). He leant a true level of professionalism and realism to his portrayal. What I particularly liked about him is the way he handled Hazel's outspoken and somewhat bossy but well-intentioned personality. He would get convincingly exasperated with her, while still maintaining his sense of humor and appreciation of her. He and the lovely Whitney Blake made a wonderful couple and little Bobby Buntrock was an adorable child as their son, who was sweet and polite yet refreshingly honest.

My favorite side characters were the Baxters' next-door neighbors, the Johnsons. Portrayed by the charming actors Donald Foster and Norma Varden, their hilarious naïveté and ineptness at taking care of themselves always left me in stitches, but of course Hazel always came to their rescue.

And then there was the multi-talented Shirley Booth as Hazel. No one else could have played her with such gusto, enthusiasm and likability. She was truly one of the kind.

Finally, the show had a level of patriotism and faith that was natural and not preachy. For example, one of the Thanksgiving episodes in which Mr. Baxter asked Hazel to eat with them and their guests and to say grace. Also, the episode where the Johnsons served as hosts in their home to be a local election polling place (and sent out engraved invitations) was a hoot.

Well done all. Rest in peace and God bless.

I love Hazel for what it is. I don't want to return to those days of live-in domestic help (Brady Bunch, Jeffersons, Maude); I don't demand a proletariat uprising as some critics want. It has enough episodes condemning snobbery to prove it's not stuck in antiquity. Moreover, anyone today who thinks attitudes to manual labor have changed a lot is fooling him/herself.

So love it for what it is and isn't. NO snark, NO reliance on constant put-downs, NO overdone innuendo. Like Donna Reed Show, the show is the right amount of up-lifing optimism and grounded pessimism.

Done with that issue, Next topic. I am guessing 60s TV was getting stale with the nuclear family formula and networks had to shake up programming by replacing it with shows featuring supernatural, single parents, identical cousins or whatever ingredients created Green Acres and Gilligan's Island. Thank goodness today we can love both sweet Hazel AND fierce Breaking Bad;

Yes, Hazel may be a little bit annoying (or sometimes a lot a bit annoying), the father George is usually a crank, and the mom Dorothy seems like she is on some kind of perky prescription pills - but there's something so cozy about this show. The son played by Bobby Buntrock, is the cutest kid from any sitcom in the long pantheon of sitcom children. There's just something so natural and sweet about him. And there are so many great recurring guest characters. George's snobby sister, the rich but mentally vacant elderly neighbors, Hazel's gossipy friend who works as the maid for those neighbors, George insufferable boss and so many other great recurring and one-time guest stars... You'll see quite a few familiar and soon-to-be-famous faces in early roles here playing those characters. Really, the whole family unit is just a combined "straight man" to which the other kooky characters bounce off of. The morals are great (especially in times like these) and the show is oftentimes sweet but very rarely goes too far into syrupy territory. It can be corny yeah, but that's part of the cozy charm. It makes me feel good when I watch it.

The first season was entertaining, but there's only so much you can do to stretch a single-panel comic into a 30-minute weekly TV show. Booth, DeFore, and Blake were all solid ( why does Whitney Blake always look constipated?), but it got stale pretty quick and sealed it's fate with the poor last-season cast and focus changes (without that last season fiasco, I'd have given it 6 stars) BTW- dphegarty-40063 needs to get a life and a sense of humor. Tiffanie_says_stay_in_your_lane hasn't enough guts to speak only for herself. They both think the smartest person in the room - and they're the only ones who do....forgettable commenters.

I love this show!! One of the best casts ever in television and of course, I LOVE the Baxter's house.I have a book that has the floorplan to this house in it. Wish I had a house like that!! LOL. It is nice to watch this show and not have to worry about back-talking kids or cussing or anything that is prevalent in today's so-called comedies. Just wish that someone would show reruns of this wonderful show again. Heaven knows there are enough channels out there to afford it the airtime.