Mona McCluskey

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox television

| image =

| caption =

| alt_name = Meet Mona McCluskey

| genre = Sitcom

| creator = Don McGuire

Based on characters originated by Sumner Arthur Long

| writer = Arthur Alsberg
Edmund Beloin
Irving Elinson
Bob Fisher
Fred S. Fox
Henry Garson

| director = Richard Whorf
Stanley Z. Cherry

| presenter =

| starring = Juliet Prowse
Denny Scott Miller

| country = United States

| language = English

| num_seasons = 1

| num_episodes = 26

| executive_producer = George Burns

| camera = Multi-camera

| runtime = 22–24 minutes

| company = McCadden Productions
United Artists Television

| channel = NBC

| first_aired = {{start date|1965|09|16}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1966|04|14}}

}}

Mona McCluskey (also known as Meet Mona McCluskey) is an American sitcom that aired on NBC as part of its 1965-66 schedule. The series stars Juliet Prowse in the title role, and aired from September 16, 1965 to April 14, 1966.

Synopsis

Prowse portrayed Mona McCluskey, an actress who marries a United States Air Force sergeant, Mike McCluskey, played by Denny Scott Miller. The major premise of the show is Mona trying to balance her acting career with her marriage to Mike, who preferred that they live on his smaller Air Force salary.

The series also co-stars Herbert Rudley as General Crone, Mike's boss and Robert Strauss as Sergeant Gruzewsky. Series guest stars include Med Flory, Maurice Marsac, Lee Bergere, Sal Mineo, Barry Kelley, Doris Singleton, and Darlene Patterson.

Episodes

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| EpisodeNumber = 1

| Title = Pilot

| DirectedBy = Don McGuire

| WrittenBy = Don McGuire

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|9|16}}

| ShortSummary = Mona sets off a chain reaction when she demands the Air Force give her husband a raise.

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{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 2

| Title = All That Dough and No Place to Go

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|9|23}}

| ShortSummary = Mona and General Crone conspire for Mike to win at poker so he has enough money for a Mexican vacation.

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}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 3

| Title = All in a Night's Work

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Bob Fisher & Arthur Alsburg

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|9|30}}

| ShortSummary = Mona's movie is behind schedule, but in order to keep the picture from going over budget, her director says she'll have to work nights - something Mona promised Mike she'd never do.

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}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 4

| Title = In Every Life a Little Wife Must Fall

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|10|7}}

| ShortSummary = At the request of the State Department, a reluctant Mona agrees to dine with a visiting maharajah, who has a reputation as a playboy, something Mike isn't too keen about.

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{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 5

| Title = Mona Carroll Vs. Mona McCluskey

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Arthur Alsberg & Bob Fisher

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|10|14}}

| ShortSummary = When Mike is recommended for officers' training school, Mona decides to abandon her acting career.

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{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 6

| Title = How to Put Out an Old Flame

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|10|21}}

| ShortSummary = Mona is pleased when Mike leaves to attend a reunion of his old squadron, but becomes suspicious when she sees him instead in a restaurant with a beautiful girl (Lisa Gaye).

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{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 7

| Title = Let's Play Cupid

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|10|28}}

| ShortSummary = Mona and Mike undertake the considerable challenge of making a suave charmer of Sgt. Gruzewsky – whose girlfriend thinks he "ain't got no class".

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{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 8

| Title = Good for the Goose, Bad for the Gander

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|11|4}}

| ShortSummary = Mike is annoyed when Mona's costar – a handsome Italian actor – begins spending more and more time with her.

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{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 9

| Title = Michelangelo's Rival

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|11|11}}

| ShortSummary = Mona buys a $1500 work of art and – in order to prevent him from learning what she spent – tells Mike she sculpted it.

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}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 10

| Title = How to Cure an Old Man

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|11|25}}

| ShortSummary = Mona tries to help a down-on-his-luck film star (Patric Knowles) – who intends to become a permanent house guest.

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{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 11

| Title = My Husband, The Wife Beater

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|12|2}}

| ShortSummary = Mona's visiting spinster aunts (Madge Blake, Dorothy Neumann), expecting to find their movie-star niece living in a luxurious mansion, find themselves unimpressed by Mike and their unglamorous lifestyle.

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{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 12

| Title = Mail Against Female

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|12|9}}

| ShortSummary = Mona fails in her promise never to open Mike's mail, so he decides to cure her of her habit once and for all.

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{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 13

| Title = Stranger in the Love Nest

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Arthur Alsberg & Bob Fisher

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|12|23}}

| ShortSummary = Mona's reaction is negative when a unsavory photographer invades her home.

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}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 14

| Title = Dance, Kookerina, Dance

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1965|12|30}}

| ShortSummary = When Mona, who is secretly being given an award at the Air Force Frolics, is informed someone else will be dancing there in her place, she refuses to attend the show.

| LineColor = |

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 15

| Title = Mona, the Soft Air Force Recruit

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|1|13}}

| ShortSummary = Mike, who's broke, refuses to let Mona buy a color TV set, so Mona plants a coin worth hundreds of dollars in his pocket, only to later discover the coin's real worth.

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{{Episode list|

| EpisodeNumber = 16

| Title = Down from the Wild Blue Yonder

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|1|20}}

| ShortSummary = Mike considers leaving the Air Force for a high-paying civilian job, and Mona doesn't want him to, to the point of sabotaging every new career he tries.

}}

{{Episode list|

| EpisodeNumber = 17

| Title = The General Swings at Dawn

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|1|27}}

| ShortSummary = Mona tries to persuade General Crone's visiting nephew (Sal Mineo) to give up being a beatnik – by becoming one herself.

}}

{{Episode list|

| EpisodeNumber = 18

| Title = Lovebirds and Jailbirds

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|2|10}}

| ShortSummary = Incensed by an insult comic's references to Mona's earning power, Mike hits the man with a pie.

}}

{{Episode list|

| EpisodeNumber = 19

| Title = Diamonds Are a Girl's Worst Friend

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Henry Garson and Edmund Beloin

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|2|17}}

| ShortSummary = Mike gives Mona a diamond ring – which Mona promptly loses.

}}

{{Episode list|

| EpisodeNumber = 20

| Title = Mona, the Mystic

| DirectedBy = Stanley Z. Cherry

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|2|24}}

| ShortSummary = Sgt. Gruzewsky postpones his marriage to his fiancée after seeing a fortune teller, but Mona resorts to her own crystal ball to reschedule the ceremony.

}}

{{Episode list|

| EpisodeNumber = 21

| Title = Love, Chimp Style

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox & Irving Elinson

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|3|03}}

| ShortSummary = Mona's new picture is completed, but her co-star – a chimpanzee – is unwilling to call it quits.

}}

{{Episode list|

| EpisodeNumber = 22

| Title = "Operation - Chicken Soup"

| DirectedBy = Stanley Z. Cherry

| WrittenBy = William Raynor and Myles Wilder

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|3|10}}

| ShortSummary = Mona is worried about Mike's cold, so perhaps it's just as well that he didn't tell her that he'll soon be heading out on a rugged Air Force survival test.

}}

{{Episode list|

| EpisodeNumber = 23

| Title = How to Turn Off a Laser Beam

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|3|17}}

| ShortSummary = An alleged Texas millionaire offers Mona a chance to invest in a new electronics company, over Mike's suspicions that he's a fraud.

}}

{{Episode list|

| EpisodeNumber = 24

| Title = Snow Valley Snow Job

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Henry Garson and Edmund Beloin

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|3|24}}

| ShortSummary = After recalling her skill on skis in the movies, Mike enters Mona in a women's downhill ski race...but Mike doesn't know that Mona's stunt double actually did the filmed ski scenes.

}}

{{Episode list|

| EpisodeNumber = 25

| Title = Will He, or Won't He?

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Norman Paul, Elon Packard, and William Burns

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|4|07}}

| ShortSummary = Mona and Mike work overtime to try and convince Sgt. Gruzewsky to finally marry his fiancée.

}}

{{Episode list|

| EpisodeNumber = 26

| Title = Mike's Birthday Present

| DirectedBy = Richard Whorf

| WrittenBy = Fred S. Fox

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1966|4|14}}

| ShortSummary = Against his wishes, Mona has a surprise present lined up for Mike's birthday, but is that present a baby?

}}

Production notes

The series was produced for NBC by McCadden Enterprises, Inc. in association with United Artists Television. The series executive producer was comedian George Burns. The theme song was the Tin Pan Alley standard "Yes Sir, That's My Baby", sung by a male voice.

Reception

Mona McCluskey appeared on Thursday nights against ABC's Peyton Place and the second half-hour of CBS's two-hour Thursday Night Movie. It failed to win its time slot and was cancelled by NBC, with its last episode airing in April 1966.