My World and Welcome to It

Most episodes open with Monroe arriving in front of the house from the Thurber cartoon "Home," which in the original cartoon has a woman's face on one side of it. In the show, the house is initially house-shaped. The woman's face is often animated to appear, as Ellen says something to John. The "Home" house, without the face, is used as an establishing shot throughout the episodes. Other Thurber cartoons are similarly animated over the course of the series—sometimes in the opening sequence, sometimes later in the episode. The episode "Cristabel" begins with Monroe lying on top of a cartoon doghouse, a reference to the non-Thurber cartoon character Snoopy. Animation for the series was by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.

Henry Morgan had a recurring role as Philip Jensen, a writer for The Manhattanite, who was based on humorist Robert Benchley.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/303958460/?terms=%22My%20World%20and%20Welcome%20to%20it%22&match=1 Many-Faceted Morgan, Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa), September 15, 1969, page 20] Harold J. Stone played the editor, with whom Monroe is often at odds about the cartoon content. A female writer who appeared in one episode was loosely based on Dorothy Parker.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} Guest-stars included Lee Meriwether, Paul Ford, Joe Besser, Ray Walston, Craig Stevens, Danny Bonaduce, Talia Shire (as Talia Coppola), Cindy Williams, James Gregory and Noam Pitlik.

Live action adaptations of Thurber's writing were another show staple. For example, "Rally Round the Flag," in which Monroe purchases a very large flag as a gift, is loosely based on a Thurber piece called "There's a Time for Flags". An incident with a policeman in "Cristabel" is an almost verbatim transcription of the Thurber story "The Topaz Cufflinks Mystery". Fables for Our Time is another source, as when John Monroe sees a unicorn in the back yard, a reference to "The Unicorn in the Garden." Many of the episode titles are taken from Thurber's Fables for Our Time (e.g., "The Shrike and the Chipmunks") and other writings ("Rules for a Happy Marriage" and many more).

The character name of John Monroe is Thurber’s alter-ego in his book Owl in the Attic.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/209752598/?terms=%22My%20World%20and%20Welcome%20to%20it%22&match=1 Edgar Penton, Preview: Gentle World Of Thurber On TV, The Times Herald (Port Huron, MI), July 18, 1969, page 35] Monroe and his family first came to television in a 1959 Alcoa Theatre/Goodyear Theatre production called "Cristabel (The Secret Life of John Monroe)" also written by Mel Shavelson. The dog Cristabel was named after a dog Thurber gave to his daughter.{{cite book

| last = Thurber

| first = James

| author-link = James Thurber

| title = Thurber's Dogs

| publisher = Simon & Schuster

| year = 1955

| location = New York

| pages = g. xvii

| url = https://archive.org/details/thurbersdogscoll0000thur

| url-access = registration

| isbn = 0-671-79219-9}} John Monroe also appears in a 1961 episode of The DuPont Show with June Allyson called "The Country Mouse", starring Orson Bean. This also uses animated versions of Thurber's cartoons, and the story - cartoonist Monroe struggles to finish his work under the pressures of home and office - that could be regarded as an unofficial pilot for the My World series.

Despite the use of "drawings, stories, inspirational pieces and things that go bump in the night by James Thurber" (as stated in the opening credits), the show also contains character and story elements that owe little or nothing to Thurber's work. For example, there is no Thurber basis for Monroe and daughter Lydia playing chess throughout "Little Girls Are Sugar & Spice - And Not Always Nice!" Although Thurber material is woven around it, the episode's storyline itself is fairly conventional situation comedy. William Windom, though, was a tournament chess player, so he most likely{{weasel inline|date=March 2020}} added that to the storyline as a personal touch.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/arts/television/william-windom-everyman-actor-is-dead-at-88.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819225046/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/arts/television/william-windom-everyman-actor-is-dead-at-88.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=August 19, 2012 | work=The New York Times | first=Eric | last=Grode | title=William Windom, Emmy Winner and TV Everyman, Dies at 88 | date=August 19, 2012}}

Despite many positive reviews, moderate Nielsen ratings (aired opposite Gunsmoke) led NBC to cancel the series after one season. It was replaced by The Red Skelton Show, which NBC had poached from CBS. It then went on to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series{{Cite web |title=Outstanding Comedy Series Nominees / Winners 1970 |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1970/outstanding-comedy-series |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=Television Academy |language=en}} and Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series.{{Cite web |title=Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series Nominees / Winners 1970 |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1970/outstanding-lead-actor-in-a-comedy-series |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=Television Academy |language=en}}{{cite web | url=https://www.tvobscurities.com/articles/my_world/ | title=My World and Welcome to It | date=27 August 2010 }}

CBS reran My World and Welcome to It in the summer of 1972. Airings of the show after that were rare, as it was never syndicated nationally. Currently, the series has not been distributed on DVD, although bootlegs exist.{{cite web | url=https://jacksonupperco.com/2017/07/12/revisiting-1969-70-a-look-at-my-world-and-welcome-to-it/ | title=Revisiting 1969-'70: A Look at MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT | date=12 July 2017 }}

{{Episode table |background=#F16C6C|overall=4 |title=25 |director=15 |writer=15 |airdate=15 |episodes=

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=1

|Title=Man Against the World

|DirectedBy=Melville Shavelson

|WrittenBy=Melville Shavelson

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|9|15}}

|ShortSummary=John Monroe's wildly imaginative story of Grant and Lee brings a home visit from his daughter's teacher.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=2

|Title=The Disenchanted

|DirectedBy=Danny Arnold

|WrittenBy=Ruth Brooks Flippen

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|9|22}}

|ShortSummary=Lydia runs away after her father refuses to have her seat changed at school.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=3

|Title=Little Girls Are Sugar & Spice - And Not Always Nice!

|DirectedBy=Lee Philips

|WrittenBy=Rick Mittleman

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|9|29}}

|ShortSummary=Facing defeat in a chess match with Lydia, John envisions three ways out, each of which would make newspaper headlines.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=4

|Title=Christabel

|DirectedBy=Sheldon Leonard

|WrittenBy=Melville Shavelson

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|10|6}}

|ShortSummary=John's magazine article gets him in trouble with his family, his editor and police.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=5

|Title=The Night the House Caught Fire

|DirectedBy=Melville Shavelson

|WrittenBy=Melville Shavelson

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|10|13}}

|ShortSummary=John retreats into the past to recall the time his sniffles brought out the town's fire department.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=6

|Title=The Ghost and Mr. Monroe

|DirectedBy=Danny Arnold

|WrittenBy=Carl Kleinschmitt

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|10|20}}

|ShortSummary=Payless after quitting his job in a huff, fantasy-prone John finds himself begging stock market tips from financial wizard (J.P. Morgan).

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=7

|Title=Nobody Ever Kills Dragons Anymore

|DirectedBy=John Rich

|WrittenBy=Phil Sharp

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|10|27}}

|ShortSummary=Eleven pickle forks become objects of international intrigue as John escapes into a world of fantasy.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=8

|Title=Seal in the Bedroom

|DirectedBy=Lee Philips

|WrittenBy=Paul Wayne

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|11|3}}

|ShortSummary=John's imagination goes wild when his mother arrives for a visit after his cartoon is rejected by his editor.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=9

|Title=The Saga of Dimity Ann

|DirectedBy=John Rich

|WrittenBy=Harvey Bullock and R.S. Allen

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|11|10}}

|ShortSummary=John secretly abandons the family cat after it nips him on the neck and finger.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=10

|Title=A Friend of the Earth

|DirectedBy=Hal Cooper

|WrittenBy=Paul Wayne

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|11|17}}

|ShortSummary=John is miffed when his wife and daughter prefer the town character's witticism to his brand of humor.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=11

|Title=Maid in Connecticut

|DirectedBy=James Sheldon

|WrittenBy=Tom Koch

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|11|24}}

|ShortSummary=During his wife's vacation, John's life is complicated by a new maid, who has a deathly fear of new appliances.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=12

|Title=Native Wit

|DirectedBy=Hal Cooper

|WrittenBy=Marion Hargrove

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|12|1}}

|ShortSummary=John and his friend Phil Jensen match wits with the village wit in an attempt to send him packing.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=13

|Title=The Shrike and the Chipmunks

|DirectedBy=Sheldon Leonard

|WrittenBy=Marion Hargrove

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|12|8}}

|ShortSummary=John is forced to collaborate with one of the most famous authors of children's books.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=14

|Title=Rally Round the Flag

|DirectedBy=James Sheldon

|WrittenBy=Laurence Marks

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|12|15}}

|ShortSummary=John gives his daughter an unusual Christmas gift and incurs the wrath of the neighborhood.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=15

|Title=The War Between Men and Women

|DirectedBy=Alan Rafkin

|WrittenBy=Rick Mittleman

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|12|22}}

|ShortSummary=A spilled martini triggers an outbreak of hostilities among friends at the Monroes' party.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=16

|Title=The Mating Dance

|DirectedBy=Sheldon Leonard

|WrittenBy=John McGreevey

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1969|12|29}}

|ShortSummary=When a bully uses brute force to take Lydia to a party by beating up her scheduled escort, John leaps to the defense of the weaker fellow.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=17

|Title=Darn that Dream

|DirectedBy=John Rich

|WrittenBy=Lila Garrett & Bernie Kahn

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1970|1|5}}

|ShortSummary=John recalls childhood fantasies in his attempt to explain to Lydia that nightmares run in the family.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=18

|Title=The Human Being and the Dinosaur

|DirectedBy=Alan Rafkin

|WrittenBy=Laurence Marks

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1970|1|12}}

|ShortSummary=John attempts to explain to Lydia why inferior viewpoints must sometimes be tolerated.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=19

|Title=Dear Is a Four-Letter Word

|DirectedBy=John Rich

|WrittenBy=Erik Tarloff & Frank Tarloff{{efn|Credited as David Adler}}

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1970|1|19}}

|ShortSummary=Ellen insists that a communications gap exists between her husband and their daughter and asks John to seek advice from the school principal.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=20

|Title=The Middle Years

|DirectedBy=Danny Arnold

|WrittenBy=Danny Arnold & Ruth Brooks Flippen

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1970|1|26}}

|ShortSummary=Left alone at home when his wife and daughter head for the mountains, John daydreams about an attractive neighbor.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=21

|Title=Rules for a Happy Marriage

|DirectedBy=John Rich

|WrittenBy=Rick Mittleman

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1970|2|2}}

|ShortSummary=John becomes engrossed in a conversation about the shortcomings of wives and forgets to keep his lunch date with Ellen.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=22

|Title=The Wooing of Mr. Monroe

|DirectedBy=James Sheldon

|WrittenBy=Laurence Marks

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1970|2|9}}

|ShortSummary=John's collaboration on a book with a woman at her apartment is turned into a romantic situation by his wife.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=23

|Title=The Mea-Culpa Bit

|DirectedBy=John Rich

|WrittenBy=Bill Manhoff

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1970|2|16}}

|ShortSummary=Several people try to take the blame for the broken arm suffered by Lydia when her father chased her out of his study.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=24

|Title=The Fourth Estate

|DirectedBy=John Rich

|WrittenBy=Lila Garrett & Bernie Kahn

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1970|2|23}}

|ShortSummary=John is shaken when a sixth grade school newspaper editor rejects two of his cartoons.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=25

|Title=Monroe the Misogynist

|DirectedBy=Allen Baron

|WrittenBy=Stan Cutler and Martin Donovan

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1970|3|2}}

|ShortSummary=Both Ellen and his editor Hamilton Greeley, accuses John of being a woman-hater.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=26

|Title=Child's Play

|DirectedBy=John Rich

|WrittenBy=Carl Kleinschmitt

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1970|3|9}}

|ShortSummary=John's disgust at a friend's patronization of his son turns into guilt feelings when he forgets a picnic date with his daughter.

|LineColor=F16C6C

}}

}}

{{notelist}}

My World and Welcome to It won two Emmy Awards in 1970:{{cite news

| title = Past Winners Database: 1969-1970 22nd Emmy Awards

| work = The Envelope: The Ultimate Awards Site

| publisher = Los Angeles Times

| year = 2005

| url = http://theenvelope.latimes.com/extras/lostmind/year/1969/1969_1970emmy.htm

| access-date = 2006-12-12 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061031064746/http://theenvelope.latimes.com/extras/lostmind/year/1969/1969_1970emmy.htm |archive-date = 2006-10-31}}

• Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series (William Windom)
• Outstanding Comedy Series

It was also nominated for:

• Outstanding Achievement in any area of Creative Arts ("Rally 'Round the Flag Boys" - special photographic effects).

{{Infobox book

| name = My World — And Welcome To It

| title_orig =

| translator =

| image =

| caption = 1969 paperback edition of My World — And Welcome To It.

| author = James Thurber

| illustrator = James Thurber

| cover_artist = James Thurber

| country = United States

| language = English

| exclude_cover = yes

| series =

| genre = humor

| publisher = Harcourt, Brace and Company

| release_date = October, 1942

| media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)

| pages = 324 pages

| isbn =

| preceded_by = Fables For Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated

| followed_by = Many Moons

}}The similarly titled book by James Thurber, My World — And Welcome to It, was published in 1942 by Harcourt, Brace and Company. The current edition is {{ISBN|0-89190-269-4}}. Part One of this collection contains 22 assorted Thurber short stories and humorous essays, many of them illustrated with his cartoons. Part Two consists of an eight-part comic memoir about France, written in 1937 and 1938, about twenty years after Thurber first arrived there near the conclusion of World War I.{{cite web

| title = His Life & Times: A Chronology

| work = The Thurber House: A Literary Center for Writers and Readers

| publisher = The Thurber House

| url = http://www.thurberhouse.org/james/life.html

| access-date = 2006-12-12 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060830174028/http://www.thurberhouse.org/james/life.html |archive-date = 2006-08-30}} None of these stories, however, feature any of Thurber's "Monroe Family" characters.

The tone of these pieces ranges from lighthearted wordplay and dialect ("What Do You Mean It Was Brillig?") to literary satire ("The Macbeth Murder Mystery") to psychological horror ("The Whip-Poor-Will" and "A Friend to Alexander"). The most famous story is "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," which bears little resemblance to the 1947 film of the same name.{{cite web

| title = The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)

| work = Show Preview, AMCTV.com

| publisher = American Movie Classics

| url = http://www.amctv.com/show/detail?CID=2901-1-EST

| access-date = 2006-12-12

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060629104142/http://www.amctv.com/show/detail?CID=2901-1-EST

| archive-date = 2006-06-29

| url-status = dead

}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|id=0063934|title=My World and Welcome to It}}
• {{IMDb title|id=0591265|title=Cristabel (The Secret Life of John Monroe)}}
• [http://www.tvparty.com/recworld.html TVParty.com's My World and Welcome to It page]
• [http://myworldandwelcometoit.flyingdreams.org/ Flying Dreams' My World and Welcome to It page]
• [http://www.tvobscurities.com/articles/my_world/ My World and Welcome To It] at Television Obscurities

{{EmmyAward ComedySeries 1952-1975}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:My World And Welcome To It}}

Category:1960s American single-camera sitcoms

Category:1970s American single-camera sitcoms

Category:1969 American television series debuts

Category:1970 American television series endings

Category:American television series with live action and animation

Category:Television series by CBS Studios

Category:Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series winners

Category:Television series about families

Category:Television shows about writers

Category:Television shows about comics

Category:Television shows set in Connecticut

Category:Works by James Thurber

Category:NBC sitcoms