My Man Joe TV Series

My Man Joe

1967 - United Kingdom

Joe Baker starred in My Man Joe as a helpless and hapless character who tries mad money-making schemes to recapture past glory for the aristocratic Lord Peregrine Hansford (Francis Matthews), for whom Joe is a valet. The schemes always flop. 

The series starred Baker's real-life wife Anne Lloyd (who had previously played Sister Beattie in Emergency-Ward 10). Baker's father was a music-hall comic. At 11 weeks, he was carried on stage at the Empire by Gracie Fields and at 14 made his debut at Collins' music hall in Islington, North London. Joe Baker's television career began in shows like Josephine Douglas's Fire Crackers (1964) with Alfred Marks. In 1965 he had his own Joe Baker Show with Gerald Harper, and two years later starred in Baker's Half Dozen (My Man Joe was sandwiched between the two). 

In 1972, Baker, who had been greatly influenced by American humour (his slick style went down particularly well with troops at American bases in Britain) starred in the ABC Comedy Hour on US television and in 1975 he emigrated to the USA, even though he was then earning a reputed £20,000 a year in Britain and starring in a lucrative television advertisement as a washing machine repairman, for Bold washing powder. He didn't become the huge success he was hoping for in the States, although he appeared regularly on programmes such as Hollywood Squares

Published on January 9th, 2019. Written by Laurence Marcus for Television Heaven.

Read Next...

And Mother Makes Three

Almost a direct follow on from the BBC's hugely popular Not In Front Of The Children starring Wendy Craig who was in an almost constant state of domestic discord...

Also tagged Britcom

Curry and Chips

Poorly received sitcom by Johnny Speight who attempted (and many would say failed) to highlight the stupidity of racism.

Also tagged Britcom

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

In the year AD2068, Earth's elite Spectrum force is bought into action when war is declared on the planet by the Mysterons.

Also released in 1967

Gentle Ben

Man's best friend in this series wasn't a dog but a huge bear...

Also released in 1967

Billy Liar

Adapted from the highly successful novel/play/film by successful writing team Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, this version of Billy Liar was updated by them to make it more relevant to the early 1970s.

Also tagged Britcom

market in honey lane

Created by Louis Marks and beginning on Monday 3rd April 1967, Market In Honey Lane was British TV's first attempt to break Coronation Streets' supremacy as the number one soap opera with an East End version.

Also released in 1967

Butterflies TV series

Gently thoughtful, amusing and well observed eighties situation comedy series for the BBC about a seemingly ordinary, contented, middle class suburban housewife who suddenly find herself plunged into the middle of a disorienting, emotionally tumultuous, mid-life crisis.

Also tagged Britcom

At Last the 1948 Show

An early outing for many of the team that would eventually form 'Monty Python', the '1948 Show' allowed the writers to indulge in a zany style of comedy that had been considered the domain of 'The Goons' for so long, but which hitherto had failed to make much headway on British television.

Also released in 1967

Doctor In The House

Hospital comedy based on Richard Gordon's series of books, which had previously been adapted for the cinema starting with a 1954 production starring Dirk Bogarde. New medical students arrive at St Swithin's Hospital...mayhem ensues

Also tagged Britcom