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Saturday, June 22, 2019

YouTube Spotlight: I Married Dora goes out in memorable fashion

Welcome to YouTube Spotlight, a weekly feature in which we highlight a video from each week's episode-specific YouTube playlist! This week, we discussed Hardcastle and McCormick on the show, and one of the most intriguing videos from the list is:




Imagine tuning in to watch an unheralded sitcom in that pre-Internet era and seeing it end like that. Maybe you'd be aware it was the series finale because you read that in a blurb in the morning paper's TV listings or in TV Guide it was designated as such, but this must have had quite the kick.

I Married Dora starred the late Elizabeth Pena as a Salvadoran illegal alien domestic who marries her boss, played by H&M's Daniel Hugh Kelly, to stay in the USA. Hijinks ensued, but ratings did not, and the series only lasted 13 episodes. I guess the creators just decided, "Eh, what the heck," and went with this hilarious final scene, and I for one love that they did.

Despite the talented cast, including a young Juliette Lewis, Dora had little impact on Friday nights in ABC's Fall 1987 lineup, but the premise and that finale have given it some notoriety. Two of my trusty reference books here go out of their way to highlight the wild conclusion.

Another amusing aspect of the series: As TV Obscurities describes:

Rarely has a television network felt the need to air a disclaimer warning viewers that what they were about to see was illegal. But that’s just what ABC did prior to its special sneak preview of I Married Dora [35]. Why was a disclaimer necessary? Because the series was about a widower who married his housekeeper to prevent her from being deported. That was, and is, against the law, but ABC must have felt the unlawful premise of the series was worth any whispers of impropriety.

For some reason, I really want to see that disclaimer.

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