September 14, 1965 – My Mother the Car Premiers

Judging by the list of comedic all-stars who created, wrote, and directed My Mother the Car, which premiered on this day in 1965, you’d think it’d still be on TV. As it went, the whole charade was a network swing and a miss, leading to the series being canned after one season. Writers included Allan Burns and James L. Brooks and it was directed by, among others, Rod Amateau.

My Mother the Car starred Jerry Van Dyke as attorney David Crabtree. In the first episode he buys a vintage 1928 “Porter” after it calls to him on a used car lot. He soon discovers his deceased mother is talking to him through the radio, yet nobody else hears it. To get his family onboard with keeping the dilapidated old car, David has it fully restored. During the restoration a crooked collector known as Captan Manzini catches wind of the vehicle’s existence. The series revolves around Manzini doing anything he can to get the car from David.

Today the Porter is owned by a collector in Alberta, Canada and one of the stunt vehicles used in the show sold at a 2017 auction for $50,000 in Connecticut.