Trivia / The Patty Duke Show

• Creator Backlash: A minor example: Patty Duke mentioned in later interviews that while she loved the show and the cast and crew, and considered her castmates her family/social life due to her traumatic personal life at the time, she disliked Patty and Cathy's hairstyles. The clothing line in her name that was released to cash in on the show's success wasn't to her taste, either.
• Dawson Casting: Eddie Applegate, who played Patty's on-again, off-again boyfriend Richard, was 27 when he first played 16-year-old Richard.
• Fake Scot: Cathy.
• Playing Their Own Twin:
  • William Schallert also played Cathy's dad (and Martin's identical twin brother) Kenneth in a few episodes as well as their uncle Jed in one episode.
  • Patty and Cathy aren't sisters, but they're otherwise identical and it's clearly the same gimmick.
  • And then there's "The Perfect Hostess", in which Patty Duke played Patty and Cathy's distant cousin Betsy, a Southern Belle from Tennessee. So really, there are three identical cousins instead of two...
• Real-Life Relative: Patty Duke's first husband was Assistant Director Harry Falk, Jr. Upon their marriage, Falk got promoted to director for a few episodes.
• Referenced by...: Rocko's Modern Life put their own spin on the theme song in the first Bloaty and Squirmy Show segments of the episodes "Dirty Dog" and "The Fatlands."
• Uncredited Role: Hermione Baddeley as a Historical Society member in "It Takes a Heap of Livin'".
• What Could Have Been: Patty Duke mentioned in her 1987 memoir Call Me Anna, and in numerous interviews since, that had ABC decided to make the investment to film new episodes in color, The Patty Duke Show would likely have lasted a few more seasons than it had, as it was still a strong ratings draw in 1966 when the show was canceled. While ABC did want to broadcast the show in color, the production company (United Artists Television) refused to do so, probably in the hope that the network would offer more money to produce the show.

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