Popular Culture Review Vol. 27, No. 2, Summer 2016 | Page 173

Two of a Kind : Love and Romance in The Patty Duke Show By Kathy Merlock Jackson , Virginia Wesleyan College
When actress Patty Duke died unexpectedly on March 29 , 2016 , many women remembered a song . Over fifty years after The Patty Duke Show first appeared , its catchy theme song remains embedded in minds of those who were girls in the mid 1960s . A few years ago Shout ! Factory released boxed sets of the three seasons of The Patty Duke Show , generating new interest in the series . However , in a widely distributed wire story written at the time for the Denver Post , Joanne Ostrow dismisses The Patty Duke Show saying , “ Individual episodes are not as memorable as the theme song . The conceit gets old . . . The sound effects are vintage ‘ waa-waa-waa ,’ to indicate a scene winding down ( 6 ).
Other critics have been equally uncharitable . Susan Douglas writes in Where the Girls Are of Duke ’ s character ’ s “ nauseating ” level of “ perkiness ” that enables her to take an active role in the world while remaining properly submissive ( 108 ) and notes , “ Rarely has such a talented young actress been more poorly served ( except when Sally Field got stuck with The Flying Nun )” ( 109 ). Ilana Nash , in American Sweethearts , categorizes The Patty Duke Show with Field ’ s earlier series , Gidget , saying
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