The Hathaways(1961)

The Hathaways is a 1961 sitcom that aired on ABC for one season, starring Peggy Cass and Jack Weston as suburban Los Angeles residents raising three performing chimpanzees named Candy, Charlie, and Enoch. Weston plays Walter, a real estate agent, while Cass portrays his wife Elinore, who manages the chimps' show business careers. The show follows the comedic chaos that erupts when the Hathaways' unusual family setup collides with their neighbors' expectations. Mary Grace Canfield, Barbara Perry, and Harvey Lembeck round out the supporting cast as friends and agents caught up in the mayhem. The chimps had previously appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and in commercials, bringing genuine performance experience to the series. Though short-lived, The Hathaways offered a quirky take on the suburban family sitcom formula of the era, blending domestic humor with the unpredictability of animal actors.