The Doris Day Show

Season 1 (1968–1969)

Day portrays Doris Martin, a widowed mother of young sons Billy and Toby (Philip Brown and Todd Starke). When the series premieres, she has brought her boys home to her father's rural ranch in Cotina in Mill Valley, north of San Francisco, California, after living in New York City for most of her adult life.^[3]

Other characters during this initial phase of the program include Doris's father Buck Webb (Denver Pyle) and their naive hired ranch hand, LeRoy B. Simpson (James Hampton). Their housekeeper initially is Aggie Thompson (Fran Ryan, who left after the first 10 episodes to replace Barbara Pepper as Doris Ziffel in Green Acres). The character left without explanation and was replaced by Juanita (Naomi Stevens). Lord Nelson is also included in the opening credits cast as Lord Nelson, the family's sheepdog.

Season 2 (1969–1970)

Doris begins to commute from the ranch to San Francisco, where she starts working as an executive secretary at Today's World magazine. New workplace characters are added: McLean Stevenson (who would later leave the series to star in M*A*S*H) plays her boss, Today's World editor Michael Nicholson, who is often referred to as 'Nick' by the other magazine executives; Rose Marie plays Doris' friend Myrna Gibbons, a fellow secretary at the magazine; Paul Smith portrays Ron Harvey, the magazine's assistant-editor and Myrna's boss. Pyle, Brown, and Starke remain regular cast members, while Hampton appears in only one episode, his character now married and owning a gas station in Mill Valley. Lord Nelson still appears uncredited as the family sheepdog in most episodes this season. There is no longer any housekeeper at the ranch, and no ranch hand was hired to replace Leroy. ^[2]

Season 3 (1970–1971)

Doris tires of the commute between her work and the ranch and relocates herself, the boys, and the dog to San Francisco, where they rent an apartment above an Italian restaurant owned and operated by married couple Louie and Angie Pallucci (Bernie Koppell and Kaye Ballard). At first Louie is angry with Angie for renting the apartment to a widow with children and a large pet, but he eventually cherishes their new tenants after Billy and Toby praise his pizza. Angie also becomes one of Doris's best friends. Doris begins writing articles for the magazine under the auspices of Mr. Harvey, the assistant editor, but is still mainly a secretary. All of the regular characters from the previous season remain, with the exception of Pyle's Buck, who appears in only two episodes; no episodes from Season 3 onward take place on his ranch. Hampton's character LeRoy appears in only one episode; he now lives in Montana and travels the rodeo circuit to raise the money to buy his own ranch. In this season Doris' nemesis, Willard Jarvis (Billy De Wolfe), moves in next door, causing trouble for her and her family in a few episodes. Lord Nelson again is not included in the opening credits cast list, but appears uncredited in a handful of episodes this season.^[2]

Seasons 4–5 (1971–1973)

The fourth season sees a radical change in the series. Day's character suddenly becomes a swinging single career woman who goes by Miss instead of Mrs.). The entire cast from previous seasons, other than Day herself, and occasionally the Palluccis, are gone; even Doris Martin's two sons are no longer in the cast, with no explanation given, and are never referred to again. Doris Martin, still working for Today's World, now has a new editor, Cy Bennett, played by character actor John Dehner, and she is now a full-time staff writer, and later an associate editor. Jackie Joseph joins the cast as Doris' friend and Cy's secretary at the magazine, Jackie Parker. Doris lives in the same apartment and the Palluccis, Angie in particular, are still on hand in the fourth season. In season 5, there is no mention of the Palluccis owning the building; the estate of the owner, an elderly man named Mr. Carter, sells the building after Carter's passing to Doris's sometimes-nemesis, Mr. Jarvis, which initially alarms Doris, but she and the other tenants eventually accept him. In Season 4, Doris begins a romance with Dr. Peter Lawrence (Peter Lawford), which lasts until late into Season 5. That relationship is followed by one with old boyfriend Jonathan Rusk (Patrick O'Neal). The series continued with this format until it was canceled in 1973.^[2]

Main cast

• Doris Day as Doris Martin
• Philip Brown as Billy Martin (Seasons 1–3)
• Todd Starke as Toby Martin (Seasons 1–3)
• Denver Pyle as Buck Webb (Seasons 1–2, recurring Season 3)
• Lord Nelson as Lord Nelson (Seasons 1–2, recurring Season 3)
• James Hampton as LeRoy B. Simpson (Season 1, recurring Seasons 2–3)
• Fran Ryan as Aggie Thompson (first ten episodes of Season 1)
• Naomi Stevens as Juanita (last eighteen episodes of Season 1)
• McLean Stevenson as Michael 'Nick' Nicholson (Seasons 2–3)
• Rose Marie as Myrna Gibbons (Seasons 2–3)
• Paul Smith as Ron Harvey (Seasons 2–3)
• Bernie Kopell as Louie Pallucci (Season 3, recurring Season 4)
• Kaye Ballard as Angie Pallucci (Season 3, recurring Season 4)
• Billy DeWolfe as Willard Jarvis (recurring Seasons 2–5)
• John Dehner as Cyril Bennett (Seasons 4–5)
• Jackie Joseph as Jackie Parker (Seasons 4–5)
• Peter Lawford as Dr. Peter Lawrence (recurring Seasons 4-5)^[3]

Other notable cast

A number of other actors appeared in notable storylines covering several episodes sometimes over multiple seasons.

• Strother Martin as Tyrone Lovey (Season 1), an unscrupulous poacher and junk dealer
• Edward Andrews as Colonel Fairburn (Seasons 2–5), publisher of Today's World
• Larry Storch as Duke Farentino (Seasons 2–3), a boxer turned wannabe nightclub headliner
• Lew Ayres as William Tyler (Seasons 2–3), a reclusive billionaire businessman
• Johnny Haymer as Montagne (Seasons 2–3), a Parisian couturier
• Carol Worthington as Ethel Weber (Season 3), Doris's kooky friend who often acted as Billy and Toby's sitter (Worthington portrayed several other minor characters in the series prior to the Ethel Weber character)
• Van Johnson as Charlie Webb (Seasons 3–4), Doris's free-spirited cousin
• Jon Cypher as Sir Robert Kingsley (Seasons 4–5), a British knight and author, who was one of Doris's love interests
• Patrick O'Neal as Jonathan Rusk (Season 5), Doris's old boyfriend, aspiring politician, fellow journalist and another of her current love interests