The 9-12 issue of trade magazine
Video Business is reporting that the classic 1952 NBC series
Mr. Peepers is coming to DVD in a 4-disc set (the name of the studio releasing this package was not mentioned). The show starred Wally Cox (later the voice of
Underdog) as Robinson Peepers, a science teacher at a junior high school. Also included among the cast was Tony Randall and Jack Warden.
Curiously, the brief in
VB also states that it also featured "
a then unknown Walter Matthau (performing under a different name)". I've never seen the show myself, and being a fan of Matthau's this made me rather curious. But a quick Google search only turns up one site that corroborates this, and that's TV.com (formerly TVTome.com, but with a massive site redesign). In TV.com's
summary of the pilot episode, the guest star listing shows "
Walter Matthau (Mr. Burr)", and there is an episode note that states "
Walter Matthau is credited as 'David Tyrell.'" But the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com) shows
that David Tyrell was a separate actor, who played "Charlie Burr" on
Mr. Peepers, and the IMDB listing for this actor goes on to give details of Tyrell's birth, marriage, career, and death; this doesn't sound like a Matthau pseudonym. The official Walter Matthau
biography page and
filmography/credits page (which includes numerous TV guest spots dating back to 1948) does not mention any stints on
Mr. Peepers. So we're not sure where either TV.com or
Video Business is getting this info of Matthau being part of the show, unless watching the actual episodes reveals something that Matthau's own credit listings fails to disclose.
But we can watch the episodes for ourselves on
October 18th, accoding to the
VB story, which goes on to say that the SRP is $39.99 and there will be extras in the form of a Biography of star Wally Cox, a clip of Cox on
Laugh In, a Photo Gallery, Trivia, an interview with Dom DeLuise, and "a family tree tracing all the stars that appeared on the show". Hmm, perhaps THAT will clear up this Matthau business!
