American Family

Writer Carlton E. (for Errol) Morse, 49, sat in a Hollywood studio one day last week, blinking back a sentimental rush of tears. He was listening to Actor J. Anthony Smythe, the Father Barbour of One Man's Family (weekdays 7:45 p.m., NBC), thank the "great American listening audience for its wonderful and sincere loyalty" to the program over the past 19 years.

It was not surprising that Writer-Producer Morse was moved by the tribute. He had composed it himself in honor of the family he had first introduced to the U.S. in 1932. Then there were only Father and Mother Barbour and their five children. Today the clan totals 20, including twelve grandchildren, and six of the original cast have grown grey in the service of one of radio's oldest, best-known families.

Love, Marriage, Divorce. Unlike most of their 20 million listeners, the Barbours have always had plenty of money (Father is a retired broker worth "approximately $300,000"), and Morse strongly believes that the strength of the U.S. lies in "the Barbour type of family." But the Family's greatest appeal lies in the sobs, heartaches and all-around pluckiness of the Barbours in their encounters with love, marriage, divorce and sickness.

Through the years the Barbours have mirrored the changing moods, crises and enthusiasms of a generation of U.S. families. Daughter Claudia and son-in-law Nicky were lost at sea during the war when their ship was torpedoed (they turned up several years later as the result of a lucky rescue). Son Jack was a Marine, and is currently a struggling lawyer. Daughter Hazel has a "problem" child. Son Paul, the family philosopher, often seems to speak for the changing moods of Author Morse himself.

A Dozen Typewriters. When not in his 17-room Hollywood house, Carlton Morse can usually be found in his cubbyhole in an unused theater, where he has worn out a dozen typewriters producing the 20 million words that have gone into his shows. Stacked about him are the bound volumes of his scripts: One Man's Family (14,704,000 words); I Love a Mystery (3,400,000 words); the Woman in My House (102,000 words); His Honor, the Barber (182,000 words). Bulking large on the shelf, and even larger in Morse's imagination, are the 765,000 words of the TV version of One Man's Family.

The Family got its TV start two years ago when Morse was summoned East to put together a TV show to compete with CBS's The Goldbergs. Morse recast his show "for the eye instead of the ear," and began to think in terms of visible characters. The result was so successful that Morse now considers the TV Family (which has a different cast, headed by Bert Lytell, and a different storyline) much more top-drawer than the radio Barbours. Says Morse: "Father Barbour has become much more human than the stuffed-shirt character I created for radio; Mother Barbour is a more brilliant, society-type woman." Judging by their success to date, there seemed no reason to doubt that the TV Barbours would go right on spinning out their Family saga for just as long as their radio counterparts.

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