Nancy Dussault in “Too Close for Comfort”

Nancy Dussault, at left, with co-star Ted Knight in the sitcom "Too Close for Comfort", which ran from 1980 to 1987.

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/too_close_for_comfort/s01

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She is best known as the red-headed mother of two beautiful sisters. They live in a downstairs apartment in the same house and vex their over protective father all at the same time.

It is Nancy Dussault’s birthday today, offering a chance to look back at the sitcom “Too Close for Comfort”.

I recently re-visited the show on demand and have to say it stands up pretty well.

Sitcom success
“Too Close for Comfort” debuted in November of 1980, on CBC Channel 9 of the peasant vision dial. It aired at around 10 p.m., in the days when news didn’t start until 11 p.m. I recall trying to get to stay up to watch it, with varying amounts of success.

It was a neat show. Ted Knight played Henry Rush, a professional cartoonist who works from home, and Nancy Dussault played his wife Muriel who was a freelance photographer. They had two daughters, Sara, played by Lydia Cornell, and Jackie, played by Deborah Van Valknenburgh. The Rushes had a suite downstairs they rented to a mysterious man named Rafkin. When he dies, Jackie and Sarah convince their parents to let them move in. Part of the comedy early on is discovering, along with the Rushes, the life Rafkin left behind, starting with the realization he was a cross-dresser.

There were some interesting elements to the show. Henry Rush wore a different university’s sweat shirt every episode. When I went to the University of Alberta, I met a guy named Rob Lafreniere who was a few years ahead of me. He said his floor watched “Too Close for Comfort” religiously and, one day, Henry wore a University of Alberta sweatshirt. That was pretty cool

Another interesting element was that Henry drew his character Cosmic Cow with an actual Cosmic Cow puppet on his hand. He even talked to him and Cosmic Cow talked back.

Interestingly, Henry Rush was a departure for Ted Knight from his role as Ted Baxter in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. Henry Rush was a little more like the Murray Slaughter character from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, played by Gavin McLeod

A lot of the conflict in “Too Close for Comfort” came from Jackie and Sara’s quest for independence against their father who was very over-protective.

Muriel often played the straight man for Henry’s comic flourishes, but Nancy Dussault had great comic timing too.

In one episode I recall, she was brilliant. Henry and Muriel were having trouble in the bedroom. They tried many different things, including Muriel dressing up in suggestive clothing and appearing half naked in the bed. When Henry came in, he was attracted to her perfume, and asked what it was called.

“Lust,” she said.

Nothing like getting right to the point.

In the second season, they had solved those issues in the bedroom because Muriel got pregnant and had the baby at season’s end.

Over time, as happened, I lost track of the show because it wasn’t always on at regular times on Channel 9. I also got busy doing other things. In addition, the show had been cancelled by ABC after its third season, and went into first-run syndication for its final three years.

Ted Knight also died in August of 1986, precipitating the end of the show

I did happen upon what looked like an episode of “Too Close for Comfort” on Channel 9, as it had Ted Knight and Nancy Dussault. However, the opening credits called it “The Ted Knight Show”. Wikipedia reveals the name was changed in late 1985 before the start of the sixth season. Henry also retired from drawing Cosmic Cow, bought a share in a local newspaper, and became its editor.

“Too Close for Comfort” would run six seasons, from 1980 to 1987, for a total of 129 episodes.

Nancy Dussault had been an integral part of the show throughout its run, but was also in a number of productions before and after.

Her story
Nancy Dussault appeared in a number of TV movies starting in 1968, but also had guest roles in “The New Dick Van Dyke Show”; “Love, American Style”; “Good Heavens”; “Flying High”; “Barney Miller”; “Sweepstakes”; and “The Love Boat”. She was part of the first anchor team of “Good Morning America” with David Hartman when the show debuted in 1975 as well.

She also appeared in the movie “The In-Laws” in 1979, with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk.

After “Too Close for Comfort” ended in 1987, Dussault had guest roles in the rest of the decade in “Murder, She Wrote”; “Matlock”; “Hotel”; “The Oldest Rookie”; “The Munsters Today”; and “Full House”.

The years after
Dussault keeps on acting. She appeared in guest roles in a number of 1990s shows such as “Walter and Emily”; “Hearts Are Wild”; and “Capitol Critters”; and was the first actor to play the mother of Jamie Buchman, Helen Hunt’s character on “Mad About You”. Dussault was also in “Heaven Help Us”; “Dream On”; “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”; “Family Law”; “Judging Amy”; “Providence”; and “Alias”; before taking a long break. Her last appearance was in a short called “The Final Show” in 2016.

However, she has done a lot of work on stage and Broadway, and received Tony nominations in 1961 and 1965.

Parting thoughts
For fans of pop culture, there are certain names you can hear, and instantly associate a show or a character with.

Nancy Dussault is an excellent example of that, not only because she played Muriel Rush in 129 episodes of “Too Close for Comfort”, but because much of the other work she did was on stage, not in front of a camera.

Interestingly, she did occasionally sing and dance in “Too Close for Comfort”, and it was obvious she was a pro.

It just added to the rich character she created on “Too Close for Comfort”.