My World and Welcome to It

The series is based on the humor and cartoons of James Thurber, with the main character John Monroe serving as a Thurber-like writer and cartoonist working for a magazine closely resembling The New Yorker.

The character John Monroe originated as Thurber's alter-ego in his book 'Owl in the Attic,' and first appeared on television in a 1959 Alcoa Theatre/Goodyear Theatre production called 'Cristabel (The Secret Life of John Monroe),' also written by series creator Mel Shavelson.

A 1961 episode of The DuPont Show with June Allyson, called 'The Country Mouse' and starring Orson Bean, also used animated versions of Thurber's cartoons and featured a cartoonist named Monroe struggling to finish his work, making it an unofficial pilot for the series.

Producer Danny Arnold, who co-wrote or directed numerous episodes, also appeared on screen as Santa Claus in the episode 'Rally Round the Flag'.

The recurring character Philip Jensen, a fellow writer at the magazine, was based on humorist Robert Benchley, while a female writer appearing in one episode was loosely based on Dorothy Parker.

Guest stars on the show included Talia Shire (credited as Talia Coppola), Cindy Williams, Danny Bonaduce, Lee Meriwether, and Ray Walston, among others.

Animation for the series, which brought Thurber's cartoons to life (such as the famous 'Home' cartoon house with an animated woman's face), was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.

The episode 'Cristabel' opens with Monroe lying atop a cartoon doghouse, a nod to the non-Thurber cartoon character Snoopy, and the episode's policeman incident is an almost verbatim transcription of Thurber's story 'The Topaz Cufflinks Mystery.'

Despite generally positive reviews, the show only achieved moderate Nielsen ratings while airing opposite Gunsmoke, leading NBC to cancel it after a single season and replace it with The Red Skelton Show poached from CBS.

Although canceled after one season, the series went on to win two Emmy Awards in 1970: Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series for William Windom; it was also nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy for special photographic effects on 'Rally 'Round the Flag Boys.'

The show was rerun by CBS in the summer of 1972 but was otherwise rarely aired and never nationally syndicated; as of the article, it has not been released on DVD, though bootleg copies exist.