"[5] Originally, NBC planned for the 90 Bristol Court sitcoms to air in the order of their main characters' ages, with Karen first, Tom, Dick and Mary next, and Harris Against the World concluding the programming block.

[5] Cleveland Amory of TV Guide gave it one of the kinder reviews, writing that "none of the three shows is, by itself, terrible; but, with the exception of the middle one [Harris Against the World] neither are they, on the average, strong enough to do anything more than grin and bore you.

"[5] He found a few positives in Harris Against the World and Tom, Dick and Mary, but with regard to Karen he wrote that "in none of the episodes we've seen has there been a single redeeming feature" except for the theme song.

[5] Larry Wolters called 90 Bristol Court a "mess of unpalatable comic fodder," describing it as "three excursions into idiocy in a row" that constituted "cruel and inhuman punishment.

"[5] Cecil Smith called it "as synthetic in concept as a $15 suit"[5] and wrote that he believed viewers "will probably choose the segment that fits their particular taste and turn to it as they would any other situation comedy" rather than watch all three as NBC hoped.

[5] It faced formidable competition opposite the venerable To Tell the Truth, I've Got a Secret, and The Andy Griffith Show on CBS and a fledgling Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea on ABC.

[5] NBC's programming experiment came to an end on January 4, 1965, as it aired the 13th and final episodes of Harris Against the World and Tom, Dick, and Mary, both victims of their low Nielsen ratings.

Upon the demise of 90 Bristol Court, Cliff Murdoch, the handyman who appeared in all three series set at the complex, disappeared from the remaining episodes of Karen.

Tom's best friend Dick Moran (Steve Franken), also an intern, moved in to share the expenses, but often became an irritant to the newlyweds as he "played the field" in the world of romance.