[4] Other people in Tom's life include his co-worker Howie Fletcher, his heavy-set friend Jim Rafferty, and Stanley, a neighborhood boy.

[citation needed] In a review published in its October 10, 1960, edition, TIME magazine said:[6] After its debut in September 1960, The Tom Ewell Show struggled in the ratings.

[7] Ewell promised that changes in the show's writing and acting to address these problems would be apparent beginning with the episode ("Site Unseen") broadcast on December 6, 1960.

[7] The Potter family pets, Mitzi the dog and a parakeet, also were dropped from the series, Ewell explaining that acting with the animals had proven not to be worth the effort.

A television article carried in the April 4, 1961, edition of The Herald and Review of Decatur, Illinois, stated that "The Tom Ewell Show probably will be dropped in July [1961].