Grant Unto Him Eternal Rest his body works differently from other people". The executives were bemused by an incomplete story where one of the main characters was dead, but commissioned the series soon after receiving the full script. In retrospect, Linehan and Mathews noticed that the plot was very similar to that of the "Fawlty Towers" episode "The Kipper and the Corpse". Despite being fans of the show, they only noticed the parallels afterwards, and would likely have abandoned the episode if they had seen them earlier. Kevin Sharkey, who plays the black Donegal priest, was a friend of the writers', and was brought in
The Colgate Comedy Hour Real McCoys", made his television debut on "The Colgate Comedy Hour." Hal March and Tom D'Andrea appeared on "The Colgate Comedy Hour" in what subsequently became in the summer of 1955 the 11-episode NBC live military comedy series, "The Soldiers". D'Andrea took leave from his role as Jim Gillis in William Bendix's "The Life of Riley" for "The Soldiers". In June 1955, the show changed its name to the "Colgate Variety Hour" to reflect a move away from pure comedy. A number of the earlier hosts had left by the end of the 1953-54 season (with the exception of Martin