TV series
My World and Welcome to It is an American half-hour television sitcom based on the humor and cartoons of James Thurber. It starred William Windom as John Monroe, a Thurber-like writer and cartoonist who works for a magazine closely resembling The New Yorker called The Manhattanite. Wry, fanciful and curmudgeonly, Monroe observes and comments on life, to the bemusement of his rather sensible wife Ellen and intelligent, questioning daughter Lydia. Monroe's frequent daydreams and fantasies are usually based on Thurber material. My World — And Welcome To It is the name of a book of illustrated stories and essays, also by James Thurber. The series ran one season on NBC 1969-1970. It was created by Mel Shavelson, who wrote and directed the pilot episode and was one of the show's principal writers. Sheldon Leonard was executive producer. The show's producer, Danny Arnold, co-wrote or directed numerous episodes, and even appeared as Santa Claus in "Rally Round the Flag."
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Checked Jul 22, 2026
My World and Welcome to It premiered September 15, 1969. We don't have a confirmed streaming, rental or purchase option yet.
My World and Welcome to It is an American half-hour television sitcom based on the humor and cartoons of James Thurber. It starred William Windom as John Monroe, a Thurber-like writer and cartoonist who works for a magazine closely resembling The New Yorker called The Manhattanite. Wry, fanciful and curmudgeonly, Monroe observes and comments on life, to the bemusement of his rather sensible wife Ellen and intelligent, questioning daughter Lydia. Monroe's frequent daydreams and fantasies are usually based on Thurber material. My World — And Welcome To It is the name of a book of illustrated stories and essays, also by James Thurber. The series ran one season on NBC 1969-1970. It was created by Mel Shavelson, who wrote and directed the pilot episode and was one of the show's principal writers. Sheldon Leonard was executive producer. The show's producer, Danny Arnold, co-wrote or directed numerous episodes, and even appeared as Santa Claus in "Rally Round the Flag."
Cast, crew and production details
Joan HotchkisEllen Monroe
William WindomJohn Monroe
Henry MorganPhilip Jensen
Lisa GerritsenLydia Monroe
Mary GroverMiss Skidmore
Buddy Lester
Lee Philips
Danny Bonaduce
NBCUnited StatesWatch options above are for the show and may vary by season or episode.
Episode 1
When Lydia complains to her father about the dullness of her history lesson at school, John tells her his own version of the story of Generals Grant and Lee at Appomattox, a version that plays fast and loose with the facts. After Lydia repeats John's fanciful take on the story in class, her beautiful teacher pays John a visit at home.
Directed by Melville ShavelsonGuest stars Marvin Kaplan, Royal Dano
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 2
When the noise from the freight elevator beside his office becomes intolerable, John decides to try working at home, only to be confronted by Lydia, who is unhappy with her seat at school. She decides to run away into Manhattan to stay with her bohemian Aunt Kate--accompanied by her worried father.
Directed by Danny Arnold
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 3
In order to get closer to her father, with whom she seems to share little in common, Lydia learns how to play chess from her mother and begins seriously beating John at the game. He enlists the help of Oscar, a chess expert who works at The Manhattanite, to beat her, but to no avail. So John imagines the results of three increasingly bizarre plans to win out over his daughter.
Directed by Lee PhilipsGuest stars Lee Philips, Oscar Beregi Jr., Lew Gallo
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 4
John has dog problems with just about everyone: Greeley, over a magazine piece about his childhood family pet who bit people; Ellen, who makes him sleep on the couch after an argument about animals' eyes; and Lydia, who wants a new puppy. Then Christabel, the family's ancient poodle, becomes ill, and everyone seems to hold John at fault.
Directed by Sheldon LeonardGuest stars Frank De Vol, Danny Arnold
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 5
When Lydia comes down with a bad cold, John takes the opportunity to try to show her that people with vivid imaginations are better off than those who approach life from a more ""realistic"" point of view. The story of ""The Unicorn in the Garden"" doesn't seem to work, so John relates the story of his great-grandfather, who not only was a prolific storyteller but managed to get the fire department called out when he was trying to attend to young John's sniffles.
Directed by Melville ShavelsonGuest stars Joe Besser, Vic Tayback, Douglas Fowley, William Corcoran
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 6
After Greeley once again fails to understand the humor in one of John's cartoons, John quits his job with The Manhattanite and returns home, where he begins to wonder what he'll do for money now. He settles on playing the stock market and fantasizes about a meeting with J.P. Morgan.
Directed by Danny ArnoldWritten by Carl KleinschmittGuest stars James Gregory, Sheldon Leonard
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 7
John, finding himself bothered by the ordinariness of his life, fantasizes about being involved in a tale of espionage involving pickle forks and a malevolent dragon.
Directed by John RichGuest stars Bill Erwin, Ed Peck
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 8
Greeley rejects yet another of John's cartoons which he doesn't understand, one involving a seal in the bedroom of a married couple. Ellen and Lydia agree with Greeley, and when John tells Phil about his problem, Phil suggests the seal might represent John's mother who is visiting the Monroes. Naturally this provokes a fantasy in which John's mother, who showed up at the house wearing a sealskin coat, actually becomes a seal.
Directed by Lee PhilipsWritten by Paul WayneGuest stars Betty Kean
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 9
After being bitten by the family cat, Dimity Ann, John takes her away and leaves her in a new housing developement. Lydia believes the cat ran away because of a dislike for her, while Ellen's suspicions come nearer the truth. John fantasizes about being on trial before a real judge for his ""crime.""
Directed by John RichWritten by Harvey Bullock, Danny ArnoldGuest stars Lew Gallo
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 10
The Monroe's new neighbor, Paul Morton, who is also a cartoonist, challenges John's more sophisticated humor by pitting him against the town's answer to Will Rogers, Zeph Leggin. To John's distress, Ellen and Lydia are taken with Zeph's more rustic humor, and even in his fantasy world John has trouble winning out.
Written by Paul WayneGuest stars Larry Storch, Arthur Hunnicutt
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 11
The Monroes have a new maid who for some reason has a phobia about modern appliances, and Ellen tells John to be kind to her and keep up appearances while she's away. But the maid finds John, who is working in the attic, as distracting as the appliances.
Directed by James SheldonWritten by Danny ArnoldGuest stars Queenie Smith
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 12
John finally manages to get his revenge on Zeph Leggin by studying old jokes and using them to defeat the local humorist in a battle of wit. So Zeph decides it's time to move away from the Connecticut village, and a guilty John feels compelled to convince him to remain.
Written by Marion HargroveGuest stars Arthur Hunnicutt
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 13
When Greeley decides to dedicate an entire issue of The Manhattanite to children's book author George Lindsay Lockhart, John, who despises people who write for children, is outraged--even more when he discovers that Greeley will be staying in his house as they collaborate. John's ire is raised even more when Ellen and Lydia take a liking to Lockhart. But when the two men start working together, John discovers Lockhart isn't quite the saccharine, optimistic soul he had expected.
Directed by Sheldon LeonardWritten by Marion HargroveGuest stars Paul Ford, Dave Shelley
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 14
Frustrated while trying to buy a Christmas present for Lydia, John makes the unfortunate choice of an American flag as her gift. Lydia is not pleased, and when the people in the neighborhood learn of John's inappropriate gift, a group of them show up at the Monroe's accusing him of having his holidays confused.
Directed by James SheldonWritten by Lawrence MarksGuest stars Danny Arnold, Lew Gallo
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 15
During a sixteenth anniversary party for the Jensens at the Monroe's house, Phil loses his temper when his wife Ruth interrupts one of his stories, and when he accidentally spills a martini on her, war is declared. After a skirmish in the grocery store, battle lines are drawn and Ruth throws Phil out of their house, which causes the men, including Hamilton Greeley and a fellow writer named J.J. Howard, to gather at a bar and decide how to prevail.
Directed by Alan RafkinGuest stars Buddy Lester
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 16
Lydia is supposed to go to a dance with a boy named Elbert, but when a bully beats him up and insists that Lydia go to the dance with him, John takes the side of the underdog and tries to talk Elbert into retaliating.
Directed by Danny ArnoldWritten by John McGreeveyGuest stars Kerry MacLane, Douglas Fowley
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 17
Lydia is concerned about nightmares, so John tells stories about his family during his childhood in Columbus, Ohio. He recalls several eccentric relatives, including his Aunt Hester, who was so afraid of burglers that she put her household good outside her bedroom door every night so no one would break in to steal them.
Directed by John RichWritten by Lila GarrettGuest stars Ruth McDevitt, Sheldon Leonard, Eldon Quick
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 18
When a neighborhood boy tries to tell Lydia about the facts of life, she responds by punching him in the mouth. While Ellen is mostly concerned that Lydia has given the boy a loose tooth, John attempts to discuss the concepts of inferiority and superiority with his daughter
Directed by Alan RafkinWritten by Lawrence MarksGuest stars Jesse White
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 19
When both Ellen and Lydia's teacher Miss Skidmore agree that John's cartoons are causing his daughter acute embarrassment, John goes to the school and ends up in the office of the principal, who John imagines as a Nazi out of a World War II melodrama.
Directed by John RichWritten by Danny ArnoldGuest stars Danny Bonaduce, Alan Oppenheimer
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 20
When Ellen and Lydia go on an overnight trip, leaving John home alone, he finds himself interrupted in his work by a pair of movers and goes into a fantasy concerning him and his beautiful new neighbor.
Directed by Danny ArnoldWritten by Danny ArnoldGuest stars Lee Meriwether, Percy Helton, Joseph V. Perry, Tom D'Andrea
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 21
John suggests The Manhattanite use marriage as the theme of its anniversary issue, and he has his own ideas on the subject. After he elaborates on his thoughts on marriage, including the tendency of wives to tardiness, he ends up being late for a lunch date with Ellen.
Directed by John RichWritten by Danny ArnoldGuest stars Buddy Lester, Stuart Margolin, Frank Aletter
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 22
When John begins collaborating on a book with a female writer, Ellen suspects he may really be having an affair instead.
Directed by James SheldonWritten by Lawrence MarksGuest stars Neva Patterson
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 23
John is suffering from cartoonist's block, making him irritable at work and then later at home. In his frustration he chases Lydia out of his study, causing her to fall and accidentally break her arm. Everyone seems to want to take the blame for Lydia's injury, and Ellen thinks she has a solution, at least to John's feelings of guilt.
Directed by John RichGuest stars Milton Selzer, Stuart Margolin
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 24
John once again has to deal with rejection, not only by Greeley, who can't find the humor in one of John's cartoons, but by the young editor of Lydia's sixth-grade school newspaper. John is upset by this double rejection, but his attempts to plead his case don't go the way he wants.
Directed by John RichWritten by Lila Garrett, Danny ArnoldGuest stars Allyn Ann McLerie
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 25
After both Ellen and Greeley accuse John of hating women, John becomes unable to think of any other kinds of cartoons to meet his deadline than ones which back up their accusations.
Directed by Allen BaronGuest stars Bobo Lewis
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode 26
When Phil gives in to his son's wishes because of feelings of guilt, John chastises him for being weak, but when John himself misses a picnic he'd planned to take with Lydia, he imagines the negative consequences of his forgetfulness by conjuring up three possible Lydias of the future, none of them better off for his neglect.
Directed by John RichWritten by Carl KleinschmittGuest stars Roberta Lee Carroll
Where to watch My World and Welcome to ItEpisode information updated Jul 22, 2026
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