Classic TV 101: The 1950s

 Television existed in the 1940s but did not achieve mass media status until the next decade. In the 1950s the program genres and production techniques that still define the medium were established and refined, and dozens of shows were introduced that are still finding new audiences on cable and DVD.

A TV set was a big investment back then, and even once prices began dropping there were many who felt the whole concept was just a passing fad. But then came Milton Berle and Howdy Doody,  Lucy Ricardo and Davy Crockett, and by the end of the decade there was a television in 9 out of every 10 American households.

Television history starts here, and these – in no particular order – are the shows you should know. For those that are not available on home video or through streaming services, there are plenty of clips on YouTube and other video sites.

The Twilight Zone

Some shows from the 1950s remain the gold standard for their genres, and The Twilight Zone is one of them. Rod Serling’s brilliant science fiction anthology series featured some of the best television writing of the decade, and can still scare the bejeezus out of viewers who grew up on Freddie and Jason. 

The Goldbergs

Two years before I Love Lucy, The Goldbergs established the viability of television situation comedy, with characters that were already beloved after nearly 20 years on radio. Star Gertrude Berg (Molly Goldberg) was also the series’ producer and most prolific writer. 

Texaco Star Theater

No one was responsible for the sale of more television sets than Milton Berle, aptly dubbed “Mr. Television.” Berle’s characters and skits have not aged as gracefully as many of his contemporaries, but his Tuesday night comedy-variety series was America’s first must-see TV. 

Gunsmoke

Westerns thrived on television in the 1950s. In the 1958-’59 season there were 30 western series in prime time. You don’t need to sample them all but you should know Gunsmoke. It ran 20 years and more than 600 episodes, all featuring James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon.

What’s My Line?

Several game shows aired in prime time in the 1950s, and one of the best was What’s My Line. Unlike later generations of game shows featuring screaming contestants and hosts with the subtlety of used car salesmen, this was an elegant, cultured series with a witty celebrity panel and a distinguished journalist as its host.

Dragnet

Another successful radio adaptation, Dragnet introduced viewers to the no-nonsense L.A. police detective Sgt. Joe Friday, as played by Jack Webb. The series became known for its staccato dialogue exchanges and iconic theme (the opening four notes once ranked only behind Beethoven’s Fifth in instant recognition). Friday was so admired by real cops that the real Los Angeles Police Department retired his badge number. 

Howdy Doody

TV’s first kiddie show phenomenon, and one of the first series to awaken advertisers to the impact of the new medium; when Howdy and Buffalo Bob endorsed a product, sales skyrocketed. The Howdy Doody puppet is now on display at the Smithsonian. 

Leave it to Beaver

A family situation comedy that defined both its era and its genre, and that introduced a character in Eddie Haskell that became synonymous with sycophantic weasels. 

Your Show of Shows

A towering achievement of TV’s Golden Age, Your Show of Shows presented 90 minutes of often inspired live sketch comedy, every week, for four years. The series was fueled by genius both in front of the camera (Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner) and in the writer’s room (Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart). It also inspired The Dick Van Dyke Show and the film (and Broadway musical) My Favorite Year.

The Honeymooners

Episodes from “the classic 39” have been on television almost non-stop for more than half a century. Jackie Gleason and Art Carney were the medium’s first great comedy team, and Carney’s Ed Norton is the forefather of every wacky TV neighbor from Gladys Kravitz to Cosmo Kramer.

The Ernie Kovacs Show

Where other comedians were content to play on television, Ernie Kovacs was the only personality who would play with television, creating surreal audio and visual tricks that were decades ahead of their time. 

The Original Amateur Hour

Hosted by Ted Mack, the Ryan Seacrest of the Eisenhower era, television’s first talent show aired for 22 years. It launched very few careers, but contestants included Pat Boone and a 7-year-old singer named Gladys Knight.

I Love Lucy

I trust no explanation is necessary. Laugh-out-loud moments can be found in every episode, and Desi Arnaz was an important pioneer in how situation comedies were staged and shot before a live audience. 

Perry Mason

Television’s first courtroom drama set the standard for dozens of subsequent legal shows, though no TV lawyer ever had a higher winning percentage than Perry Mason. Raymond Burr’s portrayal of Mason created an idealized image of the crusading attorney that defined that profession on TV for decades.

Playhouse 90

The dramatic anthology series has disappeared, but in the 1950s there were several outstanding programs that performed movie-length dramatic scripts live every week. Start with Playhouse 90 and “Requiem for a Heavyweight,” written by Rod Serling and starring Jack Palance.

Amos & Andy

One of TV’s most controversial series, and worth a look just for the discussions it generated on racial stereotypes at a time when the South was still segregated. Amos & Andy also has a number of defenders in the African-American community, and it’s worth reading that side of the argument as well. Plus, it’s still a very funny show.

Arthur Godfrey and His Friends

Arthur Godfrey was one of Golden Age TV’s most unique personalities. His folksy charm attracted millions of viewers to both daytime and prime time series, but when he fired one of his “friends,” singer Julius LaRosa, during a live broadcast, fans saw a darker side to Godfrey and never forgave him. 

The Mickey Mouse Club

In 1955, nine of the ten most-watched afternoon television shows were episodes of The Mickey Mouse Club (#10 was a World Series game). Ambitious for its time (and for now, really), the merry (and very talented) Mousketeers hosted one hour of singing, dancing, serials, news, cartoons, travelogues and guest stars. Why? Because they liked you. 

The Phil Silvers Show

As inveterate gambler and con man Sgt. Ernie Bilko, Phil Silvers created one of television’s most lovable rats. Concerns over portraying a military man as a flim-flam artist dissipated after voluntary enlistments actually rose during the years the series aired. 

Toast of the Town

Better known as The Ed Sullivan Show, this was the variety series that introduced The Beatles to America, and censored Elvis Presley by only shooting his performances from the waist up. All that, plus it turned an Italian mouse puppet named Topo Gigio into a household name.

The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet

The real Nelson family – Ozzie, Harriet and sons David and Ricky – played themselves on this whimsical scripted sitcom that lasted 14 seasons, and launched Ricky into a music career that landed him in the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame. This series is an inspired and inventive treasure that deserves to be much better known today.

American Bandstand

Another show that probably needs no introduction. Hosted by Dick Clark, American Bandstand came of age alongside rock music and integrated its teenage audience before that was a common practice. In the 1950s, even its dancers had their own fan clubs.

The Steve Allen Show

Steve Allen was the first host of The Tonight Show, and also headlined a prime time variety series that invented many of the comedy bits still being used by David Letterman and Conan O’Brien. If you’re sampling online, start with the “Man on the Street” interviews, featuring Don Knotts, Tom Poston and Louis Nye. 

The Donna Reed Show

Not a groundbreaking series, but one of the warmest, friendliest and loving family situation comedies ever created. 

Extra Credit

For those seeking even more wholesome, black-and-white TV goodness, try these 1950s gems:

Father Knows Best

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

I Married Joan

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

The Jack Benny Show

Maverick

The Red Skelton Show

Our Miss Brooks

Next Week: The 1960s

Classic TV 101: An Introduction

  

Last week I read a Blu-Ray review of The Dick Van Dyke Show. The writer began by admitting that before preparing to critique the season one set, he had never watched a single episode of the series. 

This was astounding to me. How could someone with enough interest in pop culture to be a critic for a DVD website be so clueless about one of the medium’s best shows? That’s like a singer who never listened to a Beatles song. And just as I typed that, I remembered Beatles night on the last couple of seasons of American Idol, when some contestants confessed that the songs of the Fab Four were unknown to them.

Yes, this already sounds like a “What’s the matter with kids today?” rant, but I just don’t understand. I realize that some teens and 20-somethings may not be Beatles fans, and I get why they would prefer the music they grew up with to songs written more than 40 years ago. But how could any aspiring signer be completely unaware of the most significant pop/rock band of the 20^th century?

Getting back to television – many shows in my DVD collection had ended before I was born, and many others I was too young to appreciate when they first aired. I have very fond memories of the shows I grew up with, sure, but I also love dozens of series from the 1950s and ‘60s.

Knowing how television programming evolved over the decades only deepens my appreciation for shows that are on today. It can also make me nostalgic for an earlier era when TV was less cynical, and 30 minute shows were comprised of 28 minutes of show and just 2 minutes of commercials. 

Most people don’t care as much about television as I do. I get that. But it’s such a dominant presence in our culture that we should be aware of its best concepts and characters, just as we should be familiar with movies and songs and writers and artists from other times and other places.

Comfort TV is here to help. Over the next four weeks I’ll be posting pieces on the television essentials of the 1950s, ’60s, ‘70s and ‘80s.

Hopefully you’ll discover a few gaps in your knowledge and get to experience some wonderful shows for the first time. And for those who know their TV history cold, you’ll find each list makes a great topic of debate with your fellow fans about which shows were chosen and which were left off. It's always fun to start arguments about this stuff. I’m making up the lists now and am already struggling with the selections and the omissions. I'm barely on speaking terms with myself at the moment.

Watch for “Classic TV 101: The 1950s” this coming Monday. 

Theme Songs That Outclassed Their Shows

 The television theme song has become a victim of shorter episode running times and escalating commercials. Much has been lost because of this trend.

Television themes used to routinely crack the music charts, but that hasn’t happened since Friends more than ten years ago. The only notable contemporary theme is the one for New Girl, but even that plays more like a parody than a tribute. 

In the Comfort TV era almost every scripted series had either a 30- or 60-second theme that introduced the show and its cast. Some went longer than that: Room 222 had only four series regulars but the theme ran 90 seconds; Happy Days ranged from 1:15 to 1:30 depending on the size of its ever-fluctuating cast; The Waltons theme ran 1:40, and didn’t even introduce the whole family.

Which shows had the longest themes? Among those anyone would remember now, Hotel and The Love Boat rank near the top, with music that introduced the cast and a slew of guest stars in each episode. Among the obscurities, there was the short-lived Christopher George series The Immortal (1970) that opened with two full minutes of theme and voiceover narration. 

Theme songs are such an important and beloved part of TV history that we’ll probably talk about them often here. We’ll explore which ones are always worth listening to one more time (The Bob Newhart Show, Mission: Impossible, Hogan’s Heroes) and which ones can be safely fast-forwarded (Gidget, Wonder Woman, Star Trek: Enterprise).

But for now, let’s take a look at those rare instances when a TV show’s theme song is more memorable than the series itself. It doesn’t happen often, but here are three examples of shows that peaked after their first 60 seconds.

Peter Gunn

It’s not that Peter Gunn was a bad series. The show was created by Blake Edwards, starred Craig Stevens as a dapper detective and enjoyed a respectable 3-season run. There was a stylish film noir appeal to Gunn’s adventures, but it was Henry Mancini’s jazzy theme, played by guitarist Duane Eddy, that set the perfect tone for Gunn’s crime stories. It’s been covered dozens of times by jazz and blues musicians, and was introduced to a new generation in the Blues Brothers movie.

Angie

Angie was a classic Cinderella story about the romance between a sassy coffee shop waitress (Donna Pescow) and a pediatrician from one of Philadelphia’s wealthiest families (played by a pre-Airplane Robert Hays). The show was ok but “Different Worlds” was an outstanding pop song that made the top 20, and the entire opening credit sequence is quintessential of the breezy ‘70s sitcom. "Different Worlds" is also one of the few themes from that era you can still hear performed live, if you happen to catch Maureen McGovern in concert. 

Makin’ It

After David Naughton became a familiar TV face through a series of popular Dr. Pepper commercials (“Wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper too?”), ABC cast him in a situation comedy loosely (and unofficially) based on Saturday Night Fever. The theme song, performed by Naughton, reached #5 on the Billboard chart, and received an additional boost after playing in the film Meatballs. The series debuted in February of 1979 and was canceled in March, thus rendering the title sadly ironic.