The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet
| The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet | |
|---|---|
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet opening title sequence
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| Created by | Ozzie Nelson |
| Directed by |
Ozzie Nelson David Nelson |
| Starring |
Ozzie Nelson Harriet Nelson David Nelson Ricky Nelson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 14 |
| No. of episodes | 434 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Stage Five Productions Volcano Productions ABC Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Picture format |
Black-and-white (1952–1965) Color (1965–1966) |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | October 3, 1952 – April 23, 1966 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Ozzie's Girls |
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952, through April 23, 1966, starring the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it continued its success, initially running simultaneously on radio and television. The series stars Ozzie Nelson and his wife, singer Harriet Nelson, and their young sons, David and Eric "Ricky" Nelson. Don DeFore had a recurring role as the Nelsons' friendly neighbor "Thorny".
Currently, reruns of the show are broadcast on Retro Television Network.
In the early 1930s, a booking at the Glen Island Casino gained national network radio exposure for Ozzie Nelson's orchestra. After three years together with the orchestra, Ozzie and Harriet signed to appear regularly on the radio show, The Baker's Broadcast (1933–1938), hosted first by Joe Penner, then by Robert L. Ripley, and finally by cartoonist Feg Murray. The couple married on October 8, 1935 during this series run, and realized working together in radio would keep them together more than continuing their musical careers separately.
In 1941, the Nelsons joined the cast of The Red Skelton Show, also providing much of the show's music. The couple stayed with the series for three years. They also built their radio experience by guest appearances, together and individually, on many top radio shows, from comedies such as The Fred Allen Show, to the mystery titan Suspense, in a 1947 episode called "Too Little to Live On".
When Red Skelton was drafted in March 1944, Ozzie Nelson was prompted to create his own family situation comedy.The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet launched October 8, 1944 on CBS, it moved to NBC in October 1948, then made a late-season switch back to CBS in April 1949. The final years of the radio series were on ABC (the former NBC Blue Network) from October 14, 1949 to June 18, 1954. In total 402 radio episodes were produced. In an arrangement that exemplified the growing pains of American broadcasting, as radio "grew up" into television, the Nelsons' deal with ABC gave the network the option to move their program to television. The struggling network needed proven talent that was not about to defect to the more established and wealthier networks like CBS or NBC.
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