My Favorite Husband

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My Favorite Husband is an American radio and television show . The radio show with Lucille Ball was the forerunner of the television sitcom I Love Lucy . The show was based on the books Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick . The former was already used by Paramount Pictures for the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942)adaptedwith Ray Milland and Betty Field .

Radio broadcast

My Favorite Husband was first broadcast on CBS Radio on July 5, 1948 , as the broadcast of the new CBS program Our Miss Brooks was delayed and My Favorite Husband could be used to fill the gap. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played Liz and George Cugat, based on positive feedback from the listeners, the decision was made to make a series out of My Favorite Husband . Bowman was not available for the series, which is why Lucille Ball and Richard Denning took on the lead roles. They live in the series at 321 Bundy Drive in the fictional town of Sheridan Falls and are referred to as "two people who live together and like it."

There is a little crisis or problem in the episodes, mostly caused by a crazy idea from Liz. At the end of each episode, the problem is resolved and Liz says, “Thank you, George. You are my favorite husband. "

From the 26th episode, which was broadcast on January 7, 1949, the couple's last name was changed to Cooper due to the likelihood of confusion with Xavier Cugat . Since that episode, Jell-O has also sponsored the show, which is why there were an average of three advertisements for Jell-O in each episode.

A total of 124 episodes were shown from July 23, 1948 to March 31, 1951. The show was initially written by Frank Fox and Bill Davenport, who were also responsible for the radio version of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet . They showed the Cugats as a successful banker with his celebrity wife. After the first ten episodes, Fox and Davenport withdrew and with Bob Carroll Jr. , Madelyn Pugh and Jess Oppenheimer three new authors were hired. They changed the couple's name to Cooper and made them a middle-class couple, assuming this would be more to suit the tastes of the listeners. From March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George's boss, Rudolph Atterbury, Bea Benaderet portrayed his wife Iris.

During the broadcast of the show, it was discovered that Lucille Ball performed comedy better when performed in front of an audience.

characters

  • Liz Cooper (played by Lucille Ball ): happily married and slightly crazy housewife
  • George Cooper (played by Richard Denning ): Liz's husband, works for Mr. Atterbury
  • Mr. Rudolph Atterbury (first played by Hans Conried , later by Joseph Kearns , then by Gale Gordon ): George's boss, friend of the Cooper family, often calls George “Boy”, for example “George-Boy”
  • Mrs. Iris Atterbury (played by Bea Benaderet ): wife of Rudolph and friend of the Cooper family, often calls Liz "Girl", for example "Liz-Girl"
  • Katy (played by Ruth Perrott ): House maid for the Coopers
  • Mrs. Leticia Cooper (first played by Bea Benaderet , later by Eleanor Audley ): George's aristocratic mother, looks down at Liz

Transition to I Love Lucy

In 1950, Lucille Ball was asked for a television version of the series, both CBS and Jell-O insisted that Richard Denning play the role of George Cooper there too. However, Ball insisted that her real husband Desi Arnaz portray her husband on the series. The broadcaster reluctantly agreed after Ball and Arnaz managed to convince the audience at a show on the street, but developed a new concept with I Love Lucy . Jell-O withdrew as a sponsor and Philip Morris became a sponsor. Initially, Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet, who played the Atterburys, were slated for the roles of Fred and Ethel Mertz in I Love Lucy , but were unable to accept the roles due to contractual obligations.

Authors Carroll, Pugh and Oppenheimer continued their work on I Love Lucy . They used many episodes of My Favorite Husband as a template for the early episodes of I Love Lucy . The radio episode "Giveaway Program" of March 18, 1949 served as inspiration for the episode "Redecorating" of November 24, 1953 and the episode "Lucy's Schedule" of May 26, 1952 was based on the episode "Time Schedule" of April 22 1949. Many cast members from the radio show My Favorite Husband later appeared on I Love Lucy , often in the same roles that they played in the episode of My Favorite Husband that inspired each episode. In the first season of I Love Lucy Gale Gordon took over the role of the boss twice.

watch TV

Television series
Original title My Favorite Husband
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 1953-1955
length 30 minutes
Episodes 96 in 3 seasons
genre Sitcom
idea Isabel Scott Rorick
First broadcast September 12, 1953 on CBS
occupation

Main actor:

Supporting cast:

In 1953, CBS televised My Favorite Husband, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The couple were again portrayed as they were in the early stages of the radio show, with George Cooper as a successful banker and stories about the couple's social life. The show ran in two and a half seasons from September 1953 to December 1955 and was mainly produced by CBS Television City , only the unfinished third season was produced in Desilu Studios , Liz Cooper was newly cast with Vanessa Brown .

characters

  • Liz Cooper (played by Joan Caulfield in seasons 1 and 2, Vanessa Brown in season 3 ): housewife
  • George Cooper (played by Barry Nelson ): Liz's favorite husband and banker
  • Gilmore Cobb (played by Bob Sweeney ; seasons 1 and 2): Rich neighbor of the Coopers
  • Myra Cobb (played by Alix Talton ; seasons 1 and 2): Gilmore's aspiring wife
  • Oliver Shepard (played by Dan Tobin ; Season 3): Neighbor of the Coopers
  • Myra Shepard (played by Alix Talton ; season 3): Oliver's wife

publication

The radio show was not used commercially as a CD or DVD collection, but there is one episode on each DVD in the I Love Lucy series. In addition, two episodes were released on CD in 2003 in the UK.

The episodes of the radio show are in the public domain , which is why many private sellers sell CDs with episodes in MP3 format on eBay and other sites . Some episodes are also available on the Internet Archive .

Adaptation

In July 2018, I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom by Gregg Oppenheimer (son of series inventor Jess Oppenheimer) premiered in Los Angeles. The radio play produced by LA Theater Works takes a look behind the scenes and follows how My Favorite Husband became I Love Lucy . It was recorded in front of a live audience at the James Bridges Theater, broadcast on the radio, and released on audio CD and MP3 download. The piece was cast with Sarah Drew as Lucille Ball , Oscar Nuñez as Desi Arnaz and Seamus Dever as Jess Oppenheimer .

swell

  • Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh: The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (9th Edition), ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4
  • Steven Lance: Written Out of Television: A TV Lover's Guide to Cast Changes 1945–1994 , ISBN 1-56833-071-5
  • Bart Andrews: The "I Love Lucy" Book , ISBN 0-385-19033-6

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Barry Monush, James Sheridan: My Favorite Husband: Background . In: Lucille Ball FAQ: Everything Left to Know About America's Favorite Redhead . Applause Theater & Cinema Books, 2011, ISBN 978-1-61774-082-4, (accessed May 31, 2017).
  2. ^ A b Coyne Sanders, Tom Gilbert: Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz . Harper Collins, 1993, ISBN 0-688-13514-5 , pp. 23-25 ​​(accessed May 31, 2017).
  3. ^ Coyne Sanders, Tom Gilbert: Desilu: The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz . Harper Collins, 1993, ISBN 0-688-13514-5 , p. 40, (accessed May 31, 2017).
  4. ↑ Bart Andrews: Lucy & Ricky & Fred & Ethel: The Story of "I Love Lucy" . Dutton, 1976, ISBN 0-525-14990-2 , p. 13 (Accessed May 27, 2017).
  5. ↑ Michael Karol: Sitcom Queens: Divas of the Small Screen . iUniverse, Inc., 2006, ISBN 0-595-40251-8 , p. 16 ( Accessed May 27, 2017).
  6. ↑ Bart Andrews: The "I Love Lucy" Book . Doubleday, 1985, ISBN 0-385-19033-6 , p.  47 .
  7. ^ A b Tim Brooks, Earle Marsh: The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows - 1946 – present , 9th Edition, Ballantine Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4 , p. 940 (accessed on May 27, 2017).
  8. ↑ Barry Monush: Joan Caulfield . In: Screen World Presents: The Encyclopedia of Hollywood Screen Stars From the Silent Era to 1965 . Applause Theater and Cinema Books, 2003, ISBN 1-55783-551-9 , p. 119, (accessed May 27, 2017).
  9. ^ My Favorite Husband  - Internet Archive
  10. ↑ Amazon.com: Product page for the recording of "I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom."
  11. ↑ LA Theater Works: Catalog page for the recording of "I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom."

Web links