My Favorite Husband is the name of an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
radio program and
networkA television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of broadcast networks. Many early...
television series. The original radio show, co-starring
Lucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy...
, was the initial basis for what evolved into the groundbreaking TV sitcom
I Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951 to April 1, 1960 on CBS...
. The series was based on the 1940 novel
Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, written by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the 1942
ParamountParamount may refer to:In companies:*Paramount Motion Pictures Group, a motion picture holding company owned by Viacom*Paramount Pictures Corporation, a Worldwide American motion picture company...
feature film
Are Husbands Necessary?, co-starring
Ray MillandRay Milland was a Welsh-American actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best-remembered for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend ....
and
Betty FieldBetty Field was an American film and stage actress.Field was born in Boston, MA. She began her acting career on the London stage in Howard Lindsay's farce, She Loves Me Not. Following its run she returned to the United States and appeared in several stage successes, before making her film debut in...
.
My Favorite Husband began on
CBS RadioCBS Radio Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, fourth behind main rival Clear Channel Communications , Cumulus Media and Citadel Broadcasting...
with
Lucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy...
and
Richard DenningRichard Denning, formally known as Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger , was an American actor who starred in such movies as Creature from the Black Lagoon and An Affair to Remember , and on radio with Lucille Ball as her husband George Cooper in My Favorite Husband , the forerunner of television's I...
as Liz and George Cugat.
My Favorite Husband is the name of an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
radio program and
networkA television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of broadcast networks. Many early...
television series. The original radio show, co-starring
Lucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy...
, was the initial basis for what evolved into the groundbreaking TV sitcom
I Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951 to April 1, 1960 on CBS...
. The series was based on the 1940 novel
Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, written by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the 1942
ParamountParamount may refer to:In companies:*Paramount Motion Pictures Group, a motion picture holding company owned by Viacom*Paramount Pictures Corporation, a Worldwide American motion picture company...
feature film
Are Husbands Necessary?, co-starring
Ray MillandRay Milland was a Welsh-American actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best-remembered for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend ....
and
Betty FieldBetty Field was an American film and stage actress.Field was born in Boston, MA. She began her acting career on the London stage in Howard Lindsay's farce, She Loves Me Not. Following its run she returned to the United States and appeared in several stage successes, before making her film debut in...
.
Radio
My Favorite Husband began on
CBS RadioCBS Radio Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, fourth behind main rival Clear Channel Communications , Cumulus Media and Citadel Broadcasting...
with
Lucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy...
and
Richard DenningRichard Denning, formally known as Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger , was an American actor who starred in such movies as Creature from the Black Lagoon and An Affair to Remember , and on radio with Lucille Ball as her husband George Cooper in My Favorite Husband , the forerunner of television's I...
as Liz and George Cugat. After a few early episodes, confusion with bandleader
Xavier CugatXavier Cugat, born Francesc d'Asís Xavier Cugat Mingall de Bru i Deulofeu was an American bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a key personality in the spread of Latin music in United States popular music. He was also a cartoonist and a...
prompted a name change to Liz and George Cooper. The cheerful couple lived at 321 Bundy Drive in the fictitious city of Sheridan Falls and were billed as "two people who live together and like it." The main sponsor was
General FoodsGeneral Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the USA by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The name General Foods was adopted in 1929, after several corporate acquisitions...
'
Jell-OJell-O is a brand name belonging to U.S.-based Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. The brand's popularity has led to its becoming a generic term for gelatin dessert across the U.S. and Canada...
, and an average of three "plugs" for Jell-O were made in each episode, including Lucille Ball's usual sign-on, "Jell-O, everybody!" The 1948 radio version opened with:
- Bob LeMond: It's time for My Favorite Husband starring Lucille Ball!
- Lucille Ball: Jell-O, everybody!
- Theme music [composed by Marlin Skiles, conducted by Wilbur Hatch
Wilbur Hatch , was an American music composer who worked primarily in radio and television. He was born in Mokena, Illinois and died in Studio City, California....
]
- LeMond: Yes, it's the gay family comedy series starring Lucille Ball with Richard Denning and is brought to you by the Jell-O family of Red-Letter Desserts:
- Singers:
- J-E-L-L-
- O! The big red letters stand for the Jell-O family,
- Oh, the big red letters stand for the Jell-O family,
- That's Jell-O!
- Yum, yum, yum!
- Jell-O pudding!
- Yum, yum, yum!
- Jell-O tapioca pudding, yes sir-ee!
- LeMond: Now, let's take a look at the Cooper family, two people who live together and like it.
The program, which aired 124 episodes from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951, initially portrayed the couple as being a well-to-do banker and his socially prominent wife, but three new writers —
Bob Carroll, Jr.Bob Carroll Jr. , was a television writer notable for his creative role in the landmark series I Love Lucy, the first four seasons of which he wrote with his professional partner Madelyn Pugh, and collaborator Jess Oppenheimer...
,
Madelyn PughMadelyn Pugh , who is sometimes credited as Madelyn Pugh Davis, Madelyn Davis or Madelyn Martin , is a television writer who first became well known in the 1950s for her work on the "I Love Lucy" series.-Biography:...
and
Jess OppenheimerJess Oppenheimer a radio and television writer, producer, and director, was producer and head writer of the landmark CBS sitcom I Love Lucy.Lucille Ball called Oppenheimer "the brains" behind I Love Lucy...
— took over the writing, changed the couple's name to Cooper and remade them into a middle-class couple, which they thought average listeners would find more accessible.
Lucille Ball was asked to do a television version of the show (with Jell-O remaining as sponsor), and CBS insisted on Richard Denning continuing as her co-star. However, Ball refused to do a husband-and-wife TV show without real-life husband
Desi ArnazDesi Arnaz was a Cuban-American musician, actor and television producer. He gained international renown for leading a Latino music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra...
playing her on-screen husband. The network reluctantly agreed, reworking the concept into
I Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951 to April 1, 1960 on CBS...
after Ball and Arnaz took a show on the road to convince the network that audiences would respond. When Jell-O dropped out of the show,
Philip MorrisPhilip Morris USA is the United States tobacco division of Altria Group, Inc. Philip Morris USA brands include Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Merit, Parliament, Alpine, Basic, Cambridge, Bucks, Chesterfield, Collector's Choice, Commander, English Ovals, Lark, L&M, Players and Saratoga.On January 27,...
became the television sponsor.
Carroll, Pugh and Oppenheimer agreed to do the switch to
I Love Lucy. They subsequently reworked several
My Favorite Husband episodes into
I Love Lucy episodes, especially early in the TV show's run. For example, the 1948 radio episode entitled "Giveaway Program" inspired the
I Love Lucy episode "Redecorating," with some lines exactly the same. Many actors who had done the
My Favorite Husband radio show also appeared on
I Love Lucy, sometimes in episodes where they reprised their roles using a reworked
My Favorite Husband script.
Characters
- Liz Cooper, played by Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedienne, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy...
; happily married housewife
- George Cooper, played by Richard Denning
Richard Denning, formally known as Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger , was an American actor who starred in such movies as Creature from the Black Lagoon and An Affair to Remember , and on radio with Lucille Ball as her husband George Cooper in My Favorite Husband , the forerunner of television's I...
; Liz's husband, works for Mr. Atterbury
- Mr. Rudolph Atterbury, played by Gale Gordon
Gale Gordon was an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil — and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J. Mooney, on Ball's second television situation comedy, The Lucy Show...
; George's boss, friend of the Cooper family, refers to male acquaintances as "boy", as in "George-Boy"
- Mrs. Iris Atterbury, played by Bea Benaderet
Bea Benaderet was an American actress, born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, California. Sometimes credited as Bea Benadaret, she is best remembered for starring in the 1960s television series Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies as Jed Clampett's cousin Pearl Bodine , and...
; wife of Rudolph and friend of the Cooper family, refers to female acquaintances as "girl", as in "Liz-Girl".
- Katy, played by Ruth Perrott; the Cooper's maid, presumably enjoys making Jell-O.
- Mrs. Leticia Cooper, played first by Benaderet and in subsequent episodes by Eleanor Audley
Eleanor Audley was an American actress who was a familiar radio and animation voice, in addition to her TV and film roles...
; George's aristocratic mother, who typically looks down on Liz.
Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet were both given first consideration for the roles that would become Fred and Ethel Mertz on "I Love Lucy", but both had contract conflicts that forced them to turn down the roles.
Television
CBS finally brought
My Favorite Husband to television in 1953, starring
Joan Caulfield300px|thumb|September 1941 McCall's Magazine Cover image of Joan CaulfiedJoan Caulfield was an American actress and former fashion model...
and
Barry NelsonBarry Nelson was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond.-Early life:...
as Liz and George Cooper. The couple now resembled their earliest radio version, with George Cooper a well-to-do bank executive and plots dealing with the couple's society life. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from October 1953 through December 1955, and was produced live at
CBS Television CityCBS Television City is a television studio located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Beverly and Fairfax Avenue...
for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season (ironically, filmed at Desilu) and recasting Liz Cooper with
Vanessa BrownVanessa Brown was an Austrian-American actress who was successful in radio, film, theater, and television...
.
Characters
- Liz Cooper; the housewife
- George Cooper; Liz's favorite husband, and bank executive
- Gilmore Cobb, played by Bob Sweeney; the Coopers' wealthy next-door neighbor (first two seasons)
- Myra Cobb, played by Alix Talton, Gilmore's social-climbing wife (first two seasons)
- Oliver Shepard, played by Dan Tobin, the Coopers' neighbor in the third season
- Myra Shepard, Oliver's wife (third season), played by the same actress who earlier played Myra Cobb
CD/DVD releases
Though the radio show was never commercially released on its own CD or
DVDDVD, also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc,is an optical disc storage media format, and was founded in 1995. Its main uses are video and data storage...
collections, at least one episode can be found on each disk from the
I Love Lucy DVD releases. In 2003, two episodes were released together on a CD in the UK.
These radio episodes are in the
public domainThe public domain is a range of abstract materials—commonly referred to as intellectual property—which are not owned or controlled by anyone. The term indicates that these materials are therefore "public property", and available for anyone to use for any purpose...
, and CDs containing the entire run of
My Favorite Husband in the
MP3MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and playback of music on...
format are legally offered by several private vendors through eBay and other sites.
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