Movies and television shows aren’t just entertainment. They are a useful gauge of a country’s moral and social state. Films from the Golden Era of Hollywood provide invaluable records of what the United States was like during the 1930s-50s for those of us who weren’t alive, were too young to remember, or would like to travel back in time.
As television became increasingly popular in the 1950s, TV shows from this era provide a different perspective on cultural changes which took place in our country. Before television, the Nelson couple grew popular on radio. In the 1930s, The Ozzie Nelson Band received national network exposure through a booking at Glen Island Casino in New York.
This led to the couple’s becoming regulars on the “The Baker’s Broadcast.” In 1941, Ozzie and Harriet joined the cast of “The Red Skelton Show,” acting as well as providing music for the radio show. When Red Skelton was drafted in 1944, Ozzie had the opportunity to create his own show.
On Oct. 8, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” debuted on CBS as a radio show. Actors played the couple’s sons, since David and Ricky were deemed too young to start working.
The show was a hit, running for ten years on CBS, NBC, CBS again, and finally ABC. The boys joined their parents on the show in 1949 at ages 12 and 8. In 1952, the Nelson family made a Universal feature film called “Here Come the Nelsons,” which Ozzie intended as a pilot for a television version of their radio show.
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