Family sitcoms of early radio and TV were squeaky clean and often more a demonstration of the perfect, ideal family with only hints of life in the real world. One such program was the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
Ozzie and Harriet, to me, seem to be a little more detached from what their kids are doing, compared to the Anderson's of Father Knows Best. The situations Ozzie finds himself tend to be more farfetched. For example, in today's show, Ozzie finds himself the recipient of a gift from an Arabian Prince. He struggles with how to deal with a messy camel, and how to get rid of it. Who else in the world but Ozzie could end up in a situation like that?
I know Jack Benny had some pretty strange pets. Carmichael the Polar bear, an ostrich, Polly the Parrot. Phil Harris had some strange situations, almost cartoon like. I guess that's the point. Those shows were more along the line of caricatures of personalities. Ozzie and Harriet were real people, really married, and the kids on the show were really theirs and not child actors. I suppose with all that reallity built in, they took advantage of some unreal situations to flavor the show.
Bonus Track: In honor of the real Ozzie and Harriet, we have a track from the Ozzie Nelson Orchestra. Not sure of the date, but the song is: 'Is You Is, or Is You Ain't My Baby?'
Enjoy.
Coming soon, a new show per week. It will mean only carrying 5 or so months of archived shows in the server, instead of the 6 or so I do now. I think it'll be worth it
