Of course, let's not fail to mention the I Love Lucy show, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. This show really was a phenomenol classic! The show was about a Cuban band leader who lived in New York and his totally untalented and overzealous wife whose clumsy efforts to "break into" show business always resulted in disaster for everyone concerned, including Ricky, (Desi Arnaz), and her friends Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel (Vivian Vance).

The Andy Griffith Show was a spin off from the episode on the Danny Thomas Show in which Thomas is arrested by a bumbling, country sheriff. Originally filmed in black and white starting in 1960, this show was about a perceptive country sheriff, his totally incompetent and bumbling deputy, his overly curious and inquisitive son, and his overprotective and mothering Aunt Bee. Of course, this program also featured many other notable characters, such as Floyd the barber, Gober the mechanic and his cousin Gomer, Howard Sprague the County Assessor, the overly conceited mayor, and the dependable town drunk, Otis. Other regular visitors to the show were the Darlings, who were a family of totally untalkative brothers, their extremely talkative and flirtatious sister, and their stupid, insensitive and superstitious father, who was the leader of the pack. The Darlings made their living by entertaining people with their band which was made up of homemade instruments. Andy Griffith quite often would join in and play his guitar and sing right along with the Darlings.

Andy was very good at using psychology and playing along with people's superstitions. One example of this was when two neighbors who had been feuding for generations suddenly faced the reality of their own children wanting to marry each other! Andy manipulated the men's natural fear of really being shot in a real shooting feud by stocking their guns with blanks, making them count off while pacing off a feud walk, and then firing the gun in the air! After all that, the two men realized the folly of their feuding and allowed their children to be married after all.

A spin off from The Andy Griffith Show was Gomer Pyle: USMC, starring Jim Nabors. In this program, Gomer, the meticulous, naive, lanky country boy from The Andy Griffith Show, joined the Marines and is stationed in California under the notoriously mean, demanding and equally stupid and naive, Sgt. Carter. In several of these episodes, the viewer is exposed to Nabor's marvelous singing talent; however,the burdensome country image of the character Gomer proves to be a bit brassy and overwhelming.

The Donna Reed Show was about an attractive, attentive, and intelligent doctor's wife and her children, and, of course, her husband, Dr. Stone, who is a homespun pediatrician. Jay North appeared in The Donna Reed Show at least once as Dennis the Menace. What made Dennis the Menace such a success was the interaction between Dennis (an eight or nine year old boy) and his neighbor and buddy, the retired Mr. Wilson. Wilson spends almost every waking hour in his yard nurturing his roses and other flowering plants, only to have his efforts trampled by one unguided foot tour from Dennis and his little friend Tommy. Although Wilson barks a good yelp and complains incessantly to his wife about Dennis, the fact of the matter is that he really loves Dennis and can't function in his daily life without Dennis around.

The Phil Silvers Show, starring Phil Silvers, was an exaggerated comedy about a manipulative, tricky, funny, and somewhat immature motor pool sergeant and his brigade of equally crafty soldiers. Silvers and company always were in trouble for their various sultry activities, usually involving illegal gambling and near run-ins with the M.P.'s. Although the show was funny and entertaining, it lacked believeability because it seemed incredible that anyone could be as crafty nor others as naive as were the characters in this military sit-com.

Leave It to Beaver, starring Jerry Mathers, was a classic, black and white comedy about a young boy and bis brother Wally, and his parents. The show epitomized the new era of postwar suburbia and the comedic pitfalls of growing up in an era which today appears to lack any real problems as compared to the issues that confront us in this high-tech, fast paced era. The show attempted to display "Beaver" as very naive and innocent, and yet quite often it turned out that Wally was naive as well and could be swept right into Beaver's misadventures just as easily as was Beaver. Besides, in several of the episodes, it actually was Beaver who figured out the solutions to the problems that the two encountered.

Father Knows Best, starring Robert Young, was about a suburban businessman and his wife and three children, the cutest one of which was Kathy, the youngest. As was the case with most of the 50's/60's black and white sitcoms, the problems in this program were simplistic and the solutions very predictable. In keeping with the title of the program, most of the problems in the Father Knows Best episodes were solved or at least partially solved by the father, Robert Young. One of the common needs in this program was for the older children to be shown how to be more sensitive to Kathy's feelings and vice-versa. Young quite often was the one who so instructed the children.

Access this page frequently as I frequently update it with more and more information about more 50's/60's sit-coms!!!