1950s



1950s

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Television Shows to Analyze:

I love Lucy (1951-1957)

Leave It To Beaver (1957-1963)

Things to Know About the 1950s

• Most people believed in God and respected religion

• Children played outside

• A gallon of milk cost 97 cents

• Most families had only one car if any at all

• Dirt roads were still common

• Almost all mothers stayed at home as homemakers and took care of the house and kids

• Most people had one TV and it was black and white. There were only three channels, ABC, NBC and CBS.

• Racial segregation was still legal in most states

• Most people still lived in urban areas but the beginnings of suburbs were rising

• America was at war with Korea from 1950-1953

• American politics revolved around U.S. power struggle with Soviet Union aka Cold War

• Rock and Roll was the controversial and the most popular music of the time (Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Chuck Berry)

• America was at the top of the word in the economy and politics

• Sex was still considered something private, not discussed, and definitely not engaged in before marriage

• Movies were the primary form of weekend entertainment for most people

• Women who worked during WWII were now forced to return to their “normal” roles before the war

I Love Lucy- Summary

Arguably the most popular TV situation comedy in the known world (and possibly a few worlds beyond that!), I Love Lucy has never stopped playing in rerun form since it originally aired over CBS from October 15, 1951, through June 24, 1957. It can be said without much fear of contradiction that everyone -- yes, everyone -- loves Lucy...and Ricky? and Fred? and Ethel. The first sitcom to be filmed with three cameras before a live audience, I Love Lucy starred real-life husband and wife Lucille_Ball and Desi_Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, who throughout most of the series lived in a modest New York apartment house managed by their best friends, Fred and Ethel Mertz. Cuban-born Ricky was the bandleader at the Tropicana Club; redheaded Lucy was a housewife who yearned to break into show business -- or, failing that, to become fabulously wealthy through some hairbrained get-rich-quick scheme or other, usually hatched in collaboration with her partner in crime, Ethel -- much to the dismay of the easily excitable Ricky and the eternally crotchety Fred. To call Lucy "zany" would be putting it mildly; there seemed to be no end to the ridiculous situations she could get herself into, nor any limit on the wild plans she cooked up on her own or with Ethel. But no matter how crazy things got, Ricky and Lucy invariably ended up in each other's arms, Ricky declaring his undying love and (at least temporary) forgiveness. During its first season on the air, I Love Lucy was the nation's third highest-rated program. Thereafter, it was ranked number one or very close to it. When during the series' second season Lucy Ricardo had a baby (to coincide with Lucille_Ball's genuine pregnancy), the episode on which the blessed event occurred enjoyed the largest viewership of any single program up to that time -- and, since both Lucy Ricardo and Lucille_Ball gave birth on the very same day (January 19, 1953), the news was of such magnitude that it pushed President Eisenhower's first inauguration off the front pages! To keep the series fresh from season to season, I Love Lucy's extraordinarily talented team of writers would every so often alter the format, never more spectacularly than in season four, when the Ricardos and the Mertzes headed to Hollywood so Ricky could star in a movie musical version of +Don Juan. In keeping with its tinseltown ambience, the episodes emanating from this premise positively glittered with such celebrity guest stars as Richard_Widmark, William_Holden, Cornel_Wilde, and most memorably, Harpo_Marx. The "Lucy in Hollywood" format spilled over into the next season, yielding an unforgettable two-episode story arc involving John_Wayne. Season Five also saw the four principals heading to Europe, accompanying Ricky's band on tour. The most significant changes occurred during the sixth and final season. Ricky had quit his job at the Tropicana to open his own night spot, the Club Babalulu, and the increase in the Ricardos' bank account enabled the couple and their son Little Ricky (played from the fall of 1956 onward by Richard_Keith) to move to an expensive ranch house in suburban Connecticut. Naturally, the Mertzes moved next door, while on the other side of the Ricardo estate there lived another couple, Ralph and Betty Ramsey (played by Mary_Jane_Croft and Frank_Nelson, who also essayed several other supporting roles on the series). Although the half-hour version of I Love Lucy ceased production at the end of the 1956-1957 season, the four stars (and "Little Ricky") went on to appear in 13 hour-long "Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" specials, filmed between 1957 and 1960. And while Lucille_Ball and Desi_Arnaz divorced in 1960, their production company Desilu remained a prolific TV-series factory for the next decade, turning out such hits as The_Untouchables, Mission:_Impossible, and Star_Trek. On her own, Lucille_Ball continued playing the "Lucy" character in two more series, The_Lucy_Show and Here's_Lucy, which though very successful on their own never quite captured the unique chemistry and charm of I Love Lucy.

Leave it to Beaver- Summary

One of the undisputed classics of American television, the weekly, half-hour sitcom Leave It to Beaver was created by Joe_Connelly and Bob_Mosher, who had risen to prominence as principal writers of the TV version of Amos_'n'_Andy. Fulfilling their ambition to create a warm, credible sitcom about modern suburban life as seen through the eyes of small children, Connelly and Mosher came up with a pilot film, "It's a Small World," in 1957. This trial balloon featured Jerry_Mathers as six-year-old Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, Paul_Sullivan as his 11-year-old brother Wally, Casey_Adams (aka Max_Showalter) as their accountant father Ward, and Barbara_Billingsley as their housewife mother June. Also appearing in the pilot were Diane_Brewster, Richard_Deacon, and, in the one-scene role of a wise guy neighbor kid named Frankie, a very young Harry_Shearer. Though the concept did not fly as "It's a Small World" (the pilot would be folded into a syndicated anthology series, Studio 57), CBS evinced interest when it reemerged, with several new cast members, as Leave It to Beaver, which debuted October 4, 1957. Carried over from "It's a Small World" were Jerry_Mathers and Barbara_Billingsley, while new to the cast were Hugh_Beaumont as Ward Cleaver and Tony_Dow as Wally. Likewise retained were Diane_Brewster and Richard_Deacon, albeit in different roles as respectively, Beaver's schoolteacher Miss Canfield and Ward's co-worker Fred Rutherford. The basic original premise was also kept on, with Beaver and Wally trying to interpret the ways of the world through their own youthful and naïve perspective. The Cleavers lived in the town of Mayfield, and shared many of the same trials and tribulations as the "nuclear families" who comprised the series' fan base. What really sold the series was the warm, realistic rapport between the Cleaver kids and their parents, and the authentic-sounding dialogue, full of the slang and idioms common to youngsters of the Eisenhower era. The huge supporting cast included Rusty_Stevens as Beaver's chubby pal Larry Mondello, who was invariably seen chomping on an apple and who lived in fear of his disciplinarian father who always seemed to be on a business trip to Cincinnati (Madge_Blake, aka Batman's Aunt Harriet, was occasionally seen as Larry's mom); Stanley "Tiger" Fafara as another Beaver buddy, the adenoidal Whitey Whitney; Stephen_Talbot as young Gilbert Bates, who spent most of his time talking Beaver into getting in trouble; Richard_Correll as Richard, evidently brought in during the series' third season as a Larry Mondello replacement; Jeri_Weil as snotty, insulting Judy Hensler, Beaver's classroom nemesis; Frank_Bank as Wally's school chum (and Fred Rutherford's son) Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford, an amiable, none-too-bright oaf; Pamela Beard as Mary Ellen Rogers and Cheryl_Holdridge as Judy Foster, Wally's erstwhile girlfriends; and Sue_Randall and Doris_Packer respectively as Miss Canfield's successors at Beaver's school, Miss Landers and Miss Rayburn. By far the most famous and celebrated of the series' supporting players was Ken_Osmond as Wally's pal Eddie Haskell, that juvenile Uriah Heep who laid on the insincere charm whenever he was around Beaver's parents ("Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver. My, Mrs. Cleaver, you're looking lovely tonight. Are Wallace and Theodore at home?"), but who reverted to his true personality as a weaselly, conniving creep whenever he was alone with Wally and The Beav. Moving from CBS to ABC for its second season, Leave It to Beaver ultimately lasted six seasons and 234 episodes, signing off only because Tony_Dow and especially Jerry_Mathers had outgrown their roles. The final network episode aired on September 12, 1963; one week later, the series entered rerun syndication, where it has flourished ever since. And in 1985, most of the original cast (minus the late Hugh_Beaumont) were reunited in their same roles in a new series, The New Leave It to Beaver, which was a spin-off of the earlier retro special Still the Beaver, and which remained in production until 1989. While the newer version is not held in terribly high esteem by fans, the original remains an audience favorite. Hal Erickson, Rovi

Notes for: I love Lucy

Gender- how does the TV show depict relationships, roles, qualities, of both men and women?

Race- If applicable, how does the TV show depict members and interactions of different races and ethnicities?

Class- How does the TV show depict economic and social status?

Notes for: I love Lucy (Cont’d)

Family- How does the TV show depict family structures, dynamics (relationships), and interactions between family members?

Analytical Critique and Commentary- What is the show telling the audience about life depicted in the show? (This is where you put all the components from above together)

Notes for: Leave it to Beaver

Gender- how does the TV show depict relationships, roles, qualities, of both men and women?

Race- If applicable, how does the TV show depict members and interactions of different races and ethnicities?

Class- How does the TV show depict economic and social status?

Notes for: Leave it to Beaver (Cont’d)

Family- How does the TV show depict family structures, dynamics (relationships), and interactions between family members?

Analytical Critique and Commentary- What is the show telling the audience about life depicted in the show? (This is where you put all the components from above together)

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