36-478: My Favorite Husband is the name of an American radio program and network television show . The original radio show, starring Lucille Ball , evolved into the groundbreaking television sitcom I Love Lucy . The series was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) written by Isabel Scott Rorick , the earlier of which had previously been adapted into
72-700: A CD in the UK. These radio episodes may be in the public domain , and CDs containing the entire run of My Favorite Husband in the MP3 format are offered by several private vendors through eBay and other sites, such as the Internet Archive . In July 2018, I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom, a comedy play by Gregg Oppenheimer (son of series creator Jess Oppenheimer ), had its world premiere in
108-615: A Los Angeles production by L.A. Theatre Works . The play goes behind the scenes to trace how My Favorite Husband turned into I Love Lucy . Recorded before a live audience at UCLA's James Bridges Theater, the production has been broadcast on public radio and released on audio CD and as a downloadable MP3. The performance starred Sarah Drew as Lucille Ball , Oscar Nuñez as Desi Arnaz , and Seamus Dever as Jess Oppenheimer , and featured Matthew Floyd Miller as Richard Denning and Lucy's radio announcer, Bob LeMond . Radio program A radio program , radio programme , or radio show
144-478: A continuation of the Lucy Carmichael/Mr. Mooney relationship, but with new names and a new setting. Gordon had all but retired from acting when Here's Lucy ended in 1974, but Ball coaxed him out of retirement in 1986 to join her for the short-lived series Life with Lucy . Gordon was the only actor to have co-starred or guest-starred in every weekly series, radio or television, Ball had done since
180-454: A guest on The Dean Martin Show . After the sale of Desilu Studios in 1968, Ball shut down The Lucy Show and retooled it into Here's Lucy and became her own producer and distributor. Gordon returned, this time as her blustery boss (and brother-in-law) Harrison Otis 'Uncle Harry' Carter at an employment agency that specialized in unusual jobs for unusual people. Essentially, it was just
216-609: A judge on an episode of Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour . In 1958, Gordon appeared as a regular in the role of department store co-owner Bascomb Bleacher Sr., on the NBC sitcom Sally , starring Joan Caulfield and Marion Lorne . He also appeared on the Walter Brennan ABC sitcom, The Real McCoys . Gordon had a co-starring role in the CBS television comedy Pete and Gladys . At this time, he guest starred with Pat O'Brien in
252-399: A long friendship as well as recurring professional partnership. Gordon also had a recurring role as fictitious Rexall Drugs sponsor representative Mr. Scott on yet another radio hit, The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show , staying with the role as long as Rexall sponsored the show. When the sponsor changed to RCA, the character simply switched employers. The widely acknowledged master of
288-618: A minor crisis or problem, typically caused by one of Liz's funny ideas; the resolution of the problem filled the rest of the time. Each episode would end with Liz saying, "Thanks, George. You're my favorite husband." Beginning with the 26th episode, on January 7, 1949, the last name of Lucille Ball's character was changed to Cooper. On this same episode the series, which had begun as a sustaining program , acquired Jell-O as its sponsor. An average of three "plugs" for Jell-O would be made in each episode. The first sponsored episode, titled "Over Budget Beans," opened with: A total of 124 episodes of
324-476: A role that he had played on radio. When Dennis the Menace ended in spring 1963, Gordon joined The Lucy Show as Mr. Mooney for the 1963–64 season. (In the interim, Charles Lane played the similar Mr. Barnsdahl character for the 1962–1963 season.) The somewhat portly Gordon was surprisingly adept at physical comedy and could do a perfect cartwheel; he did this on The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy , and again as
360-659: Is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio . It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode . A Radio Network is a complex system designed for the transmission of data, information, or signals via radio waves. These networks are an integral part of modern telecommunications, enabling communication between various devices and services over varying distances. Radio networks have evolved significantly since their inception, with numerous types and technologies emerging to cater to diverse needs and applications. There are different types of networks: In
396-497: The Mutual Broadcasting Network . The show followed the same format—same sponsor, same writers, same storytelling formula—as the program it was originally a summer replacement for, The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes . The Gregory Hood program was continued on the fall schedule for the subsequent season after the network failed to reach a contractual agreement with the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for
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#1732786582335432-576: The "slow-burn" temper explosion in character, Gordon was the first pick to play Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy , but he was committed to Our Miss Brooks as well as being a regular on several other radio shows, and had to decline the offer (the role went to William Frawley ). He appeared in two guest shots on the show: twice as Ricky Ricardo's boss, Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana Club where Ricky's band played, and later appeared as
468-531: The Paramount Pictures feature film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942), co-starring Ray Milland and Betty Field . My Favorite Husband was first broadcast as a one-time special on CBS Radio on July 5, 1948. CBS's new series Our Miss Brooks had been delayed coming to the air, so to fill in the gap that week CBS aired the audition program (the radio equivalent of a television pilot ) for My Favorite Husband . Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played
504-659: The Speed Gibson adventure series. In 1949, Gordon recorded the pilot for The Halls of Ivy , starring in the program's title role of Dr. Todhunter Hall, the president of Ivy College. The pilot led to a radio series that aired from 1950 to 1952, but Ronald Colman replaced Gordon in the title role; Gordon later joined the cast as a replacement for Willard Waterman in the popular role of John Merriweather. Gordon, in one of his few dramatic roles on radio, starred as erudite art importer, suave bachelor, and amateur sleuth Gregory Hood on The Casebook of Gregory Hood in 1946–47 on
540-467: The 1940s. His final acting appearance would be a reprise of Mr. Mooney in the first episode of Hi Honey, I'm Home! in 1991. Beginning in 1949, Gordon and his wife lived in the tiny community of Borrego Springs , California (pop. 1,500) where he owned a ranch and several dogs. He was also honorary mayor of the town and commuted approximately 160 mi (260 km) to and from Los Angeles every day when working for Ball. In addition to acting, Gordon
576-515: The 1950s, a small but growing cohort of rock and pop music fans, dissatisfied with the BBC's output, would listen to Radio Luxembourg – but only to some extent and probably not enough to have any impact on the BBC's monopoly; and invariably only at night, when the signal from Luxembourg could be received more easily. During the post-1964 period, offshore radio broadcasting from ships at anchor or abandoned forts (such as Radio Caroline ) helped to supply
612-675: The ABC sitcom, Harrigan and Son , the story of a father-and-son lawyer team. He also appeared on the CBS/Desilu sitcom, Angel , with Annie Fargé . On The Danny Thomas Show , he guest starred in seven episodes. In five, he played the landlord of the building where the Williams family lived. In 1962, Gordon appeared as different characters on two episodes of another ABC sitcom, The Donna Reed Show . In 1962, Ball created The Lucy Show and planned to hire Gordon to play Theodore J. Mooney,
648-498: The Sherlock Holmes franchise. It was cancelled by Mutual after one full season, but returned periodically on ABC in 1948 and following years, with other actors playing the title role. In 1950, Gordon played John Granby, a former city dweller ineptly pursuing his dream of life on a farm, in the radio series Granby's Green Acres , which became the basis for the 1960s television series Green Acres . Gordon went on to create
684-589: The TV show's run. For example, the March 18, 1949, radio episode titled "Giveaway Program" inspired the November 24, 1952, I Love Lucy episode "Redecorating". Many of the actors who appeared on My Favorite Husband on radio later appeared on I Love Lucy , often in episodes where they reprised their original roles from a reworked My Favorite Husband script. During the first season of I Love Lucy Gale Gordon twice played
720-645: The banker who was first Lucy Carmichael's executor and subsequently her employer, when she went to work in his bank. Gordon was under contract to play John Wilson (after the death of Joseph Kearns , who played George Wilson) on Dennis the Menace . Prior to Gordon's replacing Kearns on Dennis the Menace , the two had worked together on an old radio show, The Cinnamon Bear and also appeared with Eve Arden and Richard Crenna in Our Miss Brooks (1953–55), where Kearns first played Assistant Superintendent Michaels and later (in eight episodes) as Superintendent Stone,
756-449: The characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch My Favorite Husband as a series. Bowman was not available to do the series, so when it debuted later that month it starred Lucille Ball and Richard Denning as the leads. The 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 episode would feature
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#1732786582335792-433: The couple's name to Cooper and remade them into a middle-class couple, which they thought average listeners would find more accessible. In March 1949, Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George's boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. One discovery made during the run of the show was that Lucille Ball performed comedy far better when she played to an audience. In 1950, Lucille Ball
828-692: The demand in western Europe for pop and rock music. The BBC launched its own pop music station, BBC Radio 1 , in 1967. International broadcasts became highly popular in major world languages. Of particular impact were programs by the BBC World Service , Voice of America , Radio Moscow , China Radio International , Radio France Internationale , Deutsche Welle , Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty , Vatican Radio and Trans World Radio . Interest in old-time radio has increased in recent years with programs traded and collected on reel-to-reel tapes , cassettes and CDs and Internet downloads, as well as
864-678: The few commercial carob growers in the United States. Gale Gordon: From Mayor of Wistful Vista to Borrego Springs, by Jim Manago, published by BearManor Media in 2016, is the first biography of Gordon. Gordon died of lung cancer on June 30, 1995, at the Redwood Terrace Health Center in Escondido, California , aged 89. Virginia Curley, his wife of nearly 60 years, had died in the same facility one month earlier. The couple had no children. In 1999, Gordon
900-430: The gags were funny; some pretty drab." CBS brought My Favorite Husband to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The couple now resembled their earliest radio version, with George Cooper a well-to-do bank executive and with plots dealing with the couple's society life. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955. Reruns of
936-669: The popularity of podcasts . The World United Kingdom United States India Gale Gordon Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr. , February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor who was Lucille Ball 's longtime television foil, particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J. Mooney , on Ball's second television sitcom The Lucy Show . Gordon also appeared in I Love Lucy and had starring roles in Ball's successful third series Here's Lucy and her short-lived fourth and final series Life with Lucy . Gordon
972-544: The program aired from July 23, 1948, through March 31, 1951. It was initially written by Frank Fox and Bill Davenport, who were the writers for radio's Ozzie and Harriet . The show portrayed the Cugats as a well-to-do banker and his socially prominent wife. That fall, after about ten episodes had been written, Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll Jr. , Madelyn Pugh , and head writer/producer/director Jess Oppenheimer . They subsequently changed
1008-701: The recurring roles of "Mayor La Trivia" and "Foggy Williams" on Fibber McGee and Molly , before playing Rumson Bullard on the show's successful spinoff, The Great Gildersleeve . Gordon and his character of Mayor La Trivia left the show during World War II when Gordon enlisted in the US Coast Guard, where he spent four years. He was the first actor to play the role of Flash Gordon , in the 1935 radio serial The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon . He also played Dr. Stevens in Glorious One . From 1937 to 1939, he starred as "The Octopus" in
1044-407: The role of pompous principal Osgood Conklin on Our Miss Brooks , carrying the role to television when the show moved there in 1952. In the interim, Gordon turned up as Rudolph Atterbury on My Favorite Husband , which starred Lucille Ball in a precursor to I Love Lucy . Gordon and Ball had previously worked together on The Wonder Show , starring Jack Haley , from 1938 to 1939. The two had
1080-560: The role of the boss, and the May 26, 1952, episode titled "Lucy's Schedule" was a rewrite of the April 22, 1949, My Favorite Husband episode "Time Schedule" (also called "Budgeting Time".) A review of the July 5, 1948 audition episode in the trade publication Variety was very positive. It praised the show's "adult, smart scripting that never plays down to its audience." However it also noted that
1116-464: The series were broadcast during summer 1957. The show was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season, filmed at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown . Though the radio show was never commercially released on its own CD or DVD 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
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1152-476: The show's current writers would depart after the summer run, and "That's when the real test for Favorite Husband will come". A later review of the January 7, 1949, episode stated that the program had "gone a little pat", describing the content as "a little pedestrian and synthetic." It noted that part of the content was amusing but said "dialog strained a little too much for effect and laughs", concluding, "Some of
1188-544: The television sponsor. Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet , who played the Atterburys, 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. Writers Bob Carroll Jr. , Madelyn Pugh Davis and Jess Oppenheimer all agreed to continue with I Love Lucy . They subsequently reworked numerous My Favorite Husband episodes into I Love Lucy episodes early in
1224-654: Was also a radio actor who played school principal Osgood Conklin in Our Miss Brooks , starring Eve Arden , in both the 1948–1957 radio series and the 1952–1956 television series. He also co-starred as the second Mr. Wilson in Dennis the Menace , replacing Joseph Kearns after he died. Born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr. in New York City to vaudevillian Charles Thomas Aldrich and his wife, English actress Gloria Gordon, Gale Gordon's first big radio break came via
1260-539: Was an accomplished author, penning two books in the 1940s entitled Nursery Rhymes for Hollywood Babies and Leaves from the Story Trees , and two one-act plays. After he and his wife purchased 150 acres (61 ha) in Borrego Springs, Gordon did much of the construction of the house and his art studio himself. He also built and restored his own furniture on the property and used the land to become one of
1296-447: Was asked to do a television version of the show, and CBS and Jell-O both insisted that Richard Denning continue as her co-star. Ball refused to do it without real-life husband Desi Arnaz playing her on-screen husband. The network reluctantly agreed, and the concept was reworked into I Love Lucy after Ball and Arnaz took a show on the road to convince the network that audiences would respond. Jell-O dropped out and Philip Morris became
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