Celebrating ‘The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet’ as the TV classic turns 70

Here are a few bits of trivia about the beloved family sitcom “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” It ran 14 seasons from 1952-66, a record until FXX’s “It Always Sunny in Philadelphia” kicked off its 15^th season last year. But “Philadelphia” has only aired 162 episodes compared to a whopping 435 for “Ozzie and Harriet.”

Despite the fact it aired 14 years, the series only cracked the top 30 in its 11^th season where it came in 29^th place. The exterior shots were actually of the Nelsons’ real home at 1822 Camino Palmero Street in L.A. (it recently sold for $5.9 million) and the interiors were recreations of their own home. Though the TV Ozzie didn’t seem to have a job, the real-life Ozzie starred, produced,  co-wrote  and directed “Ozzie and Harriet.”

Topics were far from controversial. There was a whole episode revolving around the fact that a local store delivered new chairs that they hadn’t ordered. And the series was as white as a loaf of Wonder Bread. Of course, life wasn’t so idyllic in the 1950s with Korean War, the Cold War, the McCarthy hearings, and rampant racism dominating the news. 

And life wasn’t picture perfect for the Nelsons. A 1998 New York Times article stated: “Ozzie was a 24-hour-a-day workaholic who subjugated his sons to his career ambitions, sacrificing even their education to his lucrative show-biz franchise. Adorable little Ricky, who morphed into a teenage pop star, lost his virginity at 14 before careening into a disastrously combative marriage, drug abuse….”

During its 14-year run, the series was nominated for three Emmys including best situation comedy in 1953 and best supporting actor in regular series in 1955 for Don DeFore who played Thorny, the Nelson’s neighbor and Ozzie’s best buddy who also didn’t appear to have a job. 

The series also ushered in several more family comedies that decade including “Make Room for Daddy,” which was renamed “The Danny Thomas Show,” “Father Knows Best,” “Leave It to Beaver” and “The Donna Reed Show.” Though all these series ended in the 1960s, they have lived on and on in syndication, streaming services and DVD/Blu-Ray. And you have to look no further than the outpouring of emotions when Tony Dow, who played Wally on “Leave It to Beaver,” recently died to realize how much these series still mean to baby boomers. 

To celebrate its 70^th anniversary Shout! Factory is releasing DVDs of the first two seasons.  In association with the Nelson family, the entire 435 episodes have been restored with complete episodes from the original film negatives complete with commercials for High Point refrigerators and Listerine. And they look fabulous. 

So, what was the genesis of the series?

Ozzie Nelson first gained famed when his Ozzie Nelson Orchestra appeared on radio; Harriet, then Harriet Hilliard, was the band’s “girl” singer. They married in 1935. David was born a year later with Ricky following in 1940. From 1933-1938, they appeared on “The Baker’s Broadcast” and then joined the cast of “The Red Skelton Show” in 1941. In 1944, Ozzie created the “Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” radio series that was broadcast on CBS, NBC and finally ABC. Two professional child actors initially played David and Ricky until 1949 their real sons joined the ensemble. The series produced 402 episodes and continued simultaneously with the TV series until 1954.

Ozzie Nelson had been pursued for several years to make the transition from radio to television according to his brother Don, who was a writer on the radio and TV series.  “He had put it off as long as he could,” Don Nelson told me in a 1998 L.A. Times interview. So, he decided to do the 1952 feature film “Here Comes the Nelsons” “to see what the family looked like on screen. In a sense, it became a pilot.” 

Ozzie even has a job in the film working at an advertising agency owed by Gale Gordon. And he even becomes a hero when the wisecracking Ricky is kidnapped at a fair by a group of hoods out to rob the fair office. Ozzie saves Ricky by stopping the bad guy’s car by stringing elastic girdles across the road. Needless to say, “Here Come the Nelsons” is jaw-droppingly silly. “It wasn’t attended to be anything serious,” said Don Nelson. “It was intended to be something amusing and family oriented. Oz didn’t want to rock any kind of boat. You never saw Oz without a smile on his face.”

When the TV series started, David Nelson was 15 and Ricky Nelson was just 12 and they were the “B” storyline in most of the episodes. A lot revolved around Ozzie and Thorny and Ozzie and Harriet’s relationship. But as Ricky transitioned from an obnoxious pre-teen to a handsome and talented teenager, Ozzie used the series to turn him into a teen idol. Ricky, later known as Rick, first perform on the April 10, 1957 episode “Ricky the Drummer” where he sang Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin.’” Some of the shows featuring Ricky performing his hits like “Poor Little Fool” and “Lonesome Town” were among the highest rated. 

And when David and Ricky got married, their wives also joined the series. But by the mid-60s, traditional comedies like “Ozzie and Harriet” seemed hopelessly dated. Even transitioning to color in 1965 didn’t stop viewers from abandoning the series. And it was cancelled in 1966. 

Don Nelson believed audiences loved the Nelsons because they were “a family that could be trusted. We have been blamed for all the ills of the 50s and ‘60s and have been praised for all the good things about those decades because it presented a way of life that was a little idyllic. We would manufacture a show out of whether it was appropriate for David to now have his own key or Oz getting stuck on top of the house. It was the harmless kind of things that affected the family.”

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions