A Guide To I Love Lucy
Beginning July 5, 1948, Lucy starred in a radio show called "My Favorite Husband". This was a sitcom that ran on CBS until 1951.
The show's premise was about a married couple named Liz and George Cooper. George was a banker, and Liz was a housewife. They also had a maid named Katie. The Coopers' best friends were Rudolph and Iris Atterbury. Rudolph was also George's boss at work.
Liz was a zany wife with a habit of getting into scrapes. She was often (and I mean often) at odds with her husband George, and many episodes were about their fighting over something. Each one of them tried to outdo the other, and Katie and the Atterburys would often get involved. But despite George's and Liz's rivalries, they did love each other underneath it all. The show's tagline was that they were "two people who live together, and like it."
Lucy played Liz. George was played by Lee Bowman during the first year. But after one year, he was replaced by Richard Denning. The Atterburys were played by Bea Benaderet and Gale Gordon, and Katie was played by Ruth Perrott.. Other supporting actors included Jerry Hausner, Doris Singleton, Shirley Mitchell, and Frank Nelson. The show was produced by Jess Oppenheimer and written by Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Pugh. It was sponsored by General Foods (who made Jello). The music was by Wilbur Hatch.
On the show, Lucy flourished in front of a live audience. Situation comedy brought out her best performances. The show was a success, and Lucy finally had a hit on her hands.
But it had a problem: "My Favorite Husband" was successful, but it came along a little too late in the era of radio. The show debuted in the year 1948. In 1948, radio was losing its mass audience to television. Earlier in the 40s, TV sets had been around, but they were very expensive and not very many people could afford them. Plus, there were few TV stations around, and the few people who could afford a TV set had a limited range of programs to choose from. So TV posed no serious threat to radio at the time.
But by 1949, the situation had changed. More and more people were buying sets, and shows like Texaco Star Theatre (starring Milton Berle), Toast Of The Town (starring Ed Sullivan), Kraft Television Theatre, and Studio One were drawing viewers. While radio programs weren't dead yet, it was clear that television was replacing them, and that the days of radio programs were numbered.
Although "My Favorite Husband" was a hit, it probably wouldn't stay on the air for very long. But maybe it could continue if it could be adapted into a TV series. Lucy was starting to consider television...
Next: A way to save their marriage
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