The Adventures & Success Of Ozzie & Harriet

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(CBSDFW.COM) - Ozzie and Harriet Nelson started their careers going in the 1930's. Ozzie was a band leader (like Desi Arnaz) while Harriet was an actress and a vocalist with Ozzie's band (billed in movies under the name Harriett Hilliard). They started doing a radio show in 1944 about the Nelson family. By 1952, they moved to television. ABC, which was a very distant third behind CBS and NBC and didn't enjoy the financial benefits the others did, needed good quality programming at a very reasonable price. From 1952-1966, 434 episodes were shot, with the final season being in color. The show remains one of the longest running sitcoms on network television.

The show was really about nothing but just everyday life things between adults and the kids (later the kids' girlfriends). Nobody knew what Ozzie did on the show; he portrayed a laid back sort of guy, although in real life he was exactly the opposite, having been the nation's youngest Eagle Scout at age 13, an honor student, and star quarterback at Rutgers University. Along with himself and Harriet were their real life sons: David and Ricky. Co-stars included Don DeFore (Hazel), Lyle Talbot (a character actor), Mary Jane Croft (The Lucy Show), Frank Cady (Petticoat Junction and Green Acres), and Joe Flynn (McHale's Navy).

One of Nelson's most brilliant ideas was promoting Ricky's music career on the show with what we would later call a "music video" with Ricky singing his latest hit on the charts with his adoring fans. During his music career, Rick charted 36 songs on the Billboard charts with 18 in the top 10. He only hit #1 twice with "Poor Little Fool" in 1958 and then again with "Travelin' Man" in 1961. His twin sons, Gunnar and Matthew, formed a group in the 1990's simply called "Nelson" and hit #1 on Billboard with "(Can't Live Without Your) Love And Affection."

After Ozzie died in 1975, David Nelson called KTLA-TV in Los Angeles and spoke to the general manager there, Greg Nathanson, who is an acquaintance of mine. David tells Greg that Harriet is missing Ozzie and was wondering if KTLA would air their show. Greg asked him, "Well, do you all have the rights?". David responded, "Yes, we do, Ozzie owned the show." Greg responded, "Well, come on down and put them on." Now it is not quite as easy today to make a deal like that but back then it was. The show did not do all that well in syndication but it made Harriet Nelson happy!

One quirk about this show is that, while the opening of each show was fairly much the same year to year, the closing was not. You never knew what closing theme was going to air. My favorite one is the "jazzy" version (see above).

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