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What Were Some Classics of 1940s Television?


Were there any especially pioneering sitcoms from this time period (or rather sitcom-ancestor)? Any good made for TV teledramas or miniseries?

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"The Morey Amsterdam Show" was and still is a pretty good sketch-comedy/sitcom hybrid..
"The Gay Nineties Revue" was among the better shows on what would one day be ABC.
"The Life of Riley" with Jackie Gleason is pretty good.
"The Ed Wynn Show" is rather dated but is fun.
"Public Prosecutor" is very low budget but still a good crime-drama.



"It's Bucket 'o Nothing! Surprise your friends, amaze your family, annoy perfect strangers!"

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No, but Uncle Miltie and KUKLA FRAN and OLLIE, started in late forties.

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In response to sitcoms: 1940s TV sitcoms included "Mary Kay and Johnny" (1947-1950, with a premise similar to 50s sitcoms like "I Love Lucy", "I Married Joan", etc), "The Growing Paynes" (1948-1949), and "Pinwright's Progress" (1946-1947)




"It's Bucket 'o Nothing! Surprise your friends, amaze your family, annoy perfect strangers!"

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Interesting. I suppose the 1950s I Love Lucy was more socially daring than these earlier models, insofar as she was married to a Cuban man and was even shown pregnant.

Were the earliest television stars Hollywood B-listers who latched onto a new medium? Was there a stigma associated with television acting as opposed to film acting?

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Uh, no. Most early TV stars came from Radio, the stage and in some cases from Jewish Nightclubs (or something along those lines).

"I Love Lucy" wasn't the first sitcom to have a pregnant chartacter. That was "Mary Kay and Johnny" in 1948 (like "I Love Lucy", Mary was pregant in real life and they decided to include this into the show).


"It's Bucket 'o Nothing! Surprise your friends, amaze your family, annoy perfect strangers!"

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I don't recall anything that could be classified a miniseries, but
in the categories of either Drama or Comedy:

"Mama"
"The Goldbergs"
"The Aldrich Family"
"One Man's Family"
"Candid Camera"
"The Philco Television Playhouse"
"Hands of Murder"

Variety:
"Toast of the Town"
"Talent Scouts"
"Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour"

Sports:
"Gillette Cavalcade of Sports"

Adventure:
"Captain Video and His Video Rangers"
"The Lone Ranger"

Culture:
"Voice of Firestone"

Long-lasting:
"Meet the Press"

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Any good made for TV teledramas or miniseries?No made-for-television movies back in the 1940s, nor any television mini-series.

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The show may be dated, but he was a tremendous talent. His work on The Twilight Zone was exquisite.

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