''I Married Joan'' is an American

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from 1952 to 1955. It starred actress

Joan Davis Josephine "Joan" Davis (June 29, 1907 – May 22, 1961) was an American comedic actress whose career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television. Remembered best for the 1950s television comedy ''I Married Joan'', Davis had a successful earl ...

as the manic, scatterbrained wife of a mild-mannered community judge (

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom '' Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in ''Rebel Without a Cause ...

Synopsis

The show, whose syndicated opening makes the claim "America's favorite comedy show, starring America's queen of comedy, Joan Davis, as Mrs. Joan Stevens" focused on a married couple, Joan and Bradley Stevens. ''I Married Joans trademark was broad physical

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

, with Joan Stevens portrayed as bright but somewhat childlike and given to misunderstanding. Virtually every episode had a plot which provided star Davis with a setup for at least one scene of over-the-top physical comedy. Davis's real-life daughter, Beverly Wills, was a regular cast member for several months of the show's second season, portraying Joan's sister, Beverly Grossman. Early installments began with Backus, as Judge Stevens in chambers, recalling how one of his wife's madcap mishaps paralleled the problems of a couple seeking a divorce; this was followed by the unfolding of the episode, which ended back in chambers with Judge Stevens summing up his tale for the now-reconciled couple. This wraparound scenario was abandoned after a handful of episodes. Sponsored by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

(original network openings extolled the virtues of the sponsor's products rather than those of its star), ''I Married Joan'' was aimed at the viewers who watched ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...

'', which had debuted the previous year and was already television's top-rated situation comedy. ''I Love Lucy'' and ''I Married Joan'' even employed the same director in each show's first season,

Marc Daniels Marc Daniels (January 27, 1912 – April 23, 1989), born Danny Marcus, was an American television director. He directed on programs such as I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Hogan's Heroes, and more. Life and career Da ...

scheduled ''I Married Joan'' Wednesdays at 8:00 ET against the first half of ''

Arthur Godfrey and his Friends ''Arthur Godfrey and His Friends'' is an American television variety show hosted by Arthur Godfrey. The hour-long series aired on CBS Television from January 1949 to June 1957 (as ''The Arthur Godfrey Show'' after September 1956), then again as a ...

'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

for the entirety of its three-season run. The show performed marginally during its first year, but enjoyed a surge in the Nielsen ratings during its second season in the wake of Godfrey's firing of

Julius LaRosa Julius La Rosa (January 2, 1930 – May 12, 2016) was an American traditional popular music singer, who worked in both radio and television beginning in the 1950s. Early years La Rosa was born of Italian-immigrant parents in the Brooklyn borough ...

and the resultant negative publicity. In its third year, ''I Married Joan'' withered against the additional competition of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's new top-rated hit ''

Walt Disney's Disneyland The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The p ...

'' and was canceled, airing its last first-run episode on March 23, 1955. Although Davis' personal health problems have also been cited as a reason for the show's cancellation, she was seen performing robust physical comedy as a guest star on variety series, years after her own show ended.

Cast

Episode list

Season 1: 1952–53

Season 2: 1953–54

Season 3: 1954–55

Release

Syndication

In the early 1980s, the series was rerun by the

CBN cable network The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its hi ...

in a late-night block that included another TV sitcom,

Gale Storm Josephine Owaissa Cottle (April 5, 1922 – June 27, 2009), known professionally as Gale Storm, was an American actress and singer. After a film career from 1940 to 1952, she starred in two popular television programs of the 1950s, '' My Litt ...

's series ''

My Little Margie ''My Little Margie'' is an American television situation comedy starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell that alternated between CBS and NBC from 1952 to 1955. The series was created by Frank Fox and produced in Los Angeles, California, at Hal Ro ...

.'' The series was also aired on

ION Television Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented enter ...

, and on the HOT (History of Television) network in New York (WKOB 42.4) and Dallas (KODF 26 and K31GL 31.3). The series currently (as of 2018) runs on

AMGTV AMGTV is an American family-oriented television network featuring television programming consisting of drama, sports, movies, entertainment, how-to, hunting and fishing, children's shows, and other features, much of it repackaged from off-netw ...

, also in a block with ''My Little Margie''. Beginning in March 2018, the series began a weekday morning run on the

Decades A decade () is a period of ten years. Decades may describe any ten-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement that "du ...

network.

Home media

Since 2004,

VCI Entertainment VCI may refer to: Organisations * Vaccination Credential Initiative, Digital Vaccine Record coalition * Veterinary Council of India * Video Collection International, a UK company * Volatile corrosion inhibitor * Volunteer Centres Ireland School ...

has released 5 volumes of various episodes from different seasons on budget DVD compilations.

Other media

BearManor Media published a biography about Joan Davis, which includes a chapter dedicated to ''I Married Joan.'' Episodes of the series have been screened at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention held annually in

Aberdeen, Maryland Aberdeen is a city located in Harford County, Maryland, United States, northeast of Baltimore. The population was 16,254 at the 2020 United States Census. Aberdeen is the largest municipality in Harford County. Aberdeen is part of the Baltimor ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:I Married Joan 1952 American television series debuts 1955 American television series endings 1950s American sitcoms Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series about marriage Television series by CBS Studios Television shows set in California