''My Favorite Husband'' is the name of an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

and

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

. The original radio show, starring

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...

, evolved into the groundbreaking television

sitcom 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 ...

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 ...

''. The series was based on the novels ''Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage'' (1940) and ''Outside Eden'' (1945) written by

Isabel Scott Rorick Isabel Scott Rorick (1900–1967) was an American writer known for her comedic book ''Mr. and Mrs. Cugat'', which was one of the top ten best selling books in the United States in 1941. Rorick was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1900. Her involvement in ...

, the earlier of which had previously been adapted into the

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

feature film '' Are Husbands Necessary?'' (1942), co-starring

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985. He is remembered for his Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival Award-winning ...

and

Betty Field Betty Field (February 8, 1916 – September 13, 1973) was an American film and stage actress. Early years Field was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to George and Katharine (née Lynch) Field. She began acting before she reached age 15, and went ...

Radio

''My Favorite Husband'' was first broadcast as a one-time special on

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

on July 5, 1948. CBS's new series ''

Our Miss Brooks ''Our Miss Brooks'' is an American sitcom starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high-school English teacher. It began as a radio show broadcast on CBS from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television (1952–56), it became one of the medi ...

'' had been delayed coming to the air, so to fill in the gap that week CBS aired the audition program (the radio equivalent of a

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

) for ''My Favorite Husband''. Lucille Ball and

Lee Bowman Lee Bowman (December 28, 1914 – December 25, 1979) was an American film and television actor. According to one obituary, "his roles ranged from romantic lead to worldly, wisecracking lout in his most famous years". Career Born in Cincinnati, ...

played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch ''My Favorite Husband'' as a series. Bowman was not available to do the series, so when it debuted later that month it starred Lucille Ball and

Richard Denning Richard Denning (March 27, 1914 – October 11, 1998) was an American actor who starred in science fiction films of the 1950s, including ''Unknown Island'' (1948), ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' (1954), '' Target Earth'' (1954), ''Day the ...

as the leads. The couple lived at 321 Bundy Drive in the fictitious city of Sheridan Falls, and were billed as "two people who live together and like it." The episode would progress into a minor crisis or problem, typically caused by one of Liz's funny ideas. Each episode would end with the problem solved and Liz saying, "Thanks, George. You're my ''favorite'' husband." Beginning with the 26th episode, on January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader

Xavier Cugat Xavier Cugat (; 1 January 1900 – 27 October 1990) was a Spanish musician and bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. In New York City ...

prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode the series, which had begun as a

sustaining program A sustaining program is a radio or television program that, despite airing on a commercial broadcast station, does not have commercial sponsorship or advertising. This term, mostly used in the United States, was common in the early days of radio, b ...

, acquired

Jell-O Jell-O is an American brand offering a variety of powdered gelatin dessert (fruit-flavored gels/jellies), pudding, and no-bake cream pie mixes. The original gelatin dessert (genericized as jello) is the signature of the brand. "Jell-O" is a reg ...

as its sponsor. An average of three "plugs" for Jell-O were made in each episode. The show opened with: :''

Bob LeMond Robert West LeMond, Jr. (April 11, 1913 – January 6, 2008) was an American radio and television announcer who was best known as the voice who announced for the television shows '' Leave It to Beaver'' and ''Ozzie and Harriet''. LeMond was also ...

'': It's time for ''My Favorite Husband'' starring Lucille Ball! :''Lucille Ball'': Jell-O, everybody! :''Theme music'' omposed_by_Marlin_Skiles,_conducted_by_

omposed_by_Marlin_Skiles,_conducted_by_Wilbur_Hatch">Wilbur_Hatch.html"_;"title="omposed_by_Marlin_Skiles,_conducted_by_Wilbur_Hatch">omposed_by_Marlin_Skiles,_conducted_by_Wilbur_Hatch:''LeMond'':_Yes,_it's_the_new_gay_family_series_starring_Lucille_Ball_with_Richard_Denning,_brought_to_you_by_the_Jell-O_family_of_desserts: :''Singers'': ::J-E-L-L- ::O!_The_big_red_letters_stand_for_the_Jell-O_family, ::Oh,_the_big_red_letters_stand_for_the_Jell-O_family, ::That's_Jell-O! ::Yum,_yum,_yum! ::Jell-O_pudding! ::Yum,_yum,_yum! ::Jell-O_tapioca_pudding,_yes_sir-ee! :''LeMond'':_And_now,_Lucille_Ball_with_Richard_Denning_as_Liz_and_George_Cooper,_two_people_who_live_together_and_''like''_it. A_total_of_124_episodes_of_the_program_aired_from_July_23,_1948,_through_March_31,_1951._It_was_initially_written_by_Frank_Fox_and_Bill_Davenport,_who_were_the_writers_for_radio's_''The_Adventures_of_Ozzie_and_Harriet#1944:_The_Adventures_of_Ozzie_and_Harriet_radio_show.html" "title="Wilbur_Hatch.html" ;"title="Wilbur_Hatch.html" ;"title="omposed by Marlin Skiles, conducted by Wilbur Hatch">omposed by Marlin Skiles, conducted by Wilbur Hatch">Wilbur_Hatch.html" ;"title="omposed by Marlin Skiles, conducted by Wilbur Hatch">omposed by Marlin Skiles, conducted by Wilbur Hatch:''LeMond'': Yes, it's the new gay family series starring Lucille Ball with Richard Denning, brought to you by the Jell-O family of desserts: :''Singers'': ::J-E-L-L- ::O! The big red letters stand for the Jell-O family, ::Oh, the big red letters stand for the Jell-O family, ::That's Jell-O! ::Yum, yum, yum! ::Jell-O pudding! ::Yum, yum, yum! ::Jell-O tapioca pudding, yes sir-ee! :''LeMond'': And now, Lucille Ball with Richard Denning as Liz and George Cooper, two people who live together and ''like'' it. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948, through March 31, 1951. It was initially written by Frank Fox and Bill Davenport, who were the writers for radio's ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet#1944: The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio show">Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...

''. The show portrayed the Cugats as a well-to-do banker and his socially prominent wife. That fall, after about ten episodes had been written, Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over –

Bob Carroll Jr. Robert Gordon Carroll Jr. (August 12, 1918 – January 27, 2007) was an American television writer notable for his creative role in the series '' I Love Lucy'', the first four seasons of which he wrote with his professional partner Madelyn Pugh, a ...

, Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer

Jess Oppenheimer Jessurun James Oppenheimer (November 11, 1913 – December 27, 1988) was an American radio and television writer, producer, and director. He was the producer and head writer of the CBS sitcom '' I Love Lucy''. Lucille Ball called Oppenheimer ...

. They subsequently changed the couple's name to Cooper and remade them into a middle-class couple, which they thought average listeners would find more accessible. In March 1949,

Gale Gordon Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr., February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil—and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfiste ...

took over the existing role of George's boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. One discovery made during the run of the show was that Lucille Ball performed comedy far better when she played to an audience.

Characters

* Liz Cooper, played by Lucille Ball; happily married and slightly zany housewife * George Cooper, played by Richard Denning; Liz's husband, works for Mr. Atterbury * Mr. Rudolph Atterbury, played first by

Hans Conried Hans Georg Conried Jr. (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for providing the voices of George Darling and Captain Hook in Walt Disney's ''Peter Pan'' (1953), Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's ''Dudle ...

and then

Joseph Kearns Joseph Sherrard Kearns
TV Guide. July 15–21, 1961, Savetheorgan.org; retrieved September 28, 2011.

, and in subsequent episodes by

; George's boss, friend of the Cooper family, often refers to George as "boy," as in "George-Boy" * Mrs. Iris Atterbury, played by Bea Benaderet; wife of Rudolph and friend of the Cooper family, often refers to Liz as "girl," as in "Liz-Girl" * Katy, played by Ruth Perrott; the Coopers' maid, presumably enjoys making Jell-O * Mrs. Leticia Cooper, played first by Benaderet and in subsequent episodes by

Eleanor Audley Eleanor Audley ( Zellman; November 19, 1905 – November 25, 1991) was an American actress with a distinctive voice and a diverse body of work. She played Oliver Douglas's mother, Eunice Douglas, on the CBS sitcom ''Green Acres'' (1965–1969) ...

; George's aristocratic mother, who typically looks down on Liz In 1950, Lucille Ball was asked to do a television version of the show, and CBS and Jell-O both insisted that Richard Denning continue as her co-star. Ball refused to do it without real-life husband

Desi Arnaz Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Lov ...

playing her on-screen husband. The network reluctantly agreed, and the concept was reworked into ''

'' after Ball and Arnaz took a show on the road to convince the network that audiences would respond. Jell-O dropped out and Philip Morris became the television sponsor.

and Bea Benaderet, who played the Atterburys, were both given first consideration for the roles that would become Fred and Ethel Mertz on ''I Love Lucy'', but both had contract conflicts that forced them to turn down the roles. Writers

Madelyn Pugh Davis Madelyn Pugh (March 15, 1921 – April 20, 2011), sometimes credited as Madelyn Pugh Davis, Madelyn Davis, or Madelyn Martin, was a television writer who became known in the 1950s for her work on the ''I Love Lucy'' television series. Early ...

and

all agreed to continue with ''I Love Lucy''. They subsequently reworked numerous ''My Favorite Husband'' episodes into ''I Love Lucy'' episodes early in the TV show's run. For example, the March 18, 1949, radio episode titled "Giveaway Program" inspired the November 24, 1952, ''I Love Lucy'' episode "Redecorating". Many of the actors who appeared on ''My Favorite Husband'' on radio later appeared on ''I Love Lucy'', often in episodes where they reprised their original roles from a reworked ''My Favorite Husband'' script. During the first season of ''I Love Lucy''

twice played the role of the boss, and the May 26, 1952, episode titled "Lucy's Schedule" was a rewrite of the April 22, 1949, ''My Favorite Husband'' episode "Time Schedule" (also called "Budgeting Time".)

Television

CBS brought ''My Favorite Husband'' to television in 1953, starring

Joan Caulfield Beatrice Joan Caulfield (June 1, 1922 – June 18, 1991) was an American actress and model. After being discovered by Broadway producers, she began a stage career in 1943 that eventually led to signing as an actress with Paramount Pictures. In th ...

and

Barry Nelson Barry Nelson (born Robert Haakon Nielsen; April 16, 1917 – April 7, 2007) was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond. Early life Nelson was born in San Francisco, the son of Norwegian imm ...

as Liz and George Cooper. The couple now resembled their earliest radio version, with George Cooper a well-to-do bank executive and with plots dealing with the couple's society life. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, and was produced live at

CBS Television City Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is an American television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue. Designed by architect William Pereira and Ch ...

for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed at

Desilu Desilu Productions () was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as ''I Love Lucy'', ''The Lucy Show'', ''Mannix'', ''The Untouchabl ...

and recasting Liz Cooper with

Vanessa Brown Vanessa Brown (born Smylla Brind, March 24, 1928 – May 21, 1999) was an Austrian-born American actress who worked in radio, film, theater, and television. Early life Born in Vienna, Austria, to Jewish parents (Nah Brind, a language teacher, a ...

Characters

* Liz Cooper – the housewife * George Cooper – Liz's favorite husband, and bank executive * Gilmore Cobb – played by Bob Sweeney; the Coopers' wealthy next-door neighbor (first two seasons) * Myra Cobb – played by Alix Talton, Gilmore's social-climbing wife (first two seasons) * Oliver Shepard – played by

Dan Tobin Daniel Malloy Tobin (October 19, 1910 – November 26, 1982) was an American supporting actor on the stage, in films and on television. He generally played gentle, urbane, rather fussy, sometimes obsequious and shifty characters, often with a c ...

, the Coopers' neighbor in the third season * Myra Shepard – Oliver's wife (third season), played by Alix Talton, the same actress who earlier played Myra Cobb

Home media

Though the radio show was never commercially released on its own CD or

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

collections, at least one episode can be found on each disk from the ''I Love Lucy'' DVD releases. In 2003, two episodes were released together on a CD in the UK. These radio episodes ''may'' be in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

, and CDs containing the entire run of ''My Favorite Husband'' in the

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format are offered by several private vendors through eBay and other sites, such as the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Dramatizations

In July 2018, ''I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom,'' a comedy play by Gregg Oppenheimer (son of series creator

), had its world premiere in a Los Angeles production by

L.A. Theatre Works L.A. Theatre Works (LATW) is a not-for-profit American media arts organization based in Los Angeles founded in 1984. The intent of the organization is to produce, preserve, and distribute classic and contemporary plays of significance. Along with i ...

. The play goes behind the scenes to trace how ''My Favorite Husband'' turned into ''I Love Lucy''. Recorded before a live audience at UCLA's James Bridges Theater, the production has been broadcast on public radio and released on audio CD and as a downloadable MP3. The performance starred

Sarah Drew Sarah Drew is an American actress and director. She played Hannah Rogers in The WB family drama series ''Everwood'' (2004–2006) and Dr. April Kepner in the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2009–2018, 2021–2022). Early life D ...

Oscar Nuñez Oscar Nunez (born November 18, 1958), sometimes credited as Oscar Nuñez, is a Cuban-American actor. He is best known for his role as the Dunder Mifflin accountant Oscar Martinez on NBC's ''The Office''. He was a member of The Groundlings and l ...

, and

Seamus Dever Seamus Patrick Dever (born July 27, 1976) is an American actor known for his role as Detective Kevin Ryan in the ABC series ''Castle''. Early life Dever was born in Flint, Michigan, and moved at the age of six to Bullhead City, Arizona, ...

, and featured Matthew Floyd Miller as

and Lucy's radio announcer,

.L.A. Theatre Works catalog page
for "I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom" recording.

Sources

* Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle. ''

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (ninth edition), * Lance, Steven. ''Written Out of Television: A TV Lover's Guide to Cast Changes 1945–1994'', * Andrews, Bart. ''The "I Love Lucy" Book'',

References

External links

Isabel Scott Rorick biography
* (109 out of 124 aired episodes) {{I Love Lucy 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs American comedy radio programs CBS Radio programs English-language radio programs 1948 radio programme debuts 1951 radio programme endings 1953 American television series debuts 1955 American television series endings 1950s American sitcoms CBS original programming Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows Television series based on radio series Radio programs adapted into television shows Radio programs about families Television series about families