''The Growing Paynes'' is an American
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 ...
that aired on the
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...
.
Broadcast history
The series aired on DuMont on Wednesdays at 8:30 pm ET for one season, 1948 to 1949. The series stars
John Harvey John Harvey may refer to:
People Academics
* John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician
* John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...
,
Judy Parrish, David Anderson, Ann Sullivan,
Lester Lonergan, Jr., and
Warren Parker.
One of the first sitcoms to air in the United States, the 30-minute series was broadcast
live
Live may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film
* ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film
*'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD)
Music
*Live (band), American alternative rock band
* List of albums ...
. Advertisements for the show's sponsor,
Wanamaker's Department Store
John Wanamaker Department Store was one of the first department stores in the United States. Founded by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, it was influential in the development of the retail industry including as the first store to use price tags. ...
, were worked into the early stories.
[Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, '''', 9th Edition (New York: Random House, 2007) p. 565]
Harvey and Parrish, who were husband and wife in real life, left the show in 1949 and were replaced by
Edward Holmes and
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, best known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films a ...
as Mr. and Mrs. Payne.
This series marked Stritch's television debut.
Synopsis
The setting is the Payne family's apartment. Comedic situations deal with the trials of an insurance salesman, George Payne (played by Harvey), his screwball wife, Laraine Payne (played by Parrish), and their young son, John Payne (played by Anderson). Often it is their maid, Birdie (played by Sullivan), who saves the day.
Episode status
One episode of ''The Growing Paynes'' is at the
UCLA Film and Television Archive
The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...
and four episodes are at the
Paley Center for Media
The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York City, New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, ...
.
Cast
*
John Harvey John Harvey may refer to:
People Academics
* John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician
* John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...
as George Payne (1948-1949)
*
Judy Parrish as Laraine Payne (1948-1949)
*
David Anderson David Anderson may refer to:
People In academia or science
*David Anderson (academic) (born 1952), American college professor
*David Anderson (engineer) (1880–1953), Scottish civil engineer and lawyer
*David Anderson, 2nd Viscount Waverley (1911â ...
as John Payne
*Ann Sullivan as Birdie
*
Lester Lonergan, Jr.
*
Warren Parker
Replacement cast
*
Edward Holmes as George Payne (1949)
*
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, best known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films a ...
as Laraine Payne (1949)
See also
*
List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network
This is a list of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network, which operated in the United States from 1942 to 1956. All regularly scheduled programs which were aired on the DuMont network are listed below, regardless of whether they orig ...
*
List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts
The DuMont Television Network was launched in 1946 and ceased broadcasting in 1956. Allen DuMont, who created the network, preserved most of what it produced in kinescope format. By 1958, however, much of the library had been destroyed to recover ...
*
1948-49 United States network television schedule
*''
Mary Kay and Johnny
''Mary Kay and Johnny'' is an American situation comedy starring real-life married couple Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns. It was the first sitcom broadcast on a network television in the United States. ''Mary Kay and Johnny'' initially aired live o ...
'' (The first sitcom to air in the United States)
References
Bibliography
*David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press
Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach t ...
, 2004)
*Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York:
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.[Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...]
, 1964)
External links
''The Growing Paynes'' at IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Growing Paynes, The
1940s American sitcoms
1948 American television series debuts
1949 American television series endings
DuMont Television Network original programming
Black-and-white American television shows
American live television series
English-language television shows