''The People's Choice'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from 1955 to 1958. It was primarily sponsored by the Borden Company. Production of the series was overseen by

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film, and television. His arched eyeb ...

' company, McCadden Productions. It stars

Jackie Cooper John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor and director. He began his career performing in film as a child, and successfully transitioned to adult roles and directing in both film and television. At age nine, h ...

as Socrates "Sock" Miller, who is a former Marine

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

veteran and a young politician living in fictitious New City,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Sock has a

basset hound The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of scent hound. The Basset Hound was developed in Great Britain from several now-extinct strains of France, French basset breeds. It was bred primarily for hunting rabbit and hare on foot, moving slowly en ...

named "Cleo", whose thoughts (voiced by

Mary Jane Croft Mary Jane Croft (February 15, 1916 – August 24, 1999) was an American actress best known for roles as Betty Ramsey on ''I Love Lucy'', Miss Daisy Enright on the radio and television versions of ''Our Miss Brooks'', Mary Jane Lewis on ''The L ...

), baleful observations of Sock's dilemmas, are recorded on the soundtrack for the viewers' amusement. The real name of the dog that played Cleo was "Bernadette". Much of Cleo's dialog consists of wisecracks. The popularity of the basset hound breed increased markedly with the run of the show.

Overview

In the first season, Sock is an

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and a city council member, who is living in a trailer park with his maiden Aunt "Gus" Bennett, short for Augusta (

Margaret Irving Margaret Irving (January 18, 1898 – March 5, 1988) was an American stage and film actress. Biography Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1898, Irving is best remembered today for her roles as Aunt Gus in the 1950s sitcom '' The People's Choic ...

) who had raised Sock after his parents' death when Sock was three years of age. Sock is dating Amanda "Mandy" Peoples ( Patricia Breslin), the daughter of the mayor (

Paul Maxey Paul Regan Maxey (March 15, 1907 – June 3, 1963) was an American actor. Biography Born in Wheaton, Illinois, the rotund Maxey played character roles in films from 1937, notably as the composer Victor Herbert in ''Till the Clouds Roll ...

), who does not entirely approve of the relationship, but he gradually warms to Sock. Later, Sock takes courses (though he is not in law school) to pass the California bar exam to become an attorney, so he can then afford to marry Mandy. In the first-season finale, Sock suddenly proposes to Mandy and wants to elope. He is afraid the mayor will want to stage a big wedding, and they will not be able to get married for many months. The couple drives to

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

for a quickie wedding, intending to return in time for Sock to take his bar exam. On the way back, they are arrested for a traffic violation and must spend the night in jail. This causes Sock to miss the bar exam. Sock wants to be independent of his father-in-law, so the couple agrees to keep their marriage a secret from the mayor until Sock gets his law license. Most episodes in the second season are about Sock and Mandy trying to be together (as much as this could be depicted in the 1950s), while keeping the mayor from finding out that they are married. At some point during the season, Aunt Gus and the mayor get married, and she learns that Sock and Mandy are married and agrees to keep their secret from the mayor. By the end of the season, Sock has passed the bar, and their marriage is out in the open. Sock's scheming Marine buddy, Rollo "the Hex" Hexley ( Dick Wesson), moved in with Sock during the second season and appeared in 27 episodes and the original 1955 pilot. In the third season, Sock manages a residential real-estate development called Barkerville Estates. They still return to New City often enough for Mayor Peoples and Aunt Gus to appear regularly.

Guest stars

* Nick Adams *

Jack Albertson Harold "Jack" Albertson (June 16, 1907 – November 25, 1981) was an American actor, comedian, dancer and singer who also performed in vaudeville. Albertson was a Tony, Oscar, and Emmy winning actor, which ranks him among a rare stature of 24 ...

* Lola Albright *

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 mom, Eunice Douglas, on the CBS sitcom '' Green Acres'' (1965–1969 ...

* Jacqueline Beer *

James Best Jewel Franklin Guy (July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015), known professionally as James Best, was an American television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. Duri ...

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

* Shirley Bonne * Joe E. Brown *

George Chandler George Chandler (June 30, 1898 – June 10, 1985) was an American actor who starred in over 140 feature films, usually in smaller supporting roles, and he is perhaps best known for playing the character of Uncle Petrie Martin on the television ...

Harry Cheshire Harry V. Cheshire (August 16, 1891 – June 16, 1968), originally from Emporia, Kansas, was an American character actor who appeared in over 100 films, mostly playing small roles. He was also a stage actor and performed on a St. Louis radio ...

Andy Clyde Andrew Allan Clyde (March 25, 1892 – May 18, 1967), was a Scottish-born American film and television actor whose career spanned some 45 years. In 1921 he broke into silent films as a Mack Sennett comic, debuting in ''On a Summer Day''. H ...

* Joe Conley *

Mike Connors Krekor Ohanian (August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017), known professionally as Mike Connors, was an American actor. He was best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series ''Mannix'' from 1967 to 1975. This role ...

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Coogan's role in Charlie Chaplin's film ''The Kid (1921 film), The Kid'' (1921) made him one o ...

Ellen Corby Ellen Hansen Corby (June 3, 1911 – April 14, 1999) was an American actress and screenwriter. She played the role of List of The Waltons characters#Esther Walton, Esther "Grandma" Walton on the Columbia Broadcasting System, CBS television ...

* Richard Deacon *

Angie Dickinson Angie Dickinson (born Angeline Brown; September 30, 1931) is an American retired actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many Anthology series#Television, anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough rol ...

* King Donovan *

John Doucette John Arthur Doucette (January 21, 1921 – August 16, 1994) was an American character actor who performed in more than 280 film and television productions between 1941 and 1987. A man of stocky build who possessed a deep, rich voice, he p ...

* Ross Elliott * Yvonne Lime Fedderson *

Frank Ferguson Frank S. Ferguson (December 25, 1899 – September 12, 1978) was an American character actor with hundreds of appearances in both film and television. Background Ferguson was born in Ferndale, California, the younger of two children of W. Tho ...

* James Flavin *

Ned Glass Nusyn "Ned" Glass (April 1, 1906 – June 15, 1984) was a Polish-born American character actor who appeared in more than eighty films and on television more than one hundred times, frequently playing nervous, cowardly, or deceitful characters. ...

* Charles Lane * Joi Lansing * Nan Leslie *

Forrest Lewis Raymond Forrest Lewis (November 5, 1899 – June 2, 1977) was an American actor of the theater, radio, motion pictures and television. Early years Lewis was born in Knightstown, Indiana, the son of Joseph Saint Lewis and Myla Leota Lewi ...

* Howard McNear *

Jay Novello Jay Novello (born Michael Romano, August 22, 1904 – September 2, 1982) was an American radio, film, and television character actor. Radio career Novello began his 47-year acting career in the 1930s, performing as a character on radio. ...

* Louis Quinn *

Addison Richards Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. (October 20, 1902 – March 22, 1964) was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than 300 films between 1933 and his death in 1964. Biography A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Richard ...

* Hal J. Smith * Doris Singleton * Olive Sturgess * Ann Tyrrell * Herb Vigran * Gregory Walcott as Stone Kenyon *

Frank Wilcox Frank Reppy Wilcox (March 13, 1907 – March 3, 1974) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and television series, as well as Broadway plays. Background Wilcox was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Roger V. Wilcox. He was born in De Soto ...

Production notes

The series was created and co-produced by Irving Brecher, who was also the creator of the 1949 sitcom, ''

The Life of Riley ''The Life of Riley'' is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, as well as two different television series, and a comic book. Radio series The radio program initially aired on the B ...

''. Although ''The People's Choice'' never made the top 30 programs, its ratings were respectable enough to warrant a place on NBC for three seasons. The show later became quite popular in syndication enjoying continuous daytime repeat broadcasts for more than a decade in several local markets following its original network run. During its first year, ''The People's Choice'' aired opposite '' Stop the Music'' as that long-running ABC series was concluding its final season.

Spin-off

From ''The People's Choice'', Cleo the talking dog spawned the idea of a talking baby in the 1960–1961 NBC sitcom, ''

Happy Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...

'' starring Ronnie Burns and Yvonne Lime Fedderson, who had also guest starred on ''The People's Choice.'' In Spanish the show was known as "Cleo y yo".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:People's Choice (TV series), The 1955 American television series debuts 1958 American television series endings 1950s American multi-camera sitcoms Black-and-white American television shows American English-language television shows 1950s American political comedy television series Television shows set in California NBC sitcoms