''Where's Raymond?'' is an American sitcom that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, starring

Ray Bolger Raymond Wallace Bolger (; January 10, 1904 – January 15, 1987) was an American actor, dancer, singer, vaudevillian, and stage performer (particularly musical theater) who started his movie career in the silent-film era. Bolger was a major B ...

. The series aired from October 1953 to April 22, 1955. The series' title was spurred by Bolger's

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

stage hit ''

Where's Charley? ''Where's Charley?'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by George Abbott. The story was based on the 1892 play '' Charley's Aunt'' by Brandon Thomas. The musical debuted on Broadway in 1948 and was revived on Broadway ...

'' In the 1954–1955 season, the series was renamed ''The Ray Bolger Show''.

Synopsis

Bolger stars as Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who is consistently barely on time for his performances. Bolger's co-stars in both seasons were

Richard Erdman John Richard Erdman (June 1, 1925 – March 16, 2019) was an American character actor and occasional film and television director. He appeared in more than 160 films and television productions between 1944 and 2017, mostly in supporting roles ...

as Pete Morrisey, Ray's landlord and press agent and Sylvia Lewis as Sylvia, Ray's dancing partner and the series

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

Allyn Joslyn Allyn Morgan Joslyn"Real Name—and He Has Proof"
''Tulare Advan ...

appeared as Jonathan Wallace, Ray's brother. Betty Lynn played Jonathan's wife June, and Frances Karath played their daughter Ginny. In the second season, Marjie Millar played Susan, Ray's girlfriend and an aspiring writer from

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, and Christine Nelson portrayed Katie Jones, Susan's friend.

Guest stars

Elinor Donahue Elinor Donahue (born Mary Eleanor Donahue; April 19, 1937) is an American retired actress known for playing the role of Betty Anderson, the eldest child of Jim and Margaret Anderson, on the 1950s American sitcom ''Father Knows Best''. Early li ...

King Donovan Francis King Donovan (January 25, 1918 – June 30, 1987) was an American film, stage, and television actor, as well as a film and television director. Early years King Donovan was born in Manhattan on January 25, 1918. His parents were vaudev ...

Steve Reeves Stephen Lester Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder and actor. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagonist as muscular characters ...

Irene Ryan Irene Ryan (born Irene Noblitt, Noblett, or Noblette; October 17, 1902 – April 26, 1973) was an American actress and comedienne who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway. She is most widely known for her po ...

William Schallert William Joseph Schallert (July 6, 1922 – May 8, 2016) was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and films over a career spanning more than 60 years. He is known for his roles on ''Richard Diamond, Private ...

Production notes

The series was filmed by

Desilu Desilu Productions, Inc. () 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 ...

at General Service Studios in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. ''Where's Raymond?'' aired at 8:30 EST on Thursdays opposite ''

Four Star Playhouse ''Four Star Playhouse'' (syndicated as Star Performance) is an American anthology series that ran from September 25, 1952, through September 27, 1956. Overview Four Star Playhouse was owned by Four Star International. Its episodes ranged an ...

'', an

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

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

, ''Broadway to Hollywood'' on DuMont (first season) and '' Treasury Men in Action'' on NBC. Sponsor

Lehn & Fink Lehn is a surname. Notable people with this surname include: * Abraham Lehn (landowner) (1702–1757), Danish landowner * Christian vom Lehn (born 1992), German swimmer * Erwin Lehn (1919–2010), German jazz musician * Jean-Marie Lehn (born 1939), ...

cancelled the show at the end of its 39-week run in 1955. The trade publication ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' reported that the gross cost of each episode was $40,000, not including network time, and said that the show "never got off the ground, in the opinion of the client, and suffered in the competitive rating story."

Reception

A review of ''Where's Raymond?'' in ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' said that the program had "a thin story line on which to base a 39-week series". It added, however, that Bolger's dancing, humor, and singing "should be enough to please most viewers".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0045455
Public domain episode at Internet Archive, "as originally broadcast"
1953 American television series debuts 1955 American television series endings 1950s American sitcoms Black-and-white American television shows American English-language television shows Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series by CBS Studios American Broadcasting Company sitcoms