Can anyone tell my if there are any networks or local channels carrying the following classic sitcoms from the late 50's and early 60's:

Car 54, Where are You?
Our Miss Brooks
Make Room for Daddy (The Danny Thomas Show)
The Donna Reed Show
December Bride
Hazel
Father Knows Best
Mister Ed (Last seen on TV Land)
The Addams Family (Last seen on TV Land)
The Phil Silvers Show (Last seen on TV Land)

Thank You

I know that TV-Land had shown a handful of episodes of "Our Miss Brooks" and "December Bride" - it was in Summer 1999. And I think they also showed a few select episodes back in Sept 1998 during the Emmies.

TV-LAND/Nick/etc. are owned by Viacom/CBS/Paramount - and both "Brooks" and "December Bride" were CBS/Desilu Productions when filmed in the early 1950's (also being aired over the CBS Television Network; both also had productions/runs in the 1950's on the CBS Radio Network - "Brooks" actually starting on CBS Radio in the late 1940's and its radio version ending in 1957 a year AFTER the filmed TV version ceased production in 1956!)

CBS spun-off Viacom (to comply with new federal regulations) in 1970; Lucy sold Desilu Productions to Paramount Pictures in 1967; Viacom buys out Paramount about three(?) years ago, and now CBS merges with Viacom/Paramount (FULL CIRCLE! :-) so I would assume that TV-Land/Nick will eventually rerun "Our Miss Brooks" and "December Bride".

Phil Silvers / "Sgt Bilko" / "You'll Never Get Rich" was also a series produced and owned by CBS Television when filmed in the 1950's (not simply airing over the CBS-TV Network), and the reruns were syndicated by CBS-Film-Sales=>Viacom, which has all now come full circle as CBS/Viacom/Paramount, which also owning TV-Land/Nick, I'd guess that Nick or TV-Land will probably air reruns "Sgt.Bilko" again.

I assume you are aware that TV-Land started running the "Bub" (Black & White) ABC-TV-aired, early 1960's "My Three Sons" about a month ago - during "twice-as-nice" mornings, two back-to-back episodes, Mon-Fri mornings (when they aren't doing a "Charile's Angels 24/7) 8-to-9 am (7-to-8 am Central).

The other series you mention... I recognize all of them, especially the "Screen Gems / Columbia Pictures" ones (Donna, Dennis, FKB, Hazel), and I remember CBN/Family and Nick running them back in the 1980's.

BTW, Father Knows Best with Robert Young doing the voice of Jim Anderson had a radio production run on NBC Radio from 1949-54. All of the other main characters' voices were NOT done by the TV actors of 1954-60 though.

Nick also reran most of the "CBS" years (1957-1964, but only up to 1962 was seen on Nick) of Make Room for Daddy (Danny Thomas) in the late 1980's/early 1990's... Nick also reran Car-54 back then as well!

I would hope that the ABC (1953-1957) years of Make Room for Daddy (w/Jean Hagan as Margaret Williams) would be rerun on Nick or TV Land or somewhere... and I wish that Columbia-Pictures-TV would release the remaining 100 "non-syndicated" episodes of Donna Reed...

I'm thankful for inexpensive videotape (since the 1980's) and the home VCR technology (since the 1970's)! As I now can watch all of the (syndicated) episodes of these and other series ANY TIME I WANT to!

I'm surprised that you didn't mention Ozzie and Harriet in your list... it is yet ANOTHER classic family sitcom from that 1950's/early 60's timeframe along with Donna, Beaver, Hazel, Andy Griffith, My 3 Sons, etc.

I don't know who the current distributor is though - Filmways->Orion hasn't syndicated the reruns since the mid/late 1980's, when Disney Channel and the Nelson Estate contracted to rerun the 200 syndicated episodes, and then the additional 100 "missing adventures" episodes.

Somewhere I think I heard that all 435 episodes are supposedly now available for rerun by whoever the current syndicator is.

I don't know of any specific local station or cable network presently rerunning Ozzie and Harriet, but about two years ago, a local New Orleans "low power" TV station was rerunning it.

I have made some posts about "Ozzie and Harriet" to its own message board... I finally came across information that has allowed me to complete my log of ALL 435 episode titles, and matched up with their original ABC-TV airdates. (The early years, 1952/53 through 1955/56 have always been the most difficult to get documented episode title and original ABC network air dates for)...

So, I've transcribed my complete list of 435 O&H episode titles with original ABC-TV airdates into an ASCII .txt file, and I've posted it to the "Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" message board, and also made some additional posts there of other bits/pieces of Ozzie & Harriet, both the TV version, as well as an "overall summary" of the ten radio seasons of Ozzie & Harriet (1944/45->1953/54), and I also found my handwritten list of the 24 episode titles of (first-run syndicated) 1973/74 "Ozzie's Girls" and transcribed it as .txt and also posted that to the "Adv.of Ozzie & Harriet" message board... (My posts there are actually under two different threads).

Mark J. Cuccia
mcuccia@tulane.edu

Good News!

Today I discovered that indeed The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet and Make Room for Daddy are being shown on a new cable network, The Good Life TV Network.

Here's the website for the network: www.goodtv.com (http://www.goodtv.com)

I took a look at the www.goodtv.com (http://www.goodtv.com) website, and the program schedule for October.

I don't know if they have "all" 343 "Make Room" episodes for the entire 11 season run (which would include the 120 episodes from 1953/57 -> 1956/57 originally telecast on ABC-TV - Jean Hagan as the wife until Danny became a "widower" for the 56/57 season; also the final two CBS seasons)...

I have seen lists of series available for syndication, and "Make Room" sometimes indicates a total of 223 episodes (all of the CBS seasons, 1957/58 -> 1963/64 - Marjorie Lord as the wife who had been widowed, with daugher Linda - Angela Cartright - "Kathy" and Danny met each other during the 1956/57 final ABC season, and while there is no "wedding" episode, they were engaged, and were on their Honeymoon in the first CBS season)...

I've also seen lists of syndicated series which only indicate something like 161 ep's of "Make Room" - which is what Nick showed about ten years ago -- the ABC seasons are NOT included nor are the final two CBS seasons.

BTW, in the late 1950s/early 60's, NBC-TV reran the ABC/Jean Hagan (Margaret) episodes of Make Room for Daddy in weekday/daytime!

And while Donna Reed was still in production and even for a few years AFTER it ceased production, ABC-TV reran ALL 275 episodes during weekday/daytime in the 1960's.

CBS-TV reran (virtually) ALL of the (filmed) CBS episodes of Jack Benny on Sunday afternoons and in weekday/daytime in 1964-66 timeframe, including (filmed, CBS) episodes not usually seen in rerun syndication. However, I don't think that the NBC season of 1964/65 was rerun on CBS daytime/Sundays after Jack Benny left weekly filmed network television at the close of the 1964/65 season.

As for "Make Room" on "Good Life TV"...

The list of episodes for October are towards the "end" of the smallest package of some 161 episodes. So I can't really tell "which" rerun package they have.

As for "Ozzie & Harriet" on "Good Life TV"...

The episodes being telecast are from the '200' episode syndication package that Ozzie Nelson first release in 1967 or 68. The total fourteen seasons has 435 half hour episodes (410 B&W, 25 Color).

The 200 episodes which have "always" been syndicated aren't from any particular season or block of seasons -- they are scattered 'Nelson favorite' episodes from all fourteen seasons' total of 435 ep's.

The "Missing Adventures" that Disney reran in the late 1980's/early 1990's were usually run in a specific timeslot or month or week or whatever indicated as "Missing Adventures".

But sometimes, Disney would simply air ANY of the larger total of 300 ep's that they had tapes/prints of - the '200' plus the 100 of the "Missing Adventures".

I was under the impression that the new/current syndicator of Ozzie & Harriet was going to be distributing ALL 435 episodes -- maybe they have it in separate packages?

It is still possible that there might be a time/month when "Good Life TV" shows episodes outside of the "200"???

Mark J. Cuccia
mcuccia@tulane.edu

Will someone confirm if this show is on the air anywhere and at what time (EST).

Sledge Hammer is not on anywhere as far as I know, hasn't been since it was on A&E a number of years ago.