What was it about? Who was in it? How many episodes?

it was about a sweet older woman named lily ruskin who lives with her daughter and son in law the henshaws. it was on for 5 years. i guess 200eps. stories revolved around finding a husband for lily the widow. her nutty friend hilda. their neighbor pete porter. great old maxwell house commercials with rex marshall. on from 1954-1959.real '50s fun.

...a radio show, also starring Spring Byington, which aired on CBS Radio between 1952 and 1954. CBS wanted the show to come to television, but one of their executives (supposedly Hubbell Robinson) didn't WANT Spring on the TV show...and the network's option on the show elapsed. Parke Levy, the creator/writer/producer of the series, went to Desi Arnaz and asked him for help in filming a TV pilot for the show. Arnaz saw an opportunity to expand Desilu AND help Levy at the same time. When CBS and potential sponsor General Foods saw the pilot, they KNEW they wanted the series. But when Bill Paley, "Mr. CBS", found out the network no longer HAD the rights to the show {Levy and Desilu had a co-ownership agreement on the TV edition}, he had to do some "horse trading" with Desi on the rights and time period (naturally, "DECEMBER BRIDE" would follow Lucy's show on Monday nights at 9:30[et], a time slot General Foods just happened to "own")...and the TV show WAS a hit (as produced by Parke Levy and Desilu), and CBS eventually bought the series outright.

December Bride is the 2nd highest rated situation comedy of the 1950s, right behind I Love Lucy.

If it was the highest rated show behind I love Lucy, then where is it today? I remember watching it, but I was so young at the time I don't remember anything much about it. I do remember Pete the neighbor who always talked about his wife Gladys that you never saw. That's about all I can remember.
I'd love to see it again, though. Anyone know how to get a copy of some episodes?

there was a spinoff of it about the neighbor, Pete Porter, and his wife Gladys. It was called "Pete 'n Gladys" and I assume they showed her on that.

I don't know any details about it, though.

Harry Morgan co-starred with Cara Williams (who was CBS president Jim Aubrey's personal choice to become "the next Lucille Ball"), who appeared as 'Gladys'- and she was as "scheming" and "off-kilter" as 'Lucy Ricardo' was-
primarily because Bob Schiller & Bob Weiskopf, two of Lucy's former writers at that time, wrote most of their scripts [in fact, when they returned as Lucy's writers after "PETE & GLADYS" was cancelled in 1962, she declared, "You gave my best material to that OTHER redhead!!"].

:tv:

Cara also had her own eponymous series, THE CARA WILLIAMS SHOW
on CBS (it lasted one season, and she was even more scatterbrained in this sitcom). She was also BRIEFLY on RHODA in
the seventies, and appeared in at least a couple of TWILIGHT ZONE episodes.

"December Bride" was indeed one of Desilu's first post-"I Love Lucy" success stories from 1954 to 1959. I remember the show vaguely, with the possible exception of Rex Marshall's Instant Maxwell House commercials ("reach for the jar with the stars on top!"), but Spring Byington was a mild celebrity of sorts in the late '50s. In 1958, Good Housekeeping magazine published a binder full of cookbooks that were sold in supermarkets. My mother had a set. One of them was a collection of recipes from '50s celebrities. Miss Byington's contribution was a delightful concoction called "Sweetbreads a la Spring." (If you know what sweetbreads are and where they come from, you'll sense a mild touch of sarcasm in the use of the word "delightful.")

Frances Rafferty (Ruth Henshaw) was the sister of someone who could have been the Rush Limbaugh of his day--a prominent conservative newspaper columnist named Max Rafferty...

I think the reason you don't see "December Bride" in re-runs is because it was a relatively low-key, gentle show for its time, and it disappeared after some daytime reruns on CBS in the early sixties. It never seemed to have the staying power of "I Love Lucy," and I suspect it wouldn't have lasted as long as it did if it didn't follow Lucy and Ricky every Monday night.

The episodes are likely rotting away in a dusty old vault or only a handful remain. Such an obscure show.

December Bride is the 2nd highest rated situation comedy of the 1950s, right behind I Love Lucy.

Yet the series is just completely obscure now... very odd.

Spring Byington would be 137 years old this year, if she was still living.

Funny lady--I remember her in an i Dream of Jeannie episode. Also a funny episode; she kind of carried it.

But this show kind of faded into oblivion.

Thanks to DVDs this is one of the classic sitcoms I watch each week after breakfast. The show's theme is almost a clone of the I Love Lucy theme, both done by Wilbur Hatch and both sound-alikes. The show is amusing, never (to me at least) laugh out loud funny except for a lot of the scenes with Verna Felton who plays Springs friend. She was a lively old bat that's for sure. She dances wildly, takes pratfalls, even jumped thru a window once and it was her doing her own stunt. She also has a spot in me heart because she reminds me of my own Great Grandmother who looked almost just like her including those chubby cheeks. The show's worth watching and should be on TV today, it certainly merits a repeat slot somewhere on the many retro-style stations. One less Beverly Hillbillies on 10 different stations can stand a December Bride replacement. I tell you I'd rather watch December Bride over Hogans Heros anyday. Verna was in many shows and movies in her time also was a voice on The Flintstones. A busy old gal.:talk:
https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=285192&stc=1&d=1675123162

Verna Felton kind of steals any show she's in. She's a female curmudgeon and it works. If I recall correctly she played a maid Lucy couldn't stand. She stole the final episode of Dennis the Menace with her one liners, mostly with Gale Gordon playing her straight man.

And, the Flintstones--an incomparable job voicing Wilma's impossible mother, with Fred as her straight man.

I don’t think I have seen more’n two eps of DB, but it’s a cute comedy. And I think it ages well, or no worse than I Love Lucy.

As far as DVD….have the eps been digitized? I am sure it’s NOT in the public domain—otherwise it would be all over the cheaper classic TV channels.

And, there are certainly enough episodes even to double-run the thing daily.

cd

I don’t think I have seen more’n two eps of DB, but it’s a cute comedy. And I think it ages well, or no worse than I Love Lucy.

As far as DVD….have the eps been digitized? I am sure it’s NOT in the public domain—otherwise it would be all over the cheaper classic TV channels.

And, there are certainly enough episodes even to double-run the thing daily.

cd

I, too, have seen only a few. The only notable stars were Spring Byington and Harry Morgan. Without looking it up, I'd say it ran around 5 seasons. It's a Desilu comedy on a par with Our Miss Brooks.

I agree it's probably not in the public domain; the Desilu properties have generally had consistent ownership over the years and the copyrights have most likely been kept up to date.

I'd guess the film masters themselves are stored at CBS. I really doubt they were ever transferred to videotape in the 80s or 90s; therefore, not likely to have ever been digitized.

Somebody recorded the show off of a local TV station in, I believe, Washington state back in the late 70's and early '80's. Then those tapes were later dubbed onto DVDs, which is how I see the show now. No, the quality isn't great, but not real bad either. I didn't record these I got them in a trade many moons ago. Today though you can see the show on Utube and think they even show poorly colorized versions of it thanks to that Deoldify the poor man's way of colorizing.

Many episodes available on Uncle Earl's Classic TV website. https://www.solie.org/alibrary/DecemberBride.html

The quality of the videos are good enough to be viewed on a smart phone. They are not well preserved. There is also a link to some Pete and Gladys episodes. Those held up better and there is little if any reference to Pete's mother in law on that show.

The show was similar but tame compared to I Love Lucy. A running gag was the son in law to Lily really liked her and neighbor, Pete couldn't understand why. Pete always had a mother in law joke on the show. That got old fast, but back then it was a common place topic for jokes.

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Discover the fascinating story behind the beloved sitcom December Bride, a show that captivated audiences with its unique blend of humor and heart. What led to its decline, and how did it impact the television landscape of its time? Join me as we delve into the history of this iconic program and explore the factors that contributed to its eventual demise. From its memorable characters to its influential writing style, we'll examine the lasting legacy of December Bride and what made it a standout in the world of sitcoms. Get ready to take a nostalgic trip back in time and revisit the magic of this classic television show.

There are a few black and white sitcoms that are still relatively successful in syndication (although a couple of them are leaving cable at the end of the year).

This isn't one of the successful ones. It's never been on any significant cable network, and probably hasn't been syndicated since the 1960s. My guess is that it's never been mastered for current TV broadcast.

There is a large collection of episodes on Dailymotion. Unfortunately they are poorly colorized. Yet you can set your TV and maybe your device to black and white to view them.

Just from my memory of my childhood….

Even back in maybe the late 1960s when a local channel ran reruns of “Dennis the Menace,” there was that episode where Spring Byington made a visit. “December Bride” was mentioned. Even then I was like WHO? What was “December Bride”?

I assumed that DB was running concurrently with DTM, but nope, it was cancelled prior. I think it was on CBS mornings in reruns—but I believe our local CBS station ditched it (along with game shows like “Video Village”) to run movies.

OOPS! I’m looking at a fall 1961 TV Guide for Miami. WTVJ (CBS channel 4 then) ran DB at 9:30 am Eastern (which means it was on delay, as CBS started late morning programming at 10 am); and oddly enough NO I Love Lucy, at least then. CBS’ “Calendar” was in pattern. i was 2.5 years old at that time—not quite old enough to remember anything on the telly!

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