I just saw my 1st episode of I M J on Comcast ZLVND ... never even heard of it - but Jim Backus is there so I'll continue to check it out - on at 6 AM eastern

It’s an OK series, not great. Joan Davis was really into physical comedy a la Lucy but this show didn’t give her enough to work with.

It’s an OK series, not great. Joan Davis was really into physical comedy a la Lucy but this show didn’t give her enough to work with.

I also think it didn't help that, although she could do physical stunts about as good as Lucy, IMO, she wasn't as talented or likable as she THOUGHT she was(and no one on her pay dared to tell her different)- and it also hurt that she wasted Jim Backus as a rather boring foil rather than consider making the most of his comic genius. I mean even the cartoon 'Mr. Magoo' did more with Mr. Backus's VOICE than Miss Davis allowed him to do with his entire body (and yes, I believe the blame is deserved by the late Miss Davis- inasmuch as she produced this show but sure proved to be no Lucy in THAT regard either).

Joan is kinda of a bossy thing ? - Our Miss Brooks has a better thing going ?

I don't like how the voiceover guy calls it "America's favorite comedy show" at the end of the opening credits. Was it ever really? I seriously doubt it.

I don't know anything about Joan's personal attitude toward those that worked with her. I do know she and her daughter had rather short lives. Otherwise Joan probably would have had her own show in the '60's. I do agree that Jim Backus was sort of wasted here as he had nothing to do but react to Joan's nuttiness. Though as nutty as Joan was it makes sense that Jim would play it straight to offset Joan's craziness.

BUT I do thinnk I Married Joan is a very very very funny show. It is one of the few shows I will actually laugh out loud when watching. I'd say it was one of the funniest shows of the '50's, the Honeymooners, Life With Elizabeth and early I Love Lucy's are the other 3 best. So if you know that Joan wasn't nice in person, go ahead and bad mouth her, I don't know it, all I do know is her show is FUNNY.

Well, Lucy didn't have her show announced 'The Lucille Ball Show! 'I Love Lucy'! America's Favorite Comedy Show! Starring America's Queen of Comedy, Lucille Ball, as Mrs. Lucy Ricardo! And featuring Desi Arnaz as Mr. Ricky Ricardo.'- and with HER show's ratings and her popularity, she'd have been FAR more entitled to have done so than Miss Davis. Who called Miss Davis queen anyway- other than that shouting announcer in her employee?

Well, I don't know. I would not just assume it's Joan and a tyrannical rule she supposedly had that forced the announcer to call the show the way he did. In fact it was more probably the publicity man or the actual writer of the show or who knows who wrote it. I wouldn't let it bother me as it is no doubt just typical bragging any TV show will do about itself. Advertising is another good word for it. Did Lucy write any and all advertising for her show? I just wouldn't automatically blame Joan unless you know what you're saying is true, not just an assumption.

I don't like how the voiceover guy calls it "America's favorite comedy show" at the end of the opening credits. Was it ever really? I seriously doubt it.

Nope, not even close. The show ran second in it's time slot for it's 1st and 2nd season, slipping to third in it's last season. ILL was the no.1 show for each of it's first four seasons. In fact, the show was cancelled about after 26 episodes in it's final season (they did 39 episodes for the first two, which was the norm back in the early 50's).

As a person, Davis was known to be difficult to work with, so much so that Jim Backus decided to quit the show after his contract was up at the end of the 3rd season, made unnecessary when the show was cancelled.

As a performer, Davis was great at physical comedy, but the show lacked good writers and a good supporting cast, unlike ILL.

I remember watching this show when I was younger. I don't remember much about it, other than the theme song, which still sticks in my mind: "I married Joan Joan Joan Joan Joan Joan Joan Joan". Haven't seen it in years.

The bit about Joan being a sort of copy of Lucille Ball rings a bell, though.

I Married Joan is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from 1952 to 1955. It stars actress Joan Davis as the manic, scatterbrained wife of a mild-mannered community judge (Jim Backus).[1][2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Married_Joan

Why was I married Joan cancelled?

However, by the start of its third year, not only were the ratings beginning to slip, but Davis began experiencing heart trouble. As a result, the series was canceled in the spring of 1955. I Married Joan experienced greater success in syndication; it was one of the early series to take advantage of that avenue.
Reportedly, Joan Davis and Jim Backus did not get along too well during the series, but there is not a moment of that to be seen during the finished product.

I Married Joan is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from 1952 to 1955. It stars actress Joan Davis as the manic, scatterbrained wife of a mild-mannered community judge (Jim Backus).[1][2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Married_Joan

Why was I married Joan cancelled?

However, by the start of its third year, not only were the ratings beginning to slip, but Davis began experiencing heart trouble. As a result, the series was canceled in the spring of 1955. I Married Joan experienced greater success in syndication; it was one of the early series to take advantage of that avenue.
Reportedly, Joan Davis and Jim Backus did not get along too well during the series, but there is not a moment of that to be seen during the finished product.

From everything I have read about Davis she was a nightmare to work with. The set was in constant turmoil the expletives flying out of her mouth and one of her favorite targets for criticism was Backus. His contract was for three years and he made it abundantly clear he was not renewing even if the show had been picked up. I don't know how much of a factor her heart condition had in the series ending but she did do a pilot for another series for ABC that did not sell.

She had a troubled private life, there was a fire in her home in the 40's of a suspicious nature. The physical evidence did not match the details given by the family, her daughter was put into counseling and there was always someone around to keep an eye on her. Her daughter was married three times by the time she was 27, and she died along with her two children and her grandmother in a fire in 1963.

wow - sad ending for her & her family - like it was possessed or cursed +-

Yeah, very sad stuff.