I know that "Mary Kay & Johnny" was the first sitcom, and the first sitcom couple, to ever share a bed. But does anyone know why, after that show ended in 1950, TV took a step backwards, and wouldn't allow 2 people, even sicom couples, to share a bed throughout the 50s and into the 60s? And who was the first sitcom couple to share a bed AFTER "Mary Kay & Johnny"? Was it Herman & Lily Munster, or Mike & Carol Brady?

I would say Lucy and Ricky were the next in 1951. The first season or so they shared a bed. After that they got twins, until they shared a bed again for about 5 minutes during their nightmarish stay at a pisspoor inn. Fred and Ethel may have been the next couple, when they traded Lucy and Ricky beds in that same episode.

I really wonder why shows took a step back as well. And the fact that Lucy and Ricky once shared a bed, then went to separates is a little funny. Perhaps it was because she was going to have a baby, although, I don't know if they went to twin beds before then.

I'm curious to hear answers from others who may know why tv changed. Great question, treky.

Why were married couples always in separate beds? I know that television was a little more "sensitive" in those times...but still, that's stupid.

I've wondered about this reversal myself. Rob and Laura Petrie had twin beds.

I heard or heard in a TV magazine or show that Ozzie and Harriet were the first TV couple to share one bed. They did it through the rest of the show until 1966. Rick and Kris slept in the same bed too (not as O&H tho' LOL). Robbie and Katie slept in the same bed on My Three Sons (1968-1972). So, there wasn't much time, if any that couples didn't sleep together.

Hated Lucy, so can't say for sure about where they slept.

I read somewhere that Fred and Wilma Flintstone slept in the same bed back in 1960. But some don't count that since it was a cartoon. I've not seen Ozzie & Harriet, so I can't comment on that. I know Herman an Lily slept together before Mike and Carol did. But some people don't count The Munsters, since they were supposed to be a weird family. As for Lucy, I thought they had twin beds, but just pushed them together. In an episode of I Love Lucy, when they were on vacation, Ethel and Fred slept in the motel bed together, but she had to take the sheets and separate Fred from her. Ethel said how they sleep like that every night. So although we didn't see it, Fred and Ethel shared a bed.

When I was younger, I always thought that married couples of the 1950's had twin beds in real life. It seems odd to put them in seperate beds. Espescially since Lucy and Ricky ended up having a baby. So now we have to think that they pushed the beds together one night ...

Originally posted by treky
I know that "Mary Kay & Johnny" was the first sitcom, and the first sitcom couple, to ever share a bed. But does anyone know why, after that show ended in 1950, TV took a step backwards, and wouldn't allow 2 people, even sicom couples, to share a bed throughout the 50s and into the 60s? And who was the first sitcom couple to share a bed AFTER "Mary Kay & Johnny"? Was it Herman & Lily Munster, or Mike & Carol Brady?

I don't think there was a 'reversal' in any way, because first off, the only reason why the actors on Mary Kay & Johnny were in a bed together was I heard because they were an actual 'real' married couple in 'real' life, that's why they were able to share a bed together on the show.

Originally posted by TVAdam

I read somewhere that Fred and Wilma Flintstone slept in the same bed back in 1960. But some don't count that since it was a cartoon. I've not seen Ozzie & Harriet, so I can't comment on that. I know Herman an Lily slept together before Mike and Carol did. But some people don't count The Munsters, since they were supposed to be a weird family. As for Lucy, I thought they had twin beds, but just pushed them together. In an episode of I Love Lucy, when they were on vacation, Ethel and Fred slept in the motel bed together, but she had to take the sheets and separate Fred from her. Ethel said how they sleep like that every night. So although we didn't see it, Fred and Ethel shared a bed.

That's true--Lucy and Ricky pushed the twin beds together, because you could see a separation in the middle. Personally, I would still count that because it looked like they were sharing a bed. It was funny in the vacation episode where Ethel said they sleep like that every night (she said for the past 25 years or something like that), when an episode a couple seasons before showed Fred and Ethel's bedroom, and the beds were twins.

This bed discussion has been had at the Leave It To Beaver board a few months ago, and some people thought Lucy and Ricky were the second, while some thought it was Ozzie and Harriet. I forgot all about Ozzie and Harriet, so I was wrong saying Fred and Ethel were the next couple because that episode came on after Ozzie and Harriet began.

Originally posted be Impressions
I don't think there was a 'reversal' in any way, because first off, the only reason why the actors on Mary Kay & Johnny were in a bed together was I heard because they were an actual 'real' married couple in 'real' life, that's why they were able to share a bed together on the show.

Since I consider Lucy and Ricky to be the next couple after Mary Kay & Johnny, I see it has a reversal since Lucy and Desi were also married in real life, yet pushed the beds apart in the later seasons.

I just got the answer, everyone. (from MORTYSTV.COM) In the late 40s, when TV first started, there was no control over the content, which is why "Mary Kay & Johnny were allowed to share a bed. Then, after people complained, the "TELEVISION CODE" was formed in 1950, and that's why TV "took a step backwards" and couldn't show a married couple in bed together for years.