Was Ozzie and Harriet a true depiction of the late '50's early '60's?

[24/7 reruns]

I'm old enough to have some memory of the late '60's. I ask those of you old enough to remember when Ozzie and Harriet first aired if they truly mirrored life in that era.

[stevea]

Well, of course they were always contriving situations which would not normally come up often in normal life. Apart from that, the standout item which didn't represent real life was that pop (Ozzie) was always around. It's well known that he appeared to have no particular occupation--no Nelson family member did. Somehow they were able to live in that large house with no obvious source of income.

Another odd thing was the permanent college student, Wally. While Dave and Rick got on with their lives, he was always at the fraternity yucking it up. We probably saw him in that situation for around 8 seasons--what University would allow a student to hang around that long? And who could afford it even in those days? Solution: give him some semblance of accomplishment, and portray him as a grad student for the last four seasons. He could still be fun-loving, but have a purpose. He could even have joined Dave and Rick at the law office.

But viewers forgave all that and watched for 14 seasons, anyway.

[24/7 reruns]

Originally Posted by stevea

Well, of course they were always contriving situations which would not normally come up often in normal life. Apart from that, the standout item which didn't represent real life was that pop (Ozzie) was always around. It's well known that he appeared to have no particular occupation--no Nelson family member did. Somehow they were able to live in that large house with no obvious source of income.

Another odd thing was the permanent college student, Wally. While Dave and Rick got on with their lives, he was always at the fraternity yucking it up. We probably saw him in that situation for around 8 seasons--what University would allow a student to hang around that long? And who could afford it even in those days? Solution: give him some semblance of accomplishment, and portray him as a grad student for the last four seasons. He could still be fun-loving, but have a purpose. He could even have joined Dave and Rick at the law office.

But viewers forgave all that and watched for 14 seasons, anyway.

As for income and work Ricky handled that with his singing. But it was odd that Ozzie was home practically always.

Wally was a professional student. A slacker perhaps. He seemed to be comfortable just getting by.

Not what I wonder was were kids generally as polite as David and Ricky were? Were women generally as subservient yet actually being in charge as Harriet was?

Also it seems things were pretty segregated. Not many if any non-white people on the show. Everyone celebrated Christmas as if everyone was Christian. And gender appears to be straight with minimal variations. But I guess they were depicting suburban life when a show like Car 54 Where Are You? showed urban life.

[1960'sTVfan]

Back in the day when these classic sitcoms were made and episodes aired once a week, I suspect that the network and show sponsors might have had some input as to how the episodes were depicted. Also keep in mind that when these shows were being made, it was just for the moment and the people who were involved with making these shows were likely not thinking about the future when there would be home video, DVD players and DVD's, and people would still be watching these shows and analyzing, dissecting, and pointing out all the flaws and inconsistencies of the scripts.

[stevea]

The earliest minority starring role was probably Desi Arnaz, of Cuban descent, starring with his wife at the time, Lucille Ball, in I Love Lucy. This was very early TV, starting in 1951.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s you'd be hard-pressed to see any minorities on a sitcom. If you did, they would likely be in a servant role of some kind. An example of this was a minority maid for the Langleys on Leave it to Beaver. In this lone episode Wally and Eddie were parking attendants for a wedding. The earliest minority starring role was probably Desi Arnaz, of Cuban descent, starring with his wife at the time, Lucille Ball, in I Love Lucy. This was very early TV, starting in 1951.

Eddie "Rochester" Anderson was immensely popular, but this was still in a servant role for Jack Benny on his program.

Slightly different was Peter Tong (Sammee Tong) of Bachelor Father--he was also a servant (called a houseboy in this show), but had a co-starring role, and had scripts written for him and his life.

In 1968 the the first sitcom starring a Black character, Julia, came to NBC for three seasons. It starred Diahann Carroll., who was a nurse with a young son.

[24/7 reruns]

Originally Posted by 1960'sTVfan

Back in the day when these classic sitcoms were made and episodes aired once a week, I suspect that the network and show sponsors might have had some input as to how the episodes were depicted. Also keep in mind that when these shows were being made, it was just for the moment and the people who were involved with making these shows were likely not thinking about the future when there would be home video, DVD players and DVD's, and people would still be watching these shows and analyzing, dissecting, and pointing out all the flaws and inconsistencies of the scripts.

I don't think I'm criticizing I'm just curious to know how true to life TV show were in depicting the era that they were produced.

[24/7 reruns]

Originally Posted by stevea

The earliest minority starring role was probably Desi Arnaz, of Cuban descent, starring with his wife at the time, Lucille Ball, in I Love Lucy. This was very early TV, starting in 1951.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s you'd be hard-pressed to see any minorities on a sitcom. If you did, they would likely be in a servant role of some kind. An example of this was a minority maid for the Langleys on Leave it to Beaver. In this lone episode Wally and Eddie were parking attendants for a wedding. The earliest minority starring role was probably Desi Arnaz, of Cuban descent, starring with his wife at the time, Lucille Ball, in I Love Lucy. This was very early TV, starting in 1951.

Eddie "Rochester" Anderson was immensely popular, but this was still in a servant role for Jack Benny on his program.

Slightly different was Peter Tong (Sammee Tong) of Bachelor Father--he was also a servant (called a houseboy in this show), but had a co-starring role, and had scripts written for him and his life.

In 1968 the the first sitcom starring a Black character, Julia, came to NBC for three seasons. It starred Diahann Carroll., who was a nurse with a young son.

I think that the show Beulah was the first to star an African American woman. Yet Julia was the first to show an African American woman in an independent role.

If I remember Lucy forced the issue of having Ricky co- star in I Love Lucy. The sponsors were not in favor of showing mixed married couple.

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by 24/7 reruns

I don't think I'm criticizing I'm just curious to know how true to life TV show were in depicting the era that they were produced.

You are not criticizing, I'm just saying that in today's modern video world, it's now easy to watch these old shows and detect the flaws and inconsistencies of the scripts. Such as in Leave It To Beaver where the scripts are inconsistent/inaccurate with regards to the school grades the boys attended. They finally got it right in the last season when Wally graduated from high school (12th grade) and Beaver from grammar school (8th grade.)

To some degree, the old TV shows accurately depict the era in which they were made.

[RetroTVNitekatt]

Originally Posted by 1960'sTVfan

...To some degree, the old TV shows accurately depict the era in which they were made.

Watch some newsreels of the era, then tell us how real old TV shows were depicting America in the 1950's and 1960's - becuase they didn't!

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by RetroTVNitekatt

Watch some newsreels of the era, then tell us how real old TV shows were depicting America in the 1950's and 1960's - becuase they didn't!

Newsreels are a different discussion altogether, and I said "to some degree", which means there was a limit to how accurate the shows depicted the times of the era. I believe the networks and show sponsors had their influence.

[RetroTVNitekatt]

Originally Posted by 1960'sTVfan

Newsreels are a different discussion altogether, and I said "to some degree", which means there was a limit to how accurate the shows depicted the times of the era. I believe the networks and show sponsors had their influence.

Influence is an understatement! and the Sponsors had MORE POWER than the networks until all 3 smarted up and started selling ad space like magazines.

[Stepperry40]

It was realistic to point it had to be which may been not very.

[merlinjones]

These kinds of shows were aspirational and idealistic -- a lifestyle to inspire rather than a mirror on society.

They reflect the hopes and dreams of the era. Relatable to life at the time, yes - a carbon copy of the actual world and its flaws, no. (See also Walt Disney movies).

Advertisers wanted people to be happy and content and reassured rather than challenged or disrupted (that came later).

[Dan Tullis]

David got a job at the law office, Dobson and Kelly. Rick joined him there a few seasons later. As far as Ozzie's job, he DID have one in the movie "Here Come the Nelsons". He worked for an advertising agency.
And Ward Cleaver worked in some kind of office, but doing what I don't know.