One of TV's longest-running family comedies, this program was as much a picture of reality in its own way as the "relevance" comedies of the 1970s. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet was the real-life Nelson family on the air, with all the little adventures that an active and interesting middle-class American family might have, and two young boys growing up before their parents'--and the television audience's--eyes. Even the house they lived in was modeled on the Nelsons' real-life home in Hollywood. about the only liberties taken with reality, for dramatic purposes, was in Ozzie's role. On TV he had no defined source of income, and always seemed to be hanging around the house. (However, on at least one episode, "Ricky the Drummer," Ozzie referred to his former life as orchestra leader, with Harriet as his vocalist.) In real life Ozzie Nelson was a hard worker indeed, having been the nation's youngest Eagle Scout at age 13, an honor student and star quarterback at Rutgers, and a nationally known bandleader in the 1930s. His wife, Harriet, had once been his band's vocalist.

Their two sons were the real stars of the program. When The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet began on radio in 1944, the boys' roles were played by professional actors, but in 1949 Ozzie finally allowed his actual offspring to go on the air. From then until the TV version ended, America watched the two boys grow up. From 1952 to 1966 Ricky went from a crew-cut 11-year-old, to a real-life teenage singing idol, to a 25-year-old husband.

In the early episodes the stories revolved mostly around the four Nelsons, with only a few friends and neighbors featured--notably Thorny Thornberry, a holdover from radio days, who regularly offered Ozzie bits of ill-timed advice. Later, as the boys began to date, a succession of girlfriends and school buddies began to appear. In 1956 David went to college, followed four years later by Ricky. In the meantime Ricky had begun a show business career of his own, which gave The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet quite a boost among younger viewers. A fall 1956 episode had him organizing a rock 'n' roll band in high school. Then in an April 1957 telecast he was drafted to perform with a local band and sang a currently popular Fats Domino hit, "I'm Walkin'"--which, backed with "A Teenager's Romance," promptly became a real-life million selling record for him. It was no flash-in-the-pan. Ricky went on to become one of the biggest stars of the rock era, and all of his songs were featured in Ozzie & Harriet episodes, or in an unconnected short segment tacked on to the end of the show.

In time both David and Ricky were married, and both real-life wives (June and Kris) appeared on the show. David emerged from "College" as a lawyer, and joined a law office, in which Ricky later worked as a part-time clerk. Their boss during most of this period was Mr. Kelley, and their secretary, Miss Edwards. Toward the end The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet became almost a living exercise with nostalgia, with a number of episodes from the early 1950s being rerun during the last two seasons. The final original telecast in 1966 was wistful; it had Ozzie deciding to buy a pool table and convert David and Ricky's now vacant bedroom into a game room--until he met with stiff opposition from Harriet.

For a short time in 1960 the series ran under the title The Adventures of the Nelson Family.

In 1973, the senior Nelsons returned with a syndicated series called Ozzie's Girls. With their sons married and away. Ozzie and Harriet took in two college-coed boarders--Susie Hamilton (played by Susan Sennett) and Brenda MacKenzie (Brenda Sykes). In the first few episodes Brenda's first name was Jennifer. Stories revolved around the problems of the parents of two sons adjusting to the presence of two "daughters."

Producer/Director/Head Writer:

Ozzie Nelson

Series summary from The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946-Present

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946-Present by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh

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Episode List:

Click here for a listing of the titles & original airdates for all 435 episodes.

Videos:

Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Set (7 tapes)

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Ozzie & Harriet (Volume 1, 2 tapes)

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Ozzie & Harriet (Volume 2, 2 tapes)

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Ozzie & Harriet (Volume 3, 1 tape)

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Christmas Adventures of Ozzie

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The Milton Berle Show/Ozzie & Harriet (2 tapes)

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Here Come the Nelsons (1951)

Expanded version of radio's Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, spotlighting a series of typical, comical situations. Light, predictable fare that paved the way for the long-running TV series.

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Message Board:

Have a question about The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, comment, trivia question, etc.? Then post your message on the:

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Message Board

Links:

The Nelsons Family Links / Ozzie and Harriet Nelson Links page

Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966 ABC-TV)

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (Tim's TV Showcase)

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (TV Tome)

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet episode guide (The Classic TV Archive)

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (ClassicTVHits.com)

Internet Movie Database entry for The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

Wikipedia entry for The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

Yahoo links for The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

Yahoo links for Ricky Nelson

Rick Nelson Official Site

The Nelson Brothers (Matthew and Gunnar)

dmoz links for The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

The Sid Caesar Collection

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