LAUGH AND THE WORLD LAUGHS WITH YOU

One of the first of these made the transition to television in 1949, having become something of a radio classic. 'The Goldbergs' was created and written by Gertrude Berg and told of the trials and tribulations of a Jewish family in the Bronx. In best US tradition the show managed the uneasy mixture of humour and warmth with pathos and poverty in its perceptive scrutiny of individual characters within the same family. That same year another lovable character was born, Jackie Gleason co-starred with Rosemary De Camp in a short-lived version of 'The Life of Riley' before striking sitcom gold in 'The Honeymooners'. 1950 could also lay claim to the birth of one of televisions first catch phrases as 'The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show' finished each week with George telling his on and off-screen wife to "Say goodnight to the folks, Gracie." But if you want to talk about sitcom gold then you can't do much better than the offering from CBS in 1951.

'I Love Lucy' (in one form or another) ran almost continuously from 1951 until Lucille Ball's retirement from weekly television in 1974. A smash hit from it's first season, Lucymania swept America, and when in 1953 Lucy gave birth to Ricky Jnr, an event that coincided with Ball's real life delivery, it actually headlined in newspapers above President Eisenhower's inauguration. 'The Phil Silvers Show' (originally titled 'You'll Never Get Rich') introduced televisions first lovable rogue. Master Sergeant Ernest Bilko was the master schemer who devoted all his waking hours to thinking up 'get rich quick' schemes. Under the consummate skills of its lead actor and fine supporting cast Bilko also became something of a television legend. The series is still being shown on British TV to this day... it's a mystery why Lucy is not. "Lucy's" popularity sparked other situation comedies in the early and mid-1950's, including Eve Arden's 'Our Miss Brooks'; the live 'Mr. Peepers' with the gifted Wally Cox; 'The Adventures of Ozzie And Harriet', which remains the longest-running sitcom in US history (14 years); Danny Thomas' 'Make Room For Daddy'; the domestic comedy 'Father Knows Best'; and NBC's near-carbon copy of 'I Love Lucy'; 'I Married Joan' with Joan Davis.

The Beginning Of The End Of The Golden Age

As the decade began to slip away so did that most prolific period of US television. By the mid-1950's, televisions were in most American homes. They were no longer the status symbols of the rich and upper middle-class. That meant the composition of the average viewer changed as well. In the early 50's, upscale game shows, dramas and sophisticated comedies thrived. But increasingly, viewers shifted their allegiances to filmed series and more accessible formats. The "adult" westerns and sitcoms were one response to the shift; so were big money and merchandise-oriented game shows such as 'The $64,000 Question'; 'Twenty-One' and 'The Price Is Right'. While those shows thrived, live dramas were slipping in the ratings. Variety show hosts such as Sid Caesar, Milton Berle and Jackie Gleason were also losing audiences. There were technical changes as well. The east-west coaxial cable was finally operating by the fall of 1951, allowing programs to be shown from the East to the West coast, and vice versa. It would be just a matter of time before Hollywood-produced series dominated American television, much as the movie studios of Hollywood churned out the majority of films Americans saw. But the studios resisted television with all their might, feeling the tube would hurt film attendance (some studios even ordered their biggest stars not to do television). It was to no avail; more and more people stayed home watching TV instead of going to the movies.

One of the few holdouts was Columbia, which created the Screen Gems division to produce television shows, but most filmed series in the early days of TV were produced by independents, including Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's company Desilu and Mark VII Productions, the firm owned by Jack Webb that produced Webb's hit police drama 'Dragnet.'

There were also changes among the television networks. During the early days of TV, NBC dominated the ratings with its lineup of live comics and dramas. But CBS, sparked by chairman Bill Paley's eye for talent, took more of a chance with filmed sitcoms-and the gamble paid off handsomely with 'Lucy'; 'Burns and Allen'; 'Our Miss Brooks' and the warm family drama 'Mama.' (CBS also had the very popular Arthur Godfrey, who had two top-ten prime time shows on the network; plus Jack Benny; Ed Sullivan and Jackie Gleason.) In 1955, ABC lured Warner Brothers-one of the "big eight" movie studios at the time-to produce a new series for the network. 'Warner Brothers Presents' rotated three shows based on past WB movie hits -'Casablanca,' 'King's Row' and 'Cheyenne.' Only 'Cheyenne' became a hit; WB dropped the anthology format and made 'Cheyenne' a series of its own a year later. Soon, other studios began to get into the television production game. The move to filmed series signaled the end of live dramas and comedies. So did the invention of videotape in 1956, giving programs a "live" look without the problems associated with live broadcasting.

By 1957, more than 70-percent of all US prime-time series were filmed or videotaped; three years later, weekly live shows would all but disappear. ABC's success with filmed studio shows (especially the products from Warner Brothers) improved the network's ratings; by 1960, ABC was the top-rated network in major cities where all three networks had full-time affiliates. ABC and Warner continued to churn out second and third-rate copies of such action-adventure hits as '77 Sunset Strip' and 'The Untouchables,' two of the network's most-popular shows and ABC's formula of "two parts private eye, one part cutie pie" eventually lost favour with viewers.

ABC was not alone in the race for mediocrity. By the late 1950's, American television was filled with formula sitcoms, predictable westerns and violent dramas. Critics howled, but to no avail; viewership continued to rise. It all came to a head in 1959, when US television faced a real public relationship crisis with the "quiz show scandal." Viewers learned that clean-cut and intelligent Charles Van Doren, who won $129,000 on the quizzer 'Twenty-One', had been given the answers in advance, and was coached to pause and hesitate for dramatic effect. So were contestants on other quiz shows, including 'The $64,000 Question' and a connect-the-dots game called 'Dotto.'

Congressional hearings were held. Van Doren admitted guilt, and hid from public view. But while NBC and ABC executives made excuses for the scandal, only CBS President Frank Stanton stood up and took responsibility for the mess. Stanton's action was credited with heading off federal regulation of the television networks, even though Congress did pass a law making it illegal to rig a game show. (For a somewhat skewed but fair history of the scandal, check out Robert Redford's 1994 film 'Quiz Show.')

In some ways, memories of the "Golden Age Of Television" in the US were quite selective. Some critics either forgot (or failed to mention) there were some truly bad programmes and awful dramatic productions that should have never seen the light of day. And of course, today's technology and more relaxed moral standards have made some programmes look somewhat dated. But you have to start somewhere, and American television got off to a very good start. At its best, the "Golden Age" shined bright indeed.