Like most television in the 1940s, this DuMont production was broadcast live (from New York) and not recorded, so we don’t know for sure whether it would still make us laugh.
My childhood was spent in England and I saw almost all of those Doctor Who shows. At the time, it was considered a cheap-to-produce children's show (the original daleks looked the way they did because they were made from old egg cartons). No self-respecting adult would admit to liking (or even watching) it. I chuckle when my kids now watch it in its nth reiteration, almost 50 years on.
Well there's the whole "anecdotal evidence" thing. Beyond that though the "Mary Kay and Johnny" show is significant for a lot of firsts. It was the first time that married characters were seen sharing a bed, the first time there was a pregnant female lead (Mary Kay was pregnant for part of the run of the show) and the first time a baby became part of the cast (Mary Kay and Johnny's infant son Christopher Stearns). Great it might not have been but it was definitely historically significant.
Every so often people come over from England to search the CBC archives for episodes from the first two seasons, particularly the first season episode "Marco Polo." They haven't found anything yet.
For me one of the great losses is undoubtedly most of the episodes of "The Edge of Night." The show ran from 1956 to 1984, but virtually all of the episodes from 1956 to 1978 are gone, wiped by CBS, ABC and Proctor & Gamble which produced the show. Of the show's 19 year run on CBS (1956-1975) only 45 episodes are known to exist. This includes most if not all of the episodes starring John Larkin, Teal Ames, Donald May, Dixie Carter and Larry Hagman. As far as I'm concerned that's a huge loss of one of the best of the soap operas.
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Like most television in the 1940s, this DuMont production was broadcast live (from New York) and not recorded, so we don’t know for sure whether it would still make us laugh.
So you know it's great how...?
Jeff
My childhood was spent in England and I saw almost all of those Doctor Who shows. At the time, it was considered a cheap-to-produce children's show (the original daleks looked the way they did because they were made from old egg cartons). No self-respecting adult would admit to liking (or even watching) it. I chuckle when my kids now watch it in its nth reiteration, almost 50 years on.
"So you know it's great how...?"
Well there's the whole "anecdotal evidence" thing. Beyond that though the "Mary Kay and Johnny" show is significant for a lot of firsts. It was the first time that married characters were seen sharing a bed, the first time there was a pregnant female lead (Mary Kay was pregnant for part of the run of the show) and the first time a baby became part of the cast (Mary Kay and Johnny's infant son Christopher Stearns). Great it might not have been but it was definitely historically significant.
Every so often people come over from England to search the CBC archives for episodes from the first two seasons, particularly the first season episode "Marco Polo." They haven't found anything yet.
For me one of the great losses is undoubtedly most of the episodes of "The Edge of Night." The show ran from 1956 to 1984, but virtually all of the episodes from 1956 to 1978 are gone, wiped by CBS, ABC and Proctor & Gamble which produced the show. Of the show's 19 year run on CBS (1956-1975) only 45 episodes are known to exist. This includes most if not all of the episodes starring John Larkin, Teal Ames, Donald May, Dixie Carter and Larry Hagman. As far as I'm concerned that's a huge loss of one of the best of the soap operas.
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