The Pride of the Family is a 30-minute American television situation comedy that was broadcast on ABC from October 2, 1953, until September 24, 1954.[1] CBS showed reruns of the program in prime time in the summer of 1955.[2]
| The Pride of the Family | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Situation comedy |
| Written by | Paul Schneider Clint Comerford Fred Howard Irving Phillips Al Gordon Jack Fleischman Hal Goldman |
| Directed by | Bob Finkel |
| Starring | Paul Hartman Fay Wray Natalie Wood Bobby Hyatt |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Sam Perrin |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Release | October 2, 1953 – September 24, 1954 |
Premise
editAlbie Morrison headed a newspaper's advertising department and was head of a family that included his wife, Catherine; teenage daughter, Ann; and son, Junior.[1]
Cast
edit- Albie Morrison-Paul Hartman[1]
- Catherine Morrison-Fay Wray[1]
- Ann Morrison-Natalie Wood[1]
- Junior Morrison-Bobby Hyatt[1]
Production
editSam Perrin was the producer, for Revue Productions. Bob Finkel was the director.[3] Writers included Paul Schneider, Clint Comerford,[4] Fred Howard, Irving Phillips, Al Gordon, Jack Fleischman, and Hal Goldman.[2]
Thirty-nine episodes were filmed in black-and-white with a laugh track.[2] Sponsors included Bufferin pain reliever, Ipana toothpaste,[5] and Dial soap and shampoo.[3]
Reception
editA review in TV Guide compared The Pride of the Family to many other situation comedies in that its "situations are contrived to the point of absurdity".[6] The review attributed most of the laughs in the program to Hartman's "wonderfully mobile face"[6] and said that Wray "deserves better" after she came out of retirement to be in this show.[6]
The trade publication Billboard's review of the show's first episode described it as "a rather slow-moving situation comedy series with a competent cast, but only so-so scripting".[4] Although it complimented Wray as "gracious and telegenic" and Hartman as revealing "an unexpected gift for pathos", it summarized the show overall as "average".[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 672. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
- ^ a b c Leszczak, Bob (2012). Single Season Sitcoms, 1948-1979: A Complete Guide. McFarland. pp. 156–157. ISBN 978-0-7864-9305-0. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
- ^ a b "Reviews of TV Film Shows: Pride of the Family". Billboard. December 26, 1953. p. 10. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
- ^ a b c Bundy, June (October 10, 1953). "Pride of the Family". Billboard. p. 10. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
- ^ Terrace, Vincent (2013). Television Introductions: Narrated TV Program Openings since 1949. Scarecrow Press. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-0-8108-9250-7. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Pride of the Family". TV Guide. November 13, 1953. p. 23. Retrieved March 26, 2022.