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The best sit-coms of the 1950s

of the earliest crossovers happened when Sothern appeared on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour in an episode called Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana. Sothern played Susie in this episode.

9) Mama - Peggy Wood played Mama and Judson Laire Papa to this very popular series. The sad thing is that the placement of this show goes mostly from public acknowledgment of its success and quality. The show was produced live and therefore not placed onto film until later in the series. Thus, most of the series is completely lost. There are no reruns to be enjoyed by the masses. The show was Dick Van Patten's TV debut, and I recall that when his show, Eight is Enough, aired that there was a lot of talk and recollections about the Mama series. It deserves a spot on this list, even if it is a show I've never seen. I trust what I've heard, and I don't believe that our failure to capture the show for posterity should negate its place here.



8) December Bride - Spring Byington is one of my favorite actresses, and in December Bride, she stars as Lily Ruskin, who has moved in with her daughter and son-in-law. Harry Morgan is her neighbor, Pete Porter. He was as funny in this show as he was in MASH decades later. In fact, there was a spin-off series from this show called Pete and Gladys. It's the earliest one that I know of. Lily was a sweet, funny, and caring person. Her family was always trying to fix her up with a husband. One of my favorites was a rich gentlemen that she really liked. At first, the family was pushing them together, but then they thought he was just a schemer. They were wrong, of course, but by then, he and Lily were finished. December Bride was a terrific show that was lots of fun to watch.

7) Mr. Peepers - Though Mr. Peepers was only on a couple of seasons, it's a show I remember fondly. Wally Cox was great as Robinson Peepers. He was mild-mannered and possessed all the stereotypical nerd qualities that this character required. He was so low key and extremely funny. I can still picture him and hear that quirky sounding voice as he tried to deal with whatever problem was going on. Perhaps in the annals of greatness, Mr. Peepers doesn't compare to something like I Love Lucy, but it's a show that is memorable and that in itself makes it worthy of being on this list.

6) The Gale Storm Show (aka: Oh, Susanna) - Many say this show is even better than My Little Margie which has received a lot of good press over the years. In this show, Gale Storm plays Susanna


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