Inside Look At America’s Favourite Family: “The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet”
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet was a popular sitcom in the ’50s and ’60s that featured the real-life Nelson family, who became an idealized version of the American family during that time. Though it may have seemed perfect onscreen, one soon discovers there was more than what meets the eye. This classic show preceded today’s Modern Family.
But there’s more to America’s favorite family than meets the eye. Read on to learn more…
Meant To Be
Ozzie and Harriet made a great pair, with Ozzie’s laid-back demeanor contrasting Harriet’s energetic wit. Their chemistry on stage was unmistakable and their combined traits provided humorous interludes between the band’s tunes that resonated with viewers.
After three years of working together, they took the plunge in 1935 and tied the knot; soon after they became America’s dream couple by the ’50s.
Chose To Perform Before They Met
In 1930, Ozzie and his band got their big break, recording for labels such as Brunswick, Vocalion, Bluebird and Victor. That same year they hit it big with the song “Over Somebody Else’s Shoulder”.
At this time vaudeville actress Peggy Lou Snyder was performing in NYC; Ozzie hired her to join his band and changed her name to Harriet Hilliard. Her perky vocals aided them in becoming even more successful: 1935 saw the release of their number one single “And Then Some” which held its place atop the U.S. pop singles chart for a full week.
The Camera Loved Them
The glamorous duo of Ozzie and Harriet lit up the silver screen in musicals such as Sweetheart of the Campus, Strictly in the Groove, Honeymoon Lodge, and Take It Big. In these films they were either both together (e.g., Honeymoon Lodge) or playing different characters (e.g., Hi Good Lookin’).
Furthermore, they often featured on The Red Skelton Show; this experience helped pave the way for their own show – The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet – which was developed by Ozzie himself.
The Red Skeleton Show Launched Their Careers
Prior to The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Ozzie and Harriet were regular guests on Red Skelton’s American variety show. With their singing abilities plus the band they provided most of the music heard on the radio program.
This gave them a platform from which to launch their own radio show, while Skelton worked hard for his show to appear in color television screens during its run.
Starred On Their Own Radio Show
In 1944, Red Skelton’s drafting for the war presented a chance for his family to gain their own radio show. After three years of providing musical pieces on Skelton’s show, Ozzie Nelson proposed an idea to CBS and sponsor International Silver – a program which concentrated on the real lives of his family.
This was the start of Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet; instead of music, Mr. Nelson opted for situation comedy as its main feature. He also took charge as co-writer and director for each episode.
Chose To Have Kids Together
Ozzie and Harriet wed only a year prior, then welcomed their first son, David. To ensure a strong family unit, the couple combined their two careers and aimed to work together as much as they could. When Ricky was born in 1940, Ozzie and Harriet were deemed “America’s Favorite Young Couple.”
Although their kids had an opportunity to join in on the show, they were still quite young; this led to an interesting decision when starting up the TV series.
At First, They Didn’t Want Their Kids On Television
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet took off in the ‘1940s and Ozzie quickly realized his young boys were not ready for primetime. Instead, he cast two different boys to play the roles of David and Ricky.
If you peruse the IMDb database for the TV series you won’t find the show’s young actors listed, that because the original actors only appeared in voice roles on the radio version of The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet, which accounted for the show’s first five years before it came to television. It was important for Ozzie to keep the show all in the family. He quickly groomed his young boys to take over their roles right when he was finally convinced they were ready.
Eventually, The Kids Took On Their Roles
Because the show was still just on the radio for the first few years, it probably didn’t matter as much that actors were used to playing the roles of David and Ricky, since you couldn’t see them. But by the show’s fifth year, David and Ricky began to regularly play themselves on the show for the first time on the radio.
David was 12 and Ricky was eight. By the time The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet was moved to television in 1952, David and Ricky Nelson starred in the show alongside their parents at ages 16 and 12, respectively.
Bing Crosby Convinced Ozzie To Give Ricky And David Their Big Break
As previously discussed, Ozzie wanted his young boys to grow up a little bit before they would be allowed to star in the family’s hit series. In 1949, Ozzie finally agreed to have 8-year-old Ricky and 13-year-old David take over their namesake roles.
It was actually Bing Crosby who convinced Ozzie that his kids were ready to step in front of a nationwide audience. Crosby made a guest appearance on the family’s radio show and he brought along his own boys for the live broadcast. After the leap to TV, Ricky and David proved to be massive stars among the show’s audience.
Did Ozzie Steal His Children’s Early Years?
In his book, “The Fifties,” David Halberstam says of the family, “for all their professional success, very different from the family depicted on the show, they lived with an immense amount of pressure and unreconciled issues.”
Halberstam claims that through his research there was a general sentiment that Ozzie Nelson had “stolen the childhood of both of his sons and used it for commercial purposes.” Chief among those complaints was that Ozzie Nelson had taken his family’s most private moments and “made [those problems] terribly public.” In many ways, the Nelsons were America’s first look at reality TV.
Here Come the Nelsons
With the success of their radio show, Ozzie and his brother Don wrote a movie called Here Come the Nelsons, which served to introduce the Nelson family to American audiences. After Ozzie successfully convinced executives at Universal to produce the feature film, it doubled as a pilot for the television show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
The film starred the Nelson family as themselves and some other big names such as Rock Hudson, Barbara Lawrence, and Jim Backus. The comedy film centered around a misunderstanding between Ozzie and Harriet, before Ricky is kidnapped by bank robbers. Oddly enough, Ozzie plays an advertising executive in the movie, even though he was known in America as a bandleader.
Their Own House Was Used For The Show
The exterior shots of Ozzie and Harriet’s house that were used in the open credit sequence for the TV series were taken from their actual home. The couple lived in the picturesque Hollywood Hills neighborhood located above Hollywood Boulevard.
While the couple didn’t film the series in their actual home, for logistical purposes, they did have the interior recreated with an exact replica on a Hollywood set. Ozzie wanted to make sure the show felt authentic and apparently, that meant bringing real life to the silver screen by inviting the American public directly into their family abode. The home is still standing and located at 1822 Camino Palmero Street in Los Angeles, California.
The Family’s Home Was Renovated And Resold In 2013
The Ozzie and Harriet home was built in 1916 and nearly 100 years later it was purchased for $3 million in 2013. A real estate investment and development company gave the family home a much-needed makeover and resold the house for $5 million.
Much of the home’s exterior was left in place although shutters were removed to provide a more modern look. With the home located in an area of prime real estate, we doubt this will be the last time such a renovation will be conducted.
Split Personality
Ozzie’s dad role on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet came off as stumbling over his words, tentative, and slightly distracted. Luckily, this flawlessly went hand in hand with Harriet’s bright, flippant charm. But in real life, Ozzie was anything but blundering. When not playing himself on the show, he was known as a forceful businessman addicted to work that was in total charge of the show as the writer, producer, director, and editor.
According to The New York Times, some would say that he “was a dictatorial presence looming over his family,” and that he “thwarted his sons, preventing them from attending college and reminding them that they were obliged to work on television.”
The Show Wasn’t Top 20
Somehow, Ozzie convinced the ABC executives to agree to a ten-year contract that paid the Nelson family whether the series was canceled or not, according to Wikipedia. The unprecedented contract is probably what prompted Ozzie’s staunch seriousness about the show off the air. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet premiered on ABC on October 10, 1952.
At the time, ABC was a third-place network and the show never made it to the Top 20 in Nielsen ratings for television shows. Despite the many times that the time slots have been adjusted for the show, they never made it to the Top 20, until…
Even If The Show Failed, The Family Would Have Won
Ozzie and Harriet were already nationally renowned performers and radio stars and that made it easier for Ozzie to negotiate a TV contract that has been unheard of since. Ozzie told ABC they would only bring the TV series to the network with a 10-year guarantee.
Should the show have ended before the 10-year period concluded, ABC would have paid Ozzie, Harriet, and the rest of their family, for 10 full seasons of work. It was a gamble for ABC but the family had already succeeded on the radio.
Ricky Starts Singing
By the age of 17, Ricky Nelson began singing. Ricky first sang on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on April 10, 1957, in an episode titled, “Ricky, the Drummer.” In the episode, Ricky performed his version of “I’m Walkin,’” originally sung by Fats Domino, and the tune climbed to #17 on the Billboard charts.
At the time, Elvis was all the rage but many parents found his gyrating moves threatening to their innocent teens and saw Ricky as a benign, safe alternative. Eventually, Ricky Nelson signed a recording contract with Domino’s label, Imperial Records. But how did this affect the show?
Dad, The Business Man
Noting how Ricky’s newfound talents benefited the show, Ozzie took charge and charted every move his son made, including what songs he recorded. In August 1958, Ricky’s single, “Poor Little Fool,” soared to number one on the Billboard charts. Ozzie thought the song represented the family’s image well.
Realizing how Ricky’s singing could help the show and its ratings, Ozzie even began to write storylines that included Ricky singing. As the nation’s new musical sensation, any episodes that featured his talents became some of the show’s highest-rated episodes. At one point, Ricky made an unpaid public appearance at a Los Angeles high school to perform “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” where he was greeted by hordes of screaming teens.
Was Ozzie A Secret Freeloader?
During the pilot film that led up to the TV show, Here Come the Nelsons, Ozzie’s fictional counterpart is an advertising executive who spends his days promoting women’s underwear. When the TV show launched there was no mention of Ozzie working in the advertising space.
In fact, it became a running gag that the only time Ozzie seemed to leave the Nelson home was when an ice cream run was desired. Ricky’s real-life daughter, Tracy Nelson, attempted to clear things up by claiming Ozzie’s character was a lawyer who graduated from Rutgers. Apparently, work-from-home lawyers were all the rage at that time… or not.
Despite His Role As Bumbling Father, Nelson Was Voted A Top TV Dad
The character of ‘Ozzie Nelson’ was ranked #21 in TV Guide’s list of the “50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time” in the publications June 20, 2004, issue. While there is no doubt that the TV show resonated with fans in the 1950s and in the early 1960s, Ozzie’s character was hardly what many people would consider a role model.
Ozzie didn’t seem to have a job, was often talked down from poorly conceived plans by his wife, and seemed to hold far too much control over his children. Despite his shortcomings, his show was often seen as portraying an idealized version of the 1950’s nuclear family.
Box Office Bonanza
Shortly after launching his music career, Ricky became a singing movie star. The youngest Nelson starred alongside John Wayne and Dean Martin in the romantic western, Rio Bravo. The trailer for the film featured Ricky playing his guitar and talking into the camera about the stirring film.
Ricky proved himself triumphant in his silver screen debut and went on to other big acting projects apart from his family’s show. He was in films The Wackiest Ship in the Army and Love and Kisses, alongside Jack Lemmon and Jack Kelley, respectively. He also guest-starred in an episode of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries in which he performed a lot of popular Nelson hits.
The Marry Go Round
In 1961, a 25-year-old David married actress, June Blair. The ceremony was held at the Forest Lawn Cemetery’s Church of the Hills and Ricky served as best man. Since much of the storylines from The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet were taken from the Nelsons’ real life, June Blair was written into the show and joined as a regular cast member.
At that point in the show, David Nelson was attending law school and moved into an apartment with his new wife. The newlyweds had their first child the following year, a son named Daniel Blair Nelson. Their second son, Jamie Eric Nelson, was born in 1966.
Baby on Board
The same year that David got married his younger brother Ricky began dating Kristin Harmon. She was the daughter of Tom Harmon who was a football legend turned actor, and her mom was actress Elyse Knox. Since the Harmons and the Nelsons were family friends, the parents approved of a relationship between the two young stars, even though Harriet had never approved of any of the girlfriends that Ricky had before Kristin.
Two years after dating, Ozzie insisted that the young couple get married, which they did on April 20, 1963. But there was a reason that the nuptials were rushed and that was because Kristin was pregnant.
The Times Were Changing
By the ‘60s, American television was changing along with the country’s social climate. As writer and director, Ozzie did what he could to alter the show to appeal to its viewership. Even though Ricky continued to introduce new songs on the show, Ozzie chose not to have a song in every episode.
By 1965, even Ricky’s record sales were dropping. The country was going through major upheaval and Ricky’s fresh-faced image was hurting him, along with The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet becoming more out of sync with the times, as the Nelsons symbolized the ideals and values of a past era.
Breaking Records
After 22 successful years of broadcast—eight on the radio and 14 on television—The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet finally came to an end on April 23, 1966. For a time, the show was the longest-running live-action American television sitcom, but in 2016 that record was tied with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which was renewed for a thirteenth and fourteenth season.
With a record of 435 episodes, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet proudly held the record for the longest-running sitcom in television records but was beat by The Simpsons, after the cartoon broke the record in 2003.
Mary Tyler Moore Even Made An Appearance
During the early days of TV, there was often one major sponsor who helped support a TV show’s run. During numerous 1950s episodes of The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet Hotpoint was a sponsor. A prologue was included with the product and it features a young Mary Tyler Moore as a “Happy Hotpoint” dancing pixie.
Years later Mary Tyler Moore would star in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and her celebrity would rise above even that of Ozzie and Harriet. Guest appearances were aplenty during the show’s run but this may have been the biggest of them all.
Outdoor Versus Indoor Scenes? It Was All About The Show’s Sponsors
If you watched The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet throughout the entire series run you probably noticed that much of the TV show was filmed in the family kitchen. That was no coincidence with the show’s main sponsor Hotpoint attempting to place its products in front of the show’s viewers.
Later in the series, there were more outdoor scenes. The cameras that were strung around everyone’s necks when they went outside were the product of Kodak. TV commercials and better product placement wouldn’t arrive on television for years to come. The TV show was about the family but where they interacted was all the result of the show’s major sponsors.
Ozzie’s Exit
After a long and successful career-focused life, Ozzie Nelson passed away at the age of 69 in his San Fernando Valley Home. Suffering from recurring malignant tumors in his old age, liver cancer eventually took Nelson’s life. He was survived by Harriet and their two sons, who were at his bedside at 4:30 AM on June 3, 1975, when he passed.
While his two sons continued on with the career paths they’ve already started, Harriet sort of became a recluse following Ozzie’s death. She did, however, make guest appearances on shows like Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Happy Days in her later years.
An Awkward Garden Party
In 1971, Ricky Nelson appeared at Madison Square Garden for a rock revival concert, the Richard Nader Oldies Concert. He was trying to play his new songs for the crowd, but was ultimately booed off stage when he performed The Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women.”
Apparently, the crowd was displeased at the fact that Ricky failed to dress in a way that represented his heyday. After watching the show backstage on a TV monitor, Richard Nader convinced Nelson to return to the stage and play his “oldies.” The audience responded well to his return, but the entire ordeal prompted Nelson to write his 1972 hit “Garden Party.”
Kristin & Ricky Drama
Ricky and his wife Kristin had a tumultuous marriage, to say the least. By 1977, they were on the brink of divorce after 14 years of marriage and four children. Of the things that tore the couple apart, there was an instance in which Kristin moved Ricky out of their marital home and into a rented house, which he didn’t discover until he came home from a tour.
One month later, Kristin walked in on Ricky with two cheerleaders from the Los Angeles Rams, which he claimed was set up. Although the couple eventually reconciled their differences, Kristin still sought to pursue a permanent break. Even though she wanted Ricky to give up music and spend time at home, their family still enjoyed a lavish lifestyle and Ricky had to continue touring to support them. They eventually were granted a divorce in 1982, with Ricky suffering the greatest loss after attorneys and accountants took over $1 million from him.
Ricky’s Demise
Although he allegedly dreaded flying, Ricky Nelson refused to travel by bus, so he got a private plane that apparently had a history of mechanical problems. In late December 1985, Ricky and his band left for a three-stop tour of the Southern U.S. On New Year’s Eve that year, the plane crash-landed into some trees just northeast of Dallas, Texas.
Ricky and six others died instantly. Speculation suggested that the crash was a result of drug use by Ricky or the crew, but the Civil Aeronautics Board, among other agencies, confirmed in their official report that the cause of the crash was an onboard heater short-circuiting and catching fire.
David Played a Killer
While Ozzie and Harriet had their show, they were also working hard to promote Ricky’s music career. But what about David? After finishing high school, David lived a normal college life and attended the University of Southern California where he even jounes a fraternity.
He has had the opportunity to direct some episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet during the show’s run. After the show ended, David continued in show business and had a memorable performance in the 1959 thriller The Big Circus, where he played Tommy Gordon, a disturbed and homicidal ‘troubled youth’. He has also acted in Up in Smoke and Cry-Baby.
David’s Other Projects
After The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet was long off the air, David tried to revive his family’s beloved show with a spin-off show called Ozzie’s Girls. Premiering in September 1971, the show’s premise follows the life of Ozzie and Harriet after their two sons had moved out of the house.
They decide to rent out the extra bedrooms to two college girls and most of the show’s plot revolved around the girls’ trials and dilemmas. Although David directed the series himself, it never took off and only lasted for one season with 24 half-hour episodes.
It Was Taken To Court
The custody battle between Kristin and her brother over little Sam was so intense, that they found themselves before a judge. Mark Harmon sought custody over Sam, seeing that she was unfit to raise Sam on her own. The highly-publicized trial had depicted Kristin as “dressed neatly and [wearing] a calm, pleasant expression throughout the proceedings,” answering rude questions with grace.
According to People, “Mark scowled most of the time and icily ignored all reporters. By the end of Day One, the press had cast him as the heavy and Kris as the heroine, and the coverage next morning reflected the feeling.”
The Other Nelson Grandchildren
It seems that Ricky’s and Kristin’s first three children fared better in the midst of all the drama since, by the time it happened, they were already adults. Their first child, daughter Tracy Nelson, followed in her family’s footsteps and became an actress.
Some would say that she had an early career start, as she was featured as herself on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet at just three months old. At the age of four, she was in Yours, Mine and Ours as the daughter of Lucille Ball. She even took her performing career to her real life, having studied ballet for 17 years and studying dance in college.
Tracy Nelson’s Career
In the 1980s, she was on the sitcom Square Pegs alongside Sarah Jessica Parker, where she played “valley girl” Jennifer DeNuccio. During this time, she also broke through in film after she starred in Paul Mazursky’s Down and Out in Beverly Hills. She gained more notoriety through The Father Dowling Mysteries, in which she played Sister Stephanie.
As a member of television’s Nelson family, she would go on to guest star in other classic family sitcoms such as Family Ties, The Nanny, 7th Heaven, Melrose Place, Seinfeld, and St. Elsewhere. But eventually, Tracy would find herself in some of her own drama…
Three Kinds of Cancer
Two years after the death of her father, Ricky, and shortly after marrying actor Billy Moses, Tracy began to feel weak, and allegedly had a dream in which her father said, “I know you miss me, but it’s not time for you to die. You have to go see a doctor.“ In 1987, doctors found a malignant grapefruit-sized tumor in her chest and she was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
She reportedly blamed the illness on the stress over her youngest brother’s custody battle. Despite overcoming this ailment, she still suffered trauma from the radiation exposure and was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2005 and then breast cancer in 2010.
The Nelson Twins
After Tracy was born, Ricky and Kristin gave birth to identical twin boys in 1967. Gunnar and Matthew Nelson took on the musical talents they inherited from their grandparents Ozzie and Harriet and their father Ricky.
They spent two years learning how to write songs and met Los Angeles record producer Marc Tanner. The twins went on to be signed to Geffen Records in 1989 and became a hit with their band, Nelson. Their album After the Rain went triple platinum in 1990 and it featured their most popular hit “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection.”
Nelson: The Band
Known as a glam metal or hard rock band, Nelson was most popular during the early 1990s. The Nelson twins were in the Guinness Book of World Records after their hit “Love and Affection” reached number one on the charts. They now hold the record as the only family to have number one records in three successive generations in the same bloodline.
Ozzie Nelson had a number one hit in 1934 with “And Then Some,” their father Ricky reached number one in the early ‘60s with “Poor Little Fool” and “Travelin’ Man,” and Nelson reached number one with their aforementioned hit.
A History Of Syndication
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet may have been viewed by many fans as a TV show for a bygone era by the end of its run but that has not stopped the show’s amazingly long run in syndication. From 1985 to 1994 The Disney Channel aired reruns of the TV series via a remastered 35mm version of the TV show.
The TV series then moved over to the Nostalgia TV Network and it currently airs on the Retro Television Network. Even San Bernardino, California’s PBS member station aired the series as late as May 2010 as part of its I Remember Television series.
ABC’s Failures Kept The Show On The Air
Ozzie Nelson’s decision to approach ABC was likely the reason the TV series became the longest-running sitcom of its time. ABC was the number three network, struggling to keep up with NBC and CBS. While The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet never cracked the top 20 in Neilsen ratings, it was doing a lot better than other ABC TV shows.
If ABC had found its footing earlier, it’s likely that the show would have ended in the late 1950s since it didn’t translate well into a new decade that featured heftier plotlines and color TVs.
The Show Was Discounted To Stay On The Air
It’s true that Ozzie Nelson secured a 10-year pay guarantee from ABC before the show went on air but money wasn’t his only motivating factor. To keep The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on television sets throughout the United States, Ozzie offered the TV show to ABC at a deep discount.
As a micro-manager, it has long been assumed that Ozzie wanted to continually build out his family franchise while controlling the lives of his family members. His plan worked and the show ran for an amazing 14 seasons on television after an already impressive run on radio.
