The 1950s were a golden era for television. “I Love Lucy,” “The Twilight Zone” and “The Mickey Mouse Club” were on the air, and if you missed an episode, you couldn’t record it. Only someone who lived through the ’50s or has incredible television history knowledge will be able to ace this quiz!
The 1950s were a golden era for television. “I Love Lucy,” “The Twilight Zone” and “The Mickey Mouse Club” were on the air, and if you missed an episode, you couldn’t record it. Only someone who lived through the ’50s or has incredible television history knowledge will be able to ace this quiz!
"Space Patrol" aired five seasons, running from 1950 to 1955. There was a British TV series of the same name, however instead of live actors they used puppets. When the British show aired in the U.S., its name was changed to "Planet Patrol" to avoid confusion.
In real life, Desi Arnaz was an orchestra leader for his group, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra. A lot of the band members were also in the Ricky Ricardo Orchestra on "I Love Lucy." In between takes, the band would play music to entertain the audience.
During the filming of "77 Sunset Strip," Efrem Zimbalist Jr. received an insanely long fan letter. It was 108 pages long and contained over 11,300 words. It surpassed a fan letter received by Dean Martin that was 90 pages long.
Lassie was a fictional female dog played by a male Rough Collie named Pal. He starred in eight Lassie films and two TV pilots. The TV series used a total of six dogs to play Lassie: Pal, Lassie Jr., Spook, Baby, Mire and Hey Hey.
Clint Walker worked as a security officer at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. It was here that he met a lot of people from Hollywood. They all commented on his physique and good looks, saying that he would do great as an actor.
The opening credits of "77 Sunset Strip" were filmed on-location in front of the Mary Webb Davis modeling agency. The building right next door called Dino's Lodge was Dean Martin's restaurant. Unfortunately, both of these buildings no longer exist.
"Walt Disney's Disneyland" premiered in 1954, about a year before the park opened. The show had many title changes over the years, most popularly, it was later known as "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color."
"The Honeymooners" was originally a sketch that Jackie performed with Pert Kelton on "The Jackie Gleason Show." They became so popular that the network requested a spin-off series. However, on the TV series, Jackie starred opposite Audrey Meadows.
Jimmie served as the host, the Head Mousketeer and a songwriter on "The Mickey Mouse Club." He even wrote the infamous "Mickey Mouse Club March" that later became the alma mater of the show.
During one of Jerry's auditions, he arrived in a Cub Scout uniform. He told the casting directors that he was anxious to go to his den meeting. They were so charmed by him that they cast him in the leading role.
James Garner was born James Bumgarner. However, Warner Brothers changed his last name without his permission. They began billing him as Garner, and he just had to go with it.
Perry Mason was played by Raymond Burr on the 1957 TV series. Perry won every case, except on an episode entitled, "The Case of the Witless Witness." There are two other episodes where his client receives a guilty verdict, but he reverses the court's decision.
It was actually Joan Davis who served as executive producer on "I Married Joan." After her time on radio she had enough money to start her own production company. So, she created Joan Davis Enterprises to produce TV series and Joan Davis Productions to produce films.
After children began hurting themselves in an attempt to fly like Superman, George Reeves got concerned about their well-being. So in 1955, he went on air and made a public service announcement saying that flying was impossible.
When actress Shelley Fabares left the show in 1963, Patty Peterson joined the cast as the "adopted" sister named Trisha. Coincidentally, the actress was the sister of Paul Peterson, who played Jeff.
The early seasons of "Bonanza" filmed at Paramount, located in Hollywood, so the mountain in the background was fake. When the production moved to Warner Brothers, located in the suburbs of Burbank, for later seasons, Mount Lee served as the mountain in the background.
Many famous TV dads made cameos on "Father Knows Best." Robert Reed from "The Brady Bunch," Dick York from "Bewitched," Herbert Anderson from "Dennis The Menace," and Willaim Schallert from "The Patty Duke Show."
"Ozzie and Harriet" is the longest-running live-action American television series. "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" starred the real-life Nelson family playing themselves onscreen. They even went as far as to replicate their house to create the sets for the show.
James Arness appeared in all 635 episodes of "Gunsmoke." Milburn was close to reaching James' record, however, he experienced some health problems, which prevented him from appearing in some episodes.
During the run of "The Twilight Zone," Rod Serling allowed viewers to send in their scripts. In total, he received 14,000 scripts. He read through 500, but he only liked 2. Unfortunately, they did not fit the styling of the show, so they were not used.
The show was called "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," but was changed to "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" in 1962. Out of the 268 episodes, Hitchcock only directed 17. The reason that he was not heavily involved with the series was due to his busy filmmaking schedule.
"Sugarfoot" starred Will Hutchins as Tom 'Sugarfoot' Brewster. The TV series has no relation to the film of the same title. However, the pilot episode was a remake of "The Boy from Oklahoma," which starred Will Rogers Jr.
"Dragnet" was originally a radio series started in 1949, which turned into a TV series in 1951. It ended in 1959 however, and was rebooted into another TV series. The show has been so popular over the years that it spawned several movies and a comic strip.
After a dispute over pay and working conditions, Wade Preston left "Colt .45." Donald May took over the leading role as Sam Colt Jr., the cousin of Wade's character, Christopher Colt. However, Wade later returned, but was listed in a supporting role.
William knew Lucille before "I Love Lucy." They starred opposite each other in "Miss Grant Takes Richmond." William was the first and only actor to be on "I Love Lucy" that won an acting Oscar before appearing on the show. He won for "Stalag 17."