Claudia (U.S. TV series)

Last updated March 20, 2019

Claudia (also known as Claudia, the Story of a Marriage) is an American television program that was broadcast live on NBC January 6, 1952 - March 23, 1952 and on CBS March 31, 1952 - June 30, 1952. The situation comedy was based on Rose Franken's short stories and novels about a young woman's romance.^[1]

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial terrestrial television network that is a flagship property of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The network is headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, with additional major offices near Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia. The network is one of the Big Three television networks. NBC is sometimes referred to as the "Peacock Network", in reference to its stylized peacock logo, introduced in 1956 to promote the company's innovations in early color broadcasting. It became the network's official emblem in 1979.

CBS is an American English language commercial broadcast television and radio network that is a flagship property of CBS Corporation. The company is headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City with major production facilities and operations in New York City and Los Angeles.

A sitcom, clipping for situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new characters in each sketch, and stand-up comedy, where a comedian tells jokes and stories to an audience. Sitcoms originated in radio, but today are found mostly on television as one of its dominant narrative forms. This form can also include mockumentaries.

Premise

At age 18, Claudia Brown, a somewhat naive teenage girl, married David Naughton, an architect. Adapted from the radio series Claudia and David , episodes focused on their lives, especially Claudia's struggles as she adjusted to married life.^[2] The concept was also adapted into the Broadway play Claudia (1941) and the films Claudia (1943) and Claudia and David (1946).^[3] In addition to Claudia and David, story lines involved David's brother and sister (Harley and Julia) and Claudia's mother (Mrs. Brown).^[4]

Claudia is an American literary character created by author Rose Franken. An article in Life magazine's March 31, 1941, issue said, "One of the oddest phenomena in the entertainment world is how a little idea like Claudia can grow into big business."

Claudia and David is an American old-time radio drama. One version was broadcast on CBS July 4, 1941 - September 26, 1941 and another was syndicated in 1947.

Claudia, a story about a naive young wife's maturing, is a 1941 play by Rose Franken.

Cast

The program's actors and the characters that they portrayed are shown in the table below.

Actor	Character
Joan McCracken	Claudia Naughton
Hugh Reilly	David Naughton
Margaret Wycherly	Mrs. Brown
Faith Brook Dora Sayers	Julia Naughton
Alex Clark William Post, Jr.	Harley Naughton
Paul Andor	Fritz^[4]
Mercer McCloud	Roger^[4]

Source:Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010,^[2] except as noted.

Attempted revival

In 1956, Franken tried to launch a new version of the program. Several entities showed interest in the project, and two pilot episodes were made, but the efforts were unsuccessful.^[3]

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References

↑ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 167. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
1 2 Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
1 2 Irvin, Richard (2014). George Burns Television Productions: The Series and Pilots, 1950-1981. McFarland. pp. 118–119. ISBN 9780786494866 . Retrieved 24 February 2017.
1 2 3 Books, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1979). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows: 1946 - Present. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 124. ISBN 0-345-25525-9.

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[tt-1] McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 167. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.

[etvs-2] 1 2 Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.

[gb-3] 1 2 Irvin, Richard (2014). George Burns Television Productions: The Series and Pilots, 1950-1981. McFarland. pp. 118–119. ISBN 9780786494866 . Retrieved 24 February 2017.

[brooks-4] 1 2 3 Books, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1979). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows: 1946 - Present. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 124. ISBN 0-345-25525-9.