| Mary Kay and Johnny | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Mary Kay Stearns Johnny Stearns |
| Starring | Mary Kay Stearns Johnny Stearns Howard Thomas Nydia Westman Christopher William Stearns |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 300 (estimate) |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 15 mins (12 minus ads). (1947-1948; 1949) 30 mins. (25 minus ads) (1948-1949; 1950) |
| Original release | |
| Network | DuMont (1947-1948) CBS (1949) NBC (1948-1949; 1949-1950) |
| Release | November 18, 1947 – March 11, 1950 |
Mary Kay and Johnny is an American situation comedy starring real-life married couple Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns. It was the first sitcom broadcast on a television network in the United States. Mary Kay and Johnny initially aired live on the DuMont Television Network before moving to CBS and then NBC.
Plots centered around a bank employee and his "zany, but not dumb" wife and the problems that they encountered. [1] Much of the activity occurred in the couple's apartment in Greenwich Village. [1]
The March 6, 1948, issue of the trade publication Billboard gave a mostly favorable review, "This program comes close to being a model tele[vision] show. In detailing the adventures, mainly domestic, of a young married couple, Johnny and Mary Kay Stearns have come up with charming and fresh material, which always takes into consideration that there are cameras taking everything in," although the column's author objected to the show's usage of familiar sitcom tropes such as "the dreary old tolerant-husband-with-a-dumb-wife pattern." [2]
In addition to the Stearnses, the cast included their son, Christopher Stearns, as himself. Mary Kay's mother was played by Nydia Westman, and Johnny's friend Howie was played by Howard Thomas. Jim Stevenson was the announcer. [3]
The first 15-minute episode debuted on the DuMont Television Network on Tuesday, November 18, 1947. [4] The Stearnses created and wrote all the scripts. The program was broadcast live, most of the action taking place on a set representing the New York City apartment of the title characters, a young married couple.
Mary Kay and Johnny was the first program to show a couple sharing a bed, and the first series to show a woman's pregnancy on television: [5] Mary Kay became pregnant in 1948 and after unsuccessfully trying to hide her pregnancy, the producers wrote it into the show. On December 31, 1948, the Stearns' weeks-old son Christopher appeared on the show and became a character.
After a year on DuMont, the show moved to CBS for half a year, much of the time being broadcast every weeknight, then ran for another year each Saturday night on NBC, where it debuted on October 10, 1948. [6] It broadcast the final episode on March 11, 1950.
At a time when there were no TV ratings (the A.C. Nielsen Company would not begin measuring TV ratings until 1950), Anacin decided to take a chance and sponsor the show. This decision worried the advertising executives at Anacin, who thought that they might be wasting money by sponsoring a show with a sparse audience. A simple, non-scientific scheme to gauge the size of the audience was hatched. During one commercial spot, Anacin offered a free pocket mirror to the first 200 viewers who wrote in requesting one. As a precaution, they purchased a total of 400 mirrors in case the audience was twice as large as they expected. Although the free mirror was offered only during that one spot, Anacin received nearly 9000 requests for mirrors. [7]
DuMont's corporate successor, Metromedia, disposed of what was left of the DuMont archive in the East River. [note 1] [8]
The fate of the NBC episodes is unknown, although they also were known to have been getting rid of their older recordings in the early 1970s and disposing the ones they could not get the stars of the shows to take. [9] The Paley Center for Media has one 1949 episode in its collection. [10] TV Land used a clip of this one 1949 broadcast in an episode of Inside TV Land called "Taboo TV". [11]
The DuMont Television Network was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in the United States. It was owned by Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, a television equipment and television set manufacturer, and began operation on April 13, 1940.
Admiral Broadway Revue is an American live television variety show that ran from January 28 to June 3, 1949. The show was notable for being "television's first full scale Broadway type musical revue."
The 1947–48 United States network television schedule was nominally from September 1947 to March 1948, but scheduling ideas were still being worked out and did not follow modern standards. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1946–47 season.
The DuMont Evening News was an American news program which aired Monday through Friday at 7:15pm ET on the DuMont Television Network during the 1954–1955 season. Presented by Morgan Beatty, the 15-minute show was the network's third and final attempt at a nightly news broadcast.
The Magic Cottage was an American children's program broadcast on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network from 1949 to 1952.
Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena was an American sports program originally broadcast on NBC from 1946 to 1948, and later on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network from 1954 to 1956.
And Everything Nice is an American fashion-themed television program that was broadcast on the DuMont Television Network from March 8, 1949, through January 9, 1950. The program was hosted by Maxine Barratt.
Doorway to Fame is an American talent show broadcast on the now defunct DuMont Television Network. The series ran from May 2, 1947, to July 11, 1949.
The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong is an American television series which aired on the now defunct DuMont Television Network. It starred Chinese American silent film and talkie star Anna May Wong who played a detective in a role written specifically for her. The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong was the first U.S. television series starring an Asian-American series lead.
Marge and Jeff is an early American sitcom broadcast Monday through Friday on the DuMont Television Network during the 1953-1954 television season.
The Growing Paynes is an American sitcom that aired on the DuMont Television Network.
Once Upon a Tune is a weekly half-hour American television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network, premiering on March 6, 1951, and running to May 15, 1951.
Photographic Horizons was a United States television series where panelists discussed the art and science of photography. The show aired on Wednesdays at 8:30pm on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network.
Kids and Company is an American children's TV show that aired on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network on Saturday mornings from September 1, 1951 to May 2, 1953 and was hosted by Johnny Olson and Ham Fisher. The series was primarily sponsored by Red Goose Shoes.
TV Shopper, also known as Your Television Shopper or Kathi Norris' Television Shopper, was an early American daytime television series which aired on the DuMont Television Network at 10:30 am ET from November 1, 1948 to December 1, 1950.
Highway to the Stars was an early American live television soap opera, which was broadcast on New York City station WABD, flagship station of the DuMont Television Network, from August to October 1947, at which point it was replaced with Look Upon a Star, itself eventually replaced with Camera Headlines in January 1948.
Amanda is an American music television program starring Amanda Randolph that debuted on the DuMont Television Network on November 1, 1948. The ending date for the show is unclear, but it still appears in a TV schedule from October 1949.
John Stearns was an American actor, producer and director, active from the 1940s until the 2000s. He also performed in several Broadway plays.
Mary Katherine Stearns was an American actress best known for portraying the fictional version of herself on the sitcom Mary Kay and Johnny from 1947 until 1950.
Mary Kay and Johnny.
