The Aldrich Family

1 9 4 9 - 1 9 5 3 (USA)

Before it became a successful sitcom on television, The Aldrich Family had been a long-running and popular radio show (1939 - 1953). While the radio show aired for 14 years, the TV series (which ran concurrently with the radio program) lasted only three and a half years.

The series centered on a typical, middle-class American family - the Aldriches - primarily focusing on the adolescent problems of the Aldriches teenage son, Henry. The series was set in the fictional town of Centerville, where the family lived on Elm Street (what a nightmare!). Each episode began with the introduction that had become most famous on radio. Henry's mother would call "Hen-reeee . . . Henry Aldrich!" and Henry's squeaky adolescent voice would call back, "Coming Mother!".

In the short time the series was televised by NBC, no fewer than five actors played Henry Aldrich, while three different actresses played Henry's sister, Mary, and three other actresses played his mother, Alice. If that wasn't confusing enough for viewers, Lois Wilson (one of the women who played Mrs Aldrich) also appeared as Henry's Aunt Harriet when she wasn't playing his mother . . .

Henry's father, Sam Aldrich, was played by House Jameson, who had also played the part in the radio series. Also from the radio show was Jackie Kelk, playing Sam's best friend, Homer Brown. Marcia Henderson played Henry's girlfriend, Kathleen.

TRIVIA NOTES
The show (like the radio series before it) was based on the hit Broadway play What A Life, by Clifford Goldsmith.