If anyone can be labelled a television auteur, that man was the inimitable Ozzie Nelson. Not only did Ozzie produce, direct, star and occasionally write the long-running (1952-66) TV sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, but he also supplied the cast from his own home! You remember the dramatis personae: ex-bandleader Ozzie Nelson, the bemused, stammering paterfamilias whose source of income was always a matter of conjecture; Harriet Nelson, nee band singer/actress Harriet Hilliard, eternally the voice of calm and reason; David Nelson, the goody two-shoes older son; and Ricky Nelson, the mildly rebellious younger son and teen singing idol. The "Adventures" were among the least adventurous in television history, ranging from Ozzie's search for a gallon of tutti-frutti ice cream to Ricky's efforts to steal a moose head from a rival fraternity house.
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
- Family
- Parenthood
- Memory Lane
