Can You Ace This Quiz on 1950s Sitcoms?

Launched in 1957, “The Real McCoys” focused on a family of hillbillies from the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia who moved to California after they inherited a farm there. The action followed crotchety Grandpa Amos McCoy and the exploits of his grandchildren as they adjusted to life in the Golden State. The show ran for 225 episodes, with the final episode airing in 1963.

Joan Davis’ successful comedy show, “Leave It To Joan,” aired on radio from 1943 to 1950. In 1952, Davis moved to television with her new show, “I Married Joan,” in which she played Joan Stevens, the hapless, accident-prone wife of court judge Bradley Stevens (Jim Backus). The show had some success but tended to be unfavorably compared to the superior comedy of “I Love Lucy.”

Starring John Forsythe, Noreen Corcoran, and Sammee Tong, “Bachelor Father” followed Bentley Gregg, a wealthy bachelor who became a father to his niece after her parents died in a car accident. “Bachelor Father” ran from 1957 to 1962 and jumped between the three major networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — during its five-year run.

Eve Arden starred in “Our Miss Brooks,” a popular sitcom about an English teacher at the fictional Madison High School. The show began life on radio in 1948 and transferred to television in 1952, running for four seasons. One reason for the show’s popularity was its innovative depiction of a working woman — something of a departure, as most sitcoms of the time featured women as homemakers.

“Norby” (1955) was the first weekly sitcom to be broadcast in color. The show was sponsored by Eastman Kodak, a serendipitous fit for this early adopter of color technology. At the time, very few homes actually had color television sets, but the new technology also enhanced the picture for black-and-white sets. “Norby” was not a great critical success and was canceled after just 13 episodes.

Ann Sothern played Susie McNamara, the title character in “Private Secretary.” The show ran on CBS from 1954 to 1957 and largely revolved around Sothern’s character extricating her boss, talent agent Peter Sands (Don Porter), from a variety of scrapes. Sothern was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of McNamara on three occasions but never took home the prize.

“The Honeymooners,” starring Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows, started out as a sketch on Gleason’s variety show “Cavalcade of Stars” in 1950. When the variety show was rebranded as “The Jackie Gleason” show in 1952, “The Honeymooners” received 30 minutes of airtime during each one-hour episode. The segment was so popular that it became a show in its own right in 1955, and 39 episodes were produced.

The 1950s saw television become ever more popular across the United States as greater numbers of people began investing in television sets. As a result, many popular radio sitcoms, such as “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” “Father Knows Best,” and “The Goldbergs” migrated to television and proved to be hits.

Like other sitcoms of the decade, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” featured the real-life Nelson family, which included Ozzie and Harriet, and their two sons David and Ricky. The show, which ran from 1952 to 1966, followed their daily affairs, often mimicking their real lives. When David and Ricky married, their wives were written into the show, too.

“The Jack Benny Program” was essentially a show-within-a-show, in which the main characters played versions of themselves. Lead Jack Benny often played the violin for skits or jokes. Sometimes, entire episodes would follow a sitcom format with one storyline revolving around something from Jack’s personal life, such as a current event or a violin lesson.

You might also know her as Rose Nylund on the 1980s sitcom “The Golden Girls,” but Betty White earned TV fame 30 years earlier on “Life with Elizabeth.” White starred as suburban housewife Elizabeth, with Del Moore as her husband Alvin.

Actress Donna Reed was the star of her eponymous series, though her onscreen character was named Donna Stone. The sitcom focused on a typical middle-class American family in the 1950s and ‘60s. Every episode in the show’s eight-season run began with Donna picking up the telephone, handing it to her husband, Alex (Carl Betz), and then ushering their children out the door for school.

A favorite of the 1950s, “Leave it to Beaver” followed Theodore “The Beaver” Cleaver (Jerry Mathers) through adolescence. Beaver seems to get himself into trouble everywhere: at home, at school, and around the fictional town of Mayfield. This quintessential portrayal of a postwar American family ran strong for six seasons.

“Father Knows Best” was centered around the affairs of the Anderson family, including husband and wife Jim and Margaret (Robert Young and Jane Wyatt), and their three children. Their typical middle-class lifestyle — the father works as an insurance agent — resonated with many American viewers, giving it a successful six-season run on CBS and NBC.

This eight-season classic sitcom featured the daily antics of married couple George Burns and Gracie Allen. The set was designed to mimic the pair’s real-life home on Maple Drive in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, which was also used for exterior shots. Burns lived there until his death at age 100 in 1996, and the house still stands today.

“Dennis the Menace” was originally a newspaper cartoon strip created by Hank Ketcham in 1951. When the popular show “Leave It to Beaver” moved to ABC in 1958, CBS needed a new show, so “Dennis the Menace” was commissioned. The show premiered in 1959 and ran for four seasons, until Jay North — at just 12 years old — became too old to play the central role.

This baseball-themed wordplay routine first gained fame on radio, but it jumped to television on “The Abbott and Costello Show” in 1952. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello made bumbling confusion hilarious, performing it on the radio, on their TV show, and even for U.S. Presidents. “TIME” named the routine the “Best Comedy Sketch of the 20th Century.”

The Emmy Award-winning sitcom “I Love Lucy” was the most popular American television show in the mid-1950s. Lucille Ball stole the show as Lucy, with the plot often focusing on her antics with husband Ricky Ricardo (played by her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz). Their landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz (played by former vaudevillians William Frawley and Vivian Vance), contribute hilarity to their regular schemes.

“Leave It to Beaver” was one of the first television sitcoms to be written from a child’s point of view. Each episode followed Beaver and his big brother, Wally, as they navigated their way through life, often getting into mischief. Life lessons and morals were provided by the children’s parents. The show was consistently popular, running from 1957 until 1963, with 236 episodes.

Child star Jay North played the young title character in the ‘50s hit show “Dennis the Menace,” based on Hank Ketcham’s comic strip of the same name. All four seasons revolved around Dennis’ adventures and the trouble he caused; Dennis was a constant source of mischief, especially to his retired neighbor Mr. Wilson (Joseph Kearns).