USA
/ CBS / x15m-e / September
3, 1951-August 1, 1952 B&W
Broadcast
Mon-Fri. Noon-12:15 p.m.
The
Egg and I began as a
best-selling book in 1945 by
Betty MacDonald in which she
recounted her humorous
misadventures in trying to adapt
to farm life. It became a hit
movie in 1947 with Claudette
Colbert as Betty and Fred
MacMurray as her husband Bob,
then had several sequels
starting in 1949 focusing on
their wacky neighbors Ma and Pa
Kettle, played by Marjorie Main
and Percy Kilbride. CBS bought
the rights to the property in
1951, and a pilot for a weekly
half-hour show was filmed that
summer starring
William Prince and Diana Lynn.
It emerged that fall as a daily
15-minute serial.
The TV show followed the book
and movie story lines, with the
MacDonalds running a chicken
farm in the Northeast after
moving from the city. The
Kettles helped them get
accustomed to rural life, as did
Jed Simmons, their handyman, and
others. The tone of The Egg and
I, unlike that of most soap
operas, emphasized light comedy
rather than drama. When Pat
Kirkland left to have a baby in
early 1952, Betty Lynn replaced
her.
The Egg and I led all daily
network shows before 5 p.m. in
the ratings by early 1952, but
the only sponsor it had by late
February 1952 was Procter &:
Gamble on Tuesdays and
Thursdays. It remained near the
top of the ratings through 1952.
But when Procter & Gamble
inexplicably ended its
sponsorship in June, no other
advertisers replaced them,
perhaps because at the time
radio soap operas had larger
audiences than TV serials. In
any case, The Egg and I became
past history within a year of
its premiere.
Cast
Betty MacDonald
(1951-52).......... Pat Kirkland
Betty MacDonald(3/10/52-8/1/52).
Betty Lynn
Bob
MacDonald..........................
John Craven
Ma
Kettle....................................Doris
Rich
Pa
Kettle.....................................Frank
Twedell
Jed
Simmons..............................Grady
Sutton
Lisa
Schumacher.........................Ingeborg
Theek
Paula
French...............................Karen
Hale
