Professional Father
Professional Father is an American situation comedy that aired from January to July 1955 on CBS, under the sponsorship of Helene Curtis. The series stars Stephen Dunne. It replaced That's My Boy in the CBS schedule.[1]
Professional Father | |
---|---|
Genre | Situation comedy |
Created by | Harry Kronman |
Written by | Harry Kronman Jerry Adelman Bob Schiller |
Directed by | John Claar Sherman Marks |
Starring | Stephen Dunne Barbara Billingsley Beverly Washburn Phyllis Coates Joseph Kearns Arthur Q. Bryan |
Theme music composer | Paul Baron |
Composer(s) | Paul Baron |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 18 |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Harry Kronman |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company(s) | CBS Television |
Release | |
Original network | CBS |
Picture format | Black-and-white |
Audio format | Monaural |
Original release | January 8 – July 2, 1955 |
Overview
Dr. Tom Wilson (Dunne) is a child psychologist who is successful with his patients but less than effective with his own family. Barbara Billingsley, two years before she was cast as the concerned mother in Leave It to Beaver, played Tom's wife, Helen Wilson.[2]Beverly Washburn starred as daughter Kathryn "Kit" Wilson. Ted Marc portrayed the son, Tom Wilson, Jr., or "Twig".[2]
Phyllis Coates and Joseph Kearns played the neighbors, Madge (a nurse) and Fred Allen. Ann O'Neal starred as the housekeeper "Nana", and Arthur Q. Bryan played Mr. Boggs, the handyman. The series was created and produced by Harry Kronman, directed by John Claar and Sherman Marks, and partly written by Kronman, Jerry Adelman, and Bob Schiller.[3]
Production notes
Professional Father, a mid-season replacement for the sitcom That's My Boy, offered new episodes from January 8 to July 2, 1955. Professional Father aired opposite The George Gobel Show on NBC and The Stork Club, a talk show on ABC hosted by Sherman Billingsley. In the fall of 1955, Professional Father was succeeded in the 10 p.m. Eastern Saturday time slot with the first season of James Arness's Gunsmoke, which became the longest running western series in television history.[4]
References
- Oliver, Wayne (December 16, 1954). "Big Networks Favoring More Canned Shows". The Petaluma Argus-Courier. California, Petaluma. Associated Press. p. 16. Retrieved December 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Professional Father". Classic Television Archives. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
- Alex McNeil, Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, 1997, p. 676
- Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Guide to Prime Time Network TV Shows, 1946-Present, New York: Ballantine Books, 1992, appendix