The People's Choice (TV series)
| The People's Choice | |
|---|---|
 Jackie Cooper as Socrates "Sock" Miller (1955) | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Irving Brecher |
| Starring |
Jackie Cooper Patricia Breslin Paul Maxey Margaret Irving Dick Wesson Mary Jane Croft (voice) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 104 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 24–26 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Norden Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | October 6, 1955 – September 25, 1958 |
The People's Choice is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from 1955 to 1958. It was primarily sponsored by The Borden Company.
It stars Jackie Cooper as Socrates "Sock" Miller, who is a former Marine and a young politician living in fictitious New City, California. Sock has a basset hound named "Cleo", whose thoughts (voiced by Mary Jane Croft), baleful observations of Sock's dilemmas, are recorded on the soundtrack for the viewers' amusement. The real name of the dog that played Cleo was "Bernadette". Much of Cleo's dialog consists of wisecracks. The popularity of the basset hound breed increased markedly with the run of the show.
Overview
In the first season, Sock is an ornithologist and a city council member, who is living in a trailer park with his Aunt Gus (Margaret Irving). Sock is dating Mandy Peoples (Patricia Breslin), the daughter of the mayor (Paul Maxey), who does not entirely approve of the relationship, but he gradually warms to Sock.
Later, Sock takes courses (though he is not in law school) to pass the California bar exam in order to become an attorney, so that he can then afford to marry Mandy. In the first season finale, Sock suddenly proposes to Mandy and wants to elope. He is afraid the mayor will want to stage a big wedding, and they won't be able to get married for many months. The couple drives to Nevada for a quickie wedding, intending to return in time for Sock to take his bar exam. On the way back, they are arrested for a traffic violation, and must spend the night in jail. This causes Sock to miss the bar exam. Sock wants to be independent of his father-in-law; so the couple agrees to keep their marriage a secret from the mayor until Sock gets his law license.
Most episodes in the second season are about Sock and Mandy trying to be together (as much as this could be depicted in the 1950s), while keeping the mayor from finding out that they are married. At some point during the season, Aunt Gus and the mayor get married, and she learns that Sock and Mandy are married and agrees to keep their secret from the mayor. By the end of the season, Sock has passed the bar, and their marriage is out in the open. Sock's scheming Marine buddy, Rollo "The Hex" Hexley (Dick Wesson), moved in with Sock during the second season and appeared in twenty-seven episodes as well as the original 1955 pilot.[1]
In the third season, Sock manages a residential real estate development called "Barkerville Estates." They still return to New City often enough for Mayor Peoples and Aunt Gus to appear regularly.
Guest stars
Production notes
The series was created and co-produced by Irving Brecher, who was also the creator of the 1949 sitcom, The Life of Riley. Although The People's Choice never made the top 30 programs, its ratings were respectable enough to warrant a three-year run on NBC. The show later became popular in syndication.
In its first season, The People's Choice aired opposite Stop the Music, which concluded its long run on ABC.
Spin-off
From The People's Choice, Cleo the talking dog spawned the idea of a talking baby in the 1960-1961 NBC sitcom, Happy starring Ronnie Burns and Yvonne Lime Fedderson, who had also guest starred on The People's Choice.
In Spanish the show was known as "Cleo y yo".
References
- ↑ The People's Choice: Pilot (1955)
- ↑ "The People's Choice (1955-1958)". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved March 6, 2013.