One Man's Family

One Man's Family was an American dramatic television series which ran on NBC off and on from 1949-1955. The series had the rare distinction of airing both in primetime and daytime.

Related Topics:
NBC - 1949 - 1955

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One Man's Family debuted as a radio series in 1932. The radio show featured Henry and Fanny Barbour and their five children, all of whom lived in the Sea Cliff area of San Francisco, California. By 1949, when television expressed interest, the show focused on the Barbour children. Oldest daughter Hazel had twins, Claudia was rebellious and involved in romances, Claudia's twin brother Cliff had been married three times, and Jack was a 36-year old father of six daughters, including triplets.

Related Topics:
1932 - San Francisco, California

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The first TV version (November 4, 1949 - June 21, 1952) ran in primetime once a week for a half-hour and reverted the stories back to the 1932 storylines. Hazel was a 28-year old who yearned for marriage, Cliff and Claudia were students at Stanford University, Jack was 10 years old. The primetime version focused on Fanny's attempts to mediate between her old-world husband and her independent-minded children. The primetime version featured such future stars as Eva Marie Saint (Claudia), Tony Randall (Mac), Mercedes McCambridge (Beth Holly #1), and Frankie Thomas (Cliff Barbour #1). Claudia married daredevil Johnny Roberts. The show was live-on-tape, which led to a notorious blooper when Claudia and her father-in-law (Ralph Locke) went to track him down. The characters were in an airplane when Locke forget his lines. After a few moments, he yelled at Saint, "Well, if you can't say anything, I'm leaving!" and walked off the set, in spite of his character being in the middle of a flight! Lest viewers presume the character had killed himself, Locke was in his seat the following day.

Related Topics:
November 4 - 1949 - June 21 - 1952 - Stanford University - Eva Marie Saint - Tony Randall - Mercedes McCambridge - Frankie Thomas - Ralph Locke

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The daytime version (March 1, 1954 - April 1, 1955) carried many of the same storylines as the primetime version, with a new cast. Anne Whitfield, who played Claudia's daughter Penelope on the radio version, simultaneously played Claudia on the TV show.

Related Topics:
March 1 - 1954 - April 1 - 1955 - Anne Whitfield

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The radio version ran for 3,256 episodes, finally ceasing production in 1959. One Man's Family was the longest running serial drama in radio, barely edging out Ma Perkins (although Ma Perkins produced over twice as many episodes).

Related Topics:
1959 - Ma Perkins

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All versions of the show were created, written, directed, cast and produced by Carleton E. Morse.

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