Joe and Mabel#Television
{{Short description|American radio (1941–42) tv (1955–56) program}}
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Joe and Mabel is an American comedy series about a cab driver and his girlfriend{{Cite book|last1=Brooks|first1=Tim|author-link=Tim Brooks (historian)|last2=Marsh|first2=Earle F.|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present|publisher=Ballantine Books|year=2007|isbn=978-0-345-49773-4|location=New York|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Joe+%26+Mabel+situation+comedy%22&pg=PA705|page=705|access-date=November 20, 2024}} that began as a 1940s radio programJ. David Goldin, The Golden Age of Radio, page 115, Yesteryear Press, 1998 and was later broadcast as a television series during portions of 1955 and 1956.
Radio
The radio version of Joe and Mabel debuted on NBC on February 13, 1941, and ended on September 27, 1942. During that time it was broadcast intermittently, rather than regularly.{{cite book|last1=Dunning|first1=John|title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-19-507678-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn/page/372/mode/1up 372]|edition=Revised|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn/page/372}} Characters in the program and the actors who portrayed them are shown in the table below.
| class="wikitable" | |
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Joe | Ted de Corsia |
| Mabel | Ann Thomas |
| Mike | Walter Kinsella |
| Mabel's brother | Jackie Grimes |
| Mabel's mother | Betty Garde |
Howard Nussbaum was the director, and Irving Gaynor Nieman was the writer.
Television
File:Nita Talbot Joe and Mabel.jpg portrayed Mabel Spooner in the TV version of Joe and Mabel.]]
Joe and Mabel began on CBS television on September 20, 1955, and ran "for only a few weeks", then returned on June 26, 1956, and ran until September 25, 1956.{{cite book|last1=McNeil|first1=Alex|title=Total Television|date=1996|publisher=Penguin Books USA, Inc.|location=New York, New York|isbn=978-0-14-02-4916-3|page= 434|edition=4th}}
The trade publication Variety reported in 1956 that episodes of the series "made last year were tossed out the window, for they didn't pass muster with the high brass. CBS started all over again this season."{{cite magazine |date=March 14, 1956 |page=25 |title=The Saga of 'Joe & Mabel' |magazine=Variety |url=https://archive.org/details/variety202-1956-03/page/n88/mode/1up?view=theater |accessdate=November 18, 2023}}
The show's premise was that Mabel was eager to marry cab driver Joe. He loved her but was reluctant to commit to marriage. Joe and his friend Mike (also a cab driver) often hung out at a diner, where Harry worked at the counter.
The program's characters and the actors who portrayed them are shown in the table below.
| class="wikitable" | |
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Joe | Larry Blyden |
| Mabel | Nita Talbot |
| Mabel's mother | Luella Gear |
| Mabel's brother | Michael Mann |
| Mabel's friend, Dolly | Shirl Conway |
| Mike | Norman Fell{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=536|edition=2nd}} |
| Harry | John Shellie |
Ezra Stone, Daniel Petrie, and Paul Bogart were directors. Alex Gottlieb and Bogart were producers, and Marlo Lewis was executive producer. Writers were Harold Flender, Lucille Kallen, James Lee, Irving Gaynor Neiman, Harvey Orkin, Aaron Ruben, Jerry Ryan, and Phil Sharp. Sponsors were Pharmaceuticals, Incorporated, (for Sominex, Serutan, and Geritol) and Carter Products (for Arrid and Rise).{{cite book |last1=Leszczak |first1=Bob |title=Single Season Sitcoms, 1948–1979: A Complete Guide |date=2012 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786493050 |pages=94–95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaUqwWnpHLwC&dq=%22Joe+and+Mabel%22&pg=PA94 |accessdate=23 August 2018 |language=en}} The 30-minute episodes were filmed in black-and-white with a laugh track.
References
{{Portal|Radio|Television}}
{{Reflist}}
Category:1941 radio programme debuts
Category:1942 radio programme endings
Category:Radio programs adapted into television shows
Category:American comedy radio programs
Category:1950s American sitcoms
Category:1955 American television series debuts
Category:1956 American television series endings
Category:Black-and-white American television shows
Category:American English-language television shows