The Abbott and Costello Show

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Abbott and Costello Show, a half-hour television sitcom starring the popular comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello that originally aired 1952-1954, is regarded among the most influential comedy programs in history.

The show was a vehicle to bring Abbott and Costello's tried and true burlesque routines to television in a format that the team could control. There were none of the musical interludes or love stories that marred most of their feature films. Basically, if a situation or gag was funny, they filmed it without regard to plot, character or continuity. As a result, the show became a valuable record of classic burlesque scenes performed by the greatest comedy team to come out of burlesque.

Lou Costello owned the show, with Bud Abbott working on salary. Contrary to popular belief, the show was never a network program; it was sold into syndication to local stations across the country. As a result, it was broadcast on different days and at different times in different cities. In New York, it appeared on the CBS affiliate, WCBS, but was not carried nationally on that network.

The supporting cast included Sidney Fields as their landlord; Hillary Brooke as a neighbor and sometime love interest; Gordon Jones as Mike the Cop, a dim-witted foil for the boys; Joe Besser as Stinky, a 40-year-old man dressed in a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit; and Joe Kirk as Mr. Bacciagalupe, an Italian immigrant caricature who held a variety of jobs depending upon the requirements of the script. Several episodes also featured a pet chimp named "Bingo," who was dressed exactly the same as Costello. Bingo, who was a female chimp, was fired from the show after biting Costello.

The program lasted two seasons and was directed and produced by Jean Yarbrough. The first season episodes are considered to be far superior to those of the second, which introduced a more traditional (and confining) sitcom approach. Scripts for the first season were written by Eddie Forman or Sid Fields. Episodes in the second season were written by Jack Townley, Felix Adler or Clyde Bruckman.

The first season episodes were filmed at the Hal Roach Studios in Culver City. (The 14.5 acre studio, once known as "The Lot of Fun", was torn down in 1963 and replaced by light industrial buildings, businesses, and an automobile dealership, where a plaque marks the studio's location.) The second season was shot at Motion Picture Center Studios, which soon after became Desilu-Cahuenga Studios, where I Love Lucy as well as the Danny Thomas and Jack Benny shows, were filmed.

Jerry Seinfeld has declared that "The Abbott and Costello Show," with its overriding emphasis on funny situations rather than life lessons, was the inspiration for his own long-running sitcom.