The People's Choice (TV series)
| The People's Choice | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Irving Brecher |
| Starring | Jackie Cooper |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 104 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Norden Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | October 6, 1955 – September 25, 1958 |
The People's Choice is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from 1955 to 1958, primarily sponsored by The Borden Company.
It stars Jackie Cooper as Socrates "Sock" Miller, an ex-Marine and New City, California politician with a basset hound named "Cleo", whose thoughts (voiced by Mary Jane Croft), as she balefully observes Sock's dilemmas, are recorded on the soundtrack for the viewers' amusement. Much of Cleo's dialog is in the form of witty wisecracks. The popularity of the basset hound breed increased markedly with the run of the show.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
In the first season, Sock is an ornithologist, living in a trailer with his Aunt Gus (Margaret Irving) in a trailer park in New City, California. He is soon elected to the City Council and dating Mandy Peoples (Patricia Breslin), the mayor's daughter. Mayor Peoples (Paul Maxey) doesn't entirely approve of the relationship, but gradually warms to Sock.
Later, Sock takes courses (though not in law school) to pass the state bar exam and become an attorney, so that he can afford to marry Mandy. In the season finale, Sock suddenly proposes to Mandy and wants to elope. He is afraid the mayor will want to put on a big wedding, and they won't be able to get married for many months. He says he doesn't want to wait, but wants to marry her right away. They drive to Nevada for a quickie wedding, intending to get back in time for the bar exam. On the way back, they are arrested for a traffic violation, spend the night in jail, and Sock misses the bar exam. Sock says if they tell the mayor, he'll want to help them out with a check, and he wants to be independent. So they agree to keep their marriage a secret from the mayor.
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 at some point 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 comedy relief Marine buddy Rollo "The Hex" Hexley (Dick Wesson) moved in with Sock during the second season though he appeared in the original 1955 pilot.[1]
In the third season, Sock is managing a residential real estate development called "Barkerville Estates." They still manage to get back to New City often enough for Mayor Peoples and Aunt Gus to appear regularly.
[edit] Production notes
The show was created and co-produced by Irving Brecher, also the creator of The Life of Riley in 1949. Although The People's Choice never made the top 30 programs, its ratings were respectable enough to warrant a three-year run on the NBC television network. 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.
[edit] Spin-off
In The People's Choice, Cleo the talking dog spawned the idea of a talking baby in the 1960-1961 NBC series Happy starring Ronnie Burns. In Spanish the show was known as "Cleo y yo".
