The Stu Erwin Show


The Stu Erwin Show is an American sitcom which aired on ABC from 1950 to 1955. Only four of the series’ five seasons on the network included new episodes; the 1953–54 season consisted entirely of reruns.

Synopsis

The series stars Stuart Erwin and real-life wife June Collyer. Ann E. Todd and Sheila James portray the couple's fictional daughters. One notable aspect of the show was that it featured a black actor Willie Best in a regular supporting role.
Predating modern single-camera sitcoms, The Stu Erwin Show originally aired without a laugh track, and each episode was around 26 minutes long, without commercials. During its original network run on ABC, it was sponsored by General Mills, Paper Mate and Liggett & Myers.

Production

The series was produced by Roland D. Reed and Hal Roach, Jr., and filmed at Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, California. All 52 episodes of season one were first-run, followed by another 26 in season two for a total of 78 straight weeks of all-new shows before reruns began in the spring of 1952. Another 26 episodes were produced for the 1952–53 season, interspersed with reruns every third week between October 1952 and July 1953. Production then went on a lengthy hiatus while the network continued airing reruns from the summer of 1953 until the fall of 1954. The fourth and final season's 26 episodes aired between October 1954 and April 1955.

Episodes

Season 1 (1950–51)

Season 2 (1951–52)

Season 3 (1952–53)

Season 4 (1954–55)

Syndication and Home release

The series was widely syndicated by Official Films through the late 1960s. The show is currently seen on the Retro TV Network as of July 2018.
Many episodes of the program have fallen into the public domain. As such, various budget DVD releases of public domain episodes have been released.