Mister Ed (1962)

 

After initially struggling to get anyone to even give their talking-horse TV show a chance, including leading human actor Alan Young, when Mister Ed became a sudden success after its debut in early 1961, producer Arthur Lubin and lead writer Lou Derman had a new problem--how to keep it going while keeping it fresh. Lubin told TV Guide in a March 31, 1962 cover story that his idea was at first rejected by the networks because it was "a one-joke show," but as we documented in our post on the 1961 episodes, the first season expanded on the one joke of a talking horse by covering man's relationship to animals in a thoughtful way. By the middle of the second season as 1962 dawned, however, the series started to veer away from that more intelligent approach and began pursuing cheaper laughs, such as bringing in celebrities in episodes that had little to do with Ed the horse and his relationship to owner Wilbur Post.

The trouble begins with the first episode of the year, "The Wrestler" (January 7, 1962), which features ballet-themed professional wrestler Ricky Starr, whose contract Roger Addison acquires from his manager to complete a real estate deal. Young reveals in his memoir Mister Ed and Me that Lubin, who knew nothing about sports, signed Starr thinking he was the professional boxing champion of the world rather than the much less prestigious so-called professional wrestling champion, which Young notes didn't last long. Even as a wrestler Starr was a novelty act because he had earlier studied ballet and incorporated ballet moves into his wrestling act, effecting an effete persona that trounces his Neanderthal opponents. This episode includes previously recorded footage of Starr in the ring, and Ed has very little to do as Carol and Kay overfeed Starr's character Tiger Davis and then have to get him back into shape by having him work out with them and their ballet teacher. Lubin was so enamored of Starr that he brought him back for a second episode early in Season 3, "The Bashful Clipper" (October 18, 1962), as a former beautician who has switched over to horse grooming because he became intimidated by his female human clients. Ed again has a minor role in this episode, helping Starr's character Chuck Miller abandon his animal grooming and resume styling women's hair by kicking him to change his mind about animals being more docile than women. A sizable chunk of the episode has Wilbur mugging and attempting to style an influential fashion columnist's hair when Chuck gets cold feet as his new salon opens. Young seems to forget about painful episodes like this one in his memoir when he reminisces, "That's one of the secrets behind Mister Ed. It never pretended to be something it wasn't." The Ricky Starr episodes prove that the series often lost its way, and not all the episodes were comedy gold.

The same can be said for the other celebrity-based episodes from latter Season 2--"Zsa Zsa" (January 28, 1962), "George Burns Meets Mister Ed" (February 18, 1962), and "Clint Eastwood Meets Mister Ed" (April 22, 1962). The Zsa Zsa Gabor episode is based on the flimsy premise that her manager has lined up a movie for her in which she has to ride a horse but she is deathly afraid of them, so when she rents a house near the Posts and Wilbur meets her, he offers to use Ed to help her overcome her fear of horses. The episode also recycles the trope of Wilbur selling or parting with Ed (see the Season 1 episode "Wilbur Sells Ed" and the later Season 3 episode "Horse of a Different Color" in which Ed plans to join the circus), which Zsa Zsa ultimately refuses to go along with once she sees how affectionate the two are with each other. George Burns was executive producer on Mister Ed, so it is no surprise that he is featured in an episode, but he never actually meets Ed, despite the episode's title, because he only talks to him on the phone. Young misremembers in his memoir that Sharon Tate made her TV debut in this episode, whereas she actually did so in the Season 4 episode "Ed Discovers America" in the fall of 1963. According to Young's memoir, Clint Eastwood agreed to appear in an episode because he owed Lubin a favor, and while the episode does include a memorable scene in which Eastwood offers to show Wilbur how to get his horse to behave only to have Ed lie down as soon as Eastwood mounts him, a sizable chunk of this episode has the Addisons and Posts enacting a hammy western spoof under Eastwood's direction.

Undoubtedly the most disastrous episode of 1962 is the Season 2 finale "Ed, the Matchmaker" (April 29, 1962), which was actually intended to be a pilot for a sit-com based on the character of 15-year-old boy crazy Emmy Lou Harper, a kind of female Dobie Gillis. Ostensibly, the Harpers are another new set of neighbors for the Posts (a plot device also used in the aforementioned "Zsa Zsa" episode as well as "Ed's New Neighbors" [March 25,1962]). Ed enjoys spying on them, but he has little involvement in their lives until the end of the episode when he volunteers, posing as Wilbur on a phone call, to haul Emmy Lou's boyfriend-to-be's broken down car to the drive-in so that she can finally get a date with him. The bulk of the episode is spent with Emmy Lou trying to get the attention of said boy, grocery deliverer Arthur who is always eating and talks with his mouth full so that he is incomprehensible (talk about a one-joke gag), and then trying to overcome the many obstacles in actually going out on a date due to Arthur's continually faltering automobile. Thankfully, the series was never purchased, but Mister Ed, despite Young's later observation that it never deviated from what it was, had already begun recasting itself as a kind of father-son sit-com with Ed's character becoming more and more of a bratty manipulator.

Besides constantly raiding Roger Addison's apple trees next door, in "Horse Wash" (February 4, 1962) Ed begins calling Wilbur "dad," and when Wilbur replies he is not his father, Ed says he adopted him. In this episode Ed is fixated on losing weight to impress a Mexican filly and repeatedly sneaks out of his stall and gets himself filthy jogging in the park, which is why he eventually ends up at a car wash when Wilbur refuses to clean him again. In "Ed, the Beachcomber" (April 1, 1962) Ed becomes upset when a newspaper editorial says the horse has no place in modern society, so he runs away from home to hang out with beatniks squatting on some beachfront property that Addison owns, reinforcing the idea that Ed sees himself as a misunderstood teenager. In "Lie Detector" (April 8, 1962) Ed lies to Wilbur about spilling the inkwell on his desk in the barn, thereby ruining a set of architecture plans Wilbur has been working on. Wilbur uses a lie detector invention that Addison is thinking of investing in to prove Ed is lying and then locks him in his stall to punish him, only to have Ed break out and run away from home again, though he leaves Wilbur a note on where to find him. But Ed's worst behavior is on display in "Horse Party" (November 15, 1962) when he sends Carol, Kay, and their women's club to the home of another club member whose child has chicken pox and tricks Addison intro driving out of town thinking he has been invited to give a lecture on gardening so that he can clear the Posts' yard for his birthday party which he cajoles Wilbur into hosting with a half dozen horse guests, streamers, and a birthday cake. Wilbur is unaware of Ed's machinations until Carol and her group return after being told by the mother with the sick child that she never phoned anyone saying her child had only a rash from eating strawberries, but Ed tries to absolve himself by pleading to Wilbur that he is only a 9-year-old child. The writers of Mister Ed apparently think we will find Ed's bratty behavior funny because he is a horse rather than a human, but this undercuts their argument advanced in earlier episodes of the series that a horse deserves to be treated with the same consideration as his human counterparts. You can't have it both ways.

In fact one of the better 1962 episodes, "Ed Gets Amnesia" (September 27, 1962), works because a knock on the head makes Ed think he is not a horse (never mind the insane premise that the blow to Ed's head comes from Wilbur storing metal pails on high shelves and the rafters of Ed's stall). In his efforts to restore Ed's sense of himself, Wilbur visits a vet who sees nothing strange about treating pets like humans but then thinks Wilbur is crazy when he tells him his horse thinks he is human and that Wilbur thinks this because Ed, a horse, told him so. Wilbur then gets the idea that if he pretends to have amnesia himself and is treated by a human doctor, he can use this treatment on Ed, since Ed thinks he is human. Of course when Wilbur levels with the human doctor on what he is up to, the human doctor thinks he is crazy as well. This is the sort of humor that made the series such a hit in its first season, but even the best jokes told repeatedly eventually lose their freshness. Another episode with great comic potential is "Wilbur the Masher" (December 13, 1962) in which Ed whistles and catcalls an attractive filly only to have its rider think that Wilbur is flirting with her. However, the acting and direction of guest stars Coleen Gray and Paul Langton as the offended horse rider and her husband is too hammy to be effective, and the resolution of Wilbur claiming that he has a bashful friend who was hiding behind a tree doing the whistling and catcalling, and then Ed supposedly verifying the story by calling the female horse rider and confessing, doesn't wash. For example, why would the female horse rider and her husband be offended by this behavior from Wilbur but not his bashful friend?

Even with its struggles to sustain a one-joke premise and digressions into sit-com blandness, Mister Ed is often bolstered by the always amusing performance of Larry Keating as sourpuss cheapskate Roger Addison, who usually delivers the best lines and whose delivery always makes them better. From his portrayal of an inept early Massachusetts governor in Ed's retelling of the Thanksgiving origin story in "Ed, the Pilgrim" (November 22, 1962) to his attempt to use Ed to drive off his horse-allergic mother-in-law in "Ed and the Allergy" (October 25, 1962), Addison is just as devious and manipulative as Ed, but he makes no attempt to excuse his own bad behavior. He embraces his caddishness, and we embrace him for it. Sadly, he would be with the series only 1 more year before succumbing to leukemia. The show would never be the same without him.

The Actors

For the biographies of Alan Young, Connie Hines, Larry Keating, Edna Skinner, and Allan Lane, see the 1961 post on Mister Ed.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 2, Episode 12, "The Wrestler": Ricky Starr (shown on the left, professional wrestler and ballet dancer) plays wrestler Tiger Davis. Milton Frome (starred in Pardners, The Delicate Delinquent, and The Swinger and played Lawrence Chapman on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays his manager Barney Harris. Miriam Nelson (choreographer for films such as High Time, Cat Ballou, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, and Cactus Flower) plays ballet teacher Miss Canfield.

Season 2, Episode 13, "Ed's Bed": Jack Kruschen (appeared in The War of the Worlds, The Apartment, Lover Come Back, and Freebie and the Bean and played Tully on Hong Kong, Sam Markowitz on Busting Loose, Papa Papadapolis on Webster, and Fred Avery on Material World) plays a motorcycle policeman. 

Season 2, Episode 14, "Ed, the Beneficiary": Raymond Bailey (shown on the right, see the biography section of the 1961 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays lawyer Howard Dieterle. Lee Goodman (part of the comedy duo Goodman & Kirkwood, Oscar-nominated co-producer of documentary feature With These Hands) plays Addison's physician Dr. John Reynolds.

Season 2, Episode 15, "Zsa Zsa": Zsa Zsa Gabor (shown on the left, starred in Lovely to Look At, Moulin Rouge (1952), Death of a Scoundrel, and Queen of Outer Space) plays herself. Jack Albertson (starred in Days of Wine and Roses, Kissin' Cousins, The Flim-Flam Man, and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and played Lt. Harry Evans on The Thin Man, Walter Burton on Room for One More, Lt. Cmdr. Virgil Stoner on Ensign O'Toole, and Ed Brown on Chico and the Man) plays Kay's brother Paul Fenton. Berry Kroeger (appeared in Black Magic, Gun Crazy, Hitler, and Demon Seed) plays Zsa Zsa's agent Jack Brady. Reed Howes (one-time Arrow Collar Man model and silent film leading man in features such as High Speed Lee, Lightning Romance, The Snob Buster, and Romantic Rogue) plays a ship's officer. Betty Conner (Jill McComb on The Young Marrieds and Anne Cooper on Gidget) plays Zsa Zsa's assistant Suzette.

Season 2, Episode 16, "Horse Wash": Barry Kelley (starred in The Asphalt Jungle, The Manchurian Candidate, and The Love Bug and played Mr. Slocum on Pete and Gladys) plays Carol's father Mr. Higgins. Herb Vigran (shown on the right, played Judge Brooker on Gunsmoke) plays car wash owner Joe Burke. Karl Lukas (Pvt. Stash Kadowski on The Phil Silvers Show, Scotty on Family Affair, and Carl the maintenance man on St. Elsewhere) plays car wash worker Harry.

Season 2, Episode 17, "Ed, the Horse Doctor": Hank Patterson (Fred Ziffel on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction and Hank Miller on Gunsmoke) plays veterinarian Dr. Evans. Robert Carson (Mr. Maddis on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and the narrator on Navy Log) plays racing horse trainer Whitey Morgan.

Season 2, Episode 18, "George Burns Meets Mister Ed": George Burns (shown on the left, starred in The Big Broadcast, Many Happy Returns, College Humor, the Oh, God! franchise, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and played himself on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, The George Burns Show, Wendy and Me, and George Burns Comedy Week) plays  himself.

Season 2, Episode 19, "Ed's Word of Honor": Earle Hodgins (Lonesome on Guestward Ho!) plays a carnival barker. Nick Stewart (appeared in Go West Young Man, Cabin in the Sky, Stormy Weather, Carmen Jones, and Hollywood Shuffle and played Lightnin' on The Amos and Andy Show and Willy-Willy on Ramar of the Jungle) plays a carnival customer.

Season 2, Episode 20, "No Horses Allowed": Neil Hamilton (shown on the right, starred in The Great Gatsby (1926), Why Be Good?, Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), and Brewster's Millions, was the host of Hollywood Screen Test, and played Commissioner Gordon on Batman) plays neighbor Harvey Ainsworth. Ted Eccles (Tooly on The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, Bobby Chandler on General Hospital, and Brad on Dr. Shrinker) plays his son Bobby. C. Lindsay Workman (see the biography section of the 1961 post on The Donna Reed Show) plays TV director Russ Fuller. Olan Soule (Aristotle "Tut" Jones on Captain Midnight, Ray Pinker on Dragnet (1952-59), Cal on Stagecoach West, the Hotel Carlton desk clerk on Have Gun -- Will Travel, and Fred Springer on Arnie and voiced Batman on The All-New Super Friends Hour, Challenge of the Superfriends, The World's Greatest SuperFriends, and Super Friends) plays makeup man Max. Bill Baldwin (the narrator on Harbor Command and Bat Masterson and the announcer on The Bob Cummings Show) plays the TV station announcer.

Season 2, Episode 21, "Bald Horse": Percy Helton (Homer Cratchit on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays veterinarian Dr. Evans. Henry Norell (Henry Slocum on Oh! Those Bells) plays horse owner Herbert Saxon.

Season 2, Episode 22, "Ed's New Neighbors": Willard Waterman (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dennis the Menace) plays Addison house buyer Edward Douglas. Shirley Mitchell (Yvonne Sharp on Sixpenny Corner, Kitty Devereaux on Bachelor Father, Janet Colton on Pete and Gladys, Marge on Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and Clara Appleby on The Red Skelton Hour) plays his wife Hortense. Jimmy Garrett (Jerry Carmichael on The Lucy Show) plays their son Timmy.

Season 2, Episode 23, "Ed, the Beachcomber": Joe Conley (Ike Godsey on The Waltons) plays a press photographer.

Season 2, Episode 24, "Lie Detector": Richard Reeves (Mr. Murphy on Date With the Angels) plays livestock worker Charley. 

Season 2, Episode 25, "Clint Eastwood Meets Mister Ed": Clint Eastwood (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Rawhide) plays himself. Kathleen Freeman (Katie on Topper, Marilly on Mayor of the Town, Bertha Krause on The Bob Cummings Show, Flo Shafer on The Beverly Hillbillies, Kate Harwell on Funny Face, Iris Belmont on Lotsa Luck!, and Mrs. Brezinski on Generations) plays his housekeeper Katie. Donna Douglas (Barbara Simmons on Checkmate and Elly Mae Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays his girlfriend.

Season 2, Episode 26, "Ed, the Matchmaker": George O'Hanlon (shown on the left, played Joe McDoakes in dozens of shorts with titles that begin with So You Want or So You Think, played Calvin Dudley on The Life of Riley, Artie Burns on The Reporter, and was the voice of George Jetson on The Jetsons) plays new neighbor George Harper. Jeff Donnell (Alice on The George Gobel Show, Evelyn Driscoll on Dr. Kildare, and Mrs. Bennett on Julia) plays his wife Martha. Linda Henning (Betty Jo Bradley on Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies, on which she was also the voice of Jethrine Bodine, and Mrs. Mallory on Sliders) plays their daughter's friend Penelope. Peter Brooks (Hank Ferguson on My Three Sons) plays grocery delivery boy Arthur. Albert Carrier (appeared in Tender Is the Night, Fitzwilly, and Scarface) plays Italian movie character Roberto. 

Season 3, Episode 1, "Ed Gets Amnesia": Richard Deacon (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Dick Van Dyke Show) plays veterinarian Dr. Baker. C. Lindsay Workman (see "No Horses Allowed" above) plays physician Dr. Cathcart.

Season 3, Episode 2, "Wilbur, the Good Samaritan": Jerry Hausner (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Mr. Magoo Show) plays newspaper circulation manager Mr. Hunt. Kevin Brodie (son of actor Steve Brodie) plays Wilbur's newsboy Joey. Karl Lukas (see "Horse Wash" above) plays policeman George. 

Season 3, Episode 3, "Wilbur and Ed in Show Biz": Chick Chandler (shown on the left, played Toubo Smith on Soldiers of Fortune and Barney Hogan on One Happy Family) plays elephant trainer Mr. Hodges.

Season 3, Episode 4, "The Bashful Clipper": Ricky Starr (see "The Wrestler" above) plays former beautician Chuck Miller. Barbara Morrison (appeared in From Here to Eternity, Don't Knock the Twist, and Papillon) plays newspaper fashion editor Doris Manning.

Season 3, Episode 5, "Ed and the Allergy": Isabel Randolph (Mrs. Boone on Meet Millie, Ruth Nestor on Our Miss Brooks, and Clara Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show) plays Kay's mother. 

Season 3, Episode 6, "Horse Sense": Neil Hamilton (see "No Horses Allowed" above) plays book publisher Mr. Boyd. Gale Robbins (shown on the right, singer who appeared in The Barkleys of Broadway, Three Little Words, and Calamity Jane) plays literary critic Miss Meed. Henry Hunter (Dr. Summerfield on Hazel) plays Roger's golfing friend Bill.

Season 3, Episode 7, "Wilbur in the Lion's Den": Charles Lane (shown on the left, appeared in The Milky Way, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Lady Is Willing, The Music Man, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and The Gnome-Mobile and played Mr. Fosdick on Dear Phoebe, Homer Bedloe on Petticoat Junction, Foster Phinney on The Beverly Hillbillies, Dale Busch on Karen, and Judge Anthony Petrillo on Soap) plays real estate developer Charley Foster.

Season 3, Episode 8, "Horse Party": Rolfe Sedan (Mr. Beasley the Postman on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and Mr. Briggs the Postman on The Addams Family) plays party rental shop owner Mr. Fairchild. Joe Conley (see "Ed the Beachcomber" above) plays singing telegram boy Frank.

Season 3, Episode 9, "Ed, the Pilgrim": Grandon Rhodes (Mr. Vanderlip on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Dr. Stevens on Lassie, Dr. J.P. Martin on Bonanza, and the judge 16 times on Perry Mason) plays pilgrim Smythe. Norman Leavitt (shown on the right, played Ralph on Trackdown) plays pilgrim Holly. Rodd Redwing (appeared in Rancho Notorious, Son of Geronimo: Apache Avenger, The Pathfinder, and The Mole People and played Mr. Brother on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays Indian brave Fleetfoot. Frankie Darro (starred in The Mayor of Hell, Wild Boys of the Road, Little Men, and played Robbie the Robot in Forbidden Planet) plays delivery man Henry.

Season 3, Episode 10, "Disappearing Horse": Karl Lukas (see "Horse Wash" above) plays policeman Charlie.

Season 3, Episode 11, "Ed and Paul Revere": Hans Conried (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Rocky and His Friends) plays sculptor Igor Korzak.

Season 3, Episode 12, "Wilbur the Masher": Coleen Gray (shown on the far right, starred in Kiss of Death, Nightmare Alley, The Killing, The Vampire, The Leech Woman, and The Phantom Planet and played Muriel Clifford on McCloud) plays horse owner Betty Gordon. Paul Langton (shown on the near right, played Leslie Harrington on Peyton Place) plays her husband Frank.

Season 3, Episode 13, "Horse of a Different Color": Hugh Sanders (appeared in That's My Boy, The Pride of St. Louis, The Winning Team, and The Wild One) plays circus owner Mr. Armstrong.