TV censorship in the 1950s and I LOVE LUCY question

They probably had to be wearing two sets of pajamas.

 

This is rather dry reading but it's a detailed and involved history of the 'television code'.
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/censorship/censorship.htm

Additional reading:
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6558/

Sounds like you have some time on your hands Steve. Hope you're up and at 'em soon.

dan c

 

First Stop

http://www.tv.com/i-love-lucy/first-stop/episode/17148/recap.html

 

My sister once told me back in the fifties there was a TV rule that two people could only be seen in the same bed if each had a foot on the floor. (Shes's about as reliable of a source as Wikipedia in my book.)

 

The bed rule is weird as the first season of Lucy had them sleeping in separate twin beds that were pushed together. They were under the different blankets as well. Then they were moved into separate twin beds separated by a night stand later on. Maybe the code was loose and it depended on the network or censor?

 

It may well have been down to the judgement of the person who was on the set from Standards and Practices on the day.

 

This is how I always heard it too -- the one foot rule -- so maybe Sis is reliable in this particular case. The other was that they couldn't use the word "pregnant" when Lucy was expecting.

 

That's what I was going to post. They either had to sleep in twin beds or if the same bed, had to have one foot on the floor I'm pretty sure was the rule.

 

Previous poster was correct about the leg out of the bed/foot on the floor rule, thanks to the Hayes Code.

http://www.tvacres.com/broad_bed.htm

Broadcast Firsts

Bed Sharing - Traditionally, all married TV couples in the 1950s and early 1960s were required sleep in separate (twin beds) to uphold moral codes of the times. Many of the top couples of all time such as Rob and Laura Petrie, and even Ward and June Cleaver never had the satisfaction of knocking knees in the same bed in front of the American public.

The first TV program to show a husband and wife sharing the same bed on a regular basis occurred in 1947 on the Dumont sitcom MARY KAY AND JOHNNY. TV's first sitcom ever. The program told the tale of a newly married couple living in Greenwich Village. Unfortunately, no copies of the show exist so we must rely on the documented memories of others to prove the point. Later in the 1950s Ozzie and Harriet broke the taboo and were seen in the same bed.

While Lucy and Ricky Ricardo on I LOVE LUCY definitely slept in separate beds, their neighbors Fed and Ethel were actually the first on that show to sleep together in the same bed (well sort of). It seems on the January 17, 1955 episode "First Stop" Ethel and Fred try to navigate their way through a sagging mattress and consequently are seen squirming in bed together.

Another sitcom couple who have linked with being the first to share a bed were Darrin and Samantha Stephens, a witch and advertising executive who lived at 1164 Morning Glory Circle Drive in Westport, Connecticut on the prime time sitcom BEWITCHED/ABC/1964-72.

Florence Henderson (a.k.a. Carol Brady) from THE BRADY BUNCH had claimed for years that she and her TV husband Mike Brady (Robert Reed) were the first couple to share a bed together, but through the magic of reruns, her claims has been deposed. And, of course, while Herman and Lilly Munster on THE MUNSTERS and Fred and Wilma Flintstone were seen in the same bed, they are not technically speaking humans. The Munsters being monsters and the Flintstones cartoons. See also Urban Legends Webpage - "Early to Bed"

The reason TV couples were not allowed in bed together harkened back to the Hayes Code, a series of rules and regulations designed to moderate the action of Hollywood film industry directors and producers in the 1930s. The Hayes Code censorship guidelines dictated that a man and woman could never be seen in the same bed. If the situation occurred that a man and woman were on the same bed together, one of them had to keep a leg on the floor. So, for instance, a man could sit on the side of a bed and talk to a woman in the bed, but one of his legs had to maintain contact with the floor at all times. The Hayes Codes also prohibited the navel of a woman to be displayed in the screen. Filmmakers found loopholes in the rule, however, In the case of belly dancer, a well placed jewel in the belly button helped them bypass the spirit of the Hayes Code and continue to make "sheik" & "harem" movie adventures. The power of the Hayes Code reared its head in the 1960s, as well,. when actress like Barbara Eden as Jeannie the Genie in her Harem Costume on the sitcom I DREAM OF JEANNIE, Sally Field in her bathing suits from teenage comedy GIDGET and Dawn Wells wearing her knotted-up shirts on the maritime sitcom GILLIGAN'S ISLAND were all made to cover up their navels from the supposed leering eyes of lusty American youth. Thankfully, times have changed. The Hayes Code fell to the wayside when it was replaced by the MPAA Ratings announced in November 1968 (G, M, R and X rating guidelines).

When Lucy was pregnant she couldn't say the word pregnant. She had dialogue such as "I'm with child", or "I'm having a baby".

 

Steve, I believe the rule was that if a married TV couple was shown in a bed together, they had to have one foot touching the floor. Otherwise, they had to sleep in separate beds.

Until The Brady Bunch, I thought it was normal for grownups to sleep in separate beds.

EDIT: I just saw Chris' post.

 

Well, Lucy and Desi were all about pushing the envelope. They even pioneered the use of two cameras.

perhaps they got away with it that time because it took place in a motel room on a trip with two other married people.

Or, maybe no one noticed.

 

i never gave it much thought but i remember now it was 2 beds on the dick van dyke show too.

steve,on an off topic,since you mentioned pain killers,what's the problem you're having,if you don't mind saying.

 

or... see here...

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=147054

 

Weren't TV standards a little more relaxed toward the early days, compared to 1960-ish or so? I haven't watched a lot of TV from then, but I've heard about Milton Berle routines and such on the early TV that wouldn't have got by the censors a little later on.

 

It was their wild bohemian weekend.

 

That would have made it more risque, no?

 

You know, I've seen this episode and wondered the very same thing. Glad Steve asked.

 

I've always thought that Bob and Emily Hartley were the first TV couple who not only shared a bed, but left no doubt about how they occupied themselves (at least part of the time) while doing so.

 

three, actually.

later, chris

 

at the time, i love lucy was ground breaking in many ways. i think it was the first TV show to feature a pregnant woman.

compared to say, europe, the US seemed just a tad bit up-tight in it mores. it wasn't until 1960, and the release of psycho, that you could actually see a toilet being flushed on a US movie screen.

later, chris