On April 23, 1966, after a successful 22-year-run of broadcast, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet aired their last episode. For a long time, the show held the position as the longest American television sitcom which ran consistently. In 2016, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia tied with it after being renewed for a 13th and 14th season. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet held the record for the longest-running sitcom, but that ended with ‘The Simpsons’ in 2003.
The Nelsons made an extraordinary 435 episodes together. In comparison, there are 180 episodes of “Seinfeld.” Peter Jones, the writer and director of a two-hour documentary. ”Ozzie and Harriet: The Adventures of America’s Favorite Family” said that the Nelson’s show “may have endured far longer because the Nelson family blurred the line between fiction and reality.”
The "Shotgun Wedding"
Ozzie wanted to conceal the fact that Ricky and Kristin were getting married so quickly due to her being pregnant. Six months after their wedding, Kristin gave birth to their baby girl, Tracy Kristine Nelson. Ozzie was very adamant about his decision to announce that the baby was born premature.
He took this so far that he convinced the hospital to forge the baby's weight on the birth certificate. He even had the full-term infant photographed in an incubator. Ozzie was fully committed to his family's image and the public's perception of them.
The 1960s
By the ‘60s, American television started undergoing a major change along with the country's social climate. As writer and director, Ozzie needed to modify the show so as to keep appealing to its audience. Although Ricky was still introducing new songs on the show, Ozzie was no longer including this in every episode.
By 1965, Ricky's record sales even began to drop. The country was experiencing a major upheaval and Ricky's fresh-faced image was starting to impact the show negatively. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet was no longer fitting with the ideals and values of the current era.
Mary Tyler Moore Appeared on the Show
In the early beginnings of television, there was often a major sponsor who helped make a television show possible. A major sponsor of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet during several episodes in the 1950s was Hotpoint. An opening was included before the start of the show with the product along with a young Mary Tyler Moore as a “Happy Hotpoint” dancing pixie.
Many years later, Mary Tyler Moore would star in her own show, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and she would become an even bigger celebrity than the Nelsons. Ozzie and Harriet welcomed many guest appearances to their show, but this perhaps was the biggest star of them all.
Outdoor vs. Indoor
If you were an avid Ozzie and Harriet fan throughout the series' run, then you were probably well aware that a lot of the TV show took place in the family kitchen. This was no coincidence. The show's main sponsor, Hotpoint, wanted to place its products directly in front of the show's audience. Later on in the series, there were more outdoor scenes. Once they were outside, the cameras around everyone's necks were from Kodak.
At this point in time, this was the extent of the capabilities of product placement. TV commercials and more strategic product placement wouldn't become a thing for years to come. Although the TV show was entirely about the family, the Nelsons depended largely on sponsors and thus where the family interacted was decided by some of the show's main sponsors.