The Life of Riley aired on NBC from 1953-1958 with the star William Bendix. This particular episode in which the open/close is featured happens to be the pilot episode which aired January 2, 1953. For more TV history visit: http://www.dougquick.com
@TomBarrister thanks for your reply. i did see one very early episode where jackie gleason was riley. in that one digby odell has a part. the banter was exactly the same as on the radio..
@malscott Marjorie Reynolds once said that the sponsors of the 1953-58 series decided that the character of O'Dell wasn't suitable for the new medium of television. Since the sponsors paid the bills, they got their way.
o i figured out that gloria blondell. "honeybee" was gillis's wife. but we dont see her much and i think is called belle (at least in "bab's wedding") i dont recall any one ever calling her honeybee
can someone help me out with a few things? first, why isnt digby odell in any of the william bendix tv show episodes? in the radio series when digby does his part he says something and riley always asks whos that? shouldnt he already know who it is when he speaks? and in alot of episodes i watch at archive.org i dont see babs credited in the opening credits. instead it says gloria blondell as honeybee. who is honeybee? why no mention of babs? i think jackies gleasons riely was awful.
I used to watch this show every week. This show was great. They don't make good shows like this anymore William Bendix was one of the best actors around. He is way above the actors today. Actors like Sean Penn as such can't compare to the older actors of the 1950s. That also goes double for Madonna. . She actually stinks as an actresses.
Is that George Fenneman doing the narration at the beginning? Filmed, with canned laughter. LOL. Oh well, he was very good in this part. Loved him in some of his movies like Lifeboat.
@TomBarrister thanks for your reply. i did see one very early episode where jackie gleason was riley. in that one digby odell has a part. the banter was exactly the same as on the radio..
malscott 3 months ago
Yes, that's Fenneman, who had announcing duties for several NBC shows.
TomBarrister 3 months ago
@malscott Marjorie Reynolds once said that the sponsors of the 1953-58 series decided that the character of O'Dell wasn't suitable for the new medium of television. Since the sponsors paid the bills, they got their way.
TomBarrister 3 months ago
Yeah! One of my favorite shows as a kid in the 50's
MrVants 4 months ago
o i figured out that gloria blondell. "honeybee" was gillis's wife. but we dont see her much and i think is called belle (at least in "bab's wedding") i dont recall any one ever calling her honeybee
malscott 1 year ago
can someone help me out with a few things? first, why isnt digby odell in any of the william bendix tv show episodes? in the radio series when digby does his part he says something and riley always asks whos that? shouldnt he already know who it is when he speaks? and in alot of episodes i watch at archive.org i dont see babs credited in the opening credits. instead it says gloria blondell as honeybee. who is honeybee? why no mention of babs? i think jackies gleasons riely was awful.
malscott 1 year ago
I used to watch this show every week. This show was great. They don't make good shows like this anymore William Bendix was one of the best actors around. He is way above the actors today. Actors like Sean Penn as such can't compare to the older actors of the 1950s. That also goes double for Madonna. . She actually stinks as an actresses.
trayguy 1 year ago
Is that George Fenneman doing the narration at the beginning? Filmed, with canned laughter. LOL. Oh well, he was very good in this part. Loved him in some of his movies like Lifeboat.
keca1430 1 year ago
LOL he reminds me of Al Bundy.
Scorpiofootlvr 1 year ago
look at that smile bill bendix and his wife said he was just like riley he wasnt acting
mavivirgie 1 year ago