How “Ozzie & Harriet” Whitewashed Family Life in the Fifties

TV’s first reality sitcom wasn’t real at all

Publicity photo of American actors, (L–R) Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Nelson, David Nelson and Ricky Nelson promoting their roles on the ABC television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, circa 1955. Press materials are presumed to have been distributed by the ABC Television Network, which was the network that aired the series. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The American family in the 1950s looked very different from today. For one thing, the man in the family was the breadwinner and the woman in the family was the full-time homemaker. There may not have been a typical family — but there was an ideal one shown on TV: The Nelsons.

Ozzie and Harriet Nelson and their boys, David and Ricky, were real people as well as characters in a television show called The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. The show depicted the life of an American family in an idealized way. In every episode, the four of them would interact as “normal” parents and children, doing everyday things that any family watching on television would relate to and understand.

The show ran for 14 years — from 1952 until 1966 — and is widely regarded as the first “reality” situation comedy. But as you’ll see, the Nelson family showcased on television in a remarkable 435 episodes was a whitewashed version of the real Nelsons — and that became a lifelong challenge for all of them.

How the show got its start

Oswald George Nelson, better known as Ozzie, began his show business career as a band leader, touring the country with his band, making numerous…