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.