My Favorite Husband

This series was more directly inspired by the radio series of the same name, which aired from 1948 to 1951, and starred Lucille Ball and Richard Denning. Gale Gordon and Bea Benadaret co-starred as the neighbors, Rudolph & Iris Atterbury. The radio series was the genesis of Lucille Ball's later TV series, I Love Lucy. Many of the production crew came along with Lucille Ball, and a number of Lucy episodes were essentially new versions of MFH scripts, sometimes with dialog reproduced virtually word-for-word. Gordon & Benadaret were Ball's first choices to play the Ricardo's neighbors, the Mertzes, but both were committed to other projects. Gordon, of course, went on to star with Ball in "The Lucy Show" as Mr. Mooney, however, it is noteworthy that he is the only actor who appeared with Lucille Ball at some point in all her series, radio and TV.

Version of Are Husbands Necessary? (1942)