It stars actress Joan Davis as the manic, scatterbrained wife of a mild-mannered community judge (Jim Backus).

Sponsored by General Electric (original network openings extolled the virtues of the sponsor's products rather than those of its star), I Married Joan was aimed at the viewers who watched I Love Lucy, which had debuted the previous year and was already television's top-rated situation comedy; it was considered by many as an I Love Lucy knock-off and not seen favourably in comparison.

NBC scheduled I Married Joan Wednesdays at 8:00 ET against the first half of Arthur Godfrey and His Friends on CBS for the entirety of its three-season run.

The show performed marginally during its first year, but enjoyed a surge in the Nielsen ratings during its second season in the wake of Godfrey's firing of Julius LaRosa and the resultant negative publicity.

In its third year, I Married Joan withered against the additional competition of ABC's new top-rated hit Walt Disney's Disneyland and was canceled, airing its last first-run episode on March 23, 1955.