[1] Adapted from the radio program of the same name, which was based on Clifford Goldsmith's Broadway play What a Life (1938),[2] it was the first successful situation comedy on NBC television.
The New York Times reported that the appeal of that pilot episode would determine whether the radio series would continue as well as whether the program would have a future in television.
Accusations that Jean Muir was connected with Communist organizations led to her dismissal from the cast of The Aldrich Family before she performed in an episode and resulted in a delay of the show's return to the air in the fall of 1950.
Nancy Carroll was hired to replace Muir, and sponsor General Foods Corporation canceled the episode scheduled to be the premiere for the 1950-51 season[9] (August 27, 1950).
"[12] General Foods said that Muir had become "a controversial personality" as a result of the protests and that having her on the program might hurt sales of the company's products.
The company expected to follow guidelines that it hoped would come out of a September 29, 1950, meeting of representatives of various aspects of the broadcasting industry.
[1] Producers included Ed Duerr, Roger Kay, Frank Papp, Joseph Sciretta, Lester Vail, and Ralph Warren.
Approximately one week after the change occurred, Campbell's officials learned that Kelk would not return to play Homer because General Foods had signed him for a new situation comedy.
[27] About a month after The Aldrich Family debuted on TV, a review in The New York Times said that prospects for the show's future looked good.
[28] In contrast, it added, Kelk's actions as Homer "seem a little too mature and forced to go with the awkwardness and falsetto whine so long identified with the character.
[28] A review of the September 3, 1950, episode in The New York Times found a number of flaws, starting with the story ("a hackneyed item that never really caught the flavor of the adolescent humor" of Henry and Homer).
[25] The review noted Carroll's nervousness and unnecessary gesturing as Henry's mother, but it added that they might have resulted from her relatively recent selection to replace Muir, who had been cast in that role.
She wrote, "Neither boy showed any sense of comedy timing", which she said was made more evident by the polished performances of Jameson and Robbins.
[29] In 1953, John Lester wrote in the York Daily Record that over the past 15 years The Aldrich Family "has become a recognizable, if exaggerated, portrait of the average American household.