[1][2] Structured in a form similar to the 1942–55 series of MGM's Pete Smith Specialty comedy short subjects, which were written and directed by those films' star Dave O'Brien, or to Warner Bros.' Joe McDoakes shorts which starred George O'Hanlon, the brief comedic episodes comprising The Relaxed Wife depict a wise, easygoing housewife calming her stress-filled husband.
[3][4][5] The opening credits start with: "This Film Created By / Coni Johnston / Mel London / Joseph Cole / Bert Spielvogel / Tracy Ward", followed by a slide indicating "And By / Rune Hagman / Dick Brophy / Delores Phox / M. Opelle / Jeanne Sharp / Herb Hagens".
The narrator opens with the words, "After the day's work and worries are done, what is more fun for a man than to come home to a quiet house with happy children and a loving spouse?"
The signs placed around him state "THINK", "SMILE", "WORK" and "PLAN AHEAD", while the narrator explains, "although the feverish male is sure nobody else can have his troubles, we know his wife doesn't pass her days just blowing bubbles".
The wife is then shown negotiating those same stylized gates, carrying a large basket filled with laundry, while the two noisy and boisterous children run and shout.
She then reads to him, "true relaxation comes from conquering both nervous and physical tensions by calming both mind and muscles…" He imagines himself back at his work desk with his head having a pressure cooker valve sticking out of it and boiling over at top with the three-level lettering — "world's worries / other folk's problems / my affairs".
At that point, the narrator again takes over, explaining, "as for everything else, the Greeks had a word for this mental and physical state of bliss — Ataraxia was the term they chose to use for the opposite of anxiety, fatigue and blues.
[10][11] This short, along with many others considered to be time-capsule chronicles of their period, has been frequently classified as camp and shown as filler within Turner Classic Movies' Saturday night–Sunday morning film showcase series, TCM Underground.