Claudia (American TV series)

Joan McCracken portrayed Claudia Brown in Claudia.

Claudia (also known as Claudia, the Story of a Marriage) is an American television program that was broadcast live on NBC January 6, 1952 - March 23, 1952 and on CBS March 31, 1952 - June 30, 1952. The situation comedy was based on Rose Franken's short stories and novels about a young woman's romance.^[1]

Premise

At age 18, Claudia Brown, a somewhat naive teenage girl, married David Naughton, an architect. Adapted from the radio series Claudia and David, episodes focused on their lives, especially Claudia's struggles as she adjusted to married life.^[2] The concept was also adapted into the Broadway play Claudia (1941) and the films Claudia (1943) and Claudia and David (1946).^[3] In addition to Claudia and David, story lines involved David's brother and sister (Harley and Julia) and Claudia's mother (Mrs. Brown).^[4]

Cast

The program's actors and the characters that they portrayed are shown in the table below.

Actor	Character
Joan McCracken	Claudia Naughton
Hugh Reilly	David Naughton
Margaret Wycherly	Mrs. Brown
Faith Brook Dora Sayers	Julia Naughton
Alex Clark William Post, Jr.	Harley Naughton
Paul Andor	Fritz[4]
Mercer McCloud	Roger[4]

Source: Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010,^[2] except as noted.

Production

When the series was on CBS, it originated from WCBS and was sponsored by Swansdown cake mixes and Instant Maxwell House coffee. Carol Irwin was the producer, and William Brown Meloney was the director. Dougherty Brown wrote the scripts, which were based on Franken's stories. It was broadcast on Mondays from 9:30 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time.^[5]

Attempted revival

In 1956, Franken tried to launch a new version of the program. Several entities showed interest in the project, and two pilot episodes were made, but the efforts were unsuccessful.^[3]

References

1. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 167. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
2. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
3. Irvin, Richard (2014). George Burns Television Productions: The Series and Pilots, 1950-1981. McFarland. pp. 118–119. ISBN 9780786494866. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
4. Books, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946 - Present (9 ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
5. "This Week - Network Debuts, Highlights, Changes". Ross Reports. March 30, 1952. p. 1. Retrieved December 27, 2023.