The Abbott And Costello Show

The show was a vehicle to bring Abbott and Costello's tried and true burlesque routines to television in a format that the team could control. There were none of the musical interludes or love stories that marred most of their feature films. Basically, if a situation or gag was funny, they filmed it without regard to plot, character or continuity. As a result, the show became a valuable record of classic burlesque scenes performed by the greatest comedy team to come out of burlesque.

Lou Costello owned the show, with Bud Abbott working on salary. The supporting cast included Sidney Fields as their landlord; Hillary Brooke as a neighbor and sometime love interest; Gordon Jones as Mike the Cop, a dim-witted foil for the boys; Joe Besser as Stinky, a 40-year-old man dressed in a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit; and Joe Kirk as Mr. Bacciagalupe, an Italian immigrant caricature who held a variety of jobs depending upon the requirements of the script. Several episodes also featured a pet chimp named "Bingo," who was dressed exactly the same as Costello. Bingo was fired from the show after biting Costello.

The program lasted two seasons and was directed and produced by Jean Yarbrough. The first season episodes are considered to be far superior to those of the second, which introduced a more traditional (and confining) sitcom approach. Scripts for the first season were written by Eddie Forman or Sid Fields. Episodes in the second season were written by Jack Townley, Felix Adler or Clyde Bruckman.

Jerry Seinfeld has declared that this show, with its overriding emphasis on funny situations rather than life lessons, was the inspiration for his own long-running sitcom.

In the 1990s all 52 episodes were released on VHS, and subsequently DVD after decades in syndication.

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The Abbott And Costello Show