Government Puts Stamp On Fifties' TV Shows

The government has officially pronounced broadcast content "First Class."

That's because the Post Office is saluting 20 iconic 1950's TV shows with a new commemorative stamp issue.

The stamps will be unveiled Aug. 11 at the Leonard Goldenson Theatre in Hollywood at an event hosted by Carl Reiner and featuring some of the former stars or surviving family members of the selected shows, including June Lockhart of Lassie in the first category and Jayne Meadows, wife of Tonight Show host Steve Allen, in the latter.

The shows getting the Post Office's stamp of approval are The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; The Dinah Shore Show; Dragnet; The Ed Sullivan Show; The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show; Hopalong Cassidy; The Honeymooners; Howdy Doody; I Love Lucy; Kukla, Fran and Ollie; Lassie; The Lone Ranger; Perry Mason; The Phil Silvers Show; The Red Skelton Show; Texaco Star Theater; Tonight Show; Twilight Zone; and You Bet Your Life.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.