If anyone can be labelled a television
auteur
, that man was the inimitable Ozzie Nelson. Not only did Ozzie produce, direct, star and occasionally write the long-running (1952-66) TV sitcom
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
, but he also supplied the cast from his own home! You remember the
dramatis personae
: ex-bandleader Ozzie Nelson, the bemused, stammering
paterfamilias
whose source of income was always a matter of conjecture; Harriet Nelson,
nee
band singer/actress Harriet Hilliard, eternally the voice of calm and reason; David Nelson, the goody two-shoes older son; and Ricky Nelson, the mildly rebellious younger son and teen singing idol. The "Adventures" were among the least adventurous in television history, ranging from Ozzie's search for a gallon of tutti-frutti ice cream to Ricky's efforts to steal a moose head from a rival fraternity house.