AIRED: 1952-55
DAD: Vernon Albright (Charles Farrell) / Widower
DAD’S JOB: Investment Banker
KIDS: Margie (Gale Storm), 18
WHERE’S MOM?: Dead – so is Dad.
STAND-IN “MOM”:Mrs. Odetts (Gertrude Hoff)
The granddaddy of them all, My Little Margie set the stage for most TV Single Dad sitcom plots: the child decides Dad needs a new wife, and goes “shopping” for one. Dad winds up meeting the child’s “pick” and things go awry. Dad winds up yelling at the child, and then apologizes. Everything is fine until the next exciting episode…
Although it’s the earliest known TV Single Dad show, My Little Margie was a radio cross-over from CBS. The television version of the radio series, produced by Desilu, made it to the screen as a summer replacement for I Love Lucy.
Update: Alert Viewer Gord Bates reports that the company Vernon Albright worked for was “Honeywell & Todd”. Thanks, Gord!