''The Marriage'' is an American sitcom that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from July to August 1954. The series is noted as the first prime time network color

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series. Broadcast live by

for seven episodes in the summer of 1954, the series stars real-life couple

Hume Cronyn Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer. Early life Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...

(who also produced the show) and

Jessica Tandy Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was a British-American actress. Tandy appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe ...

as a New York lawyer and his wife with two children, played by Susan Strasberg and Malcolm Brodrick.

Synopsis

The half-hour show, written by

Ernest Kinoy Ernest Kinoy (April 1, 1925 – November 10, 2014) was an American writer, screenwriter and playwright. Early life Kinoy was born in New York City on April 1, 1925; his parents, Albert and Sarah Kinoy (formerly Forstadt), were both high-school ...

, debuted on July 8, 1954, originating from the Colonial Theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, NBC's color television production facility. The television series was adapted from an NBC radio series of the same title, also starring Cronyn and Tandy and written by Kinoy, that ran from October 1953 to February 1954. The television show was directed by

Jack Garfein Jakob Garfein (July 2, 1930 – December 30, 2019) was an American film and theatre director, writer, teacher, producer, and key figure of the Actors Studio. Growing up in Bardejov, Czechoslovakia during the rise of Nazism, Garfein was deported ...

and

Marc Daniels Marc Daniels (January 27, 1912 – April 23, 1989), born Danny Marcus, was an American television director. He directed on programs such as I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Hogan's Heroes, and more. Life and career Da ...

Reception

The ''New York Times'' television critic called the show "new and different and delightful," and wrote, "'The Marriage' is a sparkling, crisp portrayal of some charming people." The ''Washington Post'' called it among the best of the summertime replacement series, praising its "adult approach to situation comedy," with believable situations and intelligent characters. The show was suspended after August 19, when Cronyn and Tandy left to tour on stage. There was talk in late 1954 of resuming the series, but it did not happen."'The Marriage' May Be Resumed," ''New York Times'', Dec. 8, 1954, p. 51. "TV Comedy Show Tries Psychology," ''New York Times'', Dec. 14, 1954, p. 50.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marriage, The 1953 American television series debuts 1954 American television series endings 1950s American sitcoms English-language television shows American live television series NBC original programming Television shows set in New York City