''The Stu Erwin Show'' (also known as ''Trouble with Father'') is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

which aired on ABC from 1950 to 1955. Only four of the series’ five seasons on the network included new episodes; the 1953–54 season consisted entirely of reruns.

Synopsis

The series' star,

Stuart Erwin Stuart Erwin (February 14, 1903 – December 21, 1967) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Early years Erwin was born in Squaw Valley, Fresno County, California. He attended Porterville High School and the University o ...

, played a bumbling high school principal named Stu Erwin. His wife, film ingenue from the late silent and early sound period,

June Collyer June Collyer (born Dorothea Heermance, August 19, 1906 – March 16, 1968) was an American film actress of the 1920s and 1930s. Early life Born in New York City, Collyer chose to use her mother's maiden name when she decided to pursue acti ...

, played the principal's wife, June Erwin. Although Erwin and Collyer, who were married in 1931, had a son and a daughter, the series presented them as parents of two adolescent daughters played by

Sheila James Sheila (alternatively spelled Shelagh and Sheelagh) is a common feminine given name, derived from the Irish name ''Síle'', which is believed to be a Gaelic form of the Latin name Caelia, the feminine form of the Roman clan name Caelius, meanin ...

and

Ann Todd Dorothy Ann Todd (24 January 1907 – 6 May 1993) was an English film, television and stage actress who achieved international fame when she starred in 1945's '' The Seventh Veil''. From 1949 to 1957 she was married to David Lean who directed h ...

who was replaced by

Merry Anders Merry Anders (born Mary Helen Anderson; May 22, 1934 – October 28, 2012) was an American actress and model who appeared in a number of television programs and films from the 1950s until her retirement from the screen in 1972. Early life Ander ...

in the series' final season. One notable aspect of the show was that it featured black actor

Willie Best William Best (May 27, 1913 – February 27, 1962), known professionally as Willie Best or Sleep n' Eat, was an American television and film actor. Best was one of the first African American film actors and comedians to become well kn ...

in a regular supporting role. Predating modern single-camera sitcoms, ''The Stu Erwin Show'' originally aired without a

laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...

(one was added in its final season), and each episode was around 26 minutes long, without

commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

. During its original network run on ABC, it was sponsored by

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company or ...

(1950–54), Paper Mate (1953-'54) and

Liggett & Myers Liggett Group ( ), formerly known as Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, is the fourth largest tobacco company in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Durham, North Carolina, though its manufacturing facility is 30 miles to the west in ...

(1954–55).

Production

The series was produced by

Roland D. Reed Roland D. Reed (July 7, 1894–July 15, 1972) was an American film editor, film producer, producer and film director, director. He worked on many films for the low-budget Chesterfield Pictures and later started ''Roland Reed Productions, Inc.'' t ...

and

Hal Roach, Jr. Harold Eugene Roach Jr. (June 15, 1918 – March 29, 1972) was an American film and television producer. Biography Roach Jr. was born in Los Angeles, the son of comedy producer Hal Roach and actress Marguerite Nichols. Roach Jr. co-directed '' ...

, and filmed at

Hal Roach Studios Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and business partners Dan Linthicum and I.H. Nance as the Rolin Film Company on Ju ...

in Culver City, California. All 52 episodes of season one were first-run, followed by another 26 in season two for a total of 78 straight weeks of all-new shows before reruns began in the spring of 1952. Another 26 episodes were produced for the 1952–53 season, interspersed with reruns every third week between October 1952 and July 1953. Production then went on a lengthy hiatus while the network continued airing reruns from the summer of 1953 until the fall of 1954. The fourth and final season's 26 episodes aired between October 1954 and April 1955.

Episodes

Season 1 (1950–51)

Season 2 (1951–52)

Season 3 (1952–53)

Season 4 (1954–55)

Syndication and Home release

The series was widely syndicated by Official Films through the late 1960s. The show is currently seen on the Retro TV Network as of July 2018. Many episodes of the program have fallen into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

. As such, various budget DVD releases of public domain episodes have been released.

References

External links

* *
The Stu Erwin Show
' at The Classic TV Archive * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stu Erwin Show 1950 American television series debuts 1955 American television series endings 1950s American sitcoms American Broadcasting Company original programming Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows Television series about educators