''The Laytons'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

that was broadcast live on station

WABD WABD (97.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the city of license, community of Mobile, Alabama. The station, established in 1973 as WABB-FM, is owned and operated by Cumulus Media. Its studios are on Dauphin ...

from May to June 1948, and on the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...

(at the time consisting of two stations)Weinstein, David, ''The Forgotten Network'', page 191, Temple University Press, 2004 from August to October 1948 on Wednesdays from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. One series cast member was Amanda Randolph, who became the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

performer in a regular role on a U.S. network TV series.

Overview

In the 1952 book ''The TV Writer's Guide'' author Margaret R. Weiss uses a script from ''The Laytons'' as an example of how to write for television situation comedies. She also gives information on how the "extremely low-budgeted show" was made. Episodes were written by series creator Barbara Boothe. For each episode two cameras were used (at the time usually three or four were used for television shows). There were one or two sets, and a maximum of four characters appeared in each episode. The series was sponsored by Bates, Fabrics, Inc., and at the middle of the episodes a live commercial for Bates bedspreads and draperies was broadcast from one of the show's sets.Weiss, Margaret R., ''The TV Writer's Guide'', pages 93-110, Peliegoini & Cudahy, 1952 Characters in ''The Laytons'' were Martha, the housekeeper who had worked in the Laytons' home for at least 25 years. She usually came up with solutions to the family's predicaments. Ruth Layton was a stay-at-home housewife, George Layton was a doctor, and Virginia (Ginny) was their teenage daughter. Son Bill was a city official. He and his wife Peggy and daughter Nancy lived in a nearby home. Ruth was played by Vera Tatum, a theater actress who'd taken part in two

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tours in the South Pacific, Korea and Japan. There is no known record of who played the other members of the Layton family.

Series cast of characters

*Martha - housekeeper ( Amanda Randolph) *Ruth Layton - mother (Vera Tatum) *George Layton - father, a doctor *Virginia (Ginny) Layton - teenage daughter *Bill Layton - son, a city official *Peggy Layton - Bill's wife *Nancy Layton - Bill's daughter

Episode status

''The Layton's'' series was broadcast live, and there are no known preserved episodes. The script from one episode, Uncle Charlie's Visit, or The Moose Hangs High, which aired August 11, 1948, was printed in the book ''The TV Writer's Guide''.

References

Bibliography

*David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia:

Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...

, 2004) *Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York:

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, 1980) *Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'', Third edition (New York:

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...

, 1984)

External links