Two early pioneering television shows now largely lost.
The Beulah Show was a sitcom and as with so many other early TV shows began as a radio program. It ran on CBS Radio from 1945 to 1954. Prior to having her own show, the Beulah character appeared in the very popular radio show Fibber McGee And Molly (which ran from the mid-30's to the late 50's). A number of actors portrayed Beulah on the radio and the TV show went through quite a few cast changes as well. The TV show made its debut on Oct. 3, 1950 and continued through to the end of 1952. 87 episodes were produced of which only 7 are known to exist today. The show carried on in syndication for a number of years. I can recall watching it 50 or so years ago. The original TV Beulah was singer Ethel Waters, followed by film and stage veteran Louise Beavers (who later was in The Danny Thomas Show), then Hattie McDaniel (of Gone With The Wind fame) who left the show because she had breast cancer so then Beavers returned to the role until the end.
The role of her friend Bill was played by Bud Harris, then Dooley Wilson, then Ernest Whitman. The role of her friend Oriole was first played by Butterfly McQueen, then Ruby Dandridge. The family that employed her went through one complete cast change as well.
Mama, a comedy-drama, had a very long run. First appearing on CBS in July 1949, it became a Friday night staple until 1957. Based on the book Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes with a film in 1948 (I Remember Mama), Mama was about a Norwegian family that had emigrated to San Francisco. The show takes place in the 19-teens. I've never found a source for how many episodes were aired, but it must have been considerable. This show was produced live on the air and only 26 of the very late episodes were filmed and nearly all of them have been lost. The early 1950 episode on this disc is probably from a privately made kinescope.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mama_%28TV_series%29
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