CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: My Little Margie
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For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation. Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on RCN TV with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.
My Little Margie was a quality sit-com that sometimes gets lost amongst the bigger “names” in 1950s television. But it’s also a show that has seen new life over the decades in syndication.
The show centers around a widowed father and his adventures with his 21-year old daughter, Margie, in their New York City apartment.
The show starred Gale Storm in the title role. Storm was featured in a number of successful film vehicles, including the holiday classic, It Happened On 5th Avenue, the western Stampede, the romantic-comedy G.I. Honeymoon and the film noir The Underworld Story. Gale was also a hit on several radio programs during the 1940s.
Charles Ferrell starred as her father. Ferrell appeared in various films from the 1920s through the 1940s, including 7th Heaven, The Man Who Came Back, Street Angel, The Plumber and the Princess. He would also guest star in several popular episodes of The Jack Benny Show during “Margie’s” run.
The program began as a 1952 summer replacement for I Love Lucy and had similar characteristics.
First, Storm copied Lucille Ball’s popular “Spider” expression and sound effect by making a strange noise when she got into trouble. Also, Gertrude Hoffmann co-starred as Margie’s next door neighbor. She possessed more than a striking resemblance to Vivian Vance’s “Ethel” character, and would frequently be Storm’s foil and sidekick on her various hijinks that often went awry.
My Little Margie was able to sustain its initial success by taking over the I Love Lucy timeslot and posted consistent ratings despite time slot changes. The program also withstood not one, but TWO network changes…from CBS to NBC, and then back again to the Columbia Broadcasting System.
In fact, the show actually gained in popularity throughout its initial four-year run, reaching the 29th position in its second last year. The final season saw its’ viewership climb all the way up to the sixth most-watched episodic program on TV, according to the 1956 final Nielsen Ratings.
Strangely, CBS decided to cancel this show at its zenith, although the network quickly presented a new program, The Gale Storm Show, and used a different format. That new show would go on for another four years and produce 143 episodes until it changed networks and then was cancelled one year later by ABC.
Storm was one of the early television stars to participate in conventions featuring “old time TV” personalities and would frequently appear at events to sign autographs, do “Q & A-s” with fans and speak at convention centers about her days as “Margie.”
She was also a frequent guest star on television shows from 1960 through the later 1980s…her last major television appearance was on Murder, She Wrote.
Tune in or set your DVRs to see My Little Margie every Sunday at 2pm and Wednesday mornings at 10:30am on RCN-TV.
To view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings here on our website.
