Miscellaneous Comedy TV Shows
Here are some TV comedy shows of which these specific episodes are in the public domain, but others in the series might still be protected by copyright.
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Vol. 1:
Bank Book 8/28/1962. Rob is puzzled and chagrined when he finds that Laura has a secret
nest egg of her own.
Never Name a Duck 9/26/1962. When one of Richie's two pet ducks dies, it seems as if the Petrie
family has lost one of its human members.
Hustling the Hustler 10/24/1962. Rob has an evening of high adventure with a veteran pool shark
who pretends he can't play the game.
Night the Roof Fell In 11/21/1962. Rob walks out of the house following a spat with Laura after a
tiring day for the both of them.
Vol. 2:
A Man's Teeth are Not His Own 12/19/1962. Rob feels that he has betrayed his dentist friend, Jerry Helper,
when he lets another dentist work on his teeth.
Give Me Your Walls 2/27/1963. When Rob's living room needs a paint job, he hires a colorful master
painter of Rome, Florence, and Brooklyn.
Plus The Mickey Rooney Show
Seven Days to Doom 2/5/1955. It's madness at the Mulligans! Mickey's been informed by the doctor that
he has only six days to live.
The Fur Coat 1/8/1955. Mickey learns how much a fur coat can mean to a woman. But he can't seem
to learn what the differences are between muskrat, rabbit and mink.
You Bet Your Life
24 half-hour episodes on Mpeg2 files or on six DVDs. Groucho Marx hosts a quiz show with the weekly "secret word", which is really just a platform for Groucho to interview his zany guests, or at least they end up zany after he ad libs them into corners.
The Beulah Show
(1950-'52) A comedy series of a family with the central role pointed to their Negro domestic who pulls the weekly family situations together with more common sense than all of the other family members. We only have these 5 extremely rare episodes:
Beulah Goes Gardening: The Henderson's decide to pinch pennies by doing their own yard work - which means Beulah will be very busy!
Hattie McDaniel as Beulah.
Bill the Babysitter Bill becomes a babysitter when the Hendersons take out a would-be client
of Harry’s. Ethel Waters as Beulah and Dooley Wilson as Bill.
The Waltz: Young Donny needs to learn to dance,so Beulah and Bill give him an eye-opening lesson. Hattie McDaniel as Beulah.
The New Arrival: Donny buys a baby carriage to get wheels for his soap-box racer. Beulah assumes that her boss, Miss Alice, is expecting.
Louise Beavers as Beulah.
Second Wedding: Beulah thinks that the Hendersons are having marriage troubles and decides to take matters into her own hands. Louise Beavers as Beulah.
The Ed Wynn Show
(1949-1950) Vaudeville funnyman Ed Wynn entertains with zany skits and guests. This was the first network show to originate from Hollywood. Since the show was aired live and it was technically impossible to air a live broadcast coast-to-coast in the 1940s, each episode was shown via kinescope on the East Coast several weeks later. Eight half-hour episodes.
1) Victor Moore as guest.
2) Buster Keaton as guest. Recreation of Buster's earliest silent skit.
3) Guests Elsa Lanchester and Reg Gardner.
4) The Three Stooges!
5) Gloria Swanson as guest.
6) Vera Vague as guest.
7) Buddy Ebsen as guest.
8) 1958 pilot for an Ed Wynn situation comedy
Fibber McGee and Molly
(1959-1960) Based on the popular, long running radio domestic comedy show. Stars Bob Sweeney and Cathy Lewis. 8 half-hour episodes.
1) McGee Buys a Trailer.
2) The Lease Renewal.
3) Fred Nitney Visits
4) The Courtship
5) The Big Dance
6) Good Neighbors
7) 2,500 Shares of Stock
8) Nitney's Invention
Adventures of Hiram Holiday
(1956-1957) Wally Cox stars. Hiram, thought to be a meek-little nobody by everyone around him, is one day discovered to have a range of skills that would make James Bond green with envy. The publisher of the newspaper where he works as a proofreader, recognizing the sales potential of Hiram's story, sends the young man on a trip around the world along with reporter Joel Smith to document his adventures for readers back home. 6 half-hour episodes.
1) Lapidary Wheel.
2) Sea Cucumber.
3) Hawaiian Hamzah
4) The CourtshipWrong RembrandtThe Big Dance
5) Dancing Mouse
6) Adventures of a Romantic Pigeon
Vol. 2 DVD also contains two episodes of The Life of Riley: "Bab's School Election" and "Riley's Operation."
Topper
(1953-1955) This series was about a somewhat grumpy and uptight banker, Cosmo Topper, and the ghosts which only he could see or hear, George and Marion Kerby. The Kerbys would often try to get Cosmo to loosen up and enjoy life, but more often they would complicate it. Stars Leo G. Carroll, Anne Jeffrys and Robert Sterling. 8 half-hour episodes.
1) Henrietta Sells the House
2) George's Old Flame
3) Topper Goes to Las Vegas
4) Second Honeymoon
5) The Proposal
6) A Ghostly Joke
7) Topper goes West
8) Trip to Lisbon
