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Newest Members of the Nelson Fam- Ily," to the Television Viewer

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Newest Members of the Nelson Fam- Ily, Nelson, Ozzie, and Harriet Nelson One of the reasons for the program's tremendous following was that audiences actually believed that the Nelsons were truly playing themselves, a myth the Nelson family helped perpetuate. The exterior of the television house was modeled on the real -life Nelson home, and Ozzie incorporated many real -life events. neighbors, family members, and hobbies into the pro- gram. Thus. when David took up motorcycles, or when the boys were interested ill the trapeze, these would become the focus for a weekly episode. David's mar- riage to June Blair and Ricky's to Kris Harmon oc- curred off-screen, but the new season joyfully "introduced" the "newest members of the Nelson fam- ily," to the television viewer. The most significant example of this blending of fact and fiction resulted from Ricky's interest in rock and roll music. Spurred on by a girlfriend's crush on Elvis Presley, Ricky bragged that he too was about to cut a record, and then quickly enlisted his father to make this boast a reality. In April 1957, the 16 -year -old Ricky re- leased a cover version of Fats Domino's big hit "I'm Walkin." As was his habit, Ozzie integrated this latest preoccupation of his son into a television episode, and l t' "Ricky the Drummer" aired concurrently with the record's release. One million records sold in the first week, and for the next six years, Ricky Nelson was to The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Ricky Nelson, Harriet dominate the pop charts with such hits as "Hello, Mary Nelson, David Nelson, Ozzie Nelson, 1952-66. Lou," "Travelin' Man," and "Fools Rush In," all of Courtesy of the Everett Collection which benefited from weekly exposure on the televi- sion series. With simultaneous promotion in music - trade papers, a new song would "debut" at the end of a mainly in commercials and low -budget features. Their completely unrelated episode, tacked on as a pseudo - parents, too, seemed unable to capture the magic of the concert with Ricky singing to a mob of squealing, earlier years. A boarding-house sitcom, Ozzie's Girls. head -bopping extras. Ricky's impact on the rock world was canceled during its first season, and the couple was crucial, and his eventual induction into the Rock semiretired, making the talk show circuit and living to- and Roll Hall of Fame legitimized his talented contri- gether in Laguna Beach until Ozzie's death in 1975. butions. More important than his actual music, perhaps, From the outset. The Adventures of Ozzie and Har- was the fact that in giving their blessing to Ricky's ca- riet had a nostalgic feel, resembling Ozzie's 1920s reer, Ozzie and Harriet demonstrated to millions of youth in New Jersey more than 1950s Los Angeles. timid, middle-class Americans that rock and roll was The picket -fenced neighborhoods and the corner drug- not a satanic threat, but a viable musical alternative. In store and malt shop that were featured weekly in this an unprecedented response to the thousands of irate let- slow-paced half-hour infiltrated American culture at a ters he had received, Ozzie scripted 1956's "Ozzie the time of social unease and quiescent distress. In reality, Treasurer," in which Harriet extols the tension - most 1950s fathers were working ten-hour days and releasing benefits of "rhythm and blues music." commuting long distances to isolated suburbs. For the Both Nelson boys attempted film careers and found Nelsons, however, Ozzie was always home, neighbors moderate success in some big -budget 1950s films- still chatted over the back fence, and downtown was a David in Peyton Place, and Ricky in Rio Bravo. By the brisk walk away. The Nelsons presented an America time of the program's end in 1966, however, the Nel- that never was, but always wished for, and through son sons were hard-pressed to find a large popular fol- their confusion of reality and fantasy worked to con- lowing. Ricky ventured into country music where he coct an image of American life that is, to this day, mis- had sporadic success until his 1985 death in a plane takenly claimed not only as ideal, but as authentic. crash, and David moved into production, working NINA C. LEIBMAN 1629 .
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