Mister Ed
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Mister Ed was a popular US television comedy show that aired on CBS from 1961 to 1966. The stars of the show were Mister Ed (Bamboo Harvester) an intelligent talking palomino American Saddlebred, and his owner, architect Wilbur Post (played by Alan Young). The comedy came from Mister Ed talking only to Wilbur.
The other main characters in the show were Wilbur's tolerant wife Carol (Connie Hines) and their neighbours the Addisons (Larry Keating and Edna Skinner) until 1963 and then the Kirkwoods (Leon Ames and Florence MacMichael).
The show was derived from the short story "Ed Takes the Pledge" by Walter R. Brooks, who is otherwise known for the Freddy the Pig series of children's novels, which likewise feature talking animals who interact with humans.
The unaired pilot was called The Wonderful World of Wilbur Pope; reworked, it was first broadcast in January 1961 as a syndicated program before being acquired by CBS and aired by that network beginning in October. The 143rd and last episode was shown on September 4, 1966.
Mister Ed was voiced by Allan Lane (speaking) and Sheldon Allman (singing). Bamboo Harvester was the name of the gelding that portrayed Mister Ed. This horse, born in California in 1949, died in 1970 and was buried north of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He was trained for the show by Les Hilton. Another horse that had played Mister Ed in some publicity work died in 1979. Allan ("Rocky") Lane remained anonymous as the voice of Mister Ed, and was listed on the show as "an actor who prefers to remain nameless".
The show was parodied in a Harry Enfield comedy series, first shown on BBC, in which Mr Ed was transfigured to Mr Dead, the Talking Corpse.
A remake was planned for the FOX network, with Sherman Hemsley as the voice of Mr. Ed, David Alan Besche as Wilbur, and Sherilyn Fenn as Carol. However, the show's writer and producer, Drake Sather, committed suicide in March of 2004. The pilot was filmed, but has yet to be picked up by FOX.
The theme song was written by Jay Livingston.
A horse is a horse of course, of course.
And no-one can talk to a horse of course -
That is of course unless the horse
Is the famous Mister Ed.
Go right to the source and ask the horse -
He'll give you the answer that you endorse.
He's always on a standing course,
Talk to Mister Ed!
Sponsorship
The series was sponsored from 1961 to 1963 by Studebaker Corporation, the American producer of automobiles. Studebaker cars were featured prominently in the show during this period. The Post family supposedly owned a 1962 Studebaker Lark convertible, and the company used publicity shots featuring the Post family and Mister Ed with their product. The Posts' neighbors supposedly owned a 1963 Studebaker Avanti.
"Mister Ed was a zebra" hoax
In the 1990s, a parody of typical urban legends said that Mr. Ed was actually a zebra, not a horse, and was either painted a solid color for the series or else looked like a horse because of shortcomings of early black-and-white television. The story frequently pops up as a "little-known fact," but is not true. Mr Ed was really an American Saddlebred horse.