Mayor of the Town (TV series)

Mayor of the Town is a syndicated^[1] American sitcom that aired in 1954.

Mayor of the Town
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Jean Holloway
Written by	Jean Holloway
Directed by	John Rawlins
Starring	Thomas Mitchell Kathleen Freeman Jean Byron Tudor Owen
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	39
Production
Executive producers	Jack J. Gross Philip N. Krasne
Producer	John Rawlins
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	Gross-Krasne Productions
Original release
Network	First-run syndication

Premise

Mayor of the Town was based on the radio series of the same name, which ran from 1942 until 1949.^[1] In 1954, writer Jean Holloway created a televised version of the radio program. The series, also titled Mayor of the Town, premiered in November 1954.^{[citation needed]}

The series took place in the fictional small American town of Springdale. The series mainly focuses around the mayoral and personal life of Mayor Thomas Russell, (played by Thomas Mitchell). The series co-starred Kathleen Freeman as Mayor Russell's housekeeper, Marilly, and his ward, Butch, was played by David Saber.^[1]

Background

Planning for the program began in 1951, calling for Lionel Barrymore to reprise his radio role as the title character. However, production did not begin until 1954, when Barrymore's health prevented him from acting. Mitchell was selected to take Barrymore's place.^[2]

Cast

• Thomas Mitchell as Mayor Thomas Russell
• Kathleen Freeman as Marilly
• Jean Byron as Minnie
• Tudor Owen as Joe Ainsley

Production and distribution

Rawlins-Grant Productions and Gross-Krasne Films produced the series. UTP was the initial distributor, followed by MCA.^[2] All 39 episodes of the series were broadcast in first-run syndication before generally ending in 1955.^[3] The Los Angeles market was an exception, as broadcasting of the series there began in 1956 with sponsorship by Richfield Oil.^[2] The series was filmed in black-and-white with no laugh track.^[4]

John Rawlins and Marshall Grant were the producers and directors; Erna Lazarus was one of the writers.^[4]