January 5, 1961: "Mister Ed" Premieres

January 5, 1961: Mister Ed premieres. It runs 1 season in syndication, and 5 more on CBS.

The Mister Ed show concept was derived from a series of short stories by children's author Walter R. Brooks, which began in 1937. Arthur Lubin had directed 6 Francis the Talking Mule films, but was unable to secure the television rights to the character. So his secretary, Sonia Chernus, introduced him to the Brooks stories, and is credited with developing the concept for television. Lubin got the cheaper rights to Mister Ed.

Mister Ed was played by a horse named Bamboo Harvest, and was 11 years old at the time of the premiere. The voice was provided by Allan "Rocky" Lane, an actor who specialized in Western films, who knew his way around horses. The show's credits listed Mister Ed as being played only by "Himself."

Lane did not, however, sing the famous theme song: "A horse is a horse is a horse, of course... " That was Jay Livingston, who wrote it with his regular songwriting partner, Ray Evans.

The role of Ed's owner, a genial but somewhat klutzy architect named Wilbur Post, was played by Alan Young. Connie Hines played Carol, Wilbur's wife. They lived in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.

Many of the program's gags follow from Mister Ed's tendency to talk only to Wilbur, his mysteriously well cultured essence, his rapscallion tendencies, and his precociously human-like behavior that far exceeds anything those around Wilbur expect of a horse. A running gag is other characters hearing Wilbur talking to Ed and asking to whom he is talking. Another running gag centers on Wilbur being accident-prone and inadvertently causing harm to himself and others. According to Lubin, Young was chosen for the lead role because he "just seemed like the sort of guy a horse would talk to."

The best-known episode aired on September 29, 1963, which, perhaps not by coincidence, was the last day of baseball's regular season. In this episode, Mister Ed, a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, calls their manager, Leo Durocher, to offer him tips. In real life, Durocher was an inveterate gambler who loved to bet on horse races. He was not, however, the manager of the Dodgers at this point, and hadn't been since 1948 in Brooklyn. In 1963, he was 3rd base coach under manager Walter Alston.

Although the Dodgers went on to sweep the New York Yankees in 4 straight games in the World Series over the next week, Mister Ed is shown at home plate at Dodger Stadium, holding a bat in his teeth, and hitting an inside-the-park home run off Sandy Koufax. (Okay, all you Ball Four fans, say it with me: Yeah, surrre!)

Despite an infamous 1979 Saturday Night Live sketch known as "The Widow Ed," Bamboo Harvest was already dead, euthanized in 1970 after an incurable kidney problem. Rocky Lane didn't last much longer, only making it to 1973. Arthur Lubin died in 1995, Jay Livingston in 2001, Ray Evans in 2007, Connie Hines in 2009, and Alan Young in 2016.

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January 5, 1961 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. Football season had just ended. There were 4 games in the NBA:

* There was a doubleheader at the Philadelphia Civic Center. In the opener, the New York Knicks beat the Detroit Pistons, 104-122. In the nightcap, the Philadelphia Warriors beat the Syracuse Nationals, 139-127. Just another day at the office for Wilt Chamberlain: 56 points and 26 rebounds. After one more season, 1961-62, the Warriors moved to San Francisco. For 1963-64, the Nats took their place as the Philadelphia 76ers.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Cincinnati Royals, 125-107 at the Cincinnati Gardens. Frank Ramsey led the Celtics with 28 points. Oscar Robertson scored 38 points in defeat.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the St. Louis Hawks, 110-96 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

There were 2 games in the NHL. The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Boston Garden. And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. The New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens were not scheduled.