Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for December 11, 2014

That is, in fact, how upper-class folk lived (actually, they tended to have separate bedROOMs). And then middle-class folk, emulating upper-class folk.

Ummm… TMI? :)

Pharm…. to say nothing of the dungeon..

Didn’t Rob and Laura still have separate beds or did I miss an episode? I remember the Munsters (Herman and Lily) having a shared bed, Lily always sleeping arms crossed, clutching a lily (of course). Then again, the Munsters were more of a ’we are independent thinkers/weird folk, so anything we do is out of the norm for “proper society”. Then again, I always wanted a dragon living under the main staircase…..

now married people are in the minority in life and on TV. most of the couples mentioned also got by with only one person working.

And then came Three’s Company…..

Then came Gomez and Morticia Addams which made Arlo the sex maniac Janis puts up with to this day.

“Hello, girls”

Bob Newhart: single bed.

I think Arlo is hinting that there was no reason to have a separate bed from Laura Petrie, his first TV crush. Janis is Arlo’s Laura..

First TV married couple with one bed? Fred & Wilma Flintstone.

The Motion Picture Code was gone before 1960’s television but was largely followed by default. There were television broad cast standards, but they were worded much more generally and didn’t, for instance, prohibit a man and woman in bed together, which the motion picture code did prohibit. Televisions networks developed their own standards, mostly following the Motion Picture Code. That was the basis for the twin beds. In motion pictures, there was some fudging on the definition of “in bed.” One person having one foot on the ground could get by the technical definition, but only if the situation was pointedly innocent. .Mixed race marriage was explicitly prohibited, since sexual relations was implied. The Code is also the reason pastors were always depicted well. No clergy could be ridiculed. The Code prohibited “Willful offense to any nation, race or creed.” This was, of course, judged by the standards of the day and allowed much of what would be offensive in today’s hypersensitive world..But you can see the Code’s effect, even in comments here by younger people who actually believe twin beds were the middle class norm, which is decidedly untrue. Ozzie and Harriet did, in the late 50’s, actually get to sleep together, as did Fred and Ethel on I Love Lucy (Ricky and Lucy did not.) .Like a dead possum under the porch, the Code’s influence lingered on into the 60’s and kept Jeannie and Mary Ann from letting their navels show.

Rudy sleeps in a made for one bed…..

Coincidentally, last Monday Jon Stewart interviewed Norman Lear who was a “writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times, and Maude.” (from the Wikipedia article.) Part of the interview is totally relevant to the strip and the discussion here, and I really recommend you watch it.Part 1 is here and part 2 is here.

“Two beds or not two beds? That is the question.”

I think the answer to the trivia question is “Bewitched.”

Yes, Rob and Laura had separate beds and it was Bob and Emily Hartley that introduced the king size bed to the American viewing public. As for June and Ward Cleaver, I can’t recall a single scene that took place in their bedroom. One fascinating aspect of Wally and Beaver’s bathroom was the absence of a toilet.

ArthurAllen: It was/is called “commuting”.

Rob and Laura slept in twin beds. It was Archie and Edith Bunker who changed things.

Wait a minute here….Arlo was a kid in the 50s? Just how old is this couple?

Twenty five and a half minutes of programming means only four and a half minutes of commercials. Now, THAT’S something that should be brought back today.

At this stage Arlo’s childhood memories should be more along the lines of The Brady Bunch.

According to this: http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/marykay.asp, the show Mary Kay and Johnny was not only the fist to show a married couple sharing the same bed, but also the first sitcom in the US. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128883/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

I heard it was the Munsters where husband and. wife were shown in the same bed