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Finding Aid for the Collection of Radio and Television Scripts for the Series Our Miss Brooks, 1950-1956
60
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Title: Collection of Radio and Television Scripts for the Series
Our Miss Brooks,
Date (inclusive): 1950-1956
Collection number: 60
Extent:
9 boxes
(4.0 linear ft.)
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract:
Our Miss Brooks started on radio in 1948 and was successfully transferred to television beginning in 1952 (it ran on both media, with largely
the same cast, for several months in 1952). The series ended in 1956. The program revolved around Connie Brooks, an English
teacher at Madison High School. Collection consists of radio and television scripts for the series.
Language:
English.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Copyright has not been assigned to the Performing Arts Special Collections, UCLA. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Arts Special Collections Librarian. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Performing Arts Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include
or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
[Identification of item], Collection of Radio and Television Scripts for the Series
Our Miss Brooks (Collection 60). Performing Arts Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles.
Beginning on radio in 1948,
Our Miss Brooks was successfully transferred to television beginning in 1952 (it ran on both media, with largely the same cast, for several
months in 1952). Between gentle wisecracks, Miss Brooks doted on nerdish student Walter Denton, and frequently locked horns
with crusty, cranky principal Mr. Conklin. Many of the program's episodes, however, revolved around Miss Brook's unrequited
desire for Philip Boynton, the school's biology teacher.
The program had enjoyed good ratings on radio and only enlarged its audience when it moved to TV. And while some professional
educators criticized the series, others celebrated Miss Brooks and Eve Arden's work: she got teaching job offers, fan letters
from educators, was made an honorary member of the National Education Association and, in 1952, was given an award from the
Alumni Association of the Teachers College of Connecticut for "humanizing the American Teacher." Said Arden of her on-screen
alter ego: "I tried to play Miss Brooks as a loving person who cared about the kids and kept trying to keep them out of trouble,
but kept getting herself in trouble."
Obviously, Miss Brooks encountered enough trouble to sustain the series for over 150 episodes, but, unlike many other female
comics on TV at that time, Miss Brooks' forte was not the wild antics that were the norm of Lucy or the lopsided logic that
was the domain of Gracie Allen. Instead, Miss Brooks humor was achieved by her own sharp, observing wit and by her centered
presence in the midst of a group of eccentric supporting players--dimwitted, squeaky-voiced student Walter, pompous Conklin,
and the others. Miss Brooks was always the source of the jokes, not the butt of them.
In 1955, ratings were beginning to wane, and the series was overhauled. Miss Brooks and Mr. Conklin were moved out of Madison
High to Mrs. Nestor's Private Elementary School. For a time there was no Mr. Boynton for whom Miss Brooks would pine, but
there was a muscle-bound PE teacher, Mr. Talbot, who longed for Miss Brooks. This was an important turnabout in the overall
premise of the show: now Miss Brooks was the pursued rather than the pursuer. (Mr. Boynton did turn up again in early 1956
just in time for the series to be canceled; in a film version of the series released by Warner Brothers in 1956, Miss Brooks
and Mr. Boynton finally did tie the knot and presumably lived happily ever after.) (From
The Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television http://www.museum.tv)
Collection consists of radio and television scripts for the series
Our Miss Brooks. Includes radio scripts (April 1950-April 1956, numbers 82-336 with some gaps) and television scripts (February 1952-April
1955, numbers 1-100).
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Our Miss Brooks (Television program).
Our Miss Brooks (Radio program).
Television writers, United States--Archival resources.
Television scripts.
Radio scripts.
Al Lewis Radio and Television Scripts (Collection 136). Available at Performing Arts Special Collections, UCLA.