# Who was first in bed on TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 28, 2000, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766 "2000-10-28T21:00:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/1 "2000-10-28T21:00:52Z")
I’m having a good-natured trivia disagreement with a co-worker. I say the that Lisa and Oliver Douglas(Green Acres) were the first TV married couple to be shown in the same bed. My co-worker says it was Lily and Herman Munster. Does someone have the answer? Or can they point me to a site that has such trivia so I can look for the answer there? ---
**Author:** ![festiva76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e8cbc/32.png) [@festiva76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/festiva76)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/2 "2000-10-28T21:27:29Z")
I have always heard that the “Brady Bunch” held that honor. I can remember laughing at the sight of two beds separated by a nightstand on shows such as “Dennis the Menace.” ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/3 "2000-10-28T21:47:01Z")
My sister’s hero was the husband on the Donna Reed Show. “Look at that! They sleep in separate beds and they still have two kids. That man must have a twelve-foot pecker!” ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/4 "2000-10-28T21:58:39Z")
According to Time magazine, the first double bed for a married couple appeared in 1964, in _Bewitched_. There’s a reference to it about halfway down this page: [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970414/atele.rol\_over\_ward.html](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970414/atele.rol_over_ward.html) No word on whether they actually showed Darrin and Samantha **in** the bed, though. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/5 "2000-10-28T22:25:31Z")
I heard once that it was the Flintstones (began in 1960), which predates Bewitched. I don’t have enough of a memory to remember if they showed a double bed from the beginning, or even that they showed one at all. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/6 "2000-10-28T22:42:40Z")
at least according to [http://www.snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com) which, on its [Early to Bed](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/marykay.htm) page, reports that the Dumont network’s sitcom “Mary Kay and Johnny” was the first, circa 1947. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/7 "2000-10-28T23:10:17Z")
It was the Brady Bunch who first showed the couple together in bed. Ironic, since the dad was gay. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/8 "2000-10-28T23:41:09Z")
What was the dirtiest thing ever said on television? “Ward, you were a little hard on the Beaver last night.” \ ---
**Author:** ![Malarky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Malarky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malarky)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2000, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/9 "2000-10-29T01:26:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*I heard once that it was the Flintstones (began in 1960), which predates Bewitched. > > I don’t have enough of a memory to remember if they showed a double bed from the beginning, or even that they showed one at all. \*\* I just saw an episode that showed Fred and Wilma in seperate beds…sorri ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2000, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/10 "2000-10-30T02:00:07Z")
Thanks for the replies I have been getting. They are fascinating. But there is still one thing I haven’t figured out. That one 40’s show may have shown a double bed, but did it show the people IN it? Is there any way to find out? If anyone out ther watches an old episode of the shows that have been mentioned, and see the characters actually in the bed, give me a holler. Thanks again for all the help so far. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2000, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/11 "2000-10-30T07:10:07Z")
I was long under the impression that it was “Ozzie and Harriet”. Is that wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2000, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/12 "2000-10-30T15:28:52Z")
While it’s clear that they had a double bed, there are some references that suggest that Mary Kay and Johnny (who were a married couple IRL) simply had a little bedtime chat but weren’t actually under the covers. Since the shows weren’t saved on film (videotape hadn’t even been invented yet) what exactly happened has been lost to failing memories. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2000, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/13 "2000-10-30T16:17:44Z")
This questions come up a few times in various places, and someone always mentions MK&J. This was a sitcom at the dawn of television, before the “precedents” had been set. I think what people are really looking for is which program first showed this _after_ the ‘rules’ had been set in place regarding where people sleep, not an isolated, long-lost show that exister prior to video records. So how about it, anyone got a definitive answer? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2000, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-first-in-bed-on-tv/38766/14 "2000-10-30T18:31:36Z")
Well, I happen to think Mary Kay & Johnny counts. But if it doesn’t, then the way I’ve heard it. . . Harriet Nelson insisted in interviews that Ozzie and Harriet had the first couple sharing a double bed, because she and Ozzie were really married and they insisted on it. But I can’t remember ever seeing them in bed, just getting ready for bed. As far as the first fictional couple to share a bed, it would be Green Acres, and if I recall correctly, they were actually shown in bed (usually when one of the Monroe brothers came in early in the morning.) But I’m not so sure of that to insist that it COULDN’T be Bewitched.