‘The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet’: 10 Things Most Folks Don’t Know About The Nelsons

The exterior shots were taken outside of their real home in the Hollywood Hills above Hollywood Boulevard. The sets for the interior of the home also replicated their actual abode.

After divorcing his wife and losing the married man's deferment in 1944, the comedian's absence from his radio show led the way for his band leader, Ozzie, to take over his slot with the family series.

Ozzie and Harriet felt their sons were too young to perform when the series began as a radio show back in 1944, so professional actors were hired until the siblings took over in 1949.

If (like me) you assumed the nickname was short for Richard, you were mistaken! This is especially confusing if you remember that the performer later shortened his name to Rick in an attempt to appear more mature.

Ozzie himself was reluctant to allow Ricky, shown above singing in Rio Bravo, to indulge in rock music on the show. He eventually agreed in an effort to boost their youth audience, which worked wonderfully.

However, the parents of those younger viewers were less happy about it as the genre was still seen as a bad influence, so Ozzie and Harriet made a point to include scenes where they defended their son's music choices.

The show spanned an impressive 14 seasons, but they were forced to give up the longest running title when The Simpsons completed their 15th season in 2004.

A documentary from 1998 titled Ozzie and Harriet: The Adventures of America's Favorite Family, painted the Nelson patriarch as a workaholic who "thwarted his sons, preventing them from attending college and reminding them that they were obliged to work on television."

David, however, disputed this claim, saying, "My father went to great pains to see that Rick and I had as normal an upbringing as possible."

Ozzie made an unprecedented negotiation with ABC before signing his family up for the television series by demanding a 10-year contract that would be paid even if they were canceled before that time was up.

Luckily for the network, they managed to outlast that original contract.

Ricky is shown here with his first wife, Kristin Harmon Nelson, who was also written onto the series. Though Ricky was conflicted by his squeaky-clean teen idol image, it was exactly the reason the family remained on the air for so long.

According to his brother David, "We stayed on as long as we did because of Rick and Rick's popularity. My father would have been the first one to admit that. He told us both that."

Though in the film that acted as their pilot, Here Come the Nelsons, Ozzie's fictional counterpart is an advertising executive who works promoting women's underwear, the transition to television never mentions his career. It became a joke that the only time Ozzie left the Nelson home was to go buy ice cream.

His real life granddaughter, Ricky's daughter Tracy Nelson, attempted to clear things up by saying in interviews that the character was a lawyer who graduated from Rutgers.

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