I'll take it again and end the suspense... It's one of the ultimate TV trivia questions: The early TV sitcom Mary Kay and Johnny was the first television series to portray a married couple who slept in the same bed. On Tuesday, 18 November 1947, a 15-minute program entitled Mary Kay and Johnny made its debut on the Dumont network. Like the more famous I Love Lucy series that followed it, Mary Kay and Johnny starred a real-life couple, actors Johnny and Mary Kay Stearns. Because of the inherent limitations of live television, most of the episodes of Mary Kay and Johnny were set in the couple's apartment. Mary Kay and Johnny's apartment included a bedroom (but not a bathroom), and their bedroom had but a single bed, which they shared.
Check out the source: http://snopes.com/radiotv/tv/marykay.htm
I read the information at the link Dave provided (Snopes is a GREAT site, by the way), and it does not make the claim that this series actually showed the couple in bed together. It merely describes how they had a single bed in their bedroom, and therefore we must assume they slept together. But Jeni's question was about the first couple SHOWN IN BED TOGETHER, not the first show with only one bed. I am certainly not trying to defend all those trivia sites out there, most of which simply copy from one another. There are indeed many pieces of erroneous information available on the web. The Snopes/Urban Legend site that Dave sited does a great job in investigating many of these claims.
Claim: The early TV sitcom Mary Kay and Johnny was the first television series to portray a married couple who slept in the same bed.
Status: True.
It's one of the ultimate TV trivia questions: Who was the first couple to be portrayed on a television series as sleeping in the same bed? http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/marykay.htm
I beleive it was Bob Newhart and Suzanne Pleshette in 1974 were the first live humans to be shown in bed together. The first "couple" was Fred and Wilma Flintstone. Some where between 1960-66, and the first live actors (even though they were "monsters") were the Herman and Lilly Munster 1964-66.
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