10 Most Groundbreaking TV Episodes Ever

Historic Impact: First On-Screen Couple Shares A Bed

The very first American situational comedy was groundbreaking not just in its structure, but because it was also the first time a couple were shown sleeping in the (GULP) same bed. That may not sound very titillating now, but in 1947...well, actually, it wasn't all that provocative in 1947, either.

Mary Kay and Johnny -- who were married in real life, as well -- were the first betrothed couple to share a single bed. This was largely due to the limitations of the show's live television format, which required most of the episodes to be filmed in closer quarters than other sitcoms.

But no fuss was made over it. At all. Which is fascinating in retrospect, due to the prudish nature of the other on-screen couples of the era.

Every sitcom that followed in Mary Kay and Johnny's wake -- from I Love Lucy to Leave It To Beaver -- refused to acknowledge the fact that married couples slept together at night. Lucy and Ricky slept in the same room, but in separate twin beds. Why? We may never know. But we wouldn't see it happen again until The Nelsons bunked up in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

Unfortunately, no footage of the historic show exists, as the footage was all dumped into the East River sometime in the 70s.