10 US Sitcoms Aussie Kids Grew Up With In The 80s

9. Mister Ed

5 January 1961 €“ 6 February 1966. 6 seasons. 143 episodes It's a preposterous notion, a talking horse. But it kept Mister Ed going for six years and into the annals of TV history. What's not to like about a talking horse, anyway? The premise of city folk relocating to more rural climbs wasn't uncommon in 60s US sitcoms and Mister Ed did it first. Architect Wilbur Post and his wife Carol couldn't wait to escape the city to their modern house in the country with its landscaped grounds and a barn that came with a free horse. It was soon apparent that the horse wasn't your run-of-the-mill equine. Ten minutes into the first episode the running gag of the entire series was set up when Ed explained to Wilbur why nobody else knew of his vocal talents, saying he only spoke to Wilbur because "you're the only one I ever liked". For six seasons, while Wilbur struggled to convince Carol that the horse could talk, 'husbands' stood around smoking cigars, reading newspapers and heading off to work in their coats and hats, while Carol and other 'wives' meandered through life looking immaculate, pottering about the house and going shopping. Much of the action from episode-to-episode was restricted to the barn, which also doubled as Wilbur's design studio. While plots were superficially orthodox, a talking horse effectively taking the place of a human character meant that, by default, each episode was actually quite absurd. Over time it became evident that Ed could do all kinds of unlikely things: open doors, wander unnoticed from place to place, get in and out of houses, even make and answer phone calls. It was all so farcical that nobody ever questioned how a horse could operate a rotary dial phone or use its handset.