Сөйлейтін жылқы – Мистер Эд

American television series

Mister Ed is an American television sitcom produced by Filmways that aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966. The show's title character is a talking horse which originally appeared in short stories by Walter R. Brooks. Mister Ed is one of the few series to debut in syndication and be picked up by a major network for prime time. All 143 episodes were filmed in black and white. Brooks is best known for the Freddy the Pig series of children's novels which feature talking animals that interact with humans. Arthur Lubin's secretary Sonia Chernus introduced him to the Brooks stories and is credited with developing the concept for television. The show's concept resembles that of the Francis the Talking Mule movies in which an equine character talks to only one person, thus causing a variety of opportunities and frustrations. The first six Francis films (1950–55) were also directed by Lubin. Comedian George Burns financed the pilot for Mister Ed, which was shot at his McCadden Studio in Hollywood at a cost of $70,000. Lubin was unable to sell the show to a network, so he decided to sell it into syndication first. He managed to get single sponsor identification for the program on over 100 stations. The show was recast with Alan Young in the lead. Production began in November 1960, although Lubin did not direct early episodes because he was working in Europe on a film. The first 26 episodes were received well enough for the show to be picked up by CBS.

Mister Ed producers left the talents that performed the title role uncredited. The show's credits listed Mister Ed as being played only by "Himself." The voice actor for Ed's spoken lines was Allan "Rocky" Lane, a former B movie cowboy star. Sheldon Allman provided Ed's singing voice in episodes; his solo line ("I am Mister Ed") at the close of the show's theme song was provided by its composer, Jay Livingston. Allan Lane was alluded to by the producers only as "an actor who prefers to remain nameless." After the show became a hit, Lane campaigned the producers for screen credit but accepted a raise in salary instead. The horse Bamboo Harvester portrayed Ed throughout the run. Ed's stablemate, a quarter horse named Pumpkin, also served as Bamboo Harvester's stunt double for the show. Pumpkin later appeared again in the television series Green Acres. Bamboo Harvester's trainer was Les Hilton. To create the impression that Ed was having a conversation, Hilton initially used a thread technique he had employed for Lubin's earlier Mule films; in time, though, this became unnecessary. As actor Alan Young recounted: "It was initially done by putting a piece of nylon thread in his mouth. But Ed actually learned to move his lips on cue when the trainer touched his hoof. In fact, he soon learned to do it when I stopped talking during a scene! Ed was very smart." Reports circulated during and after the show's run that the talking effect was achieved by crew members applying peanut butter to the horse's gums. Alan Young said in later interviews that he invented the story. "Al Simon and Arthur Lubin, the producers, suggested we keep the method [of making the horse appear to talk] a secret because they thought kids would be disappointed if they found out the technical details of how it was done, so I made up the peanut butter story, and everyone bought it." Young added that Bamboo Harvester saw trainer Les Hilton as the disciplinarian father figure. When scolded by Hilton for missing a cue, the horse would move to Young for comfort, treating the actor as a mother figure. Hilton told Young this was a positive development.

The theme song, titled "Mister Ed", was written by the songwriting team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans and sung by Livingston himself. The first seven episodes used only instrumental music to open the show; thereafter the version with lyrics was used. Livingston agreed to sing the song himself until a professional singer could be found; the producers liked the songwriter's vocals and kept them on the broadcast. During most of the show's run the ending theme song used only instrumental music. In some episodes, however, the theme song is sung during the closing credits. The theme was actually sung at the end in all but the first seven episodes. The severely shortened end credits imposed by the current distributor necessitated the use of a shortened instrumental version. Before the theme song begins, the sound of Mr. Ed whinnying is heard before Mr. Ed's human voice is heard saying "Hello, I'm Mr. Ed." The theme starts out with the famous lyrics "A horse is a horse/Of course, of course." The theme song received renewed publicity twenty years after the show went off the air when Jim Brown, a preacher from South Point, Ohio, claimed in May 1986 that it contained "satanic messages" if heard in reverse. Brown and his colleague Greg Hudson claimed that the phrases "Someone sung this song for Satan" and "the source is Satan" would be audible. At their behest teenagers burned over 300 records and cassettes of secular music with alleged satanic messages. The teens did not burn a copy of Television's Greatest Hits, but Brown asserted that "Satan can be an influence whether they [the songwriters] know it or not. We don't think they did it on purpose and we're not getting down on Mister Ed."

The series was sponsored from 1961 to 1963 by Studebaker Packard Corporation and Studebaker Corporation. At first, sponsorship came from Studebaker's dealer association, with corporate sponsorship coming from South Bend once the series had been picked up by CBS. Studebakers were featured prominently in the show during this period. The Posts are shown owning a 1962 Lark convertible, and the company used publicity shots featuring the Posts and Mister Ed with their product (various cast members also appeared in "integrated commercials" for Lark at the end of the program). When another Lark convertible served as the official pace car at the 1962 Indianapolis 500, Connie Hines attended the race as part of the promotion. Studebaker's sales dropped dramatically in 1961 and, despite their exposure via sponsoring this program, never recovered. Studebaker ended U. S. motor vehicle production on December 20, 1963. Later, Studebaker's sponsorship and vehicle supply agreement ended, and The Ford Motor Company provided the vehicles seen on camera starting at the beginning of 1965. (Studebaker vehicle production continued in Canada, but ended completely in March 1966.)

In 2004, a remake was planned for the Fox network as a reboot, directed by Michael Spiller and written by Drake Sather. The remake starred Sherman Hemsley as the voice of Mister Ed, David Alan Basche as Wilbur, and Sherilyn Fenn as Carol. In 2012, Waterman Entertainment announced they were developing a new feature film based on Mister Ed.

A race horse named after the character in the television show took part in the 1994 Grand National steeplechase at Aintree, England, but did not complete the course. In 2007, it was reported that a housing developer intended to create a community near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, built around the supposed final resting place of Mister Ed (who died in 1970). It was intended to be themed to the style of the show and its period.