[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ozzie_harriet_family.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: Ozzie, David, Harriet, and Ricky.]]

''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American sitcom that aired on [[Creator/AmericanBroadcastingCompany ABC]] from 1952 to 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family: bandleader Ozzie Nelson; his wife, singer Harriet Nelson, and their sons, David and [[Music/RickyNelson Eric "Ricky" Nelson]]. While it was classic DomCom comparable to ''Series/FatherKnowsBest'' or ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver'', the show's setup was an unintentional bit of PostModernism: the Nelsons played fictional versions of themselves, with the show's house set based very precisely on the RealLife Nelson house, right down to the same furnishings.

Notable for being [[LongRunners the longest-running live-action American sitcom]], until ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' surpassed it in 2019.
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!!This series features examples of:
* {{Aftershow}}: The show had one in ''Ozzie's Girls'', which aired in FirstRunSyndication in 1973-74. An attempt to do the show without the Nelson brothers (though David was heavily involved behind the scenes), it was basically "Ozzie and Harriet do a LighterAndSofter ''Series/AllInTheFamily''", with the empty nester Nelson parents renting out Rick and Dave's old bedrooms to two young women (a Black college student and a white hippie), while the old-fashioned Ozzie tries to cope with the changing times. It ended after one year when Ozzie's health started declining. Trivia footnote: Creator/MarkHarmon (Ricky's then-brother-in-law) had his first acting gig in the episode that ended up being the series finale.
* CharacterCatchphrase: "I don't mess around, boy!" for Ricky in the early years.
* DomCom: Practically every episode took place at the Nelson house and had the family dealing with the basics of family life. It's been pointed out as an exemplar of a {{sitcom}} that was much more focused on "situation" than "comedy".
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first years of the radio show focused on Ozzie and Harriet doing an ersatz ''Radio/FibberMcGeeAndMolly'', with only occasional mentions of their sons. Then they decided to add David and Ricky as characters, but had professional child actors play them. After the real Nelson boys begged to play themselves, Ozzie had them do some test shows, and finally added them full-time in 1949.
* FatBestFriend: Wally Plumstead, Ricky and David's fraternity brother, very much in the Big and Brash category.
* HappilyMarried: Ozzie and Harriet (or at least the [[TheDanza fictional versions thereof]]), are arguably the ultimate TV version of this trope, being a caring couple who was very understandable of each other, in a [[StandardFiftiesFather Standard '50s Parents]] sort of way.
* NotAllowedToGrowUp: One of the most famous aversions, as David and Ricky started the series as adolescents of 15 and 12, respectively, and ended it as married men of 29 and 26, having attended college along the way.
* ObliquelyObfuscatedOccupation: Ozzie's job involved hanging around the house a lot, although he was, nominally, a bandleader, as he was in real life, though Nelson, who studied law in college before turning to music full-time, reportedly also told interviewers that Ozzie was a lawyer. His seeming OneHourWorkWeek was a stock joke for people who grew up in TheFifties much the same way that "did anyone on ''Series/{{Friends}}'' ever go to work?" would be for later generations.
* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: Season 10's "The Fraternity Rents Out a Room" was one for a {{Spinoff}} that was going to center on Wally Plumstead, which would also feature the professor played by the episode's guest star Wally Cox. The plan was to have Rick bounce between both shows. Creator/{{ABC}} wanted to pick it up, but Ozzie had second thoughts and decided not to do the series.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: In the later seasons, the marriages of Ricky and David were written into the show, and their wives Kristin and June joined the cast.
* SarcasticTitle: Not only did most of the show happen at home, the "adventures" were often built around mundane premises. The Website/{{IMDB}} synopsis of one season 5 episode is typical: "Ozzie makes a fishing lure out of a feathered ornament from Harriet's new hat."
* SoundToScreenAdaptation: The show actually began on radio in 1944 before moving to the small screen in 1952, after the release of the theatrical film ''Here Come the Nelsons'' (which also had an early role for Creator/RockHudson), meant to test the waters for the family jumping to a visual medium.
* StandardFiftiesFather: Ozzie is probably one of the best known examples on television. HappilyMarried, loves his children, upstanding citizen...
* TeenIdol: Ricky Nelson parlayed his TV fame into a legitimate music career, and carried on his family's tradition (Ozzie was also a huge star, but as a bandleader in the 1930s and 1940s).
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