1949's "The Life of Riley" must be one of the oldest, if not the oldest sit-com in television history, considering that television first came into existence only three years earlier. I remember briefly seeing a few episodes in reruns on a local New York station when I was a kid around 1980, but I don't remember what any of them were about. I just remember that Jackie Gleason played Riley, and Riley's demeanor was nothing like Ralph Kramden's. I only remember Gleason playing Riley like the poor soul. And I remember the opening-credit intro was animated and showed the outside of the house and Riley's mailbox. But that's about it.
Review of The Life of Riley
