The Adventures of Aggie

The Adventures of Aggie

1956 - United Kingdom

An oddity - a British made sitcom from the 1950s starring a US actress so it could be sold to America. 

The actress in question was Joan Shawlee who shortly after this series enjoyed her most famous film role was as Sweet Sue in the 1959 comedy classic, Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. 

She also appeared as a semi-regular in The Dick Van Dyke Show (as Buddy's wife, Pickles). Before this UK series the 27-year old actress had appeared in The Abbott and Costello Show on US TV. In The Adventures of Aggie she appeared as Aasgard Agnette Anderson, an international buyer working for a world-famous fashion house. 

The demands of her job meant that she didn't stay in one city too long so her globetrotting meant there was no room for a regular cast. However, a number of upcoming celebs appeared throughout the series run of 26 episodes, including Wilfrid Brambell, Christopher Lee, Patrick McGoohan, Richard Wattis, Rupert Davies, Gordon Jackson, Anthony Valentine, Patrick Allen and future film director John Schlesinger, all destined for fame and fortune. 

Like most females in 1950s sitcoms the situations she got into were normally a result of her tendency towards being accident prone, although none of these were of the domestic type and normally involved spies, smugglers or murderers. The series was shown in the US in syndication as simply Aggie

Published on November 26th, 2018. Written by Laurence Marcus for Television Heaven.

Read Next...

Errol Flynn Theatre

British-produced anthology series along similar lines to Douglas Fairbanks Presents; both were made to cash in on the growing US and British television markets.

Also released in 1956

The Sheriff of Cochise County 1956

Blazing a trail of law and order in untamed Cochise County, Arizona, Sheriff Frank Morgan uses modern 1950s police methods to fight crime

Also released in 1956

Cookery Lesson TV programme

Cookery Lesson was a series of twelve programmes that introduced viewers to the basic principles of cooking, working from the assumption that the TV audience didn't even know how to boil an egg.

Also released in 1956

Mr Digby Darling

Mr Digby's PA is hopelessly devoted to him while he remains totally oblivious to her feelings.

Also tagged British Sitcom

Marriage Lines

Marital ups and downs of a newly-wed couple starring Richard Briers and Prunella Scales

Also tagged British Sitcom

Tearaway

Stark one-off drama about two cold-bloodied thugs who are witnessed violently assaulting an innocent man. But the witnesses, in fear for their own safety, refuse to give evidence. "Sometimes," say one of them, "it doesn't pay to see too much."

Also released in 1956

Armchair Theatre

For many, Armchair Theatre was not only an essential part of Sunday night viewing in Britain throughout the 1960s, but an outstanding contributor in the history of television production.

Also released in 1956

About Face

A series of 12 unconnected half-hour sitcoms, all written by different writers, created as a starring vehicle for Maureen Lipman

Also tagged British Sitcom