The Abbott and Costello Show

The Abbott and Costello Show

The comedic duo engages in humorous scenarios.

Bud and Lou are unemployed actors living in Mr. Fields’ boarding house. Lou’s girlfriend Hillary lives across the hall. Many situations arise leading to slapstick and puns.

ComedyFamily

Seasons

The Drug Store

1. The Drug Store

Air Date: 1952-12-05

Bud and Lou find jobs in Fields' drugstore and nearly wreck the place. This episode opens with the famous "Jonah and the Whale" routine.

The Dentist's Office

2. The Dentist's Office

Air Date: 1952-12-12

When Lou gets a toothache he attempts to get arrested so he can receive free treatment while incarcerated.

Jail

3. Jail

Air Date: 1952-12-19

Lou damages Mrs. Crumbcake's waterpail and she drags him into court claiming .79 cents in damages. In jail, Lou's crazed cellmate becomes enraged whenever he hears "Niagara Falls."

The Vacation

4. The Vacation

Air Date: 1952-12-26

Bud and Lou head off to the Biltmore Hotel near Phoenix for a vacation. "Hertz U-Drive" and the "Pack-Unpack" routines are performed.

The Birthday Party

5. The Birthday Party

Air Date: 1953-01-02

Lou throws a birthday party for himself, but nearly poisons his guests when he puts ant paste on his hors d'oeurves instead of anti pasto. Bud throws him out and Lou consoles himself by ordering a giant decorated cake.

Alaska

6. Alaska

Air Date: 1953-01-09

When news arrives that Lou's uncle has struck gold in Alaska, Bud and Lou plan to help him spend it.

The Vacuum Cleaner Salesman

7. The Vacuum Cleaner Salesman

Air Date: 1953-01-16

Bud and Lou visit an employment agency run by Mr. Fields' brother, who gives Lou a job selling vacuum cleaners door to door.

The Army Story

8. The Army Story

Air Date: 1953-01-23

Bud and Lou join the Army, where they recreate their routines from the feature film 'Buck Privates.' "Drill Routine" and "Dice Game" are performed.

Pots and Pans

9. Pots and Pans

Air Date: 1953-01-30

Working as a door-to-door cookware salesman, Lou prepares a dinner for his friends in hopes of moving some product. However, his honest culinary efforts are met with disaster.

The Charity Bazaar

10. The Charity Bazaar

Air Date: 1953-02-06

Bud and Lou participate in Hillary's charity bazaar, raising money with the "shell game." Lou blows his money at the kissing booth.

The Western Story

11. The Western Story

Air Date: 1953-02-13

Bud and Lou accept Hillary's invitation to visit her uncle's B-Bar-Bop ranch.

The Haunted House

12. The Haunted House

Air Date: 1953-02-20

Hillary will inherit a castle if she spends one night there. Bud and Lou come along with her for protection and Lou is scared out of his mind by frightful encounters.

Peace and Quiet

13. Peace and Quiet

Air Date: 1953-02-27

Lou sleeps all day but can't sleep at night. Bud takes him to see a psychiatrist. Eventually Bud checks him into a sanitarium for a night's rest. "Crazy House" is performed.

Hungry

14. Hungry

Air Date: 1953-03-06

Bud and Lou visit a couple of restaurants. In one they become involved with twin waitresses. In the other, Lou has a battle with an oyster.

The Music Lovers

15. The Music Lovers

Air Date: 1953-03-13

Lou attempts to impress Hillary and her father with his musical abilities. While pretending to perform, Bud falls asleep and ruins the scheme.

The Politician

16. The Politician

Air Date: 1953-03-20

Bud coaches Lou on running for public office, a political campaign that ends with Lou delivering a disastrous speech in a neighborhood park.

The Wrestling Story

17. The Wrestling Story

Air Date: 1953-03-27

Lou and Stinky agree to settle their differences with a wrestling match. When Stinky becomes ill, his little brother Ivan the Terrible takes his place.

Getting a Job

18. Getting a Job

Air Date: 1953-04-03

Bud and Lou are hired to deliver hats to the Susquehanna Hat Company on Floogle Street and encounter several lunatics on the way. Also, Stinky attempts to kill Lou by backing him into traffic. The "Loafing" routine is performed.

Bingo the Chimp

19. Bingo the Chimp

Air Date: 1953-04-10

Mike the Cop tells Lou that he must have a license for his pet chimp. But Lou accidentally applies for a marriage license.

Hillary's Birthday

20. Hillary's Birthday

Air Date: 1953-04-17

While shopping for Hillary's birthday present, Lou nearly destroys a grocery store. Later, at her party, Mr. Fields becomes upset about the noise.

The Television Show

21. The Television Show

Air Date: 1953-04-24

Lou is a contestant on a TV quiz show where he wins a pack of bubblegum. Their neighbor slips on a piece of gum and takes them to court.

Las Vegas

22. Las Vegas

Air Date: 1953-05-01

Bud and Lou pay $90 for a car and head for Las Vegas, where Lou takes part in a violent game of billiards. The "mudder/fodder" routine is performed.

Little Old Lady

23. Little Old Lady

Air Date: 1953-05-08

Bud and Lou attempt to help an old lady who has been evicted. They raise $300 and she uses the money to bet on a racehorse.

The Actors' Home

24. The Actors' Home

Air Date: 1953-05-15

Bud is taken away to an old actors' home where he and Lou perform their famous "Who's on first?" routine.

Police Rookies

25. Police Rookies

Air Date: 1953-05-22

Mike the Cop helps Bud and Lou enroll in the Police Rookie School, where Lou blows up the gymnasium while playing with a hand grenade.

Safari

26. Safari

Air Date: 1953-05-29

When Bingo gets sick, the whole gang travels to Africa to find his parents.

The Paper Hangers

1. The Paper Hangers

Air Date: 1953-11-07

To pay back rent, Bud and Lou attempt to wallpaper an apartment. Later, as waiters in a restaurant, they brawl with hoodlums.

Uncle Bozzo's Visit

2. Uncle Bozzo's Visit

Air Date: 1953-11-14

Lou's eccentric opera singing uncle comes to stay with the boys for a couple of months.

In Society

3. In Society

Air Date: 1953-11-21

A wealthy society matron pays Bud to attend a formal reception and impersonate the Duke of Gluten. Lou comes along pretending to be his cousin, the Earl of Waldo.

Life Insurance

4. Life Insurance

Air Date: 1953-11-28

Mr. Fields takes out an insurance policy on Lou. Later, Bud takes Lou on a hunting trip, and Lou suspects Bud and Mr. Fields have plotted to kill him for the insurance money.

Pest Exterminators

5. Pest Exterminators

Air Date: 1953-12-05

Bud and Lou are pest exterminators mistaken for psychiatrists when they attend to Mrs. Featherton's "aunts."

Killer's Wife

6. Killer's Wife

Air Date: 1953-12-12

When a heavyweight prize fighter named Killer thinks that Lou is having an affair with his wife, Bud attempts to get Lou trained and fit in a gym.

Cheap Skates

7. Cheap Skates

Air Date: 1953-12-19

Bud and Lou accidentally buy a crate of roller-skates, not knowing that they have stolen diamonds hidden inside.

South of Dixie

8. South of Dixie

Air Date: 1953-12-26

Lou accidentally lands himself and Bud roles in a Civil War melodrama.

From Bed to Worse

9. From Bed to Worse

Air Date: 1954-01-02

Bud and Lou attempt to plant a backyard garden in order to win a cash prize offered by a civic group.

$1,000 TV Prize

10. $1,000 TV Prize

Air Date: 1954-01-09

Lou wins a $1,000 dollar prize pretending to be Mr. Fields. He then has to get Mr. Fields out of the way so he can collect it.

Amnesia

11. Amnesia

Air Date: 1954-01-16

Lou is in love with a girl he has never met. As a gag, Bud and his friends convince him that he has already married the girl. The woman who poses as his wife then makes his existence miserable.

Efficiency Experts

12. Efficiency Experts

Air Date: 1954-01-23

Bud and Lou land jobs as efficiency experts, and are assigned to restrain their client’s daughters from spending money. The young women, however, get the boys to buy them expensive dresses and take them to a casino, where they end up in a brawl.

Car Trouble

13. Car Trouble

Air Date: 1954-01-30

When Lou wins a car, Bud sells it to buy a cheaper one, using the profits to try to finance a vacation in Flint, Michigan.

Wife Wanted

14. Wife Wanted

Air Date: 1954-02-06

When Lou finds out he will inherit $10,000 provided that he has a wife, he tries to marry a former girlfriend—who is dating a man named Bonebender Brodsky.

Uncle from New Jersey

15. Uncle from New Jersey

Air Date: 1954-02-13

When Mr. Fields is just about to evict the boys, Bud convinces him that Lou's Uncle Ruppert is a millionaire and Lou is the sole heir. Complications arise, however, when Mike the Cop begins to believe that the visiting uncle (Lou in disguise) has been murdered.

Private Eye

16. Private Eye

Air Date: 1954-02-20

After receiving his private eye diploma from the Watchdog Correspondence School, Lou helps a friend locate some valuable bonds in a haunted house.

The Tax Return

17. The Tax Return

Air Date: 1954-02-27

Lou receives a tax refund check for $1,000,000. He takes the check to a bank and demands cash. He is subsequently followed by home by crooks.

Public Enemies

18. Public Enemies

Air Date: 1954-03-06

Lou is mistaken for a crook named Dapper Dan and is forced to take part in a robbery.

Bank Holdup

19. Bank Holdup

Air Date: 1954-03-13

Bud and Lou unwittingly take jobs as armed bodyguards for a couple of hoodlums and assist in a bank robbery. They use their share of money to pay their rent, and later try to get it back from Mr. Fields' safe.

Well Oiled

20. Well Oiled

Air Date: 1954-03-20

Bud and Lou help Mr. Fields, who is being threatened with a lawsuit. Lou poses as a Texas millionaire to help discredit the complainant.

The Pigeon

21. The Pigeon

Air Date: 1954-03-27

Bud and Lou's beautiful next door neighbor uses Lou as a decoy to help break up with her mobster boyfriend.

Honeymoon House

22. Honeymoon House

Air Date: 1954-04-03

When Bud and Mr. Fields help Lou put together a prefab house in order to impress his fiancée and her parents, a jealous former boyfriend sabotages their work.

Fencing Master

23. Fencing Master

Air Date: 1954-04-10

A mad scientist's experiment convinces Lou that he is indestructible.

Beauty Contest Story

24. Beauty Contest Story

Air Date: 1954-04-17

When Bud and Lou judge a beauty contest, pressure is applied to sway their votes.

Fall Guy

25. Fall Guy

Air Date: 1954-04-24

Bud and Lou want to take two sisters on a date but their father convinces the boys to put an antenna on his roof instead.

Barber Lou

26. Barber Lou

Air Date: 1954-05-01

Lou tries to give Bud a rubdown following instructions from a radio show, but he's tuned into a program explaining how to paint a car at home.

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Rating

7.1/10

Release Date

1952-12-05

Episodes

52 (2 seasons)

Status

Ended

Cast

Production Companies

Television Corporation of America

Television Corporation of America