I was 9 years old when this show premiered and, if my memory serves me, it followed "I Love Lucy," providing an hour of solid comedy. But even if my gray cells are faulty, I remember "December Bride" as being one of the best sitcoms of the 1950s.

Spring Byington played Lily Ruskin, who lived him her daughter and son-in-law. The comedy was based largely on Lily's adventures with her close friend Hilda Crocker (Verna Felton), which often left son-in-law Matt Henshaw (Dean Miller) exasperated.

The icing on the cake was provided by Harry Morgan ("M*A*S*H") as next-door neighbor Peter Porter, whose sardonic remarks about wife Gladys (who is never seen on camera) rarely failed to trigger guffaws.

This was a show that the whole family could watch, and I'm saddened that it is not available for home viewing. It's a treasure that is likely to languish in studio vaults for a long, long time.