“The People’s Choice” with Cleo, the Talking Basset Hound!

Before Mr. Ed, a forgotten show of the 1950’s called The People’s Choice starred Jackie Coogan but the real attraction was a basset hound called Cleo who appeared to be talking or at least projecting her thoughts to the human characters…

Now Jackie Coogan was one of the few child stars who actually found work as an adult actor once his 1930’s role in The Little Rascals was over. In The People’s Choice (1955-1958), he played an aspiring politician who initially was secretly married to the mayor’s daughter. Coogan would later go on to play Perry White in the first three Superman movies…but this post is about Cleo, who would offer sardonic commentaries upon the human actions about her.

This was hokey 1950’s comedy, but the concept of a talking dog was innovative for its time, and Cleo often did steal the show, paving the way for Mr. Ed and future anthropomorphic animal characters. Hard to find now, some full episodes of The People’s Choice may be viewed free of charge on YouTube…Woof!