The Life of Riley was one of several blue-collar, eth­nic sitcoms popular in the 1950s. Chester A. Riley was the breadwinner of an Irish-American nuclear family living in suburban Los Angeles. Although most of the program took place within the Riley household, his job as an airplane riveter sometimes figured prominently in weekly episodes. Riley's fixed place in the socio­ economic structure also allowed for occasional barbs directed at the frustrations of factory employment and at the pretensions of the upper classes. After The Life of Riley was canceled, blue-collar protagonists like Riley would not reappear until All in the Family premiered in the 1970s.

     A pilot for The Life of Riley starred Herb Vigran and was broadcast on NBC in I948. Six months later, the series appeared on NBC with Riley played by Gleason; however, Riley's malapropisms and oafish behavior were poorly suited to Gleason's wisecracking night­ club style. Bendix, who had played Riley on radio and in a movie version, was originally unable to play the part on television due to film obligations. When he did assume the role, however, he became synonymous with the character.

     Bendix played Riley in a manner that resembled many of his supporting roles in Hollywood films of the 1940s: as a heavy-handed, obstinate, yet ultimately sensitive lummox. Each week Riley first became flustered, then overwhelmed by seemingly minor problems concerning his job, his family, or his neighbors. These small matters escalated to the verge of disaster once Riley became involved. Riley's catch phrase­ "What a revoltin' development this is!"-expressed his frustration and became part of the national idiom. His patient wife, Peg (originally played by Rosemary DeCamp, then by Marjorie Reynolds), managed to keep the family in order despite her husband's calamitous blunders. 

     Other central characters included Riley's studious and attractive daughter, "Babs" (Gloria Winters, Lu­ gene Sanders), and his younger, respectful son, "Junior" (Lanny Rees, Wesley Morgan). Riley also had several neighbors, friends, and coworkers. The most significant of these was Jim Gillis (Sid Tomack, Tom D'Andrea), Riley's smart-aleck neighbor whose schemes often instigated trouble.

     The narrative structure of the series was much like that of any half-hour sitcom: Each week, stasis within the Riley household would be disrupted by a misunderstanding on Riley's part or by Riley's bungled efforts to improve his or his family's status. Catastrophe was ultimately averted by a simple solution, usually the clarification of a fact by Peg or another character besides Riley. Order was thus restored by the end of the episode.

     The postwar suburban lifestyle conditioned much of the program's content. Mirroring trends established during the postwar economic boom, the Riley family lived comfortably, though not lavishly, aided-and sometimes baffled-by many of the latest household consumer gadgets. Gender roles typical of the era were also represented with Chester earning the family's single paycheck while Peg maintained the household. Similarly, Babs's problems typically concerned dating, while Junior's were related to school. Most of the problems in the Riley household occurred when the private and public realms merged, usually when Riley interfered with Peg's responsibilities.

     Like many sitcoms of the 1950s, The Life of Riley reinforced the promise of suburban gratifications open to hard-working, white Americans. Even so, Riley's incompetence set him apart from his television counterparts. More so than Ozzie of Ozzie and Harriet, Ri­ley's ineptitude called into question the role of the American father and therefore of the entire family structure, thus preceding some l960s sitcoms such as Green Acres and Bewitched that carried that theme even further.