# Topper (1953)

> A banker's staid life is turned upside down when the ghosts of a free-spirited couple decide to haunt him into living a little.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/11324

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 78
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, science fiction
- Network: CBS
- Cast: Robert Sterling, Anne Jeffreys, Leo G. Carroll, Lee Patrick, Edna Skinner, Lee Roberts, James Seay, Kathleen Freeman
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045447/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: cozy, breezy, whimsical, wholesome, gently mischievous

## Synopsis

Topper (1953-1955) is an American fantasy sitcom created for CBS and based on the 1937 film of the same name. Leo G. Carroll stars in the title role as the staid banker Cosmo Topper, whose orderly life in Los Angeles is upended by the playful ghosts of a free-spirited married couple who died in a car accident and remain in his house. Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys play the spectral pair, George and Marion Kerby, who set out to loosen Topper up and make him enjoy life. Lee Patrick and Edna Skinner round out the household ensemble. Each thirty-minute episode is a self-contained case of the week, built from everyday comic friction: a stuffy banker, a meddling ghost, and the neighbors and business associates who can never quite see what is going on. The series runs for two seasons and seventy-eight episodes, a classic early network sitcom tradition. Its atmosphere is cozy, breezy and gently mischievous, with a warm sense of 1950s domestic comedy and a light, almost whimsical approach to the supernatural. Fans of Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and Ghost will find a familiar comfort in its premise of spirits meddling kindly in mortal life.

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