User:AlbertGray/The Road of Life (television program)

The Road of Life was a television soap opera that was shown on CBS in 1954. It was based on the radio serial of the same name and was written mainly by Charles Gussman. The show was created by Irna Phillips and it starred Don McLaughlin and Virginia Dwyer, reprising their radio roles of Dr. Jim Brent and his wife Jocelyn McLeod Brent.

Jim and Jocelyn lived in the fictional community of Merrimac, where Jim was a doctor at the hospital. (One of the most well known lines was "Dr. Brent, Call Surgery!") Jocelyn had a lot of illnesses and a lot of calamity befall her, mostly stirred up by her adoptive family, the Overtons. The Overtons consisted of wealthy businessman Conrad Overton (Charles Dingle); and his wheelchair-bound (and highly wicked) daughter, Sybil Overton Fuller (Barbara Becker).

Conrad's wife, and Sybil's mother, Ada, wasn't as malevolent as her husband and daughter. Although Charles tended to side with Sybil (whom he nicknamed, Bunny), he was somewhat fair-minded, and could even become exasperated with Sybil and her schemes. Sybil was widowed (her husband, John, was presumed dead, since his body wasn't found) and was always after her adopted sister's husband, Jim. During the show's run, it was shown that she also had a daughter, Constance Fuller.

The show was well written but only lasted a year on television. The radio version lasted quite a bit longer. The radio version premiered in 1937 and ran for almost twenty-two years on radio, ending in 1959.