History Series / MisterEd

* EverybodyOwnsAFord: Studebaker was the primary sponsor of the show through 1963-64. Studebaker got ProductPlacement in the show, and Mister Ed and Wilbur even did some [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKAnMlxNv64&feature=player_embedded Studebaker commercials.]] Ironically, by the time the show's target demographic was old enough to drive, Studebaker was out of business (having built their last cars in 1966).
** Starting midway through the 1964-1965 season, Ford Motor Co. took over ProductPlacement of the cars seen in the show.

* ExiledToTheCouch: Non-couch variant -- Carol occasionally makes Wilbur sleep in the barn with Mr. Ed.

** Wilbur suggests putting Ed on TV, much to the latter's disgust.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: Granny from the ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies'' makes an appearance in "Love and the Single Horse." Irene Ryan, dressed in "Granny" garb, and with Granny's accent, meets Wilbur Post while touring a wax museum. She offers to take Wilbur home and poultice his head; very Granny-type actions. In the credits, however, Irene Ryan is credited as "[[AsHimself Irene Ryan]]" with no character after her name. (Both shows were produced by Creator/{{Filmways}}, incidentally.)

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: Granny from the ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies'' makes an appearance in "Love and the Single Horse." Irene Ryan, dressed in "Granny" garb, and with Granny's accent, meets Wilbur Post while touring a wax museum. She offers to take Wilbur home and poultice his head; very Granny-type actions. In the credits, however, Irene Ryan is credited as "Irene Ryan" with no character after her name. (Both shows were produced by Creator/{{Filmways}}.)

* IntellectualAnimal: Mr. Ed, being a talking horse, is naturally just as intelligent as a human.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: Granny from the ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies'' makes an appearance in "Love and the Single Horse." Irene Ryan, dressed in "Granny" garb, and with Granny's accent, meets Wilbur Post while touring a wax museum. She offers to take Wilbur home and poultice his head; very Granny-type actions. In the credits, however, Irene Ryan is credited as "Irene Ryan" with no character after her name.

A 1961–66 FantasticComedy about a talking horse, based on a series of short stories written by Walter R. Brooks between 1937 and 1945, ''Mister Ed'' aired in FirstRunSyndication over its first season before jumping to Creator/{{CBS}} for the rest of its original run.

A 1960s SitCom (running from 1961 to 1966) about architect Wilbur Post (Creator/AlanYoung), his wife Carol (Connie Hines), and Wilbur's horse Mr. Ed (voiced by Allan Lane). Ed was a normal Palomino in most respects, other than the fact that he could talk, read, and was fairly intelligent. [[NotSoImaginaryFriend He only ever spoke to Wilbur though]], [[HilarityEnsues which led to many awkward situations]] when the mischievous Ed would get Wilbur caught up in a ZanyScheme or two. Actor Allan Lane provided Ed's voice for the entire run of the series, but went uncredited.

A pilot was filmed for a {{revival}} in 2004, with Creator/DavidAlanBasche as [[AdaptationalNameChange Wilbur Pope]] and Creator/ShermanHemsley as the voices of Mr. Ed, but never aired.

* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Ed is shown to be able and willing to talk to other people, but will only do so in situations where the other party doesn't know they're talking to a horse (behind their backs, over a phone, etc). There were at least two instances where Ed talked to kids, who knew a horse was talking to them. In the first instance, Ed tells Wilbur he was talking in front of a kid because adults don't believe children.

* RetCon: Ed's color-blindness. There are two episodes which revolve around Ed wanting a color TV. In the first episode Wilbur refuses to buy him one, stating that all horses are color-blind. Ed proves him wrong by pointing out the color of the clothes he's wearing. In the second episode, Ed wins a color TV in a trivia contest, and a fight among Ed and Wilbur ensues about whether it will go in the house or the barn. In the end, Ed steals the TV and watches it in the barn, and decides to let Wilbur have it, since he discovered he was (you guessed it) color-blind.

* SapientSteed: The UrExample of this trope. Mr. Ed is just as intelligent and capable of communicating as any human.

* StockAnimalDiet: Mister Ed greatly enjoys all stereotypical horse foods (sugar, carrots, apples, hay and oats), [[TalkingAnimal and he says so often]].

%%* ExpositoryThemeTune

* BaseballEpisode: At least two - season 4's "Leo Durocher Meets Mister Ed", in which Ed takes part in a game with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and season 5's "Jon Provost Meets Mister Ed", which involves a Little League game.

* ExiledToTheCouch: Non-couch variant - Carol occasionally makes Wilbur sleep in the barn with Mr. Ed.

* HappilyMarried: Wilbur and Carol are a very affectionate couple. It's something of a running gag that the Addisons frequently walk in on them kissing or cuddling and make some comment on it.

%%* IntellectualAnimal: Mr. Ed, naturally.

* RakeTake: Wilbur Post is the victim in the first episode of ''Series/MisterEd''. When Wilbur tells his wife Carol that Mister Ed can talk, Carol thinks the rake hitting Wilbur in the head caused him to be delusional!

%%* SapientSteed: The UrExample of this trope.
* TheScrooge: Addison, who's always complaining about his wife spending his hard-earned money on things he doesn't think she needs (like a mink stole).

* WunzaPlot: One's a man, one's a horse. They get into comedic hijinks, much to the distress of everyone except Ed himself.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ed is troublemaking, sarcastic, and kind of selfish, but he's a good horse at heart. He cares deeply about Wilbur and is often loyal to him.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To the 1950s ''Film/FrancisTheTalkingMule'' film series starring Creator/DonaldOConnor (who was replaced in the final film of the series by Creator/MickeyRooney).

A 1960s SitCom (running from 1961 to 1966) about architect Wilbur Post (Creator/AlanYoung), his wife Carol (Connie Hines), and Wilbur's horse Mr. Ed (voiced by Creator/AlanYoung). Ed was a normal Palomino in most respects, other than the fact that he could talk, read, and was fairly intelligent. [[NotSoImaginaryFriend He only ever spoke to Wilbur though]], [[HilarityEnsues which led to many awkward situations]] when the mischievous Ed would get Wilbur caught up in a ZanyScheme or two. Actor Allan Lane provided Ed's voice for the entire run of the series, but went uncredited.

A 1960s SitCom (running from 1961 to 1966) about architect Wilbur Post (Creator/AlanYoung), his wife Carol, and Wilbur's horse Mr. Ed. Ed was a normal Palomino in most respects, other than the fact that he could talk, read, and was fairly intelligent. [[NotSoImaginaryFriend He only ever spoke to Wilbur though]], [[HilarityEnsues which led to many awkward situations]] when the mischievous Ed would get Wilbur caught up in a ZanyScheme or two. Actor Allan Lane provided Ed's voice for the entire run of the series, but went uncredited.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1588530253055722100

[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mister_ed.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/misterred01.jpg]]

* CharacterAsHimself: Mister Ed appears in the credits as "Himself," with no mention of his voice actor or the real name of the horse ("Bamboo Harvester.")

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_116353159.png]]

* AmusingAlien: Mr. Ed, naturally.
** The episode "Moko" featured an alien who traveled inside the bodies of other characters to control them. It was a BackdoorPilot for a series that never took off.

* ColorBlindConfusion: The title character had whether or not he was color blind flip-flopped with two episodes touching on it, the first where Ed wants a color TV but Wilbur refuses to get him once since horses are color blind, but Ed proves him wrong by pointing out the color of the clothes he's wearing. In a later episode, Ed wins a color TV in a trivia contest, and a fight among Ed and Wilbur ensues about whether it will go in the house or the barn. In the end, Ed steals the TV and watches it in the barn, and decides to let Wilbur have it, since he discovered he was actually color blind.
* CoolHorse: Face it, any horse that can talk is cool.
** Even disregarding the talking, Mr. Ed (the real horse, not just the character) could accomplish some impressive feats like answering the phone and opening and closing the barn door.

* DeadpanSnarker: Addison, who may be one of the most deadpan of all snarkers in black-and-white television.

-->'''Mrs. Addison:''' "The last time my husband kissed me was New Year's Eve, 1949. It was dark and he thought I was the cigarette girl."

** Winnie Kirkwood also qualifies.

* ExpositoryThemeTune

* HorsingAround: Mister Ed is a talking horse. What did you expect?

* IntellectualAnimal: Mr. Ed, naturally.

* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Ed is shown to be able and willing to talk to other people, but will only do so in situations where the other party doesn't know they're talking to a horse (behind their backs, over a phone, etc).
** There were at least two instances where Ed talked to kids, who knew a horse was talking to them. In the first instance, Ed tells Wilbur he was talking in front of a kid because adults don't believe children.

* RetCon: Ed's color-blindness. There are two episodes which revolve around Ed wanting a color TV. In the first episode Wilbur refuses to buy him one, stating that all horses are color-blind. Ed proves him wrong by pointing out the color of the clothes he's wearing. In the second episode Ed wins a color TV in a trivia contest, and a fight among Ed and Wilbur ensues about whether it will go in the house or the barn. In the end Ed steals the TV and watches it in the barn, and decides to let Wilbur have it, since he discovered he was (you guessed it) color-blind.
* SapientSteed: The UrExample of this trope.

A pilot was filmed for a {{revival}} in 2004, but never aired.

* ColorBlindConfusion: The title character had whether or not he was color blind flip-flopped with two episodes touching on it, the first where Ed wants a color TV but Wilbur refuses to get him once since horses are color blind, but Ed proves him wrong by pointing out the color of the clothes he's wearing. In a later episode Ed wins a color TV in a trivia contest, and a fight among Ed and Wilbur ensues about whether it will go in the house or the barn. In the end Ed steals the TV and watches it in the barn, and decides to let Wilbur have it, since he discovered he was actually color blind.

* HaveAGayOldTime: In one episode, Ed moos to a farmer right in his face, and the farmer remarks, "The horse looks me right in the puss and says 'Moo!'" In this case the "puss" means the face or eye.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To the 1950s ''Francis the Talking Mule'' film series starring Donald O'Connor (who was replaced in the final film of the series by Mickey Rooney).

[[quoteright:188:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mister_Ed_9355.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:188:''"What? You don't know I can read?''']]

** The episode "Moko" featured an alien who traveled inside the bodies of other characters to control them.

* [[ExiledToTheCouch Exiled to the Barn]]: Carol occasionally makes Wilbur sleep in the barn with Mr. Ed.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Wilbur suggests putting Ed on TV, much to the latter's disgust.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To the 1950s ''Francis the Talking Mule'' film series starring Donald O'Connor (and, briefly, Mickey Rooney).