Most famous for "Leave It to Beaver" and "The Munsters," Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher's partnership started in the early '40s and lasted until 1967 with the cancellation of their show, "Pistols 'n' Petticoats." As copywriters, Connelly and Mosher met at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in New York City. They soon left to write for radio, starting on "The Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy Show," "The Frank Morgan Show," and eventually "The Amos 'n' Andy Show," where they stayed for twelve years and for two more in its TV form. After a failed TV show starring Ray Milland, things started getting better in 1956, when they were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story for the 1955 film, The Private War of Major Benson.
     In 1957, "Leave It to Beaver" premiered and lasted for six seasons. It remains wildly popular today and is often referred to as part of the idealistic genre of family sitcoms that includes "Father Knows Best," "The Donna Reed Show" and "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet." Inspired largely by their own children (Connelly had seven and Mosher had two), "Leave It to Beaver" is heralded as being the first sitcom to show things from the kids' point of view.
     As they carefully produced, wrote and oversaw the creation and production of "Leave It to Beaver," so they did too with "The Munsters" in 1964. During its two seasons, they wrote 29 episodes (occasionally with the collaboration of other writers) and also wrote Munster, Go Home! with writer George Tibbles. Also for the show, they created their production company name of Kayro-Vue Productions. Kay stood for Connelly's wife Kathryn, Ro for Mosher's wife Rose and Vue for Revue, the name of Universal's television production unit.
     Bob Mosher died in 1972 due to a brain tumor and Joe Connelly retired around that time due to a brain aneurysm. In 2003, he suffered a stroke and passed away in Newport Beach, California at age 85.
     Other shows that they collaborated on include "Tammy" (with Debbie Watson), "Ichabod and Me," "Calvin and the Colonel," "Blondie," "Bringing Up Buddy," "Karen" (also with Debbie Watson), "Harris Against the World" and "Tom, Dick and Mary."
 

SOURCES

Cox, Stephen. The Munsters Television's First Family of Fright. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1989.

McLellan, Dennis. Los Angeles Times. Feb. 14, 2003.

Pictures of Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher from The Munsters Television's First Family of Fright