The original, unaired
pilot for the series was titled "Wilbur Pope and Mister Ed" and featured an unrelated instrumental big-band theme (with footage of
Studebaker Hawk automobiles being driven underneath the opening credits). This pilot, which used a script that was nearly identical to that which would be used on the series premiere, used a totally different cast. Scott McKay played the title part of Wilbur Pope (surname later changed to "Post" prior to the series making it to air) and Sandra White played the role of Wilbur's wife. The first horse that played Mister Ed for the first, unaired pilot episode was a
chestnut gelding. The horse proved to be unruly and difficult to work with and was replaced with the horse named
Bamboo Harvester (1949–1970), a
crossbred gelding of
American Saddlebred,
Arabian and
grade ancestry. A second pilot episode was filmed and Bamboo Harvester remained with the series until its cancellation.
Making Ed "talk" Mister Ed producers left the talents that performed the title role uncredited. The show's credits listed Mister Ed as being played only by "Himself." The voice actor for Ed's spoken lines was
Allan "Rocky" Lane, a former
B-movie cowboy star.
Sheldon Allman provided Ed's singing voice in episodes; his solo line ("I am Mister Ed") at the close of the show's theme song was provided by its composer,
Jay Livingston. Allan Lane was alluded to by the producers only as "an actor who prefers to remain nameless." After the show became a hit, Lane campaigned the producers for screen credit but accepted a raise in salary instead. The horse
Bamboo Harvester portrayed Ed throughout the run. Ed's stablemate, a quarter horse named Pumpkin, also served as Bamboo Harvester's
stunt double for the show. Pumpkin later appeared again in the television series
Green Acres. Bamboo Harvester's trainer was Les Hilton. To create the impression that Ed was having a conversation, Hilton initially used a thread technique he had employed for Lubin's earlier
Mule films; in time, though, this became unnecessary. As actor Alan Young recounted: "It was initially done by putting a piece of nylon thread in his mouth. But Ed actually learned to move his lips on cue when the trainer touched his hoof. In fact, he soon learned to do it when I stopped talking during a scene! Ed was very smart." Reports circulated during and after the show's run that the talking effect was achieved by crew members applying peanut butter to the horse's gums. Alan Young said in later interviews that he invented the story. "Al Simon and Arthur Lubin, the producers, suggested we keep the method [of making the horse appear to talk] a secret because they thought kids would be disappointed if they found out the technical details of how it was done, so I made up the peanut butter story, and everyone bought it." Young added that Bamboo Harvester saw trainer Les Hilton as the disciplinarian father figure. When scolded by Hilton for missing a cue, the horse would move to Young for comfort, treating the actor as a mother figure. Hilton told Young this was a positive development.
Theme song The theme song, "Mister Ed", was written by the songwriting team of
Jay Livingston and
Ray Evans and sung by Livingston himself. The first seven episodes used only instrumental music to open the show; thereafter the version with lyrics was used. Livingston agreed to sing the song himself until a professional singer could be found; the producers liked the songwriter's vocals and kept them on the broadcast. During most of the show's run the ending theme song used only instrumental music. In some episodes, however, the theme song is sung during the closing credits. The theme was actually sung at the end in all but the first seven episodes. The severely shortened end credits imposed by the current distributor necessitated the use of a shortened instrumental version. Before the theme song begins, the sound of Mr. Ed whinnying is heard before Mr. Ed's human voice is heard saying "Hello, I'm Mr. Ed." The theme starts out with the famous lyrics "A horse is a horse/Of course, of course." The theme song received renewed publicity twenty years after the show went off the air when Jim Brown, a preacher from
South Point, Ohio, claimed in May 1986 that it contained
"satanic messages" if heard in reverse. Brown and his colleague Greg Hudson claimed that the phrases "Someone sung this song for
Satan" and "the source is Satan" would be audible. At their behest teenagers
burned over 300 records and cassettes of
secular music with alleged satanic messages. The teens did not burn a copy of ''Television's Greatest Hits'', but Brown asserted that "Satan can be an influence whether they [the songwriters] know it or not. We don't think they did it on purpose and we're not getting down on
Mister Ed."
Sponsorship The series was sponsored from 1961 to 1963 by
Studebaker-Packard Corporation and
Studebaker Corporation. At first, sponsorship came from Studebaker's dealer association, with corporate sponsorship coming from South Bend once the series had been picked up by CBS.
Studebakers were featured prominently in the show during this period. The Posts are shown owning a 1962
Lark convertible, and the company used publicity shots featuring the Posts and Mister Ed with their product (various cast members also appeared in "integrated commercials" for
Lark at the end of the program). When another Lark convertible served as the official pace car at the 1962 Indianapolis 500, Connie Hines attended the race as part of the promotion. Studebaker's sales dropped dramatically in 1961 and, despite their exposure via sponsoring this program, never recovered. Studebaker ended U.S. motor vehicle production on December 20, 1963. Later, Studebaker's sponsorship and vehicle-supply agreement ended, and The Ford Motor Company provided the vehicles seen on-camera starting at the beginning of 1965. (Studebaker vehicle production continued in Canada, but ended completely in March 1966.) ==Home media==