Can you identify these beloved characters before they were on TV?
Before television, they were in comics, books and magazines.
Television has always looked to other entertainment media for ideas. The Odd Couple was a play and movie before becoming a classic sitcom. The Lone Ranger, like so many cowboys, was born on the radio. The Flying Nun and Gidget (both Sally Field characters) first lived in the pages of books.
Other iconic TV characters started out in comic books, newspaper strips, short stories and film.
See if you can recognize these characters as they originally appeared.
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She made her debut in All Star Comics No. 8 in December 1941.
Image: DC Comics
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He made his debut solving "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" in May 1939.
Image: DC Comics
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This radio cast started performing over the airwaves in 1952.
Image: radioclassics
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This horse first appeared in Liberty Magazine in 1937.
Image: avalon-collectibles / eBay
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This holiday-special favorite first appeared in papers on October 2, 1950.
Image: United Feature Syndicate / Universal Uclick
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He first turned up in the funny pages in March 1951.
Image: Fantagraphics Books
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This scientist made his debut in May 1962.
Image: Marvel Comics
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The characters from this TV show first appeared in a 1968 novel, seen here in the 1969 paperback edition.
Image: Pocket Books
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This crime solver first appeared in books in 1933. Here he is in a 1937 movie poster.
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures
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These characters can trace their roots back to a cartoon in The New Yorker in 1938.
Image: Tee & Charles A. Foundation
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This hero first turned up in a 1972 sci-fi novel.
Image: Warner Paperback Library
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This hero dates all the way back to an issue of Amazing Stories from March 1929.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Can you identify these beloved characters before they were on TV?
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59 Comments
I got #3 wrong because the image jumped due to an ad loading just as I was clicking my mouse. I meant to click "Gunsmoke" instead of "The Rifleman." This happens a lot on this website whenever those stupid ads load up!!!
What's with the British(the wrong) spelling of "recognize"?
Or is British spelling & pronunciation correct before it became "Americanized" here? There's is the king's English! ☺
11/12. I didn't know Buck Rogers went back THAT far! I was also surprised to learn Mr. Ed appeared in a comic book before becoming a TV show.