Sure, all the stories were silly and contrived but I still enjoy it over 50 years later. Mister Ed was played by only one horse (except in the unaired pilot), a Palomino Gelding named Bamboo Harvester. It is believed that the horse lived 30 years which was obviously far beyond the T.V. series. Constance Hines played "Wilbur Post's pretty wife" on the series and surprisingly did only a handful of other T.V. shows and attractions. Several guest stars appeared on the half-hour show, which ran from 1958-1966 and was produced by Arthur Lubin and the same production company as the "Francis the Talking Mule " movies. The character for "Ed" was "pulled" from a series of children's story books after the "Francis" character was made unavailable by the movie studio, Universal. Mr. Ed was originally taught to move his lips with an "invisible" wire attached to his mouth. Later, this smart horse learned to do this trick on command when his foot was pressed! Peanut butter was never used at all! 143 episodes and it still runs on cable to this day with all the other "barnyard and hillbilly" sitcoms from Filmways. It may be colorized, but it is usually broadcast is black and white. (Credit: Trivia details from "Wikipedia".)
