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Ironically, I wasn't interested when I first heard about Mister Ed. Then I saw the pilot film, realized the possibilities and signed for the series. At first there was some talk of calling this The Alan Young Show (the title of my old CBC radio show in Toronto in the mid-1940's). But it's Ed's show, and I say if he's working like a horse then let him worry like a horse.

Working with a talking horse is like working with Charlie McCarthy. Used to the ventriloquism on the show, I catch myself talking to the horse when we're off camera. The other morning I passed Ed on the set and said, "Hello, Ed." When he didn't reply I was a little shaken. I thought perhaps he was mad at me.

It's a little though trying to stay even with a talking horse. He comes off stealing a good many scenes. Ed's a real ham, exceptionally nosey, and he sometimes seems more human than horse.

He normally does a scene perfectly the first time. But, if one of the actors makes a mistake, the horse figures he didn't do it right and changes his acting. Then we may have to shoot the scene 15 times before we get it right.

By that time the director doesn't watch anyone except Ed. And when the horse does the scene correctly the director yells, "Print it." Then, as an afterthought, he'll say, "And how were you, Alan?" I always have to be on my toes, because on this show it's the horse's best takes that are shown on TV.  

At the end of a long day, the horse often will go to sleep in the middle of a scene. I'll be talking to Ed and suddenly my shoulder will get heavier and heavier. Sure enough, Ed's asleep. When he gets tired he just quits. One day, he unbolted the door to his stall on the sound stage and walked off to his stable.

Ed's very docile and we have no trouble with him because his trainer, Les Hilton, does a wonderful job. This eight-year-old horse doesn't work for rewards -- like sugar and carrots. He's been taught to do certain things because he is supposed to. That's why we have no stand-ins for Ed. One horse is all we need.

Mister Ed achieved such high ratings on Sunday nights that CBS has shifted the series to boost its Thursday evening ratings. The continued success of the series means exceptionally good news to me because I own a piece of the show. We may even do a full-length movie of Mister Ed.

However, I've discovered in this business that it's much better to be working four days a week in a long-running TV series than just a couple of months a year in a movie.

Currently I'm all wrapped up in Mister Ed, which is now well into its third successful season. As I say, he steals a lot of scenes in 26 episodes, but one must simply pocket his pride -- and money. But I am trying to get the writers to write in a dance scene. Let's see what Ed can do with that!