The People’s Choice is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1955 to 1958, primarily sponsored by The Borden Company.

It stars Jackie Cooper as Socrates “Sock” Miller, an ex-Marine and a young politician in fictitious New City, California.  Sock has a basset hound named “Cleo”, whose thoughts (voiced by Mary Jane Croft), as she balefully observes Sock’s dilemmas, are recorded on the soundtrack for the viewers’ amusement.  Cleo’s real name was Bernadette. Much of Cleo’s dialog consists of wisecracks.  The popularity of the basset hound breed increased markedly with the run of the show.

In the first season, Sock is an ornithologist living in a trailer park with his Aunt Gus (Margaret Irving).  A city council member, he is dating Mandy Peoples (Patricia Breslin), the daughter of the mayor (Paul Maxey), who does not entirely approve of the relationship but gradually warms to Sock.

Later, Sock takes courses (though he is not in law school) to pass the California bar exam to become an attorney, so that he can afford to marry Mandy.  In the first season finale, Sock suddenly proposes to Mandy and wants to elope.  He is afraid the mayor will want to stage a big wedding, and they won’t be able to get married for many months.  The couple drives to Nevada for a quickie wedding, intending to return in time for Sock to take his bar exam.  On the way back, they are arrested for a traffic violation, spend the night in jail, and Sock misses the bar exam.  Sock wants to be independent of his father-in-law; so they agree to keep their marriage a secret from the mayor until Sock gets his law license.

Most episodes in the second season are about Sock and Mandy trying to be together (as much as this could be depicted in the 1950s), while keeping the mayor from finding out that they are married.  At some point during the season, Aunt Gus and the mayor get married, and she learns that Sock and Mandy are married and agrees to keep their secret from the mayor.  By the end of the season, Sock has passed the bar, and their marriage is out in the open.  Sock’s scheming Marine buddy, Rollo “The Hex” Hexley (Dick Wesson), moved in with Sock during the second season and appeared in twenty-seven episodes as well as the original 1955 pilot.

In the third season, Sock manages a residential real estate development called “Barkerville Estates.”  They still return to New City often enough for Mayor Peoples and Aunt Gus to appear regularly.

The series was created and co-produced by Irving Brecher, who was also the creator of the 1949 situation comedy, The Life of Riley. Although The People’s Choice never made the top 30 programs, its ratings were respectable enough to warrant a three-year run on NBC.  The show later became popular in syndication.