from the Wikipedia:
Mister Ed is an American television situation comedy that first aired in syndication on January 5, 1961 to July 2, 1961 and then on CBS from October 1, 1961 to February 6, 1966. Mister Ed was the first series ever to debut as a midseason replacement, occurring before the premiere of Batman, five years later.
The stars of the show are Mister Ed, an intelligent palomino American Saddlebred who could talk ("played" by gelding Bamboo Harvester and voiced by Allan Lane), and his owner, architect Wilbur Post (portrayed by Alan Young). Much of the program's humor stemmed from the fact Mister Ed would speak only to Wilbur. According to the show's producer, Arthur Lubin, Young was chosen because "he seemed like a guy a horse would talk to." Lubin, a friend of Mae West, scored a coup by persuading the screen icon to guest star in one episode.
BONUS: Was Ed a horse or a ZEBRA! Seriously! Check out this Snopes.com article:
http://www.snopes.com/lost/mistered.asp
