Father Knows Best
is an American radio and television comedy series which portrayed middle class family life in the Midwest. It was created by writer Ed James in the 1940s.
|
FATHER KNOWS BEST TICKETS
|
Radio
The series began
August 25,
1949, on
NBC Radio. Set in the Midwest, it starred
Robert Young as General Insurance agent Jim Anderson. His wife Margaret was first portrayed by June Whitley and later by
Jean Vander Pyl. The Anderson children were Betty (Rhoda Williams), Bud (Ted Donaldson) and Kathy (Norma Jean Nillson). Others in the cast were
Eleanor Audley, Herb Vigran and Sam Edwards. Sponsored through most of its run by
General Foods, the series was heard Thursday evenings on NBC until
March 25,
1954.
The show is often regarded as an example of the conservative and
paternalistic nature of American family life in the 1950s and it is also cited as an overly rosy portrayal of American family life.
[1]
On the radio program, the character of Jim differs from the later television character. The radio Jim is far more sarcastic and shows he really "rules" over his family. Jim also calls his children names, something common on radio but lost in the TV series; for example, Jim says, "What a bunch of stupid children I have." Margaret is portrayed as a paragon of solid reason and patience, unless the plot calls for her to act a bit off. For example, in a Halloween episode, Margaret cannot understand how the table floats in the air, but that is a rare exception.
Betty, on radio, is portrayed as a status seeking, boy-crazy teenage girl. To her, every little thing is "the worst thing that could ever happen." Bud, on radio, is portrayed as an "all-American" boy who always seems to need "just a bit more" money, though he gets $1.25 per week in allowance. The actor had an affected 'R.' (Similar to
Elmer Fudd, but not quite as pronounced.) Bud is in charge of always having to answer the front door, which he hates. He is also shown as a somewhat dim boy who takes everything literally; for example, Jim might say "Go jump in the lake," to which Bud would reply "Okay, Dad; which lake should I go jump into?" On radio Kathy often is portrayed as a source of irritation. She whines, cries and complains about her status in the family as overlooked. She often is the source of money to her brother and sister, although she is in hock several years on her own allowance.
TV series
Only Robert Young remained of the radio cast when the series moved to CBS television:
- Jim Anderson - Robert Young
- Margaret Anderson - Jane Wyatt
- Betty "Princess" Anderson - Elinor Donahue
- James "Bud" Anderson, Jr. - Billy Gray
- Kathy "Kitten" Anderson - Lauren Chapin
The series began on CBS television
October 3,
1954. Originally sponsored by
Lorillard's
Kent cigarettes in its first season,
Scott Paper Company became the primary sponsor when the series moved to
NBC in the fall of 1955, remaining as sponsor even after it moved back to CBS in September 1958, with
Lever Brothers as an alternate sponsor from 1957 through 1960. A total of 203 episodes were produced, running until
September 17,
1960, and appearing on all three of the
television networks of the time, including prime-time repeats from September 1960 through April 1963.
Rita Moreno appeared in one episode,
Fair Exchange
, first telecast Nov. 24, 1958. She played Chanthini, an exchange student
from India.
[2]
Young left the series in 1960 at the height of the show's popularity to work on other projects, but reruns continued to air in prime time for another three years, on CBS from 1960–1962, and on ABC from 1962–1963. Following that, reruns were shown on ABC-TV in the early afternoon for several years.
On November 22, 1963, the third season episode "Man About Town" was being rerun on several ABC affiliates [WABC-TV in New York was airing a local repeat of
The Ann Sothern Show
]. At 1:42 PM EST, ABC News broke into the program with the first bulletin of the shooting of President Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.
The TV cast reunited for a pair of TV movies on NBC;
Father Knows Best Reunion
on
May 15,
1977 and
Father Knows Best: Home For Christmas
on
December 18, 1977.
Pilot episode
The 27 May 1954 episode of
The Ford Television Theatre
show was called "Keep It in the Family". This 26-minute episode stars Robert Young as Tim Warren, head of the Warren Family. With him was wife Grace (
Ellen Drew), older daughter Peggy (
Sally Fraser), younger daughter Patty (
Tina Thompson) and son Jeff (Gordon Gerbert). This is considered to be the pilot of
Father Knows Best
. In the episode, Peggy dreams of making it as an actress but a talent scout who has raised her hopes just wants people for his acting school.
Ownership and DVD releases
Although
Screen Gems originally oversaw the production and distribution of the show, they never owned the ancillary rights. A partnership led by Robert Young and the producers was largely responsible for the show. What became Sony Pictures Television no longer owns any rights to the series as it has now been withdrawn from television distribution (the estates of Young and producer Eugene Rodney own all rights).
Shout! Factory (under license from the Young estate) has released the first three seasons of
Father Knows Best
on DVD in Region 1.
| DVD Name
| Ep#
| Release Date
|
| Season One
| 26
| April 1, 2008
|
| Season Two
| 37
| November 11, 2008
|
| Season Three
| 37
| June 9, 2009
|
| Season Four
| 33
| TBA
|
| Season Five
| 38
| TBA
|
| Season Six
| 32
| TBA
|
Feature film
It was announced that
20th Century Fox and
New Regency plan to produce a
Father Knows Best
movie with a possible release date of 2010 or 2011.
[3] [4] [5] [6]
References
- Mary Beth Haralovich, "Sitcoms and Suburbs: Positioning of the 1950s Homemaker," ''Quarterly Review of Film and Video'' 11 (1989): 61-83.
- Title Unavailable
- Movies - News - Fox makes 'Father Knows Best' movie
- Fox makes 'Father Knows Best' movie
- Father Still Knows Best
- Father Knows Best Coming to the Big Screen