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Father Knows Best
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Father Knows Best is a long-run 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.
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.
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Encyclopedia
Father Knows Best is a long-run 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.
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.
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 portrayed 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 and 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:
The series began on CBS television October 3, 1954. A total of 203 episodes were produced, running until September 17, 1960, and appearing on all three of the television networks of the time.
Rita Moreno appeared in one episode, Fair Exchange, first telecast Nov. 24, 1958. She played Chanthini, an exchange student
from India.
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.
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 two seasons of Father Knows Best on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. Season three is expected to be released on June 9th,2009.
| DVD Name | Ep# | Release Date |
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| 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 |
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