Father Knows Best: Season One
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Billy Gray, Elinor Donahue, Jane Wyatt, Lauren Chapin, Robert Young Director: James Neilson, Peter Tewksbury, William D. Russell Brand: UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP DISTRIBUTION DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Original Language) Format: Black & White, Box set, Closed-captioned, NTSC Picture Format: 1.33:1 Running Time: 660 minutes DVD Release Date: 2008-04-01 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Studio: Shout! Factory |
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Movie Reviews of Father Knows Best: Season One
Movie Review: Oh Boy
Summary: 5 Stars
The 203 half-hour episodes of the situation comedy "Father Knows Best" were originally broadcast on CBS & NBC from 1954 to 1960. This DVD set includes the 26 episodes from the 1954-55 broadcast season. The set also includes several special features detailed on Amazon's item description.
The series itself was a well-written "suburban" version of "Make Room For Daddy" (which had premiered a year earlier on ABC) with Robert Young playing the Danny Thomas part. The title character Jim Anderson (Young) is an agent with the General Insurance Company. He lives with his family on South Maple Street in Springfield (a town in an undisclosed Midwestern state). Jim's character is to a large degree the featured player on the series. Young had done "Father Knows Best" for five seasons on radio and was the only cast member retained for the television production.
Jane Wyatt (not to be confused with Jane Wyman) plays his wife Margaret, a simple 1950's homemaker. Former child star Elinor Donahue plays his oldest daughter Betty, Jim calls her "Princess". Billy Gray plays teenage son James Jr., called "Bud" by everyone in the series. Lauren Chapin plays younger daughter Kathy; called "Kitten" by her father. During Season One Betty is 17, Bud is 14, and Kathy is nine.
The Anderson's live in a nice "Leave In to Beaver" "Brady Bunch" type home and neighborhood. Although nothing really bad ever happens in Springfield (at least until "The Simpsons") the series was considerably less bland than your standard suburban sitcom and did not fall back on guest stars playing an assortment of silly characters.
Jim is not a raving nutcase (insert Danny Thomas here) and Margaret is not an airhead (insert Lucy here). Neither parent outshines the other in the wisdom or competence departments. Like Beaver and Opie the kids get into their fair share of trouble and have misunderstandings with their parents. Jim and Margaret know enough to get out of the way of their children and let them learn from their own mistakes.
Along with Young, Donahue and Gray are the strength of the series. The inexperienced Chapin was in over her head and I always wished that they could have swapped her for Angela Cartwright (or her sister Veronica), who could have passed physically for Donahue's sister. But Chaplin did her best. All three children have frequent moments of anger and self-centeredness. Betty is often realistically uptight, and it is likely Shelley Fabares used her as a model when she started playing teenage daughter Mary on "The Donna Reed Show" in 1958. Donahue's character a few years later on "The Andy Griffith Show" was much softer and more relaxed.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.