On April 1, Shout! Factory will release the first season of the classic family TV series Father Knows Best on DVD. Starring Robert Young and Jane Wyatt , one of the best-loved family sitcoms of all time finally comes to the DVD format as a 4-Disc set packed not only with all 26 inaugural season episodes, but also with tons of extras, never-before-seen episodes (including the 1959 made-for-the-US-Government episode 24 Hours in Tyrantland), all-new interviews, and much more!

Relive this classic 1950s sitcom as it enters the perfect family life of a General Insurance agent Jim Anderson (Young).  Beginning in 1954, Jim would come home from his office, take off his sports jacket, put on his comfortable sweater, and deal with the everyday problems of a growing family without breaking a sweat.   His picture perfect wife Margaret is a vibrant mother of three - Betty, Bud and Kathy. The six-time Primetime Emmy-winning Father Knows Best starred, in addition to Young and Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Bill Gray and Lauren Chapin. This long running TV sitcom not only captured the hearts of American viewers, but also stood as the representation of mid-century traditional family values.

Whether reliving the rosy memory of a perfect family life from the 1950s or discovering this classic sitcom for the first time, viewers from all generations will fall in love with Father Knows Best all over again as the Father Knows Best: Season One 4-DVD box set is priced for everyone to own at $34.99.

In 1949, Father Knows Best? first premiered as a NBC radio sitcom. The series star Robert Young and producer Eugene B. Rodney transplanted the popular radio series into television (minus the question mark in the show's title). The TV sitcom Father Knows Best premiered on CBS in October 1954 and has been part of the American cultural fabric ever since.

The depiction of a "typical" mid-century, middle-class, Midwestern American family from Father Knows Best is fondly remembered by many of us who grew up watching the show and rather enviously thinking: "Oh. So this is what happens in all the other houses."     Jim Anderson (Robert Young) became the idealized American dad for many generations. Margaret Anderson (Jane Wyatt) charmed us as the levelheaded domestic diva who stood faithfully behind the strong and benevolent father. Their three children-sophisticated teen Betty (Elinor Donahue), chronically befuddled 14-year-old brother "Bud" (Billy Gray) and precocious little sister Kathy (Lauren Chapin)-faced the challenges of growing up right alongside of us. And in episode after episode, Jim and Margaret treated their children's youthful transgressions with authority, empathy and wisdom. By the end of each half hour, we'd all learned our lesson.

Join Jim and Margaret and "Princess," "Bud" and "Kitten" in their very first year as everyone's favorite '50s family in Father Knows Best.

SPECIAL FEATURES

€˘ Daddy's Girls with Lauren Chapin and Elinor Donahue: All-new interviews with the actresses who played the Anderson sisters.

€˘ Robert Young's Home Movies: Beautiful footage of Robert Young's real-life family shot between the 1930s and the 1970s reveals the inspiration behind much of Father Knows Best, narrated by Young's grandson Bill Proffitt.

€˘ Rare "Behind The Scenes" Color Footage from the set of Father Knows Best

€˘ 24 Hours In Tyrantland - The never-before-seen episode created especially for the U.S. government.   In 1959 the U.S. Department of the Treasury paid to have a special episode produced. It was never broadcast, but was shown in schools, churches and civic groups for the purpose of selling U.S. Savings Bonds. When Betty, Bud and Kathy don't want to help sell U.S. Bonds, Jim teaches them a lesson by making them spend a day living under a tyrannical dictator-him.

€˘ Window On Main Street: "The Return" - Shortly after Father Knows Best went off the air in 1960, Robert Young and Eugene Rodney returned to the CBS lineup producing a new series starring Young, Window On Main Street. Running for only one season and recently discovered in the family film vaults, this long lost series has never been seen in syndication. This is the pilot episode of the series.

Link to trailer