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 Father knows best was once a very common edict to children, and as TV watchers of the 1950s also know, a well-liked TV show, called Father Knows Best with Robert Young and Jane Wyatt. What started in October 1954 as a hopeful TV show soon became a part of the American family's must-see weekly TV show. Now one of the best-loved family sitcoms of all time finally comes to the DVD format on Father Knows Best Season One. The 4-Disc set is packed with all 26 inaugural season episodes, tons of extras and never-before-seen episodes.
Parents liked the wholesomeness of the dad, insurance agent Jim Anderson played perfectly by Young and swift-thinking and many-hats-wearing mom, Margaret, made believable every week by Wyatt. The kids - teenager Betty (Elinor Donahue), bewildered 14-year-old brother "Bud" (Billy Gray) and precocious little sister Kathy (Lauren Chapin) - rounded out the family.
What viewers loved most about the show was that the situations were real ones faced in their own homes. Fussing siblings, overtaxed mom, and tired dad, who in those days, faced more pressure to be the end of solutions. And because Father Knows Best, Jim usually came up with the right answers, but only after some obstacles were thrown in his way.
There was no nudity, profanity, violence, presence of vengeance or deceit. Instead we found something few TV shows today have - morals and values. Father Knows Best was part of a classic time and definitely impacted out culture. It was done with humor, heartfelt emotions, and interesting situations that weren't cliché.
Fans of the show will enjoy revisiting these classics - and those who loved the show will want to share it with another generation as well. The DVDs have some great bonus features, too.
DISC ONE
Bud Takes Up the Dance - original airdate 10/03/1954
Bud goes to his first school dance and learns to dance from a book.
Writer: Dorothy Cooper
Director: James Neilson
Guest star: Claire Meade (Mrs. Larson)
Lesson in Citizenship - original airdate 10/10/1954
Jim endeavors to teach his family ethics.
Writer: Roswell Rogers
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: Natividad Vacio
The Motor Scooter - original airdate 10/17/1954
Bud wants a motor scooter, dad says okay, mom says no, trouble ahead!
Writer: Harry Clark, Sumner Long
Director: William D. Russell
Football Tickets - original airdate 10/24/1954
Margaret can't go with Jim to the big football game. So who gets to go?
Writer: Phil Davis
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: James Dobson (Bill), Charles Watts (Bob Harris)
Live My Own Life - original airdate 10/31/1954
Bud moves out then decides he wants to go back.
Writer: Roswell Rogers
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: Jack E. Stewart (Claude), Harry Tyler (Mr. Engel)
Grandpa Jim's Rejuvenation - original airdate 11/07/1954
Jim gets melancholy about his age.
Writer: Phil Davis
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: Burt Mustin (Old Man), Donald Curtis (Eddie Gilbert)
Bud's Encounter With the Law - original airdate 11/14/1954
The family gets a new washing machine and Kathy finds an alternative use for it.
Writer: Roswell Rogers
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: Donald Curtis (Eddie Gilbert), Burt Mustin (Old Eddie Gilbert), William Fawcett (Trumble)
SPECIAL FEATURES
Daddy's Girls with Lauren Chapin and Elinor Donahue: All-new interviews with the actresses who played the Anderson sisters.
DISC TWO
Thanksgiving Day - original airdate 11/21/1954
When Kathy wins the first place for her Thanksgiving poem she worries Dad may not like it.
Writer: Dorothy Cooper
Director: William D. Russell
Second Honeymoon - original airdate 11/28/1954
Jim and Margaret finally decide to go away for the weekend, but how an they live the kids behind?
Writer: Paul West
Director: Peter Tewksbury
Typical Father - original airdate 12/05/1954
Betty is up to something? Is there a wedding in her future?
Writer: Dorothy Cooper
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: Chet Marshall (Armand)
Margaret Goes Dancing - original airdate 12/12/1954
Margaret wants to take dancing lessons but how can she convince Jim?
Writer: Roswell Rogers
Director: William D. Russell
The Christmas Story - original airdate 12/19/1954
A trip to cut down their own tree gets the family lost in the woods.
Writer: Roswell Rogers
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: William Traylor (Les Turner), Wallace Ford (Nick)
Sparrow in the Window - original airdate 12/26/1954
An injured discovers soon becomes a family project.
Writer: Harry Clark, Sumner Long
Director: William D. Russell
Boy's Week - original airdate 1/02/1955
Jim must appear in court for a traffic ticket and doesn't know Bud is the appointed judge of the day.
Writer: Paul West
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: Dick Wessel (Police Officer), James Todd (Judge Mitchell)
SPECIAL FEATURES
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
DISC THREE
A Friend of Old George's - original airdate 1/09/1955
An uninvited guest arrives at Kathy's birthday party and makes her quite unhappy.
Writer: Dorothy Cooper
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: Parley Baer (Lyle)
Bud the Snob - original airdate 1/16/1955
When kids at school think Bud is a snob, dad wonders if he can help.
Writer: Roswell Rogers
Director: William D. Russell
The Promised Playhouse - original airdate 1/23/1955
Kathy wants dad to spend the night with her in the playhouse.
Writer: Roswell Rogers
Director: William D. Russell
Jim the Farmer - original airdate 1/30/1955
When Jim gets relieved of his job, the office staff finds they really need him.
Writer: Roswell Rogers
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: Sarah Selby (Miss Thomas), Mary Young (Grace)
Father of the Year - original airdate 2/06/195
Jim's kids nominate him for a Father of the Year contest.
Writer: Dorothy Cooper
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: William Fawcett (Trumble)
The Mink Coat - original airdate 2/13/1955
When the family goes on a budget Jim has a hard time explaining why he buys Margaret a mink coat.
Writer: Roswell Rogers
Director: William D. Russell
SPECIAL FEATURES
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.
DISC FOUR
The Matchmaker - original airdate 2/20/1955
Margaret tries her hand at matchmaking.
Writer: Dorothy Cooper
Director: William D. Russell
Bud the Bridesmaid - original airdate 2/27/1955
When Margaret's cousin and bridesmaid-to-be turns up missing Bud is elected as the bridesmaid.
Writer: Dorothy Cooper, Barbara Hammer
Director: William D. Russell
Proud Father - original airdate 3/06/1955
Courage, Jim decides, is one way to make his children solve their own problems.
Writer: Dorothy Cooper
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: John Gallaudet (Roger Garland), Tom Mann (Beanie Brugendorfer)
Father Delivers the Papers - original airdate 3/13/1955
Bud's newspaper job is in jeopardy when Bud gets hurt.
Writer: Roswell Rogers, Dane Lussier
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: Dabbs Greer (Mr. Collins)
No Partiality - original airdate 3/20/1955
Jim has daughter problem when they favor the same guy.
Writer: Roswell Rogers, Alan Woods, John Kohn
Director: William D. Russell
Guest star: Norman Ollestad (Howard Williams), Bobby Diamond (Jimmy Woodie)
Close Decision - original airdate 3/27/1955
Bud neglects his chores and must set out of his baseball game.
Writer: Roswell Rogers
Director: William D. Russell
SPECIAL FEATURES
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.
Directors: William D. Russell, Peter Tewksbury, James Neilson
Writers: Roswell Rogers, Dorothy Cooper, Ed James, Sumner Arthur Long, Paul West
Cast: Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray, Lauren Chapin
Run Time: 11 hours
Format: Black & White
DVD Release Date: 4/01/2008
Classic Movie Guide Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Rating: Not rated (appropriate for all audiences)
Studio: CBS, DVD - Shout! Factory
More about the DVD
Photo credits: Shout! Factory
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