Make Room for Daddy [TV Show] (DVD)

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3) "The First Anniversary." When Kathy's father-in-law comes to visit, the couple fights over who proposed to whom.

4) "Terry Goes Steady." Danny is at his wit's end trying to deal with a teenaged girl.

5) "Take a Message." Trouble results when Kathy forgets to pass on several telephone messages.

6) "A Locket for Linda." In one of the stronger episodes, sibling rivalry raises its ugly head when Danny and Kathy tell Linda the fairy will leave anything she wants under her pillow when she loses her tooth.

7) "Uncle Tonoose's Fling." The irrepressible Conried does his thing as he seeks out Danny's help in learning how to lead a playboy's life.

8) "Linda's Tonsils." Feels like a follow-up to the tooth-fairy episode. A number of shows focus on Linda this season. No wonder Rusty was jealous.

9) "Dinah Shore & Danny Are Rivals." The singers clash, again over the Boy Scouts, who end up being the winners.

10) "The Reunion." Weak show (then again, I hate dream episodes) has Danny dreaming of becoming a diplomat, surgeon, and scientist. He never should have gone to that high school reunion.

11) "Kathy's Career." When Kathy announces she's starting a career in fashion, it throws the household into turmoil.

12) "The Saints Come Marching In." Rusty, a member of a gang? Hard to believe, but that's the subject of this episode.

13) "Lucille Ball Upsets Williams Household." Enough said. Lucy, Lucy, Lucy.

14) "Tony Bennett Gets Danny's Help." Uncle Tonoose puts in another appearance in this episode about a relative who wants Danny's help breaking into show business.

15) "Tennessee Ernie Stays for Dinner." Ford plays Kentucky Cal, a transient that the kids bring home from the park after one of Danny's lectures about sharing with others backfires. One of the strongest episodes.

16) "Bob Hope & Danny Become Directors." Hope gets a long monologue in the middle of this story about Danny interfering with a local production of "Alice in Wonderland" because his kids didn't get starring roles. Another fun one.

17) "Red Tape." Danny gets miffed when it's alleged that show business people are not "representative" Americans.

18) "Gina from Italy." The debut episode for Funicello, who spends most of the episode moping around.

19) "Shirley Jones Makes Good." Lauritz Melchior and Shirley Jones (just three years after "Carousel") emerge as a father-daughter musical team when the Guest Star singers appear.

20) "Gina's First Date." Danny tries to teach Gina about American customs, and of course it produces comic results.

21) "Growing Pains." Rusty asks his parents advice . . . over a girl.

22) "Frankie Laine Sings for Gina." Gina asks the singer to perform at a school dance, but a measly problem--a case of measles--might kill the deal.

23) "Kathy Leaves Danny." Who's boss? It better not be who he thinks it is, or she's out of here.

24) "The Latin Lover." When a friend of Gina's visits from Italy, there's an ulterior motive, and it involves taking advantage of Danny.

25) "Losers Weepers." Tempers flare when Kathy and Danny's agent lose the script for Danny's new nightclub routine.

26) "Grampa's Diet." Grampa is on a diet for his health, but that doesn't stop him from trying to sneak things when he comes for a visit.

27) "The Double Dinner." Danny is nominated for Abbot of The Friars Club, but Kathy mucks things up by inadvertently enlisting the aid of opposing factions to try to get him elected.

28) "Danny's Big Fan." Baccaloni plays a rich fan who tries to ingratiate himself with the nightclub entertainer.

29) "The Surprise Party." Thinking everyone forgot his birthday, Danny gets down in the dumps.

30) "Gina for President." It's Gina vs. her boyfriend for class president, and the election heats up when Danny manages Gina's campaign and Kathy manages her opponent's.

31) "The Practical Joke." Danny ends up in the middle of a practical jokers' war.

32) "Linda's Giant." It's imaginary friend time as Linda starts telling tall tales of a new-found nine-foot friend.

Video:
For a show that aired in 1958-59, "Make Room for Daddy" looks really good. Predictably there's variation from episode to episode, but less than a handful have grain that makes you take notice. The rest have slight graininess and a nice level of contrast--not too dark, and not too light. The benchmark for black-and-white television on DVD is still "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and while Season 6 of "Make Room for Daddy" isn't as strikingly pristine, it's still a strong video presentation. The aspect ratio is 1.33:1

Audio:
The audio is also decent, with only the slightest hint of distortion that pops up every now and then--a little hiss to remind you of the age. Otherwise it's a clean and crisp transfer that offers a natural-sounding Mono.

Extras:
A few nice surprises here. First, let me say that the discs are introduced by PSAs for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which Thomas founded. When he was a starving actor he promised he'd do something to support lost causes, and his work on behalf of the hospital is legendary. Included here is a touching 10-minute feature on the hospital. It's a reminder of Thomas's dedication and the difference he's made.

The longest feature is a 17-minute interview with Cartwright, who talks about how she got the part and how good Thomas was about letting her off the hook so she could play the part of Brigitta in "The Sound of Music." Fans of the show and Cartwright should enjoy her candid remarks. In a 15-minute interview, Lord gives a really good picture of what it was like behind-the-scenes, how at times it turned into a mild creative free-for-all, with Thomas displaying the same traits as his character. Then Melton appears in a brief (six-minute) segment talking about this show and his other work, including "Green Acres" (he played Alf Monroe). Rounding out the bonus features is a 12-minute gag reel that's okay but not great, and a slideshow of roughly 40 promo stills. The two long interviews are really the best of the bunch. But what's also nice is that S'more includes the longest, most detailed summary of "Make Room for Daddy" and the impact it had on television on the back cover of the slipcase. Six long paragraphs! Plus, the menu screen is easy to navigate. It's a nice, fan-friendly package.

Bottom Line:
The singing can get a little long (and corny) at times, but this is a solid presentation of a strong season from a classic sitcom. Fans of the show have to be hoping there's S'more "Make Room for Daddy" on the horizon, because Season 7 contains the episode that launched the very first series spin-off in TV history. In "Danny Meets Andy Griffith," the entertainer runs a stop sign in Mayberry . . . and another fabulous, long-running sitcom was born.

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