Father Knows Best has aged surprisingly well. It's easy to see why it was one of the most popular shows in the Fifties.
11) "Margaret Goes Dancing." Margaret tries to trick Jim into taking dance classes with her.
12) "The Christmas Story." Jim insists on the family cutting down their own Christmas tree this year, and the family becomes stranded in a snowstorm.
13) "Sparrow in the Window." Kathy finds an injured bird and the family worries what will happen if she isn't able to nurse it back to health.
14) "Boy's Week." This week's lesson is personal responsibility, with Jim lecturing and then getting a parking ticket that he thinks is unfair. And who hears his case? Bud, who's judge-for-a-day during a city-wide youth program.
15) "A Friend of Old George's." An uninvited visitor throws a monkey wrench into the family's birthday plans for Kathy.
16) "Bud the Snob." Somehow Bud gets a different kind of reputation, and it takes Dad to help him shed it.
17) "The Promised Playhouse." Keep your promises is this week's lesson, which Kathy takes full advantage of, reminding her father how he promised to build her a playhouse.
18) "Jim the Farmer." Jim suddenly decides to quit his job and move to the country, and Margaret tries to get to the bottom of it all.
19) "Father of the Year." The Anderson kids decide to try to win an essay contest and Dad would like nothing better to win . . . but he still has to come down hard on them and maybe ruin his chances.
20) "The Mink Coat." Despite family financial problems, Jim just can't pass up a deal on a fur coat for Margaret, who loves it, but feels guilty keeping it.
21) "The Matchmaker." Margaret tries to coax her cousin's boyfriend into proposing.
22) "Bud the Bridesmaid." And it worked. Cousin Louise is getting married in the Anderson's home, but wedding jitters make Bud an unwilling stand-in for the rehearsal.
23) "Proud Father." After a run-in with a friend who gloats about his children's accomplishments, Jim tries to figure out how to inspire his own kids to do big things.
24) "Father Delivers the Papers." Jim intervenes when Bud gets complaints about his route, guaranteeing to Bud's boss that neither rain nor snow nor anything else will keep Bud from making the delivers. Except an injury, that forces Jim's hand.
25) "No Partiality." Kathy wants equal rights with her other, older siblings. When Betty invites a boy to dinner, Kathy wants to do the same.
26) "Close Decision." It's parental conflict again as Margaret forbids Bud from playing softball until he does his chores and memorizes a poem, but Jim knows the team will lose without Bud, and goes against her wishes.
Video:
There were no extensive restorations done, and so the video quality varies sometimes significantly from episode to episode. Many of the episodes are low-contrast and just a little washed out, with occasional flickers of dirt and imperfections and one or two instances when the film seems to have jumped a sprocket. By and large, though, the episodes look pretty good, considering their age and the lack of restoration. There are some moments when there's a pretty big jump in narrative, which meant either an abrupt commercial cut or a chunk missing. It's hard to tell which. Such moments are more occasional than they are routine, though. "Father Knows Best" is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio.
Audio:
The audio is an okay-sounding Mono that has a little background hiss, but again nothing to stand in the way of enjoyment.
Extras:
Shout! Factory came up with some really nice bonus features for the first season. In "Daddy's Girls" Chapin and Donahue talk about the show in front of the camera in a heavily nostalgic interview, each responding to off-camera questions and filmed in her own home.
For my money, the real gems are two extended home movies, both narrated by Young's grandson, Bill Proffitt. "Robert Young's Home Movies" were black-and-white clips shot between the Thirties and Seventies and have a very "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" feel to them, taking us on tours of the family's Tarzana and Beverly Hills homes and even showing Young, a pilot, in one of his two planes. He interacts with his daughters, too, at one point doing a see-saw with them. Great stuff here, and a document that chronicles Hollywood life, including a sit-down formal family dinner. The second film is a rare color "home movie" shot on the set of "Father Knows Best." As we look down from the catwalk, where the cameraman was positioned, we see the actors look for their marks, get last-minute make-up, and get some sense of how full-set TV sitcoms were filmed before live audiences entered into the mix. Some of the shots are exteriors as well, and show the actors relaxing between takes. Again, great stuff for fans of Hollywood.
Two special episodes are also included here. "24 Hours in Tyrantland" was a special "Father Knows Best" episode commissioned by the Department of Treasury to raise awareness for selling U.S. Savings Bonds. It's a fun episode that, after the kids refuse to sell bonds, has Jim teaching them a lesson by acting like a dictator in order to prove how fortunate they are to live in a free country. The other special episode is one from Young's next short-lived series, "Window on Main Street." The episode is "The Return," which was discovered in the Young family's film vaults. It was the pilot for the series. Again, for devotees of Hollywood or early TV history, it's a real gem to have.
Bottom Line:
Not all classic sitcoms hold up today, but "Father Knows Best" has aged surprisingly well. It's easy to see why it was one of the most popular shows in the Fifties.
12) "The Christmas Story." Jim insists on the family cutting down their own Christmas tree this year, and the family becomes stranded in a snowstorm.
13) "Sparrow in the Window." Kathy finds an injured bird and the family worries what will happen if she isn't able to nurse it back to health.
14) "Boy's Week." This week's lesson is personal responsibility, with Jim lecturing and then getting a parking ticket that he thinks is unfair. And who hears his case? Bud, who's judge-for-a-day during a city-wide youth program.
15) "A Friend of Old George's." An uninvited visitor throws a monkey wrench into the family's birthday plans for Kathy.
16) "Bud the Snob." Somehow Bud gets a different kind of reputation, and it takes Dad to help him shed it.
17) "The Promised Playhouse." Keep your promises is this week's lesson, which Kathy takes full advantage of, reminding her father how he promised to build her a playhouse.
18) "Jim the Farmer." Jim suddenly decides to quit his job and move to the country, and Margaret tries to get to the bottom of it all.
19) "Father of the Year." The Anderson kids decide to try to win an essay contest and Dad would like nothing better to win . . . but he still has to come down hard on them and maybe ruin his chances.
20) "The Mink Coat." Despite family financial problems, Jim just can't pass up a deal on a fur coat for Margaret, who loves it, but feels guilty keeping it.
21) "The Matchmaker." Margaret tries to coax her cousin's boyfriend into proposing.
22) "Bud the Bridesmaid." And it worked. Cousin Louise is getting married in the Anderson's home, but wedding jitters make Bud an unwilling stand-in for the rehearsal.
23) "Proud Father." After a run-in with a friend who gloats about his children's accomplishments, Jim tries to figure out how to inspire his own kids to do big things.
24) "Father Delivers the Papers." Jim intervenes when Bud gets complaints about his route, guaranteeing to Bud's boss that neither rain nor snow nor anything else will keep Bud from making the delivers. Except an injury, that forces Jim's hand.
25) "No Partiality." Kathy wants equal rights with her other, older siblings. When Betty invites a boy to dinner, Kathy wants to do the same.
26) "Close Decision." It's parental conflict again as Margaret forbids Bud from playing softball until he does his chores and memorizes a poem, but Jim knows the team will lose without Bud, and goes against her wishes.
Video:
There were no extensive restorations done, and so the video quality varies sometimes significantly from episode to episode. Many of the episodes are low-contrast and just a little washed out, with occasional flickers of dirt and imperfections and one or two instances when the film seems to have jumped a sprocket. By and large, though, the episodes look pretty good, considering their age and the lack of restoration. There are some moments when there's a pretty big jump in narrative, which meant either an abrupt commercial cut or a chunk missing. It's hard to tell which. Such moments are more occasional than they are routine, though. "Father Knows Best" is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio.
Audio:
The audio is an okay-sounding Mono that has a little background hiss, but again nothing to stand in the way of enjoyment.
Extras:
Shout! Factory came up with some really nice bonus features for the first season. In "Daddy's Girls" Chapin and Donahue talk about the show in front of the camera in a heavily nostalgic interview, each responding to off-camera questions and filmed in her own home.
For my money, the real gems are two extended home movies, both narrated by Young's grandson, Bill Proffitt. "Robert Young's Home Movies" were black-and-white clips shot between the Thirties and Seventies and have a very "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" feel to them, taking us on tours of the family's Tarzana and Beverly Hills homes and even showing Young, a pilot, in one of his two planes. He interacts with his daughters, too, at one point doing a see-saw with them. Great stuff here, and a document that chronicles Hollywood life, including a sit-down formal family dinner. The second film is a rare color "home movie" shot on the set of "Father Knows Best." As we look down from the catwalk, where the cameraman was positioned, we see the actors look for their marks, get last-minute make-up, and get some sense of how full-set TV sitcoms were filmed before live audiences entered into the mix. Some of the shots are exteriors as well, and show the actors relaxing between takes. Again, great stuff for fans of Hollywood.
Two special episodes are also included here. "24 Hours in Tyrantland" was a special "Father Knows Best" episode commissioned by the Department of Treasury to raise awareness for selling U.S. Savings Bonds. It's a fun episode that, after the kids refuse to sell bonds, has Jim teaching them a lesson by acting like a dictator in order to prove how fortunate they are to live in a free country. The other special episode is one from Young's next short-lived series, "Window on Main Street." The episode is "The Return," which was discovered in the Young family's film vaults. It was the pilot for the series. Again, for devotees of Hollywood or early TV history, it's a real gem to have.
Bottom Line:
Not all classic sitcoms hold up today, but "Father Knows Best" has aged surprisingly well. It's easy to see why it was one of the most popular shows in the Fifties.
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