Father Knows Best S01E01_E02

Father Knows Best Season 1 1954-55


26 Episodes


Father Knows Best S01E01_E02

Father Knows Best, a U.S. family comedy of the 1950s and 1960s, portrays an idealized vision of middle class American life. Father Knows Best was the ideal family, the family we all wanted and never received. Robert Young never raised his voice, lost patience or did stupid things. He came home and traded his suit coat for a sweater and proceeded to dispense wisdom. Mom (Jane Wyatt) wasn't an airhead. She did her fair share to reconcile problems and, even though stuck in the drudgery of domestic servitude, she was nobody's fool, often besting her husband and son, Bud. Father Knows Best is perhaps more important for what it has come to represent than for what it actually was.

The brainchild of series star Robert Young and producer Eugene B. Rodney, friends since 1935, Father Knows Best was based on experiences each had with their wives and children. Like Leave it to Beaver creators Bob Mosher and Joe Connelly, Young and Rodney were candid about their attempts to provide moral lessons throughout the series. Father Knows Best first debuted as a radio sitcom August 25, 1949 on NBC Radio. Sponsored through most of its radio run by General Foods, the series was heard Thursday evenings on NBC radio until March 25, 1954.

Only Robert Young remained of the radio cast when the series moved to CBS television, beginning October 3, 1954. Amazingly, when the show first aired it was a flop, most likely due to it's 10:00 p.m. time slot, so CBS cancelled it in March of 1955. NBC picked the show up and moved it to a new time (8:30 p.m.) and Father Knows Best was a success. CBS got the show back the following season. A total of 203 episodes were produced, running until September 17, 1960, and appearing on all three of the U.S. television networks.

The father in Father Knows Best, the character Jim Anderson, was ranked #6 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue). Father Knows Best was nominated for many awards, and won many Emmys.

S01E01 Bud Takes Up the Dance


First aired: 10/3/1954


Bud wants to go to his first school dance. There is just one problem. He does not know how to dance. He decides the best way to learn is to study dancing in a book.

Cast: Robert Young as James 'Jim' Anderson, Jane Wyatt as Margaret Anderson, Elinor Donahue as Betty "Princess" Anderson, Billy Gray as James "Bud" Anderson Jr., Lauren Chapin as Kathy 'Kitten' Anderson

Guest cast: Claire Meade (Mrs. Larson)


DVD>DivX/512x384/1125bps/23.976fps/mp3/48KHz/stereo/104Kbps/22min/200Mb

S01E02 Lesson in Citizenship


First aired: 10/10/1954


Jim wants to teach his family proper ethics, so he tells them that they all need to help others. But his good intensions wind up creating much trouble.

Cast: Robert Young as James 'Jim' Anderson, Jane Wyatt as Margaret Anderson, Elinor Donahue as Betty "Princess" Anderson, Billy Gray as James "Bud" Anderson,Jr., Lauren Chapin as Kathy 'Kitten' Anderson

Guest cast: Natividad Vacio


DVD>DivX/512x384/979kbps/23.976fps/mp3/48KHz/stereo/119Kbps/25min/200Mb

Father Knows Best S01E01_E02