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Father Knows Best

Father Knows Best
Jane wyatt robert young.JPG
Robert Young and Jane Wyatt as Jim and Margaret Anderson.
Genre Sitcom
Created by Ed James
Directed by Peter Tewksbury
Starring
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 6
No. of episodes 203
Production
Producer(s)
Running time 26 minutes
Release
Original network
  • CBS (1954-1955, 1958-1960)
  • NBC (1955-1958)
Picture format Black-and-white
Audio format Monaural
Original release October 3, 1954 (1954-10-03) – May 23, 1960 (1960-05-23)

Father Knows Best is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray, and Lauren Chapin. The series, which first began on radio in 1949, aired for six seasons with a total of 203 episodes. The series debuted on CBS in October 1954. It ran for one season and was canceled the following year. NBC picked up the series where it remained for three seasons. After a second cancellation in 1958, CBS picked up the series yet again where it aired until May 1960.

Created by Ed James, Father Knows Best, follows the lives of the Andersons, a middle class family living in the Midwestern town of Springfield.

The series began August 25, 1949, on NBC Radio. Set in the Midwest, it starred Robert Young as the General Insurance agent Jim Anderson. His wife Margaret was first portrayed by June Whitley and later by Jean Vander Pyl. The Anderson children were Betty (Rhoda Williams), Bud (Ted Donaldson), and Kathy (Norma Jean Nilsson). Others in the cast were Eleanor Audley, Herb Vigran and Sam Edwards. Sponsored through most of its run by General Foods, the series was heard Thursday evenings on NBC until March 25, 1954.

On the radio program, the character of Jim differs from the later television character. The radio Jim is far more sarcastic and shows he really rules over his family. Jim also calls his children names, something common on radio but lost in the TV series. For example, Jim says, "What a bunch of stupid children I have." Margaret is portrayed as a paragon of solid reason and patience, unless the plot calls for her to act a bit off. For example, in a Halloween episode, Margaret cannot understand how the table floats in the air, but that is a rare exception.


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Wikipedia

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