The Smith Family

Watching The Smith Family was like slowing down on the expressway to see the accident. The show was incredibly bad and poorly written. Sure a certain amount of suspension of disbelief applies to any TV series but this show was such a horribly unrealistic unlikable portrayal of an American family. Ron Howard who portrayed Henry Fonda's teen son admits the show was terrible yet enjoyed the experience of working with Fonda. The gal who portrayed the teen daughter tried to act hip but was totally bogus in that role. Michael James Wixted as the pre-teen son always seemed like he was fighting back tears whenever he spoke showing zero range as an actor. The plots were often ludicrous leaving us viewers thinking "Oh c'mon! Real people don't act anything like this." Paul Peterson's appearance as the daughter's ex-con date once arrested by Fonda was indeed Paul's acting swan song. TSF may rank with Life With Lucy as 1 of TV's all time worst sit coms. BTW the crop-duster guy from Petticoat Junction sang that Primrose Lane theme song.

The only specific thing I now remember about this show was the episode that dweilermg-1 refers to with Paul Peterson. At one point, Ron Howard excitedly says to Paul "You want to go up to my room and RAP?". ("Rap" in the 60s-70s vernacular, meaning "to talk"). I remember changing the channel at that point and I never again tried watching this horribly written tripe. I do remember that it took me a while to stop laughing, though.....

I always liked Crime Drama's growing up. Henry Fonda as Det. Sgt. Chad Smith was a family man and a Police officer. He fought crime, like nobody's business. Ron Howard was his son. I suppose since he played Opie Taylor, as the son of a Sheriff, on The Andy Griffith Show, blended in well. One episode he was sitting at the teachers desk, in a classroom. Some boys came in pouring gasoline on the floor, to torch the school. Ron picked up the telephone to call the Police. The boys badly beat and battered Ron Howard. Fonda kept his family life separate from his work. If I was a law enforcement officer, I would have my telephone and address unlisted, for safety precautions. Some person, that I may have arrested would probably want to seek revenge. Police officers lives are always in jeopardy. From someone they arrested for a crime to a routine traffic stop. Why don't TV Land or could it be released to DVD whatever? I want to see this show again.

I found a pristine 45 RPM copy of Jerry Wallace's 1959 Challenge Records hit "Primrose Lane" at a record meet recently (I am getting a 1976 Seeburg jukebox restored and hope to put this oldie in it when it's fully functional later this year).

I vaguely remembered "Primrose Lane" was the theme of some TV show produced by Don Fedderson Productions, and could never think of the title until now. I do remember my folks had seen a few episodes of "The Smith Family" and it would bring back many untapped childhood memories if I could see this series again (I was only 9 years old in 1971 when "The Smith Family" premiered; we were living in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Michigan and were getting ready to move to Lansing, Michigan that summer. After we had settled into our new home in Lansing, I remember my folks had seen some of the last episodes in early 1972). It sounds as if "The Smith Family" was a show where the father was devoted to his duties as a police officer, yet also cared about his family - his character was treated with *respect,* not ridicule.

"The Smith Family" was also noteworthy in that it was one of the last original network television series produced by Don Fedderson Productions. After "The Smith Family" and "My Three Sons" were canceled in 1972, Fedderson's company didn't make any new series except for a few TV movies; by the mid-1970's until 1982 Don Fedderson Productions was reduced to syndicating (Gag! Choke!) "The Lawrence Welk Show." Then in the fall of 1982 when Welk's show ended Don Fedderson Productions became history.

Perhaps CBS DVD owns the DVD rights to this show? I do believe that, like "My Three Sons," the copyright notice in the closing credits credited the show's ownership to CBS (CBS Television Studios co-produced "The Smith Family" with Don Fedderson Productions; back then, it seemed rather unusual for one network's product to air on another network - in this case, ABC - whereas today it doesn't seem all that uncommon). Or, perhaps, as the other reader pointed out, Don Fedderson's estate might still own "The Smith Family?" Maybe Shout! Factory could get the DVD rights?

(At TV Shows on DVD.com, "The Smith Family" has amassed 67 total votes as of this writing, 96% of which - including myself - have voted for the series in a full season set. If you haven't already done so, you might want to visit TV Shows on DVD.com's website - it's free to become a member if you aren't one already - and vote for "The Smith Family" in a season set. If it gets 100 or more total votes, that might get the attention of CBS DVD, Shout! Factory, etc. - then perhaps they'll consider getting the DVD rights to "The Smith Family.")

In any event, I hope all ownership rights to "The Smith Family" get ironed out and that it may eventually find its way onto DVD. It sounds like a police drama done with much care and attention to *quality,* and as I said above, it'd also bring back some nice, forgotten childhood memories.

Pointing the finger at "aimlessness" as the culprit for this excellent show's early demise is, in a sense, as misleading as describing "The Smith Family" as "lighthearted." Neither term is fully adequate when discussing this series. It's more accurate to say that this is a show that deserved an audience, yet failed to find one. Quite likely, such an audience simply didn't exist; sadly, I doubt even more that one would readily materialize today.

Picture "Dragnet's" Joe Friday as a family man, happily married and determined to keep his job and his homelife separate. There you have the challenge faced by Henry Fonda's Detective Sgt. Chad Smith, and the focal point around which each episode revolved. His determination to safeguard his family's normality is illustrated by their picket fence-enclosed house on Primrose Lane (an image further reinforced by the use of Jerry Wallace's hit "Primrose Lane" as the show's theme song, sung by Mike Minor with special lyrics). Unfortunately, this normality too often translated in the series as "mundane," partially due to excellent performances by a standout cast (which included a post-Opie Ron Howard as teenage son Bob), all of whom never stepped out of character.

The show did have some solid moments to it, including the episode in which a mild-mannered middle-aged gentleman inveigles his way into the Smith household as "an old friend of Chet's" shortly before Chet is due home. The suspense builds, as we're aware that this charming, innocuous individual is actually quite mad, and determined to kill Sgt. Smith for having sent him to prison several years earlier. How Chet manages to save himself and, afterward, keep his family from learning the truth (Chet: "He had an appointment and couldn't stay for supper." Betty: "Oh, what a shame.") is handled without an excess of drama or violence, highly realistically, and delivers a superb payoff. Again unfortunately, however, such quiet heroism is rarely the fare of network TV success.

Had the show delivered a touch either of the "bells and whistles and sirens" of most contemporary police dramas, or else the alcoholism and stress-related angst which several Wambaugh-inspired series would soon introduce into cops' off-duty lives, "The Smith Family" might have stuck around significantly longer. Unfortunately, Chet Smith was simply a decent man fighting the good fight, both on the job and at home; the series' doom came as a result of his winning both fights so handily.

What a shame!