My Three Sons

I would give anything to have My Three Sons out on DVD. All the other good old family comedies are, why not the best one ever made. I'd love it and I know many others who would love it as well. Can someone please tell me why such a fabulous award winning family comedy is not yet out on DVD for those of us who love the good old days of television shows. Shows like I love Lucy and Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith are out there on DVD, and they are all from the same era as My Three Sons. The acting was fabulous in this good old sit-com and they touched on some really wonderful family values and packed it all into a half hour show of light hearted laughs. What stops this wonderful show from being re-produced and sold like the other old shows? I'd pay most definitely to have them all.

This show lasted 12 seasons and was a mainstay in my childhood homes. It took the family format (like "Leave it to Beaver" or "Father Knows Best") and turned it on its ear. There are no women in the Douglas household (though one of the men fills many of the traditionally female roles).

As the series progressed, characters were added or deleted---as with many shows---but "My Three Sons" (MTS) morphed so many times it felt like they were desperate to inject novelty. Eventually, they even brought women into the family.

Nevertheless, this was a popular series. A big part of that was due to the likable cast of characters. Even gruff Uncle Charley proved a softie whenever someone was down in the doldrums and needed attention. But the head of the household was the father, Steve (Fred MacMurray), the affable, cardigan-wearing, pipe-smoking gentleman who dispensed wisdom with a gentle tone and an earnest sincerity.

I think it is fair to measure a sitcom by its tendency to generate humor, drama or moments of tenderness. The MTS brand of humor is low-key, perhaps because the characters are laidback. As with most sitcoms, the drama is usually not dire. Most of the family's problems are not existential. But the all-male household does lend itself to occasional moments of tenderness, as when they decide to adopt Ernie.

This might not be one of the best shows of the sixties, but it provided comfortable viewing for many years.

I have read various postings of the My Three Sons subject, and sincerely hope that they NEVER make a "new" version of it ! I only wish they would syndicate the black and white episodes, as they were the best ! Yeah,I miss the early California sitcoms with a message,, and would opt to view them rather than watch Will and Grace any day ! Naturally Bill Frawley was great as Bub, but you do get to see him tire through that last year or two episodes....Will Demerest as Uncle Charlie was precious though !,, I'm so sorry that through the last few years,, that the show scummed to the changing times, and the boys went "hip", and the issues got more messagey....Yup, the early years were the best, and there ain't no replacing' it !!!

I never thought that Fred MacMurray would ever get a biography written about him simply because of the subject. The man was apparently as normal as he seemed. No scandals of any kind, no movie or television star temperament, no salacious gossip of any kind. Still a good biography was written about him in the past couple of years.

When MacMurray was offered My Three Sons his film career had rejuvenated due to Walt Disney's, The Shaggy Dog. Quite frankly MacMurray wanted to have it all, but there are only 365 days a year. Producer Don Fedderson to get his participation in the show agreed to a system whereby all of his scenes in all of the show's episodes were shot first, taking about 2 months. Then everyone else's scenes were shot and the episodes edited together. It allowed Fred time for his outside work, mostly with Walt Disney.

This was a firm and fast rule, even guest stars who didn't get around to their commitments on a show, found themselves saying their dialog to furniture as the episodes were put together. If they could be called back, they were, otherwise it was playing to the scenery.

What I find amazing is that people actually put up with this, but there's no denying the success of the results. My Three Sons had a twelve year run on the show, all of the original sons got married and started families. One son, Tim Considine quite halfway through the run like Adam Cartwright, still the show kept going as MacMurray adopted Barry Livingston to keep the trio with Don Grady and Barry's older brother Stanley Livingston.

Females gradually entered the all male household with the marriages of Considine to Meredith MacRae, Grady to Tina Cole, and Livingston to Ronne Troup. And the big finish was in those final couple of seasons as widower MacMurray married Beverly Garland and became a stepfather of girls for the first time with Dawn Lyn.

Before the females invaded the household chores and the raising of the boys was assisted by William Frawley and later William Demarest. Both had done films with MacMurray back in the old days. Frawley's health so declined the producer's could not get him insured any longer. He was not a happy camper when he was let go.

When My Three Sons completed its run, gentle family comedies like this were going way out of style. Shows like All In The Family which had a more pessimistic view of the human condition were the vogue when the Seventies were ushered in. Still the show provides some fond memories for me and it had the weirdest shooting schedule allowing it's star to have it all.

When this show first came on, a lot of people called it a Disney show due to the fact that Fred MacMurray and Don Grady, who both appeared in Disney Films. This show was definitely the one of the first ones to deal with single parenthood, but it dealt with it in a humorous manner. This was also one of the few shows that survived a change in networks when it jumped from A.B.C. to rival C.B.S. in 1965. And that wasn't the only change. Like many other shows that year, it went from black and white to color. However, unlike many other shows, it managed to make the transition very easily and, ironically, it stayed on for an additional seven years on C.B.S. as opposed to the five that it was on A.B.C.. However, one thing that really changed when it went through all those changes was the fact that many people said that the A.B.C. episodes were more adventurous and were often very surreal. Hopefully, one of these days both eras of this show will be released and the fans of the show will be able to choose for themselves.