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.

I would love to find a copy of this show on DVD or VHS. I think it is interesting that a drama series featuring a quality cast of Fonda, Janet Blair, Ron Howard and Charles McGraw would simply disappear without a trace. I have looked far and wide for this program and even collectors of vintage television programs don't have it. I agree with the previous comment about TVLand or another network bringing the 24 reruns back to television or DVD. Since this program was on the air before VHS and there never seemed to have been reruns, "The Smith Family" may be a forever,lost gem of episodic television. Perhaps the estate of the late Don Fedderson or ABC will locate some old film cans and reintroduce the public to a 'lost' television series that featured major stars and was a unique concept in its time.

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.

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!

I try to collect TV series from the 60's and 70's when I get the opportunity. Since I'm over 60 I find them nostalgic at the least. This one is no different since it captures the era pretty well. This show is a half hour family/police drama. I'd say the 1st season focused more on family and the second more on Henry Fonda as a detective. Even the opening of the two seasons changed from family with the song Primrose Lane to the second season and an opening mainly focused on police action scenes. It's a mixed bag. The characters are likable enough and the actors that played them do a fine job. But, in its two short seasons, it didn't really seemed to know what it wanted to be. I actually saw it described as a sitcom, which it's not. If you like nostalgia, a good moral character and family values, you'll appreciate the show. If you're more of a modern TV enthusiast, this won't be for you.