One Man's Family

I live here in Phoenix,Arizona and we had a TV channel originally broadcast out of Flagstaff (KAZT-27),that now is located here in the valley. For a very short time,this channel actually aired daytime reruns of this show in 2002 or 03.(Edit : This channel is now 7.1 HD as of '09).

Despite it's "soap opera" label,it seems more like a precursor to shows like "7th Heaven" or "Party of Five" where the family has their arguments & problems but still care for each other. The acting is pretty good and is quite surprising at times,in terms of subjects discussed that today wouldn't even make one blink an eye. Sometimes it could fall into the over-dramatic but that's the way it was then.

Funny thing about it,I read somewhere that the TV show's plots ran a full generation behind the original radio version,which was still on the air then. On the radio version,a lot of the characters had grown up,on TV these characters were kids again!

Tony Randall,as listed in cast credits here,was in the cast for a short period. He's a consummate actor and he's really good in these few shows I got to view. Unfortunately,there must not have been too many viewers other than myself because just weeks later,it was replaced by something more familiar to folks. "The Andy Griffith Show".

Can I rate this based on those few shows? I think so. Taking into account that it's over 55 years old and acting on TV was different then,I give it a 7 ******* star rating. It was very interesting to watch,again not bad performances for late 40's early 50's

but since it left the air 16 years before my time,I can't say it's something I'd buy or not,were it to emerge on video or DVD. (END)