Mis tres hijos

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.

"My Three Sons" remains one of the most popular television series ever. Of course it has its detractors as any show does, but its historical value lies in its simplicity and naivete. A hybrid of the era the would be labeled the 'dom-com' or domestic situation comedy, "My Three Sons" is notable for its star-friendly shooting schedule, and the composition of the nuclear family, with a motherless family being brought up by the widowed father and housekeeper grandfather, something that was relatively new to television in 1960. In its early years the cast changes were minimal but as the show progressed and additional characters were added, most viewers had no problem keeping up with the Douglases. In reruns the show has found a whole new generation of audience, even if they seem more sophisticated now than what we were at a younger age. The fact remains that the series is still popular and with a huge catalogue of episodes in it's inventory, the reruns will probably continue for ever as long as television stations need programming.

By today's standards it appears wholesome, tame and perhaps slightly dated, but it's a slice of life that all of us can appreciate and learn from. "My Three Sons" is more than just another run of the mill television show from the 1960s - it is an enduring piece of sitcom entertainment that still entertains today some forty plus years after its premiere. The comfortably numb nostalgia that the show evokes is only part of the viewing pleasure. There really is great work here so take a step back in time to the good old days when there were no tv dinners... and watch a much loved part of television history.

It has a great cast like Fred MacMurray who was a movie star in the golden age. He played a single father of three sons. The show had a long run of twelve seasons which is unheard even now. The cast remained solid and the writing was fine. I grew up on the syndication series. I found the show sometimes to lose my interest. But those days of my childhood, comedy series like this were shown to us daily. The show also featured one of my favorites, William Frawley, who is best remembered as Fred Mertz from "I Love Lucy." The sons including Don Grady did a fantastic job. While the show might seem dated, it's still relevant today. Beverly Garland was one of my favorites.

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.

Because of its many changes over the years, My Three Sons seemed almost like two different shows. Both were very good, but I prefer the earlier episodes, the black & white ones. They had a certain charm to them that was missing in later years. Robby somehow never seemed to fit the eldest brother role the way Mike did. That, and the move from Bryant Park, Michigan out to Los Angeles took away the small town feel that the earlier episodes had. Then came the arrival of women into the family, and that changed everything.

For the first five seasons, 1960-61 to 1964-65, the show was aired on ABC and filmed in black & white. For the last seven seasons, 1965-66 to 1971-72, it was aired on CBS and filmed in color. For the first 4.5 seasons, the boys "nanny" was their grandfather Bub, for the last 7.5 seasons it was their great uncle Charlie. For the first 5 seasons, the sons were Mike, Robby, and Chip, for the last 7 seasons the sons were Robby, Chip, and Ernie.

William Frawley left the show halfway through the 1964-65 due to ill health (he died in 1966). In the story line, Bub went over to Ireland to visit relatives and decided to stay there. Shortly after his departure, his brother Charlie arrived for a visit, and ended-up staying for the rest of the shows run. After the end of that season, Bub was never referred to again. In the first episode of the 1965-66 season, Mike married his girlfriend Sally and moved to another town to take a job. This marked Tim Considine's departure from the series. To re-establish the "three sons" storyline, Steve Douglas adopted Chip's friend Ernie, who had recently become an orphan. Mike was never seen again (not even when Steve married Barbara) and was only sporadically referred to thereafter.

More bits of trivia:

Before being cast as Katie, Tina Cole had appeared several years earlier(in the black & white days) as Ina, one of Robbys friends.

Stanley Livingston and Barry Livingston are brothers.

Before being adopted by the Douglases, Ernies last name was Thompson. Years later, Chip married Polly Thompson, no relation to Ernie.

When Robby and Katie had kids, it was triplets. They were all boys, thus keeping with the "three sons" theme.

Originally, the show was going to be called "The Fred MacMurray Show", but MacMurray objected to that, so the title was changed.

In its early years, My Three Sons was sponsored by Chevrolet, thus Chevy cars were seen behind the closing credits.

There are two syndication packages for My Three Sons. One package consists of the first five seasons (the black & white ones) and the final season. The other package contains the other six seasons. Why it is done this way I don't know, it doesn't make sense to me. I would think they would just have the B&W episodes as one package and the color episodes as the other.