My Three Sons

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.

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 !!!

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.

There have been many wonderful shows, but My Three Sons have to be one of the best. Fred MacMurray, did such a wonderful job as the father in this show. When had those special scenes in which he was advising his kids or explaining something to them, he would come across as someone who was caring and very attached to his kids. I know some fathers in this world who have trouble at being interested let alone caring.

Today, this show might seem dated, but there is a lot we can gain from watching this show. The ideas of making a family that will work together and see things through, is a good example of one thing that we can gain from this. Television today doesn't have very many shows that will show a family working together as a unit.

Hopefully someday, we will see this show on DVD, and have it start from the beginning episode in season one. I think there is a lot we can get from this show.

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.