My Three Sons

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.

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 !!!

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.

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.

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.