Make Room for Daddy

One of the greatest milestones in television history the situation comedy series "Make Room For Daddy" aka "The Danny Thomas Show " was in fact a treasured gem that was great entertainment even after more than 70 years after its original telecast the series focuses on the misadventures of a showbiz entertainer(Danny Thomas) who lives in a upscale penthouse apartment in New York with his wife(Jean Hagen for Seasons 1-3 and later was replaced by Marjorie Lord for Seasons 5-11) and two kids which was his teenage daughter Terry(Sherry Jackson) and his wise cracking mischievous son Rusty(Rusty Hamer). The series was actor-producer-and executive producer Danny Thomas' most successful series along with producer-director-writer Sheldon Leonard made this one of the biggest sitcom hits of the 1950's that lasted into the mid-1960's that won Five Prime Time Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Actor or Actress In A Comedy Series.

"Make Room For Daddy" aka "The Danny Thomas Show" ran on two major television networks throughout its entire run lasting an astonishing 11 seasons and 343 episodes all in classic black and white and was produced under Danny Thomas' production company with Sheldon Leonard as executive producer and was filmed in Hollywood at Desilu Studios. For the first four seasons it aired on ABC premiering on September 29, 1953 as "Make Room For Daddy" producing 90 episodes with Danny Thomas, Jean Hagen, Sherry Jackson, and Rusty Hamer with Amanda Randolph running until April 25, 1957. After it was canceled by ABC in the spring of 1957 numerous cast changes took place when the series switched networks this time over to CBS under the new title as "The Danny Thomas Show" producing 253 episodes that aired from October 7, 1957 until the final telecast on April 27, 1964(where it aired on Monday nights replacing "I Love Lucy" in its timeslot).

During the show's fifth season it introduced Danny Thomas' new wife Kathy O'Hara played by Marjorie Lord and her daughter Linda O'Hara from a previous marriage(Angela Cartwright) for seasons 5-11 throughout the series run with the oldest daughter Terry (Sherry Jackson) leaving for college but returning in several episodes. Only actors Danny Thomas and Rusty Hamer were the only main characters that stayed with the series throughout its entire 11 season run appearing in all 343 episodes. The phenomenal success of "The Danny Thomas Show" spawned numerous spinoffs that included "The Andy Griffith Show", "The Joey Bishop Show", "The Bill Dana Show", and "Make Room For Granddaddy". After it's initial run on both ABC and CBS, the series continued in recycle repeats where it ended up on both CBS' Daytime schedule and later for the earlier episodes for NBC's Daytime schedule as well. The February 12, 1965 telecast was basically a rerun of a earlier episode. This was a grand achievement in Television history that showcases Danny Thomas' multi talented skills as both nightclub entertainer and all around father figure to his children that became a television classic.

I appeared on three Danny Thomas Shows; first in 1955 as part of the Little League team from the episode of the same name which aired on Sept. 20, 1955. I played drums in a band called The Dixie Small Fry and we were part of "Good Old Days" -Season 5 Episode 25 from March 24, 1958 and then Season 6 Episode 13, "When The Saints Come Marching In" - Dec. 29, 1958.

Recently, I bought the Fifth Season DVD collection and watched "Good Old Days" for the first time since it aired originally. I remember being a big fan of the show before ever being on it and watching this episode brought back not only how much fun that week at Desilu was for the guys in the band, but how well written and acted the Danny Thomas Show was week in and week out. There was nothing phony about the set ups, or the people being presented as the Danny Williams family. There was an intelligence about the situations, funny always, with an edge at times, again which made it believable. Regardless of age, The Danny Thomas Show was both real and funny, no small accomplishment. Marjorie Lord was first rate, Sherry Jackson, besides being a major babe for guys my age, was also a very good actress who might have become great and Rusty Hamer at eight years old had comedy timing most seasoned adults couldn't match.

As great as all the parts and people were, it was Danny Thomas who made The Danny Thomas Show exceptional. He was what he was portrayed to be, an entertainer,a nightclub entertainer and as sitcom fathers go, unique in his make up. This was a real guy and not a silly characterization of a father. In fact, every character in the show seemed to be from real life.

Danny Thomas was a man of remarkable character and compassion for others. To use the phrase that came into being during the Vietnam war, he "walked it like he talked it", whether heading the drive for St. Jude Hospital or as Danny Williams giving us another brilliant Danny Thomas spit take over coffee with Sid. Through all the years the Danny Thomas Show was on the air, he stressed values, truthfulness and respect and that's what we as the audience got back each week. That, and humor with a real life edge to it.

And it was clear that people working on the show LIKED working on the show. Danny and producer Sheldon Leonard were in charge, but Thomas never acted like he was the star. In the first scene of "Good Old Days", I had a line to say as our band left the Williams apartment....I was not an actor and the line got tossed to me in dress rehearsal...the show was shot in front of an audience, in sequence using the three camera film technique that Desi Arnez had dreamed up. Anyway, Danny saw that I was nervous and so he made a big deal about going over the sequence where he fed me his line, then I said mine and as soon as I got it out of my mouth, Danny nodded my way and spoke loudly enough for the crew to hear...."Do it that way in the show tonight, Kid and we'll be fine."

Until I started watching"The Danny Thomas Show" on Catchy Comedy, I had no idea how wonderful it was! Great acting, funny, sentimental and heartfelt. Danny's chemistry with Rusty Hamer (God bless him) and Angela Cartwright as well as the other kids on the show demonstrates his love for children. I've only seen seasons 4-11 (the earlier ones, titled "Make Room For Daddy" are hard to find), but I like the later episodes with Angela Cartwright and Marjorie Lord.

For me, Rusty Hamer is the best part of the show. He was an amazing actor. I love his scenes with Danny the best. They made a great father and son team.

The music acts, both from the cast and the amazing guest stars like Sammy Davis Jr are completely wonderful. It's incredible how many guests stars they had. They all look so young and it's fun to see their earlier performances.

Danny Thomas was a wonderful performer and I loved when they showcased his nightclub acts.

The most amazing thing to me is that many shows that have long runs (this one ran 11 seasons), get stale after a while. But The Danny Thomas Show only got better.

Outstanding comedy series of the 1950s starring Danny Thomas as Danny Williams, a comedy pro who battles his loving family along the way.

Created by Sheldon Leonard, the show was memorable with a phenomenal supporting cast. When Jean Hagen left the show to pursue a movie career, she was replaced by Marjorie Lord. Lord knew just how to recite her lines in such a way so as to get what she wanted.

Rusty Hamer, who committed suicide in 1990, at 42, was simply terrific as the precocious Russell. He often did battle with his father in a memorable but comic way. Rusty sure had excellent comic timing for one so young.

Who can forget Hans Conreid as Uncle Tanousse? Amanda Randolph was that spunky maid.

We certainly made room for this daddy and his family for each and every episode.

"Make Room For Daddy" a.k.a. "The Danny Thomas Show" stands as one of the best-written, best acted comedy shows ever. The family situations and characters were like real people with real flaws and virtues. Maybe more so than any other show of it's time. I have read many critiques of the fifth season on DVD. Just about everyone complains about the syndicated, edited episodes being used for this and several other DVD sets. Let me say this. In my opinion, there may not be any cost-effective ways to issue some series in their original, uncut versions. Sam Nelson, son of Rick Nelson is undertaking a massive restoration undertaking to redo all 435 episodes of his Grandparents "Ozzie and Harriet" show. To do so, he has mounted a massive fund-raising campaign to fund this project. The series "Bachelor Father" has just begun to be re-shown on Antenna TV. They only have 118 of the original 157 episodes to show. The vintage series "Mr. Adams and Eve" apparently has only a handful of it's original episodes still in existence. So be happy with what we can get of these series and stop whining about small details. Enjoy your "Make Room For Daddy" and be grateful for the series we can get.