Make Room for Daddy

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.

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.

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.

When Make Room for Daddy ended its run in 1960s Danny Thomas offered to put Rusty Hamer through college but Hamer turned him down believing he had a future in acting. Sadly after the series ended acting jobs for Rusty were few and far between. Eventually in 1990 depression over being a 42 year old has been led to his suicide.

Seems almost every TV series thinks that screaming and yelling is funny..Examples: Sgt Bilko, The Honeymooners, All In The Family, The Danny Thomas Show and many more. Personally, all the yelling gives me a headache and I don't find it the least bit laughable. With that said, Danny Thomas is very likeable and clearly very talented. The story plots are usually pretty good and with the screaming aside very entertaining. The supporting cast is always good and the actresses who play Danny's wife and maid usually steal the episode. Everyone has good on screen chemistry and the shows are always positive and uplifting.