Wait Till Your Father Gets Home

Wow! When I first saw this when I was a kid, I had no idea this was Hanna Barbera. And I though to myself, finally, they made a show down to Earth, and something that reflected society, as the story of a dad, normal, white, tries to live a good life in the '70s despite his hippie son, and teenage liberal daughter, and each episode has a good lesson or a message filled with social commentary, much like The Simpsons, or King Of the Hill in the "Me Generation", or The Flintstones or Jetsons in the 70s. And Ralph is the most unforgettable and perhaps the funniest character in the whole series, as the conservative McCarthyist, as he said things about commies. Yes, it had the feel and sentiments of the Cold War days. Recommended to all those who love The Simpsons, King Of the Hill, and the Adult Swim shows. If they were to remake this, they should make Ralph the same, except they should make him say things about terrorists instead of the Reds. No swearing or violence.

I love this show. I was 10 when it came out but funny enough, don't remember watching it back in 1972. I guess I was too busy watching the Partridge Family and Brady Bunch. I'm glad it's on the Boomerang network, along with another childhood favorite, the Banana Splits. Thank God for DVR so I can tape them since it's on in the middle of the night. I hadn't seen mentioned here in detail that Jackie Earle Haley, later of the Bad News Bears and most recently, the movie "Little Children" (Oscar nominated) was the voice of youngest son Jamie. According to his IMDb bio WTYFGH was his first acting job, albeit vocally only.

This show is awesome and I'm sure was very topical for its time, for example, the episode when Chet wants to move in with his girlfriend. I'm surprised that the Jack Burns character was able to get away with talking about "Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Blacks" on a cartoon. He reminds me of a cartoon version of Archie Bunker, for sure.

I saw this when it first aired way back when, and was always curious as to why a major network would air a "kids' show" during prime time TV. I mean prime time was reserved for Hawaii Five-0, Sanford and Son, Gunsmoke, Adam 12, the Mod Squad, and a host of other serious dramas and comedies. Then someone takes a chance on an animated show?

Being a cartoon I watched it religiously, then wondered why it got taken off the air. As far as a cartoon goes it wasn't very engaging. There was little slap stick, fewer sight gags, and a lot of talk. I of course remember the infamous Monitor verse Merrimac episode, but little else sticks with me about this show other than it happened, and I used to watch it.

The themes and story are reflections of contemporary society as the US transitioned form one form of social upheavals to a new era that was uncertain. "Wait til your Father Gets Home" was a sort of "Father knows best" kind of program commenting on how popular culture was clashing with traditional values etched from after the second world war.

An interesting watch. I wish I had more to say about it. It's one of those TV adventures that was a little daring and ahead of its time, but was perhaps both a little too flat and too ahead of the curve to be really accepted. Probably more the former than the latter as the success of Hanna Barbara's "The Flintstones" will attest to (i.e. another cartoon that aired during prime time during its initial run), which lasted six seasons. Alas "Wait til Your Father Gets Home" wasn't as adventurous, and suffered for it. As such it was pulled from the air.

Not a sterling series, but still a good watch for what it was. An interesting look at the early seventies just before gas lines and right at the preamble of the so-called "sexual revolution". See it once out of curiosity, and, who knows, you might like it.

Enjoy.

Much of what I have to say about it, I've already said on "Jump The Shark," but, this was a show that tried to be a cartoon answer to ones like All In The Family, without being a COPY of them, and it actually succeeded in a very big way. Without getting credit for it, or much of any publicity that I know of. (It was a syndicated show, and in my area at least, came on before prime time, so it probably "flew beneath the radar.") In some ways, it actually OUTDID the Norman Lear kinds of shows. Especially with the "Ralph" character, played by Jack Burns, who's always been so great at playing comical loudmouths, and sometimes bigoted ones (as in the famous Burns and Schreiber "Taxi" routine). The Ralph character was almost closer to "Joe" (in the Peter Boyle movie) than to Archie Bunker, because he was an actual vigilante (although one who never actually DID anything violent), who was on the lookout for minorities as much as Communists. And some of his lines were genuinely "strong," lines that AITF probably would've though twice about putting into Archie Bunker's mouth.(But again, who expected something like that from a Hanna-Barbera cartoon show? So no one seemed to know about it.) Then there was "Chet" the older son, who (even though it was a cartoon) was one of the least exaggerated comical hippies on TV! One of the best episodes was about Chet getting drafted, and planning to leave the country, which is STILL a touchy subject. Even though it had a sort of "tidy" ending - he gets a deferment - it was still a pretty bold thing to do with a REGULAR character on a show (as opposed to a ONE-TIME character, that no one's going to see again). And Alice (played by Kristina Holland, who played the "ditzy" secretary on "Courtship of Eddie's Father") was far from a stereotyped "fat girl" - instead of being worried about her having no social life, Harry always seemed to be worried about her fooling around with too many boys. And of course, Tom Bosley as Harry - some time before Happy Days, he was already playing the put-upon father very well.

Before Tom Bosley became a prime time superstar on Happy Days, he voiced the father in Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. I have fond memories of this series, which debuted almost half-a-century ago!! In some ways it was the more sedate prelude of The Simpsons.