My Three Sons: Season 1 vol. 2

If you happened to be an anthropologists concerned with the culture of post World War Two America one source of information would be to study the progression of situation comedies on television. The venerable sit-com served the dual purpose of documenting and more than occasionally helping to steer our society. The sit-com was one of the first formats on TV to really catch on as family entertainment. As such the networks made every effort to ensure their programs appealed to the broadest possible audience. One of the primary methods to accomplish this is to create characters and circumstances that the audience can readily identify with. This necessitates the sit-com change in response to the sociological growth that naturally occurs over time. Looking back you might not consider a series like ‘My Three son’ to be included in a list of ground breaking television but looking back at it thanks to the VD releases form CBS Paramount it turns out this gentle family show helped in the redefinition of the genre. I remember lying on the floor of the family living room faithfully watching this series. At that age, about eight, all I knew was it was fun to watch and I could relate on some levels to the youngest of the titular boys. Now that the opportunity has come up to revisit the series I can see just how different it was back then. The vast majority of sit-coms focused on the standard nuclear family. Dad and the children would have breakfast served by the mother who stayed at home while the father went to an unspecified job and the kids were at a largely unseen school. Mom, of course would dress in a flouncy skirt frequently accessorized with a modest string of pearls. Exactly what dad did for a living really wasn’t germane to the show; all that mattered was that he was the only bread winner in the household.

In 1960 that would change when ‘My Three Sons’ hit the air. Not only was this a single parent household but it was entirely devoid of any hint of a feminine touch. A woman on her own with a child was still not acceptable but this premise was considered quietly ground breaking. At the head of the Douglas clan was Steve (Fred MacMurray). He was a former test pilot who flew fighter planes in WWII and now works in the cutting edge field of aeronautical engineering. Dad had an office and a secretary but occasionally worked from home; something else way ahead of its time. The eldest of the boys is Mike (Tim Considine) who in this second season was just starting at college. There is nothing like a college freshman spouting off pearls of insight after half a semester of psychology. In this season Mike is prone to trying to sound grown up and educated. Next in birth order is Robbie (Don Grady), diligent high school student more interested in girls than his studies. He gets the youthful dialogue popular then like ‘nifty’ and ‘crazy’. Finally there was Chip (Stanley Livingston), the required high spirited ten year old who is always getting into some form of mischief especially with his faithful dog Tramp. Helping Steve handle this brood is his late wife’s father, Uncle Bub O'Casey (William Frawley). He is typically depicted with an apron on complaining about the mess or how everyone is late for dinner.

Most of the stories that are presented in the episodes are standard for the early sixties. None of the topics would fan the flames of controversy; that would not become a part of the purpose of the sit-com for at least another decade or so. The closet you could get to risqué happened in the first episode of the season when Steve has to have the dreaded ‘birds and bees ‘talk with Chip. This was prompted when Tramp becomes a proud father. The typical sit-com misunderstanding occurs when Chip believes his father is going to marry his teacher. This does lead up to a heartwarming father son moment about their life after the death of Chip’s mother. There are several such moments throughout this series were comedy is put off to the side in favor of a little family moment. Another very touching episode is when Steve receives a call from his high school sweetheart. Every place he goes to meet her he just misses her. Much of this episode was centered on flashbacks to 1931 when Steven and his young love were courting. This is another example of how this series successfully broke the mold of the sit-com. sure, there were also stories that were constructed along more familiar plot devices. In one every member of the household, including the dog, have negative encounter with the family that just moved in across the street.

Another episode has Mike bringing his new girlfriend over to meet the family. She quickly develops a huge crush on Steve but by the end of the half hour sees hoe ridiculous her infatuation is and returns her full attention to Mike. This series remains one of my favorites even after so many years; I don’t recall seeing all that often in syndication so this DVD is the best way to go back in time to a gentler time in TV history. The full screen black and white video has held up fairly well over the year with only an occasional speck flashing across the screen. The mono audio is good but expectedly flat. In all they don’t make shows like this anymore and that is a shame.

Posted 02/12/2010