Father Knows Best: Season One
Starring: Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray, Lauren ChapinDirector: William D. Russell, James Neilson, Peter Tewksbury
Studio: Shout! Factory
MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
Format: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
Running Time: 660 minutes
DVD Release: April 1st 2008
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DVD Review
Copy: Maybe he didn't always know best, but insurance salesman Jim Anderson (Robert Young) of Springfield, Ohio, was America's favorite head of household. Father Knows Best premiered on CBS in October 1954 and has been part of the American cultural fabric ever since. Every week families gathered around the television set to join Jim, Margaret, "Princess", "Bud" and "Kitten" in their very first year as everyone's favorite 50's family. On DVD for the first time ever, this 4-disc set contains the Complete first season. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BONUS FEATURES
*New cast interviews
*Robert Young's home movies
*Rare behind the scenes color footage
*24 Hours In Tyrantland - special episode created for the U.S. government.
*Window On Main Street pilot episode - Robert Young's very next TV series.
User Reviews
EXCEELENT - Rating: 5/5
I was very pleased it arrived so fast, it was a gift and I know the person has enjoyed it. Thanks
The Gold Standard... - Rating: 5/5
"Father Knows Best" debuted in 1954 and has been captivating audiences for more than fifty years. The reason is simple: Even though we all didn't have the perfect lives of the Anderson's, we still wanted to. It was what we (down deep) really wanted. Nobody can have a 'TV life" and yet, we are drawn back to those halcyon times when life was simpler and richer.
I had the pleasure of growing up around the reruns of "Father Knows Best" and other shows like it and I gotta tell you, there is little today that can match it. Why? Have we become so sophisticated that we can't appreciate the simple things? Do we have to have "deep" plots, or explosions, or morbid drama, or gut-wrenching social commentary? There is a place for those things. But there is also a place for this show.
You might know actor Robert Young from the many other roles he had not only in television but in film as well. He went on after this series to play the distinguished and compassionate "Marcus Welby, M.D" from 1969 to 1974. He was, in my opinion, one of the finest actors ever to step in front of the camera. (And one of the classiest too.)
"Father Knows Best" takes place in Springfield, Ohio. Robert Young's character Jim Anderson plays an easy-going, kindly insurance salesman with an abundance of patience and wisdom given to his children who always end up needing Dad's advice, or learning an important lesson from him.
Jane Wyatt plays his wife, Margaret with class, style and beauty.
To me, "Father Knows Best" is the gold standard for this type and genre of entertainment. It was a TV show I could relate to. Not that I had the "ideal" childhood. But it was good and shows like these added to it.
This is a DVd set you will want to go back to many times. The episodes are uncut for commercials so you get the full 30 minutes. The quality is excellent and like the potato chips, once you watch one, you will have to have more. But if 1950's television is not your thing you will probably want to pass this up.
Sometimes when I think about it, I sort of wish that with all our modern-day, real-life dramas, there was a Springfield, Ohio of the type on this show to get away to for a while. But then, I pop one of these DVD's in the player and I'm taken away to a place I love to be.
1950's NOSTALGIA AT IT'S FINEST! - Rating: 5/5
A fun look back to the "good old days" of American television. The Andersons were the family that everyone wanted to be a part of, and we were (if only one night a week)! I was delighted to see this series come to DVD - a real treasure!
Enjoy!
Great Quality But No Extras - Rating: 5/5
It's great that this set is out--the quality is great. BUT it should only get 4 and 1/2 starts because there are few extras and it really needs some commentary tracks. They could have gotten any of the remaining alive cast members to comment or had academics discuss the social aspects of the series. It's amazing to see the father so often portrayed as the bad guy, the kids as very rebellious and the mom the hero. It's very unlike what most media people claim about the show. But there needs to be a discussion about some of the surprising scenes in this first season.
Father Knows Best officially on DVD at last - Rating: 5/5
I used to watch this every morning & again late afternoons during the mid 1980s on The CBN Cable Network which was a channel that once showcased the finest vintage sitcoms ever.
I watched Bachelor Father, Dobie Gillis & Father Knows Best everyday & had my video machine going to put 'em all on tape. As a result I've got loads of Father Knows Best episodes & have even transferred some to DVD as the show hadn't been yet made available on DVD, so my homemade DVDs were something to tide me over anyway.
I'm very pleased to see the series finally get the DVD treatment. I, like some of the others am displeased & think it unfortunate that some of these are syndicated prints. However, as this is a true rarity & has been scarce in rerun markets over the years, I'll gladly take the first & second season & every & any additional seasons that become available in the future. Episodes of Father Knows Best in any DVD offering, syndicated and/or otherwise is better than not having it in any form at all. Sure, I'd love having the completely unedited prints same as many others who have griped about this, but if the syndicated are the majority of prints available in this set, then so be it. They will due until some distributor makes the unedited ones available. For the time being, I'm satisfied.
Some of my favorite episodes were the one where Kathy played a sleuth to unravel a mystery, the one where Kathy is a real tomboy & in the closing scene she makes a grand entrance to her date in a lovely dress. The one where Kathy takes a friend's baby sister & wants to be her mother which had been in one of the earlier shows.
Betty awaiting word on her boyfriend, the jet pilot, Betty being a snob to Bud around her friends, the christmas show which featured Wallace Ford as Santy. Great, great episodes. These plots had morals & The Andersons are a staple of 1950s middle class wholesome americana.
I also LOVED Father Knows Best: Home For Christmas, one of the two reunion movies of 1977 (hadn't seen the previous one, Father Knows Best Reunion).
I thought Billy Gray (Bud) was so cute & endearing as he had gotten into his upper teens!
Elinor Donahue (Betty) was so down-to-earth & upbeat & had some of the most comical one-liners in some of the earlier episodes where she'd make a sharp-witted remark about Bud to Father! She also had a warm & bright smile that was remarkable.
Lauren Chapin (Kathy) was everyone's favorite half-pint tomboyish kid sister who at times felt neglected & was always there with a shoulder. I bought Lauren Chapin's Father Does Know Best autobiography back when it was first released & am proud to have it in my library of favorite publications/memorabilia. I empathize with all she's overcome & the inner strength & determination that got her through it in the long run. We LOVE you, Lauren!
Jim & Margaret were there with words of wisdom & instilled values in their children which is timeless & makes this show appropriate for kids of all ages. It's also clean & inoffensive & makes the grade as a classic worth having in your DVD library of really good 1950s family sitcoms. I'm an avid fan of the vintage radio series as well!
