My Three Sons

[ClassyCo]

I've gotten into My Three Sons through its reruns on MeTV. It's another of those old school comedies that I've always known about, but I've let it slide right under my radar. I actually enjoy it.

My Three Sons aired from 1960 to 1972, totaling twelve seasons and 380 episodes. It aired on ABC in black-and-white from 1960 to 1965 (184 episodes) and then on CBS in color from 1965 to 1972 (196 episodes). The series was still placing #13 in the Nielsen ratings in 1965 when ABC decided to cancel it because they did not want to pay the expenses to shoot the show in color. CBS immediately picked up the show and starting airing it in color until it was cancelled seven years later.

The same time My Three Sons was moving from ABC to CBS, cast member Tom Considine (who played the eldest son Mike) had decided to leave the show. He married his on-screen fiancee Sally (Meredith MacRae) in the story line, and was not seen on the series again, although he was occasionally mentioned. To keep the "three son" concept of the title intact, father Stephen Douglas (film star Fred MacMurray) adopts a young boy into the family.

My Three Sons had an impressive run. It lasted for twelve seasons (despite network changes) and spent eleven of those twelve years in the Nielsen top thirty (it was still ranking at #19 as late as 1971). Most historians group the series into the infamous "rural purge" series of sitcom cancellations in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Any fans?

​

 

[Crimson]

Not really a show I care for much, to be honest. I think it's one of those shows that emphasized the sit over the com; I just don't find it very funny. Worse, I recall it having one of those out-of-proportion laugh tracks. I think the earlier episodes with Bill Frawley were at least better than the show's later seasons. I can understand why some like it, though: it's one of those cozy, comfortable shows.

The most interesting thing about the show is how it was filmed. Fred MacMurray apparently had little interest in the series, and shot all of his scenes in two batches over a few weeks' time. He would read his lines to a point off camera, change his sweater, and do the same for the next script. The other actors would then film their scenes which would be spliced with MacMurray's. The only other show I am aware of filmed in that method was Doris Day's sitcom; Doris, like Fred, seemed to view her series with disinterest bordering on contempt.

 

[ClassyCo]

Not really a show I care for much, to be honest. I think it's one of those shows that emphasized the sit over the com; I just don't find it very funny. Worse, I recall it having one of those out-of-proportion laugh tracks. I think the earlier episodes with Bill Frawley were at least better than the show's later seasons. I can understand why some like it, though: it's one of those cozy, comfortable shows.

The most interesting thing about the show is how it was filmed. Fred MacMurray apparently had little interest in the series, and shot all of his scenes in two batches over a few weeks' time. He would read his lines to a point off camera, change his sweater, and do the same for the next script. The other actors would then film their scenes which would be spliced with MacMurray's. The only other show I am aware of filmed in that method was Doris Day's sitcom; Doris, like Fred, seemed to view her series with disinterest bordering on contempt.

I was not aware of that concerning Fred MacMurray. I just assumed he enjoyed working on the show because he did it for twelve years. He must have just saw it as a job, an easy and consistent way of keeping a steady cash flow. And that's understandable, too.

My Three Sons is one of those cozy, old-fashioned comedies. That's one of the reason I like it. It isn't laugh-out-loud funny, but I do find it humorous and it warrants a few chuckles per episode. Now, I might couldn't handle the show in large doses, but I can easily sit through three or four episodes at a time and enjoy the whole ride.

It's practically a legend that Doris Day resented doing The Doris Day Show. She was oblivious to the fact that Marty Melcher had obligated her to a sitcom, but she did it because there was a contract. I always heard she enjoyed the show better in the final two seasons when she had gained more creative control and brought in the swinging career girl aspect to the story.

Whether she enjoyed the work or not, Doris Day looked lovely on her series.
​

 

[Crimson]

I was not aware of that concerning Fred MacMurray. I just assumed he enjoyed working on the show because he did it for twelve years. He must have just saw it as a job, an easy and consistent way of keeping a steady cash flow.

Yes, I don't think Fred was resentful towards the show in the way Doris was (justifiably) towards hers, but that he saw it as an easy paycheck.

Bill Frawley, on the other hand, resented both how MY THREE SONS was filmed (being used to the sequential filming of I LOVE LUCY) and even more so when he was pushed out. The boys in the cast seemed to like Frawley a lot more than his replacement, William Demerest. Frawley was apparently something of a rowdy grandfather figure to the boys, and used them as pawns in his feud with Vivian Vance; he would encourage them to play tricks on her while she filmed THE LUCY SHOW on the sound stage next door.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Doris did, however, praise the fact that her show paid for the legal bills in her largely successful attempt to regain her financial estate.

I've read about Fred MacMurray's doing all the season's scenes all at once -- the producers must have been very organized.

 

[WeldonBallou]

I've got a link here to the Jane Wyman episode of MTS from early 1970.

https://www.solie.org/alibrary/My3Sons_1017WhoIsSylvia.html

 

[Seaviewer]

I've heard about the way MacMurray filmed his scenes as well. Didn't know about the switch to colour and network change, though. But even all in black and white and on the same channel there did seem a fresh start at that point. I think they even moved house then.

 

[ClassyCo]

I still find it rather fascinating that Fred MacMurray filmed all his scenes at one time. And if he did that for twelve years, and on two different networks, that's quite a record.

 

[Chris2]

The “McMurray Method” was also used for Brian Keith in “Family Affair”, from the same producers.

The show’s best years are the first five in B&W, though the first two color are still decent and use the same format (albeit with Charley instead of Bub, and Ernie instead of Mike). After that, they started marrying everyone off and it went downhill). More people are familiar with the color years though, because the B&W episodes weren’t originally part of the syndication package. We used to watch it in reruns in the 70s and my mom would sometimes comment about an older brother who moved away. We just thought she was mixed up. LOL.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Wow! I never knew that about the way Fred Macmurray filmed his scenes. That’s absolutely mind boggling to me! Now I’ve gotta go back and look at some old episodes to see if it’s noticeable at all

 

[ClassyCo]

I was thinking about MY THREE SONS earlier today. I wish there was somewhere I could watch it online, preferably for free.​

 

[ClassyCo]

MY THREE SONS is available to stream on Amazon Prime. To my knowledge, all twelve seasons are on there.

I never knew that about the way Fred Macmurray filmed his scenes

It's mind-blowing -- well, to me at least to know that's how they did it. Like others have said, the producers must've been very organized to film all his scenes in succession like that.

I've never read, to my knowledge anyway, that Doris Day filmed her scenes like that on her own show. The only place I've read that concerning THE DORIS DAY SHOW is on here.

 

[Crimson]

I've never read, to my knowledge anyway, that Doris Day filmed her scenes like that on her own show.

My only point of reference is the book TV SIRENS, which I occasionally quote from.

[Day] also had to fulfill a contractual agreement made by Melcher without her consent: to star in a sitcom. For five years on THE DORIS DAY SHOW, Day played a series of Women Alone -- a widowed farmer, an executive secretary, a swinging single. The show was almost unspeakably abysmal, hastily pasted together from scraps of hackneyed plots. Day seemed to express her contempt for the material by playing as many scenes as she could on her own time. She'd read her lines to a point off-camera, go home, and let the other actors do their close-ups alone (though she merrily shared scenes with Rose Marie).

Skimming through a random episode on Youtube, there were a lot of back & forth closeups between actors who may or may not have been on the set at the same time. Of course that doesn't mean the entire show was filmed that way. Even McMurray had to film some scenes with other actors. I think the practice was used to minimize how much time the stars had to be on set.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

My only point of reference is the book TV SIRENS, which I occasionally quote from.

[Day] also had to fulfill a contractual agreement made by Melcher without her consent: to star in a sitcom. For five years on THE DORIS DAY SHOW, Day played a series of Women Alone -- a widowed farmer, an executive secretary, a swinging single. The show was almost unspeakably abysmal, hastily pasted together from scraps of hackneyed plots. Day seemed to express her contempt for the material by playing as many scenes as she could on her own time. She'd read her lines to a point off-camera, go home, and let the other actors do their close-ups alone (though she merrily shared scenes with Rose Marie).

Skimming through a random episode on Youtube, there were a lot of back & forth closeups between actors who may or may not have been on the set at the same time. Of course that doesn't mean the entire show was filmed that way. Even McMurray had to film some scenes with other actors. I think the practice was used to minimize how much time the stars had to be on set.

Charlie Herbert, that cute little Capricornian kid from 13 GHOSTS, said that while filming PLEASE DON'T EAT THE DAISIES, Doris Day never even spoke to the children for the entire 90 days. (David Niven was apparently quite nice).

But then, Doris Day probably caused the Manson murders.

 

[Slugworth]

Only thing I liked about My Three Sons was the theme song.

 

[ChrisSumner]

MY THREE SONS is available to stream on Amazon Prime. To my knowledge, all twelve seasons are on there.

I’ve been debating buying a bootleg DVD set and like clockwork it got added to Amazon! I was obsessed with the show as a child but only saw the color episodes which is all that was available on TV LAND. So far I finished the first season and I liked it a lot more than I expected to. The writing seems strong and for 36 episodes a season, they come up with some unique concepts to fill the time. I thought I’d miss Ernie and Uncle Charley but I love Bub and Mike. It’s weird but fun seeing Robbie and Chip so much younger.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

MY THREE SONS went to color at exactly the right time: the fall of 1965.

All American network primetime shows were required, for whatever reason, to make the switch to color by the fall of 1966 if they hadn't already (NBC shows did it sooner as it was owned by RCA and they wanted to sell color TV sets).

So MY THREE SONS, along with THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW and GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, made the shift to color a year earlier, which was the correct moment to do so: the B&W look from the 1964/65 season is quite different than the B&W look of 1965/66 (which always looks washed-out -- like it wants to be in color and is confused as to why it isn't yet).

Which is why the colorization of Season 1 of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND and BEWITCHED is utter blasphemy, while the colorization of Season 2 of BEWITCHED doesn't seem to matter much. And I DREAM OF JEANNIE, which started in 1965, should never have been in B&W at all.

The only reason THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW was right to remain in B&W for the 1965/66 season was because that was its last year -- and even that feels a wee bit washed-out (and Laura seems to be conjuring an early Mary Richards).

Anyhoo, I used to see MY THREE SONS as a kid. It was just one of those shows that was always on, a bland part of the media scenery in the '60s. Never a favorite, really, but I saw it regularly. It was the longest running sitcom in American television history for a long time. Everybody thought Don Grady was hot.

The first five seasons had that vaguely-ghostly early'60s flavor to them that seemed to demand the B&W. And, like everything else in TV, jolted into something louder in the last-half of the decade along with the adoption of color. I, too, remember being irritated with all the changes in the closing years (as I was with all the marriages on IDOJ and GET SMART) where the original premise and formula was being tweaked in a fashion that 1960s television just didn't permit. I mean, those changes made sense, but seemed to signal something was scattering in preparation to end.

I was rarely ever inclined to revisit it in syndicated reruns.

And then there was that foot-tapping (literally) theme music.

 

[WeldonBallou]

All 12 seasons are on Amazon Prime as of last month I believe

MY THREE SONS went to color at exactly the right time: the fall of 1965.

All American network primetime shows were required, for whatever reason, to make the switch to color by the fall of 1966 if they hadn't already (NBC shows did it sooner as it was owned by RCA and they wanted to sell color TV sets).

So MY THREE SONS, along with THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW and GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, made the shift to color a year earlier, which was the correct moment to do so: the B&W look from the 1964/65 season is quite different than the B&W look of 1965/66 (which always looks washed-out -- like it wants to be in color and is confused as to why it isn't yet).

Which is why the colorization of Season 1 of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND and BEWITCHED is utter blasphemy, while the colorization of Season 2 of BEWITCHED doesn't seem to matter much. And I DREAM OF JEANNIE, which started in 1965, should never have been in B&W at all.

The only reason THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW was right to remain in B&W for the 1965/66 season was because that was its last year -- and even that feels a wee bit washed-out (and Laura seems to be conjuring an early Mary Richards).

Anyhoo, I used to see MY THREE SONS as a kid. It was just one of those shows that was always on, a bland part of the media scenery in the '60s. Never a favorite, really, but I saw it regularly. It was the longest running sitcom in American television history for a long time. Everybody thought Don Grady was hot.

The first five seasons had that vaguely-ghostly early'60s flavor to them that seemed to demand the B&W. And, like everything else in TV, jolted into something louder in the last-half of the decade along with the adoption of color. I, too, remember being irritated with all the changes in the closing years (as I was with all the marriages on IDOJ and GET SMART) where the original premise and formula was being tweaked in a fashion that 1960s television just didn't permit. I mean, those changes made sense, but seemed to signal something was scattering in preparation to end.

I was rarely ever inclined to revisit it in syndicated reruns.

And then there was that foot-tapping (literally) theme music.

I Dream Of Jeannie premiered as one of two new programs to be filmed in B&W on NBC and I thought it gave the show an elegant look to all of it's newness. I have to disagree with the 1965/66 whole season washout look for B&W programs.

 

[ChrisSumner]

I’m in the middle of season three and I’m still enjoying these early lost years. One aspect that doesn’t work for me is Mike. I noticed starting with season two, he’s taken a backseat to Chip and Robbie. Even Bub has more episodes centered around him. I wonder if the actor truly left on his own or if it was more of a mutual thing. They definitely upgraded once they got Ernie.

 

[ChrisSumner]

I'm 10 episodes into season 4 and I thought this was Mike's last season based on what I saw. They've already brought on Meredith Macrae as Mike's love interest he eventually marries and Ernie has joined as a recurring friend of Chip's. I didn't realize they joined the show so early. With it being a sitcom I figured Mike would meet his new wife a couple episodes before season 4 ended. Looks like they planned well for the transition.