FATHER KNOWS BEST (TV SERIES) - DVD review

In Season Four of "Father Knows Best," there are plenty of episodes where Mother Knows Better. And Father can be a bit of a Fifties' cliché: the king of his castle who thinks men and women are like day and night. But insurance agent Jim Anderson was a likable fellow who knew he was fortunate to be the king and damned lucky to have an older daughter (Elinor Donahue as Betty) he dubbed "Princess." This season, he and wife Margaret (Jane Wyatt) look lovingly and proudly upon Betty; her younger teen sibling James, Jr. (Billy Gray), who went by the nickname Dad gave him (Bud); and the adolescent Kathy (Lauren Chapin), called "Kitten" by her father.

Like most sitcom families from the late fifties and early sixties, the Andersons were an idealized bunch. No one ever got in terribly serious trouble, and they argued so seldom that one episode actually has the kids drawing attention to that fact. Like my father, who wore a shirt and tie every day of his life, Jim Anderson dresses for his white-collar job in the morning and doesn't immediately rip off the work uniform when he gets home. It's a part of him, just as those strands of pearls were a part of fifties' TV mothers.

"Father Knows Best" is such a classic TV show that it's hard to believe it took viewers a while to warm up to it. The show didn't crack the Nielsen Top-30 list until this fourth season, when it was wedged between two hour-long NBC shows, "Wagon Train" and "Kraft Television Theatre." But what most likely gave it the Nielsen bump was that, for many viewers, "Father Knows Best" was an enjoyable family comedy that came right after ABC's "Disneyland" and right before ABC's "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet."

As sitcom plots and dialogue go, "Father Knows Best" was a cut above the rest. A problem would arise, and the generally unflappable father would dispense advice, as when he tells Bud, "Don't sit around and grumble because nothing is being done. Get in their and organize the group, get things rolling. . . . Don't let it be a big nothing. Take the initiative. Be a leader." Good advice, right? But of course father's advice usually leads to a true comedy of situation. In this case, Bud follows his dad's advice, but the whole idea of leadership and the success he's had goes straight to his head, and he becomes insufferable. In the end, he learns that leaders are nothing without followers, and that everyone needs other people.

Every now and then there's a snappy line that comes out of nowhere, as when Margaret announces that she's taking enrichment classes at the college and will be in the same literature class as Betty. "Mother and daughter in the same class? Sounds like a hillbilly family," Jim says, laughing in synch with the laugh track.

But as above-average as the writing and acting are, "Father Knows Best" is still probably the most fun to watch because it's a veritable time capsule of a simpler time, when suburbia was still an idyllic representation of the life that hard-working Americans aspired to. Feminists will rage over many of the lines--an episode where Jim teaches Margaret how to drive and tells Bud that women just aren't as capable of doing certain things comes to mind--but that kind of thinking was pervasive.

Once again, Shout! Factory has done a nice job of packaging the series, though there are no annotated descriptions for the episodes--only the titles. Here's a rundown on the 33 episodes contained on five single-sided discs, housed in three slim keep cases and tucked inside a sturdy cardboard slipcase:

"Follow the Leader." When the class decides to sabotage a new teacher, Bud gets caught in the middle and has to choose whether to go along with the crowd or be the one who changes the way people think and act.

"The Awkward Hero." Betty becomes a tutor hoping to land one of the cute football players as an assignment, but instead gets a hulking, unattractive and shy guy who nonetheless brings out her "mother instincts."

"The Good Neighbor." Margaret gets a rental property from her father and promptly alienates a neighbor by announcing she wants to widen the driveway and he'll have to remove the roses that overlap the property line.

"Bud, the Executive." Bud becomes chairman for a high school picnic committee and it goes to his head.

"Sentenced to Happiness." Weaker flashback episode has the Andersons' Latino gardener running into troubles with the court.

"Mother Goes to School." At first Betty likes it that her mother is trying to improve herself by going to college, but soon it starts to cramp her style.

"The Indispensable Man" finds Bud getting a swelled head again, this time when he practices place-kicking and is billed in the newspaper as Springfield High's greatest hope.

"Kathy's Big Chance." Actress Greer Garson has a cameo in this episode about Kathy working hard to win an essay contest (and parents should take note of how Jim inspires her to write something better than her first effort) but when she wins, an illness threatens to keep her from her prize--tea with Ms. Garson.

"Margaret Learns to Drive." What, Jim and Margaret FIGHT? Yep, in this episode they do.

"The Way of a Dictator." Entertaining episode, and one of the best, has Bud complaining that his parents don't know how to raise Kathy. When told he can have the job, Bud accepts, since a little bit of blackmail helps him work instant miracles.

"Mr. Beal Meets His Match." Weaker episode has Betty having nightmares about a Springfield's Most Honorable Man contest, and as often happens, those dreams can come true.

"Kathy Makes a Wish." Kathy finds a horseshoe and makes a wish . . . for a HORSE.

"Man with a Plan." A girl Bud likes decides to throw him a going-away party before he joins the Army. Only trouble is, it was a misunderstanding, and Bud has no intention of enlisting.

"Big Sister." Betty is assigned to be her sister's counselor at summer camp, and it leads to predictable friction in an episode that's still plenty fun.

"Calypso Kid." Bud takes up the bongos . . . to impress a girl. Why else?

"Father's Biography." When Kathy writes a biography about her father and the PTA decides to have it read at the next meeting, Jim has to decide whether to attend or go to an important business meeting.

"The Rivals." One of the oldest sitcom plots gets nicely recycled as Betty tries to juggle two dates for the same night.

"Bud, the Mind Reader." The title says it all, but while this swami does his silly thing, Betty is trying something a little more academic--the debate team.

"Margaret's Other Family." When Margaret spends much of her time helping a furniture maker and his wife, the Anderson family gets unexpectedly jealous.

"The Trial." The most serious trouble Bud gets into happens when he's accused of vandalizing a neighbor's property.

"Revenge is Sweet." Bud is a slob, and it takes a few outsiders to drive home the point.

"Country Cousin." Another recycled sitcom plot has a country cousin coming for a visit to check out the local university.

"Poor Old Dad." From Bud's perspective, his dad is hen-pecked, and he tries to do something about it.

"Betty's Crusade." Betty stands up for a small businessman who's trying to keep Jim's company from evicting him.

"Young Love." Well, not really. Not only does Bud fall for an older woman . . . he falls for a MARRIED woman.

"Tell It to Mom." Misunderstandings abound when Betty tries to help a friend by stashing a pair of skates for her.

"A Friend in Need." The Andersons get a dog, though they weren't wanting one.

"A Medal for Margaret." Another episode that'll have feminists raging finds Margaret trying to win something after Jim announces his plan to build a family trophy case.

"The Weaker Sex." The title says it all (most). Betty plays helpless to land a date.

"Jim, the Answer Man" has Jim trying to work at home but being interrupted by his children at every step of the way.

"Bud Quits School." When Bud runs into an entrepreneur who says he never graduated, Bud decides to follow in his footsteps.

"A Matter of Pride." Somehow Bud is voted most popular boy, and guess what? It goes to his head.

"Betty Finds a Cause." Or rather, another one. This time she wants a man to remove a hedge that's obscuring driver's vision.

Video:
Each season gets a little better, visually speaking. There's the expected grain, but contrast levels are consistently stronger this season. "Father Knows Best" is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio, in black and white.

Audio:
Nothing fancy here, just a Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono that at least isn't too distorted or marred with hiss or pop. Again, stronger than previous releases.

Extras:
Not much here. Fans of Young might appreciate seeing two episodes from the next TV series Young starred in after this one, "Window on Main Street." The episode titles are "The Boy Who Got It Made" and "The Haunted House." Better (and more pertinent to this release) are three "Father Knows Best" radio programs--"A New Housekeeper," "Vacation Arrives," and "New Arrangements"--and it was Young's performance on the popular radio show that earned him the chance to do it all over again on television. Fun to listen to.

Bottom Line:
"Father Knows Best" is a beloved family sitcom, and Season 4 shows why. The Andersons are a likable bunch, and Young and Wyatt make perfect parents.