Family Affair

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For other uses, see Family Affair (disambiguation).
Family Affair
Format Sitcom
Starring Brian Keith
Sebastian Cabot
Kathy Garver
Johnny Whitaker
Anissa Jones
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of seasons 5
No. of episodes 138
Production
Running time 25 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel CBS
Original run September 12, 1966 – September 9, 1971
External links
IMDb profile

Family Affair is a situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Brian Keith), as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis's stuffy English butler Mr. Giles French (Sebastian Cabot), also had adjustments to make as he was usually saddled with the responsibility of caring for 15-year-old Cissy (Kathy Garver) and the 6-year-old twins, Jody (Johnny Whitaker) and Buffy (Anissa Jones).

The show ran for 138 episodes. Family Affair was created and produced by Don Fedderson, best known for My Three Sons.

Brian Keith was nominated three times for an Emmy for his role as "Uncle Bill." The theme music was composed by Frank De Vol.

Buffy's doll "Mrs Beasley", which she constantly carried with her, became a popular toy in real life in the United States.

Contents

[edit] Production

Like Don Fedderson's other program, My Three Sons, Family Affair utilized a sixty-day production schedule for Brian Keith. All of his scenes for the season would be shot in two thirty-day blocks, while his co-stars would fill in after the actor's work was completed. This enabled Fedderson to harness actors like Keith and Fred MacMurray into television commitments, while still enabling each to make motion pictures. As a result, each season had a single director for each of the thirty odd scripts.

The original series was extremely popular, but was canceled after the fifth season, as CBS began leaning towards more adult-oriented sitcom fare. The series was almost picked up by ABC, but the network instead decided to promote the similarly-themed Brady Bunch.

[edit] Brief revival

A short-lived revival of the series aired on The WB Television Network from September 12, 2002 to March 13, 2003. This version was produced by Sid and Marty Krofft for Warner Bros. Television and lasted for 16 episodes (14 of the 16 were aired).

[edit] The cast

[edit] Original series (1966–1971)

[edit] Revival (2002–2003)

[edit] DVD releases

MPI Home Video has released all 5 seasons of Family Affair on DVD in Region 1. CBS Paramount Television owns the domestic television distribution rights to the series, while the home video rights are owned by MPI Home Video (under license from the Don Fedderson estate). The DVD sets have the logo for Universal Television Distribution at the end of the closing credits (as Universal holds the international television rights).


DVD Name Ep # Release Date Additional Information
Season One 30 June 27, 2006
  • Family Affair: Behind the Scenes with Kathy Garver
  • Photo Gallery
Season Two 30 November 21, 2006
  • "An Affair to Remember" (interview with Kathy Garver)
  • "Memories" (5-minute piece with Garver showing Family Affair memorabilia)
Season Three 28 March 27, 2007
  • The Family Affair Reunion Special
Season Four 26 October 30, 2007
  • A Conversation with Johnny Whitaker
  • "The Child Stars"
Season Five 24 February 26, 2008
  • A visit by Kathy Garver to the CBS Studio City lot where the series was filmed

[edit] External links