The Danny Thomas Show
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| Make Room For Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Situation Comedy |
| Starring | Danny Thomas Marjorie Lord Rusty Hamer |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 11 |
| No. of episodes | 120 (MRFD) 231 (TDTS) 351 (total) 24 (MRFG) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Louis F. Edelman |
| Producer(s) | Sheldon Leonard Charles Stewart |
| Running time | 30 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | September 29, 1953 – September 14, 1964 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Make Room for Granddaddy |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Danny Thomas Show (known as Make Room for Daddy during the first four seasons) is a sitcom which ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. A revival series known as Make Room for Granddaddy aired on ABC from 1970 to 1971.
Contents |
[edit] Series
Danny Thomas played Danny Williams, a successful comedian and nightclub entertainer. Jean Hagen was his wife Margaret, Sherry Jackson their daughter Terry, and Rusty Hamer their son Rusty. Louise Beavers played the maid Louise. In 1955, Beavers left and was replaced in the role by Amanda Randolph.
In 1956, Jean Hagen quit the show, and the producers had her character written out as having died making the character the first to be "killed off" in a sitcom. The following season, Thomas' character dated several women, with the help of his children. At the end of the season, he met widowed Kathy O'Hara, played by Marjorie Lord, who had a young daughter, Linda, played by Angela Cartwright. No wedding was ever shown, but when the show returned in 1957, with the new title, Danny and Kathy were married, and Linda was adopted by Danny, and the show's ratings dramatically increased.[1]
Hans Conried had frequent guest appearances as Danny's eccentric Lebanese "Uncle Tonoose". (In real life, Thomas was Lebanese, Conried was not.) Other frequent guests included Bill Dana, Annette Funicello, Pat Harrington Jr., Sheldon Leonard (the show's producer) and Thomas protegee Italian teenaged singer Piccola Pupa.
The supporting cast included Sid Melton as Charlie Halper, the proprietor of the Copa Club where Danny performed; and Pat Carroll as his wife Bunny Halper.
In 1958, the character of Terry was written out. Her absence was explained away as the character being away at school. The character returned the following year and recast with actress Penny Parker. She, too, was written out when the character married and left the show.
[edit] Ratings
- 1957-1958: #2[2]
- 1958-1959: #5[3]
- 1949-1960: #4[4]
- 1960-1961: #12[5]
- 1961-1962: #8[6]
- 1962-1963: #8[7]
- 1963-1964: #9[8]
[edit] Spin-off and crossovers
The series was responsible for the creation of another long-running sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show. In the seventh season, Danny Thomas is arrested by Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) and detained in the small town of Mayberry in an episode entitled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith'. The episode aired in February of 1960 and The Andy Griffith Show aired later that year.[9]
The series also crossed over to several other series including The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour[10] and The Joey Bishop Show.[11]
[edit] Syndication packaging
[edit] The Jean Hagen episodes
Seasons 1-3 are known as the "Jean Hagen episodes". These episodes have not been offered for syndication since 1964, but they still are shown on rare occasions (see Syndication section below).
[edit] The Marjorie Lord episodes
Seasons 5-11 are known as the Marjorie Lord Episodes. Season Four is often dubbed the "widowed episodes", but they are also sold in syndication with the Marjorie Lord episodes. These are the most commonly run episodes. The "widowed episodes" are linked with the "Jean Hagen episodes". Also, the name change (The Danny Thomas Show) came right after Jean Hagen left the show in 1956.
[edit] Sequel
The show ended in 1964, but Danny Thomas, Marjorie Lord, Angela Cartwright, Rusty Hamer, Sherry Jackson, and Hans Conreid returned in 1970 in the show Make Room for Granddaddy. In the series, the character of Terry left her son, 6-year-old Michael (played by Michael Hughes) in the care of his grandparents while she and her soldier husband were stationed overseas. New characters were played by Stanley Myron Handelman and former football player Roosevelt Grier. The show only lasted a single season, producing 24 episodes.
[edit] Syndication
Reruns were stripped, Monday through Friday, on NBC from 1960-1965. Subsequently, most of the Marjorie Lord episodes were then syndicated and played on local stations.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s the show's 4th through 9th seasons were shown on Nick at Nite. TV Land has also showed several of the Marjorie Lord episodes. Only about 195 episodes are shown in reruns today. The first three seasons have not been seen on television since the 1960s and the last two seasons are owned by Marjorie Lord and are not shown in reruns. Although starting with Season Five the show was known as The Danny Thomas Show, all the syndicated episodes are shown in reruns under the title Make Room For Daddy. A few low budget TV stations and privately run cable stations have also shown the Jean Hagen episodes.
[edit] DVD releases
On September 28, 2004, Questar released the complete fifth season on Region 1 DVD. The set includes two special episodes: the fourth season finale, "Danny's Proposal", and the pilot for The Andy Griffith Show.[12]
The complete sixth season on DVD is scheduled for release on January 22. 2008.[13]
Several of the early episodes with Jean Hagen can be purchased on discount DVDs.[14][15]
[edit] References
- ^ ClassicTVHits.com TV Ratings: 1957-1958
- ^ ClassicTVHits.com TV Ratings: 1957
- ^ ClassicTVHits.com TV Ratings: 1958-1959
- ^ ClassicTVHits.com TV Ratings: 1959-1960
- ^ ClassicTVHits.com TV Ratings: 1960-1961
- ^ ClassicTVHits.com TV Ratings: 1961-1962
- ^ ClassicTVHits.com TV Ratings: 1962-1963
- ^ ClassicTVHits.com TV Ratings: 1963-1964
- ^ The Danny Thomas Show, "Danny Meets Andy Griffith"
- ^ The Danny Thomas Show/Make Room For Daddy and I Love Lucy/The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
- ^ The Joey Bishop Show,"This Is Your Life"
- ^ DVD details, Make Room for Daddy season five
- ^ DVD details, Make Room for Daddy season six
- ^ Make Room for Daddy, Volume 1
- ^ Make Room for Daddy, Volume 2
[edit] External links
- Make Room For Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show at the Internet Movie Database
- Make Room For Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show at TV.com
- Make Room for Granddaddy at the Internet Movie Database
- Make Room for Granddaddy at TV.com
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