I’m constantly amazed at how little attention this show has received through the years. It’s not the fan’s fault. Not everybody has seen it or remembers it. This show has not been seen in syndication for nearly 30 years! The only way to watch it is via You Tube clips, or bootleg DVDs available on the grey market, or maybe you were fortunate to own a VCR AND had the good sense to record it when CBN aired the show in the mid 1980s.

The Farmer’s Daughter was produced by Screen Gems, the same company who also brought us Hazel, Dennis the Menace, Bewitched, the Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best, etc. Those old Screen Gems shows are still extremely popular today, and live on in reruns--except The Farmer’s Daughter. They all shared the same production values, writers, directors, sets, etc. In fact, The Farmer’s Daughter seems like a cross between Hazel, and Donna Reed. Inger Stevens was just a sexier, younger version of Hazel, and was constantly meddling in her employer’s work and home life. But she wasn't brash and loud like Hazel. She was gentle and soft-spoken like Donna Reed, but not afraid to voice her opinion. The show was set in Washington, D.C., and portrayed the glamorous lifestyle of Congressman Glen Morley. It was heavy on romance, too. There was a lot of romantic chemistry, and sexual tension between Katy and her boss, Glen. The series wasn't hilariously funny. A few chuckles at times, and amusing, but it was mostly a grown-up, sophisticated romantic comedy--or "dramedy" (before the term was ever coined). There were a few poignant moments mixed in. A lot of the earlier episodes dealt with the feeling of unrequited love. That is, until Glen and Katy finally expressed their love for each other, and got married during the third, final season.

I’m very disappointed with the poor treatment, and the lack of respect this show has received from its owners, Sony Pictures. Supposedly, no tape masters were ever made of this show. The station that did air the show in syndication used 16mm film prints. Sony thinks it’s too expensive to transfer the 35mm film prints to a tape or digital format. They don’t think the show has any commercial appeal. So now the show sits hidden in the Sony vaults gathering dust. Nobody gets to enjoy it. And now every year goes by, and little by little, more and more people forget it ever existed.

I agree. This was one show that I've always wanted to see. I thought Antenna TV was going to air it and then it fell apart.

I'd love to see it myself, especially to watch the late Inger Stevens in a sitcom. She was phenomenal in two Twilight Zone episodes. Of course, William Windom is a pleasure to watch in anything - definitely one of the most underrated character actors ever.

Inger Stevens was great on Hang 'em High with Clint Eastwood. That was only 2 years after The Farmer's Daughter. It's so sad that she died so young. It's also sad that her hit tv show is hardly known to anybody.

Thanks guys for your support.

The first time I saw Inger Stevens was in a rerun of the Twilight Zone called The Hitch-hiker. I thought she was beautiful and brought a great amount of sympathy to her role.

The next time I saw her was on The Farmer's Daughter's reruns on CBN. I wished I had taped it. I’m kicking myself now for not recording it, but I was a teenager, and videotape was expensive back then--unlike now. I have the "fan-made" DVD set. Most of the episodes are grainy, but I guess its better than nothing. Out of the 100 or so episodes, only 20 are "missing."

I haven't seen Hang "Em High, yet, but it's on my list. I recently rented Guide to a Married Man, and she was sexy in that.

I certainly enjoyed this show when CBN aired the reruns. I never thought about taping them because I didn't know we wouldn't have access to it again. But this is Sony--we shouldn't be shocked. Too bad we don't have the old Columbia/Screen Gems regime around to run things.

I certainly enjoyed this show when CBN aired the reruns. I never thought about taping them because I didn't know we wouldn't have access to it again. But this is Sony--we shouldn't be shocked. Too bad we don't have the old Columbia/Screen Gems regime around to run things.
I remember when CBN reran them. I just never watched them. I wish I had now.

CBN had a great lineup back then...you saw shows that were not "evergreens".

Also--the copies that CBN ran were certainly "rushed" copies....the endings of the show would start with the Dancing Sticks but abruptly cut off and plastered with the 80s Columbia Lady logo.

Farmers Daughter ran for the same length of time as The Patty Duke Show (1963-66) and both shows had nearly the same number of episodes. Sony is bad, I can think of just three shows they have completed on DVD. Bewitched, I Dream Of Jeannie, and Partridge Family. They quit on The Flying Nun with only one season to go. The 60's was a great decade for TV, even the lesser shows retain some nostalgia value. In the case of Farmers Daughter, if I'm not mistaken it's somewhat similar to Bachelor Father, a show I'm not particularly fond of. But I would still like to see Farmers Daughter though, it would be worth a look at least for the nostalgia factor. I am familiar with William Windom from the series My World And Welcome To It. Some other long unseen shows would be cool to see also, shows like Please Don't Eat The Daisies, Hey Landlord, OK Crackerby, and Julia just to name a few.

I like to fantasize about new technology coming in the future that would make transferring old film prints to digital much cheaper and easier and all shows ever made would relatively quickly become available to stream/download.

Greater things have happened before, so maybe my fantasy is not that outlandish. Though I guess that's just the technical aspect of the problem. People's (studios') attitude is often more difficult to tackle.

I love "The Farmer's Daughter". It's a cute little comedy with an air of sophistication, which comes not only from its glamorous setting, but also the leading lady's delicate manner. I personally like to watch it back-to-back with "Bachelor Father".

The only way to watch it is via You Tube clips, or bootleg DVDs available on the grey market, or maybe you were fortunate to own a VCR AND had the good sense to record it when CBN aired the show in the mid 1980s.

70 episodes are also available on certain torrent sites (30 episodes each from season 1 and 2, plus 10 episodes from the final season, including the first color episode, the wedding episode, and the second-to-last episode).

They are however relatively poor transfers from VHS recordings of the show's run on CBN (and I suppose originate from those bootleg DVDs). I do hope that's not the very last we ever see of this fine sitcom.

Thanks guys for your support.

The first time I saw Inger Stevens was in a rerun of the Twilight Zone called The Hitch-hiker. I thought she was beautiful and brought a great amount of sympathy to her role.

The next time I saw her was on The Farmer's Daughter's reruns on CBN. I wished I had taped it. I’m kicking myself now for not recording it, but I was a teenager, and videotape was expensive back then--unlike now. I have the "fan-made" DVD set. Most of the episodes are grainy, but I guess its better than nothing. Out of the 100 or so episodes, only 20 are "missing."

I haven't seen Hang "Em High, yet, but it's on my list. I recently rented Guide to a Married Man, and she was sexy in that.
"The Hitchhiker" - like many of TZ's episodes, still haunting and chilling to this day. She was fantastic in that ep.

"The Hitchhiker" - like many of TZ's episodes, still haunting and chilling to this day. She was fantastic in that ep.

Loved that one but her other episode, "The Lateness of the Hour" was a total snoozefest. William Windom starred in my favorite episode, "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" along with the 4th season episode "Miniature" which starred his "To Kill a Mockingbird" costar, Robert Duvall.

Loved that one but her other episode, "The Lateness of the Hour" was a total snoozefest. William Windom starred in my favorite episode, "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" along with the 4th season episode "Miniature" which starred his "To Kill a Mockingbird" costar, Robert Duvall.
Which of her episodes aired first?

Which of her episodes aired first?

"The Hitchhiker" from season 1, the other was from the 2nd season and was one of the 6 video taped episodes.

"The Hitchhiker" from season 1, the other was from the 2nd season and was one of the 6 video taped episodes.
Thanks!!

The Donna Reed Show is my 2nd favorite show ever and I love Hazel, so I would definitely like to see this one. I hope someday it surfaces again.

The Donna Reed Show is my 2nd favorite show ever and I love Hazel, so I would definitely like to see this one. I hope someday it surfaces again.

Here's a Donna Reed connection: In the episode, "One Rainy Night", Katy and Glen are stranded overnight at the Justice of the Peace's house, and they used the same living room set that was used for Donna Reed. All those old Screen Gems shows recycled sets.

Oh, and a Hazel connection: The exterior house facade where the Morley's lived is the same house where Hazel lived in the last season when she moved in with Mr. Baxter's brother. It still stands today on the back lot.

I watched a couple episodes of Farmers Daughter on you tube, and while a full assessment of the series can't be made based on two episodes, from what I saw my suspicion was confirmed, the show has some nostalgia value but that's about it. Like most 60's shows, it's well made and the acting is good, but the episodes are slow moving, not much going on in the way of laughs, and the subject matter is not all that interesting. I honestly had a difficult time staying awake sitting by my computer watching these episodes. The show is a snoozer, that's probably why it's being neglected these days. Maybe Antenna TV can air the episodes at 2 or 3 in the morning for insomniacs who need help getting to sleep. :lol:

Searching around on you tube, I found a few episodes of OK Crackerby, those were really cool to see as I'm a Burl Ives fan. I would like to see all 17 episodes out on DVD, but I doubt that will ever happen, very few people are interested in this short lived show.

Also on you tube I found an episode of the one season sitcom The Second Hundred Years. Again not a very good show, but interesting to see for the nostalgia factor.

So from what I gather--this show is not "lost"--it's just that Sony refuses to transfer the 35mm films to digital. What a sad sad company this is.

I remember the black and white seasons had this peppy "sort of like" Hazel theme song while the final color season had a very sophisticated unsitcom like theme.

So from what I gather--this show is not "lost"--it's just that Sony refuses to transfer the 35mm films to digital. What a sad sad company this is.

Correct. It seems nobody at Sony knows whats going on. They made a deal with Antenna TV in 2010 to air the show. From the information I gathered, when Sony went to pull the tapes, they couldn't find them. Then they told Antenna TV that the tapes are in bad shape, and need to be remastered. Another source says there are no tape masters. They were never made. The old stations back in the 1980s, used to run 16mm film prints.

Like most 60's shows, it's well made and the acting is good, but the episodes are slow moving, not much going on in the way of laughs, and the subject matter is not all that interesting. I honestly had a difficult time staying awake sitting by my computer watching these episodes. The show is a snoozer, that's probably why it's being neglected these days. Maybe Antenna TV can air the episodes at 2 or 3 in the morning for insomniacs who need help getting to sleep. :lol:

That's cool that you gave the show a chance. I don't know which episodes you watched. Was it the pilot and the wedding episode?
I didn't care much for the pilot myself. I thought it was too long and drawn out. They aired it in 2 parts. I think the show got better once everyone settled into their characters.

I have to agree with some of your comments to a certain extent. Yes, its dated and the first two seasons are in b&w, so that is a strike against it. It was never heavy on belly laughs. I used the words, "dramedy" and romantic comedy. The writers really played up the romantic angle. A lot of episodes had Katy falling in love, or pining over Glen, or getting involved with other couples.

The show was aimed more towards adults--specifically women. Clairol was a sponsor, so they wanted women to tune in and buy their hair products. It definitely wasn't a kids show. They didn't focus on the kids much. They never manufactured Farmer's Daughter paper dolls, or coloring books.

It offered a different setting than the typical household family sitcoms. She wasn't a housewife. She was an independent, single working girl living in Washington, D.C. Come to think of it, she was a predecessor to Marlo Thomas on That Girl.

I think ultimately the success of the show lies with its star power, Inger Stevens. I heard they wrote the show with her mind. Either you like her or don't. And I happen to like her, and would watch her read the phone book.

I don't recall Ronny the episode titles, but both have the original commercials, one is from the 1st season sponsored by Lark Cigarettes, the other is from the 2nd season sponsored by Clairol. It's one of those shows that hasn't dated well, but was still cool to see a few episodes for the nostalgia factor.

CBN had a great lineup back then...you saw shows that were not "evergreens".

True. Besides The Farmer's Daughter, I remember watching The Doris Day Show, Medical Center, The Patty Duke Show, and The Courtship of Eddie's Father.