1. Uncle Bill was verrrry mellow and low key about everything. Watching him in the present moment, knowing what I know now, he almost seems depressed. :( I'm assuming this was intentional? He acts like he doesn't even want to be there. :confused: I don't know. Thoughts anyone?

2. I know that they obviously had to wrap a story up at the end of each episode but in my opinion on this show they always seem to end rather abruptly. Cue the music and closing credits.

I know what you mean about Brian Keith, he is mellow and low key in this show, sometimes he tends to mumble his lines and it's hard to understand what he's saying. Brian Keith was billed as the shows star, but it was Sebastian Cabot and the two little kids who really made the show click. Brian Keith does have some touching moments with the kids in this series, he acts like he truly loves and cares about them. But overall he is low key. As far as the shows endings, you might be right some episodes end as though there could be more to the story.

I've always noticed how low keyed Brian Keith was in this show. I think that's what I liked about him. Nothing ever seemed to bother him and he acted like everything would be alright in the end. I don't think he was depressed. His unhappiness would come many years later. I do know that watching this show now is different for me then it was back in the 70's. There is a sadness whenever I watch it . I agree though that it was Mr. French and the kids who did make the show click. Their scenes together are perfect.

The one person who got somewhat of a rise out of Brian Keith was Gregg Fedderson when he was Cissy's boyfriend....LOL. It's like he never warmed up to him, no matter what Gregg did to try and impress.

He wasn't always mellow. Remember the episode where he got in a fistfight with the father of a bully...?

It's been many years since I saw this episode, so I'm only half -- remembering it, and my memories are all hazy, but there was one episode where Jody gives one girl some comic books so that she'll be Buffy's friend . When Uncle Bill found out, he said "YOU HAD A BAD FOUNDATION ! WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN IF I DESIGNED A BRIDGE WITH A BAD FOUNDATION ! IT'D FALL APART, THAT'S WHAT WOULD HAPPEN ! THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED HERE ! IT FELL APART !" in a "YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER !" tone of voice . He was obviously disappointed in his niece and nephew for getting themselves into a situation that couldn't possibly work out . I always thought Brian Keith's performance in this episode was a perfect example of how an actor has to present his character's emotions and attitudes to the viewers . It was also a perfect example of how the viewers can draw conclusions about the character's attitudes .

Yes, Brian Keith always seemed kind of worn out or sleepy on this show. Maybe jet lag from all those business trips. :)

I didn't realize Family Affair was on for 5 seasons. The kids must have been pretty big by the last season.

According to Wikipedia, all of Brian Keith's scenes for the season were shot in advance. Afterwards, the rest of the cast would fill in the remainder of each episode. This is the same process that was used for Fred MacMurray on My Three Sons. It allowed actors like Keith and MacMurray to appear in a television series while still enabling them to make motion pictures. Perhaps they could have done the same with Don Knotts to allow him to continue to appear on The Andy Griffith Show after season 5.