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Starting out in 1960, this series initially had veteran movie actor Fred MacMurray ("Double Indemnity") play Steve Douglas, the widowed father of three sons ranging from seven to 18 years of age. Since Steve was often away with his job as an aeronautical engineer, his father-in-law 'Bub'Casey (played by William Frawley- 'Fred Mertz' of "I Love Lucy" fame) handled the housework and most of the day-to-day care of his grandsons in a gruff but heart-of-gold approach. This format stayed rather static the first five years but between Bill Frawley becoming too frail for the producers to want to continut him as a regular and Tim Considine (who'd played the oldest son Mike) not being able to continue his character, the format changed drastically in 1965 with Mike getting married to his longtime girlfriend Sally (played by the always fetching late Merideth MacRae) and the characters moving offstage while Bub returned to Ireland to help care for his ancient Aunt Katey! To keep the format intact, Bub's brother Charley (William Demerest) came to live with the family and kept doing the housework and son rearing while they Steve adopted his yougest son's friend Ernie so there would still be 'my three sons' in the household. Just two years later, the entire family relocated from Bryant Park (somewhere in the Midwest) to North Hollywood, California. There middle son Robbie (now oldest depicted son) would have a whirlwind courtship and marriage with the pretty blonde Katie Miller (Tina Cole) and the very next year would themselves become the parents of triplet boys (yes, his OWN three sons). Two years after that Steve would marry the middle-aged widowed schoolteacher Barbara (Beverly Garland) who'd bring her own 5-year-old daughter Dodie to the already bursting Douglas household. Before the show left the air entirely, Robbie (Don Grady) would be written off as taking an assignment in Peru but would leave his wife and triplet sons for the Douglases to tend and meantime the youngest original son Chip was now 18 and would elope with yet another fetching blonde named Polly (Ronne Troupe- formerly of "The Banana Splits"- and stepdaughter of Julie London of 'Cry Me a River' song and "Emergency" TV show fame). Finally, in 1972, the show would undergo its ultimate format change of simply being cancelled.

When Mike (Tim Considine) left....

This term "Boned" sounds like you are cutting the show to pieces.

They should have just done a "Petticoat Junction" and recast Mike. I'm thinking Mike Minor would have worked (isn't he Fedderson's son) and with Meredith MacRae playing Sally Ann it could have changed the course of PJ...

http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n599/smerdly/inigo-montoya_zpsbc2999a3.jpg (http://s1141.photobucket.com/user/smerdly/media/inigo-montoya_zpsbc2999a3.jpg.html)

The author of that didn't even spell Meredith's name correctly, along with Bub O'Casey screwed up...!

Actually Demarest replaced Frawley well before the 1965 wedding and subsequent events that supposedly catastophically destroyed the series -- but of course didn't.

I'm going to say after the triplets were born. The show just started to get too big after that. It probably should have ended after Steve married Barbara but the show was still somewhat enjoyable.

They should have just done a "Petticoat Junction" and recast Mike. I'm thinking Mike Minor would have worked (isn't he Fedderson's son) and with Meredith MacRae playing Sally Ann it could have changed the course of PJ...

Agree

Mike should've been played by another actor if Tim wanted out. Meredith McRae I'm sure would have happily stayed on as Sally. Adopting Ernie was a big jump the shark moment. The show My Three Sons didn't live up to its title :crazy:

I think the show lost it last pep when Don didn't return for the last season. I didn't mind Steve getting married, although I wasn't crazy for Uncle Fergus Fred's dual role, even little Dodie was cute. You have to think from a little girl's point of view, now we have a little girl in the cast

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When Mike (Tim Considine) left....
I agree with when Mike disappeared, and never returned. At some point, He was completely forgotten about, because Ernie became the 3rd son, and Steve never said he had 4 sons.

Agree

Mike should've been played by another actor if Tim wanted out. Meredith McRae I'm sure would have happily stayed on as Sally. Adopting Ernie was a big jump the shark moment. The show My Three Sons didn't live up to its title :crazy:
I can't really say that was a JTS moment. Growing up in the 1970's, those b & w seasons of My 3 Sons were never syndicated where I lived. I'm not sure if they were syndicated at all during that time. So all I saw were the Ernie episodes. The only time I ever saw Mike was when he got married.

Of course, this is another show that was great from beginning to the very end and never went bad. However, if you were to force me to be overly negative I would say when Rob left the show it was not quite the same. Also when Steve got married the whole dynamic of the show changed no longer Steve & his boys now it was the new wife and her kid and how they reacted with the original family. And though the show was not hurt by this change (Steve getting married) it did, I think, make it a different sort of show.:)

I agree with when Mike disappeared, and never returned. At some point, He was completely forgotten about, because Ernie became the 3rd son, and Steve never said he had 4 sons.

This was one show that went on far too long. The whole premise became a shadow of its former self and show's title became redundant.

I can't really say that was a JTS moment. Growing up in the 1970's, those b & w seasons of My 3 Sons were never syndicated where I lived. I'm not sure if they were syndicated at all during that time. So all I saw were the Ernie episodes. The only time I ever saw Mike was when he got married.

I fondly remember the B&W episodes and prefer that era. That was "My Three Sons." I've seen some eps featuring Beverly Garland playing Steve's wife & Ernie as 4th son and it like an alternate universe of this once vibrant show.

I agree with when Mike disappeared, and never returned. At some point, He was completely forgotten about, because Ernie became the 3rd son, and Steve never said he had 4 sons.

That's true as far as Steve never stating explicitly that he had 4 sons. However, even after Ernie's adoption had been firmly established, Mike continued to be mentioned for a time.

Later on, Charley refers to Robbie as "Steve's oldest" (in the ep guest-starring Douglas Fowley).

Anyway, people tend to get hung up on the series' title -- even though there continued to be 3 sons in the house (until Don Grady left the series) and the title was further reinforced by the birth of the triplets (who were Katie's 3 sons to the very end).

By the time "My Three Sons" went off the air, it had become "My FOUR Sons, Three Daughters-in-Law, Three Grandsons, One Stepdaughter, One Wife and One Housekeeper, not to mention My Scottish Uncle and His Cocktail-Waitress Wife."

While the show's characters grew older and evolved, it got to the point where "My Three Sons" had as many characters as the average soap opera of the day! :confused:

Speaking of which, in 1961-62, NBC had a daytime drama called "Our Five Daughters," which centered around the concerns of their mother and father about how they would grow, what entanglements they would get into, etc.

I used to kid what would happen if "My Three Sons" merged with "Our Five Daughters." Unfortunately, we found out!

By the time "My Three Sons" went off the air, it had become "My FOUR Sons, Three Daughters-in-Law, Three Grandsons, One Stepdaughter, One Wife and One Housekeeper, not to mention My Scottish Uncle and His Cocktail-Waitress Wife."

While the show's characters grew older and evolved, it got to the point where "My Three Sons" had as many characters as the average soap opera of the day! :confused:

Just for the record:

Only 3 of the 4 sons continued to appear after the very first color episode (1st ep of Season 6). Mike was never seen again.

Only the 2 newer daughters-in-law ever had roles after the very first color episode (1st ep of Season 6), which was the final appearance of the first one (Sally) -- and the third one (Polly) appeared only in Seasons 11 & 12.

Fergus from Scotland and Terri Dowling appeared together for only a short while as he married her; Fergus had also appeared in the black & white episodes. And Fergus was Steve's cousin, not an "Uncle."

You could also mention other recurring characters though, like Barbara's mom and Katie's relatives -- though they were far from regulars per se.

Geez, I get the feeling that people expect a series that ran for 12 seasons to have only Steve, Bub, and 3 sons without ever growing. Pretty limiting...! The new additions were well-conceived and well-cast, I think.

I might add that people like to diss Bonanza because Adam, Hoss, and Joe didn't have wives -- while at the same time, MTS managed to marry off every grown son except for poor Ernie!!

Points well taken--and I understand every sitcom changes and expands as the years go by, but by the latter seasons, you almost had to have a scorecard to tell which family member was which. And in light of "The Brady Bunch" becoming a big hit for ABC, I can't help wondering if Beverly Garland and Dawn Lyn were more a gimmick to keep an old series chugging along than a legitimate story change in its own right.

Thanks for your observations--and know I enjoy reading yours...:cool:

Thanks for the kind words! I admit to being very defensive about the color seasons, because those have always been the ones I've been able to see. And to this day I'll watch, even if I've seen an ep 10 times or more!

There's been some interesting commentary about the addition of Beverly Garland as Barbara. The series' higher-ups were very closely involved, and in fact they stepped in at one point to adjust how Beverly was handling the character.

Anyway, as I once mentioned, for a guy like Steve who was part of the somewhat older crowd, it makes sense that he'd likely meet and marry someone who already had a child -- and when you're a "switched-on" lady like Barbara was, the liklihood was even greater that she hadn't always been single. (In my own case, I'm in my 40s and the lady I'm interested in has a son from her previous marriage.)

https://web.archive.org/web/20070225141752/http://jumptheshark.com/


Other Thoughts:

When I saw this, I just had to comment. I am Dawn Lyn. First, I would like to address the person who mentioned the short dresses. Even at that young age, I was extremely embarrassed to be wearing dresses that short. I had no choice. The producers were trying to make me look even younger than I was. Now, I want to say that it is a very good thing that I have a sense of humor because most of you people are downright cruel. I am also glad that I get a lot of e-mails from people saying that they loved the show, and Dodie, to balance all that negativity. I have very happy memories of being on My Three Sons. I am still in touch with the remaining cast members, I love them like my own family. I cherish my memories and the love that I share with those actors, and no amount of venom spewed at me will ruin that.
Annoying little step sister with lisp
Cast is just too darned big
Smack that Uncle Charlie!
When the father remarried that woman who had an annoying little girl.
JUMP: Robbie gets married. Beautiful! Romantic! What a cute couple...How many sons does that leave?
FALL-OUT: Dad remarries. New kid (earliest example?), Chip:"Man, Polly" - Polly "Why don't you stop saying 'man' and act like one" Then they elope.
When Rob gets married, snowballs downhill from there....two marriages follow & an a Dodie. Myrtle looks like a cheap copy of Mrs. Beasely.
When Dad McMurray gets remarried. This was the beginning of the end, my friends. Dodie the daughter was horrible, and then Robbie gets married and has...triplets! Shows typically JTS when kids start popping out, and the more desperate the writers, the more multiple the births.
The show jumped the shark when Fred McMurray's character remarried and they added the character of Dodie, the most annoying little girl to ever grace a television programme.
Uncle Bud (former 'Fred Mertz' Bill Frawley) replaced by Uncle Charlie (Real relatives or just sugar-daddies to Steve?). And eldest son, Mike, totally disappears, with annoying foster kid Ernie filling the requisite third slot.
Mike was fine, Robbie I could handle, but CHIP!? MARRIED? On way too long. Also, regarding an earlier post, Bub O'Casey was the boys Grandpa, not Uncle. He was Steve's late wife's father. And Charlie O'Casey was his brother.
It Jumped The Shark when the producers thought "Hey let's introduce a cute little girl to boost ratings!". Bad Mistake! Dodie is soo annoying and she comes across as a bad copy of Buffy from Family Affair. Dawn Lyn's "acting" doesn't help either!
this show chummed the waters when Dodi made her appearence. i don't believe i've ever seen a homelier child. she's leif garrett's real life little sister. could there possibly be a more annoying family on the face of this earth?
When the entire family moved from Bryant Park to Calif...however. the Calif home was a nicer looking house on the exterior. Chip with the long hair was ridiculous. And..why did Steve Douglas always drive a station wagon -Pontiac Catalina, Pontiac Executive. Not to mention the LeMans convertible handed down from Robbie to Chip. It really JTS when he married and Dodi, the awful Dawn Lyn (Sister of Leif,future soap opera and country music star)came into the picture.
Somebody reminded me of this about My Three Sons. In the first few years the show was shot in black and white, there was a son named Mike, and William Frawley (Fred from I Love Lucy) played a role much like Uncle Charlie's. Somewhere along the line, the show went to colour, Mike was killed (actually, I think he got married and was never mentioned again), and the Douglas' adopted the obnoxious Ernie, who had been the kid next door before that. I remember seeing the B&W My Three Sons when I was a kid. But they don't seem to ever show the B&W shows in syndication. Or maybe Mike was murdered and the rest of the shows were some sort of cover-up.
The downfall of this show started slowly, then snowballed to its just cancellation after 13 years of increasing shark jumps. The first hint of jumping was the death of Bub(William Frawley). He was replaced by Uncle Charley(William Demerest). Now Bub was a cantankerous old coot, but Bill Frawley could also make the character appear to have some heart; Uncle Charley was just a miserable old bastard who should've been handed over to the cops the minute he showed up at the door. Then oldest son Mike leaves (gets married), and the producers decide to keep it "3" sons, so Steve adopts Chip's very annoying pal Ernie (who's own parents suddenly disappear...and by the way, what happened to Chip's original pal Sudsy??). A move to California occurs, the show goes to colour, Robbie gets married and has 3 boys of his own (snore), Steve remarries (yawn) and adopts one of the most disturbing child actors to ever appear on TV (this includes Mason Reese). Chip elopes with Polly (enough!), who's father is a bigger ***** than Uncle Charley. And speaking of Uncle Charley, around this time William Demerest started dying his hair a bizarre orange colour so no one would realize he was 128 years old. Don't get me wrong, Fred MacMurray was a great actor (Double Indemnity, The Apartment) and William Demerest was wonderful as a stock player in Preston Sturges' films, but they were definitely coasting here (MacMurray's contract stipulations are still the most outlandish ones ever given to a TV star). The only episode that escapes from the "shark" period is the one where Steve's humdrum life suddenly takes on a James Bond twist, and spies are trying to kill him. He's sworn to secrecy by the government, so when he gets home he can't tell anyone about his adventures.
My Three Sons jumped shark as they moved, sons got married, dad got married, and started having triplets and whatnot. Maybe it jumped when they went Ernie and Uncle Charley joined the show but I like Ernie and Charley more than Mike and Bub.
My Three Sons is a surprisingly bad ass show that deserves to be considered as one of the best of all times. There is even something about the dorky stuff in it that somehow works. Sons provides simple but cool philosophy/advice about life. Sons have bizarre wacky like Ernie and Bub. Sons has episodes that are more nothing that Seinfeld. There is one episode where it is just about getting up in the morning and nothing else. Sons has some wacky episodes like the midget and family that is a female Douglas family. It has cool stuff like the family suddenly out of nowhere going to Japan for the weekend. And Sal Minio as the hippy. The episode where the father tops the son in teenage stuff is cool too. While Sons got a little heavy on the Lawrence Welk/Lemon Sister family vibe towards the end it never jumped. Let go of your hangups that only fuddy duddy dorks would watch like this and appreciate it's quality. This show is everything that arguably the worst major television show of all time- Full House- is not. Mc.Murray is no dork like the Saggat dude. Mc.Murray was in Double Idemmity, Absent, Son Of Flubber and My Three Sons. Mc.Murray is the man!!!
My Three Sons is one of those shows, that Jumped The Shark in its early days then redeemed itself then made one final Jump into the Bermuda Triangle of bad TV. The early years when this show was in beautiful black and white was stupid, trite and just plain dull. William Frawley was near taking that eternal dirt nap. He was washed up. His glory days were during the nifty 50's as the curmudgeon cow hating Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy. The cow being Vivian Vance as the excruciatingly ugly Ethel Mertz. I wonder, if Rosy O'Donnell and the dearly departed Vivian shared the same gene pool? Lets just leave those scary thoughts alone for now! My Three Sons hit its heyday in the mid to late 60's when the show became colorized and William Demerest took over for William Frawley. William Demerest as Uncle Charley was priceless. Surly, and truculent to the end, he was the epitome of a true caregiver. Not, the sugarcoated propaganda crap Madison Avenue peddled. A salty dog who took no **** off anyone! A man's man, the antihero to today's politically correct weenies! The progenitor of Andy Sipowicz on NYPD Blue. One of my favorite "Uncle Charley quotes." "Hurry up and get down here for dinner, else I'll throw it on the floor!" My mother, bless her, to this day espouses the "Uncle Charley philosophy of TLC." Punk Love and surliness! My Three Son's took its irrevocable shark jump, its final two seasons. This, is where the writer's experimented with blended families. Their attempt was noble but too convoluted and syrupy. That damn ugly little rugrat Dodey is in the same league of ****house weenies such as Oliver (Brady Bunch) and that inbred brat Seven (Married With Children). Mr. Douglas scraped the bottom of the barrel when he married that dried up heifer. The show tanked and was mercifully put out of its misery by the Tiffany Network. Interestingly enough, Rob marrying that hot blond minx with the ***** father added color to this comedy. Robby, hotty Katie and the triplets gave My Three Sons some extra breathing room until Mr. Douglas married that prunefaced wench with the Smarmy Smurfette daughter you just wanted to suffocate with a pillow!
This is one of the funniest threads I've read on JTS! I was a big fan of My Three Sons, growing up with weekday afternoon reruns. I loved the show, even after they moved, went to color (including Uncle Charley's hair), and had the triplets (though multiple births in itself should have its own JTS category). I think the show could even have withstood Fred McMurray's re-marriage, if it hadn't been for that awful Dodie. First, Dodie's mom was clearly a mature woman and looked more like Dodie's grandmother than her mother. Well, on second thought, she didn't look anything like Dodie at all, which caused me to have wild thoughts about Dodie being raised by monkeys in the African jungle until she was adopted out of pity by Fred McMurray's family, who knew nobody else would love that freckle-face and that sickly hair. Whatever happened to Dodie? We may never know. She probably has her own home page on the internet, and makes infrequent appearances at sci-fi conventions, where she sits in the back of the room with her "Dodie" sign and people ask her for her autograph though they have no idea who she was, much less that she never appeared on a sci-fi show.
This show was about a guy with no personality and no distinguishing traits raising three sons who also shared his lack of any redeeming qualities. The only one with any personality at all was Uncle Charley, who was pissed off all the time. I don't think adding Dodie killed the show; I think the show was dead LONG before that. And who can name ALL the TV characters that Beverly Garland has played the mom of? Laura Holt from Remington Steele, Amanda from Scarecrow & Mrs. King, Lois Lane? Any more? The only good thing I have to say is that the show truly jumped back in the few episodes with Polly. It was the only conflict we ever saw on the show and the actress who played her was a total BABE! Whatever happened to her? What a hot little bod! What a gorgeous smile! Too bad they didn't spin her off into her own show. And anyone who's interested, the girl who played Dodie has a website and you can email her and everything, and she'll email back. It's pretty cool. Not her fault that the show was so D-U-L-L
wHEN rOBBIE HAD THREE SONS, AND THEN THE NEXT SON WANTED TO GET MARRIED AT SUCH AN EARLY AGE (AND DID)
The show really went down hill when "Mike" and "Bub" left. "Bub" was replaced by the repugnant "Uncle Charley" character. At the same time, the discharged the coolest brother "Mike," writing in dorky little Ernie. Puberty obviously hit with three male cast members - we see Chip go from age 10 to getting married. Too many I dos - the old man, Robbie, and Chip. And then the introduction of the old man's wife's kid! Enough already! The show was jumping the shark with every new episode.
The show jumped when Mike departed the show. I grew up watching the color re-runs and only recently have been able to catch a glimpse of the "Bub" years. I think y'all are a bit tough on Leif Garrett's little sister. It could be that her part was just ill-conceived and poorly written. But as I wrote to the JTS Staff, this show is really amazing. Pure suburban charm. How can you not like anyone on the show?? The guys in particular were all so adorable. Do guys like Mike, Robbie or Chip exist? And if so where? In TVland?! Severely underrated show, just a warm, classic American dream. Anyone who doesn't like the show is probably someone very unhappy, and on the extreme left. Hope I didn't insult anyone.
When Dodie came on. No doubt about it. JUMPED THE SHARK.
Three sons one father and one uncle... leave the woman out of it
Robbie has triplets and gives birth to 3rd son of a 3rd son, hence the anti-christ
I "could" tolerate Steve and Barbara's marriage, and then say the show "Jumped the Shark" when Chip had that hippie-hair and meets/elopes with stringy waist-length hippie-dippie hair Polly, one season later. But with Steve and Barbara's marriage comes that BAGGAGE of that "dirty little runt tomboy, Do-Do!" :-) just kidding... My FAVORITE episodes are the "Bub" ABC/Desilu/Bryant Park B&W ones, and even the two CBS/Desilu Bryant Park color seasons, as opposed to the CBS Studio Center "North Hollywood" episodes when Robbie meets Katie; but I *CAN* tolerate North Hollywood, Katie, and the triplets. BUT NOT DO-DO and Polly! :-) However, twelve seasons is an accomplishment, only topped by another similar family sitcom, Ozzie & Harriet (14-seasons on ABC).
For such a long running show, My Three Sons did a good job of adjusting to the changes that were beyond their control (Bub's departure, Tim leaving). But by the time Don Grady took off, it was one too many.
Everyone seems to have forgotten about the truly awful final season of My Three Sons. The episodes were so bad, they were pulled from syndication. Don O'Grady had left the show (it was explained that Robbie was in the Army) and while Steve was away on work-related business, his look-alike cousin from Scotland came to stay with the Douglas clan. Except for the movie SWARM where he played a shop owner who had the hots for schoolteacher/bee-victim Olivia DeHaviland,this is probaly ranks as the worst acting Fred MacMurray as ever done (except for his guest appearance on the 70's bomb The Leslie Uggams Show - since he was playing himself and Freddie was a notorius dullard in Hollywood). The whole cousin from Scotland fiasco lasted most of the season and made even the most faithful of viewers switch channels.
I always thought it was an ok show until I saw an episode of Beavis and Butthead. They were watching a Japanese video with a singer who looked just like Chip. I almost rolled on the floor when, in his best Chip voice, Butthead said "Hey Uncle Charlie." It got even better at the end, when Beavis looked at Butthead and said "My Three Sons of Bitches." I have never been able to look at the show in the same way.
Dodie ruined this show. She was horrible! They should have killed her off or something.
Considering all the changes through which this show, the longest-running sitcom in TV history, went -- from original oldest son Mike's (hey! *Mike Douglas!*) Chuck Cunningham-like exit to the sudden onset of marriage (Chip was only like, what 18?), to the arrival of little Charlie, Stevie and Robby, Jr. -- the only thing that could finally sink the Douglas battleship, even worse than the advent of Beverly Garland as -*gasp*! - MRS. Steve Douglas (and she didn't play an instrument for the Douglas family band, either), was her blood-curdling daughter, Dody. Ugh. Beginning of a then nearly-immediate end.
Don't get me wrong, I love this show...but seriously, didn't Fred MacMurray basically phone in his role? He was around mostly at the end to dispense advice but other than that was usually "at the office" or "on a business trip".
The Douglas Family jumped the first shark when they moved from Bryant Park and it was downhill from there. When the show introduced Steve's and Robbie's future wives, it really snowballed.
"Ugga Bugga Oh-oh-oh" This show JTS when the writers tried to make Robbie a teen singing idol. I guess they were trying to emulate Paul Petersen's success on The Donna Reed Show ("My Dad") and Johnny Crawford's on The Rifleman ("Your Nose is Gonna Grow")
I loved My Three Sons as a kid.However they should never had made the last season.My favorite character was Uncle Charley!The salty old bastard knew how to keep the boys in line.He was totally awesome and I'd would have loved to have the old dude as my uncle!He kept the Douglas home spotless and cooked up some damn fine meals for his family..Being an ex navy man I suppose there was always left overs!My favorite episode was when Robbie was trying to teach his old man how to dance!Steve was such a robot that this made this episode so funny!Could you picture Fred McMurray at Woodstock?Uncle Charley yes! (he'd would have kicked a few asses there!)Uncle Charley deserved his own show perhaps he could have been cast as a detective...ie Barnaby Jones..could you see Charley chasing down the bad guys!
Well, here we go again. Somebody doesn't like some cast member's stepdaughter and believes that she detracts from the show so much she needs to be killed off. Here, the case is Dawn Lyn, who played Steve's stepdaughter, Dodie. "And they will hate you because of who you are," or something like that, according to the Bible. They couldn't have made a truer case here with poor Dodie. Kill her off, you say (wouldn't that qualify for "A Very Special?"). Undertaker, open the gates, let's bury poor Dodie in the TV "sniveling girls" graveyard, along with the Greenbush twins (Carrie Ingalls) and Alison Balson (Nancy Olesen) from "Little House on the Prairie," Courtney Chase (Kennedy from "Blossom") and all the others. You get the idea. I know these are only TV characters, but come on, have a heart. Do you keep wanting "A Very Special" episodes where we see little girls lying dead in a casket, just so we can kill them off for being annoying? As Gorilla Monsoon once said on WWF wrestling, "Please!"
I loved this show when I was ten but the fading roots on the re-married wife were horrible. Stand-out episodes, in my humble opinion, are the "Can you keep a secret about dads job", the trip to Scotland, and the episode with uncle Charlie's salty sea-talking sailor buddy. Yes, I watch too much television.
This show jumped the shark when Steve got married and they added that little kid with the lisp. This show was stupid towards the end — every time somebody would say something, there'd be an awkward pause for effect. How stupid. Also, what's up with that Fergus guy coming on the show (it was actually Fred MacMurray playing another guy)? That's so "Parent Trip" or "The Patty Duke Show."
I just wanted to add this comment to the "My Three Sons" page--in response to a previous poster, Dawn Lyn does have a Web page -- http://www.tvtoys.com/my3sons/
This was a great show, but it you name it and it jumped it. Death (Bub), moving (Bryant Park to California), puberty (Chip in particular), new kid in town (that annoying Dodie kid), I do (Steve gets a wife), new character (Ernie replaces the oldest brother as the third son), birth (Rob's triplets), color... you get the picture.
Dodie the Dodo did it! Dawn Lyn was more annoying than Quinn Cummings, Robbie Rist, and Raven-Symone combined!
It was towards the end of the series run. One of the kids was getting married. They are sitting around the kitchen table. Bla, bla, bla banter going on when the "bride to be" says "I just have to get in to this family". That was the exact moment it JTS. I turned the TV off never to watch it again. Is it still on?
First, they replaced Uncle Bud with cranky Uncle Charley who played the cello and wore aprons. Then we had Ernie, who wore glasses and got into trouble, then we had Katie who married Robbie and had triplets. Then we had Barbara who married Steve and brought little Dodie with here. I think the last year even Chip had gotten married and was living in the Douglas house with his wife. I put this in as the "My Three Son's Syndrome" because a lot of popular shows fall into this trap ("The Cosby Show," "Little House on the Prairie') and it really is annoying. Maybe it's just time to pull the plug on it.
My Three Sons was still drawing very good ratings in 1970-71 after eleven seasons, but then CBS cancelled half its schedule because it was "Skewing too old" (meaning fogies were watching the shows). My Three Sons survived, but they put it on at 10 P.M. on Monday night -- who watches a half-hour show then? I think the producer said, "If you're going to treat me like ****, I'm going to give you ****" and came up with the Fergus MacBain storyline just for starters. Amazingly, My Three Sons still pulled a decent rating in that time slot, so CBS brought out its nuclear weapon and moved it to Thursdays, against Flip Wilson and after Me and the Chimp. If they hadn't already finished filming by then, I wouldn't have been surprised if the show had gone porno in reaction. (P.S. I DID see an episode where Steve Douglas had to serve as an undercover agent. It WAS a good episode.)
ERNIE! Chip's buddy taken in by the family - get real. Most family's are happy for the additional living space once a child grows up and leaves home. These dolts go scouring the neighborhood for annoying kids to take in. Doddie would have been the shark jumper but Ernie beat her to it. Its hard to tell which of these brats was worse. The old goat who played uncle Charlie should have poisoned them both.
My Three Sons JTS when Steve married Barbara & adopted that awful Dodie. (Question: why did all little girls on TV during this time period wear dresses so short that it raised up over their underwear if they reached their arms up above their heads? I was about Dodie's age during this time period & I never wore dresses that short). Anyway, I liked this show for most of its run - especially in reruns as an adult. I like Bub in the B&W episodes, but Uncle Charley was my favorite character. As another poster said, he was a salty old dog who didn't take any **** off anyone. (Although he had been in the merchant marines, not the navy). I especially liked how he would put Robbie (my least favorite of the sons) in his place. I remember once Robbie was taking a psychology class & was trying to apply it to "pyschoanalyze" Chip & Ernie's behavior. Uncle Charley, not buying into any of this over-analysis of typical adolescent behavior, replies with one of my favorite lines: "Psychology? Hit 'em over the head with a pot, that's MY psychology!"
Adding the very annoying and helpless Dodie was surely a JTS moment, but the puberty of both Chip and Ernie was pretty disturbing. Ernie's voice became extremely high and hoarse, so that he could barely be understood when he spoke his lines, which always seemed to include the annoying phrase "on account of". It appeared that they actually tried to give him as few lines as possible for a year or two because his voice got so hideous. Also, was it me, or was Robby the typical "short guy", who is basically bitter at the diminutive stature that nature has given him and goes around trying to compensate? Despite these problems, this show was still watchable until they moved to California and started adding on wives and kids. Overall, a surprisingly long run for a show that really didn't have that much to offer as compared to other sitcoms.
Dodie has got to be the most obnoxious kid in TV history and makes Cousin Oliver of Brady Bunch and that little singing Ricky brat from Partridge Family look mild and a breath of fresh air in comparison.
Jumped when it went to color. The B&W episodes (first 5 years) are quite good, and the sons aren't walking around like goody goody's. They are fighting & name calling like most brothers do representing a very chaotic household. Bub was tough but loving, not like that old crone Uncle Charley. Did not like the adoption of Ernie--couldn't stand him, but he was tame next to that god awful Dodie. By the way, what did Barbara Douglas do all day since Charley seemed to do all the cooking and cleaning?
I don't think the show ever jumped the shark because it kept changing. I'm amazed that so many people didn't get the fact that Dodie was supposed to be annoying. She was brought in to cause conflict and annoy Chip and Ernie. HELLO..... Dawn Lyn was playing a character. She wasn't annoying in all 3 "Walking Tall" movies. Since some of you feel as if you could have done a better job playing Dodie, it's too bad that a talent scout never came to your trailer park to discover you.
I think that Dodie (Dawn Lynn) did her job well if you think that she was annoying. She just did what she was told to do. She did an excellent job of playing a little girl suddenly thrown into the middle of having to deal with a new step-father and three step-brothers. You go Dawn. Don't let these bozo'z knock you. You did an excellent job as a young child actor.
As a kid I remember seeing only the "Uncle Charley years"-- never knew Mike and Bub even existed. It was a revelation to me when I got to college and started watching Nick at Nite-- which had the BUB episodes! Not only was Bub a lot happier in his role as surrogate housewife, but the closing credits with all those cars simply ROCKED. Once Tim Considine left and the show went to color the film of the cars was simply DROPPED. And for what? Yep, you got it: three pairs of cartoon feet. With ugly socks and shoes. And NO SENSE of rhythm. Simply AWFUL. But I do have to concur with a lot of you here that if given a choice between ten minutes of Dodie and ten years of nails on chalkboard... I'd say LEAD ME TO THE CHALKBOARD. And has anybody noticed that on both here and on "Donna Reed" the strays each family picked up looked EXACTLY like an existing family member? [Take a good close look at Ernie and Chip sometime-- OR at Jeff & Trisha Stone...!] Kinda makes you wonder if the patriarchs had done some messing around in the neighborhood, scared the affected families out of town, and then had to take in their "wild oats" as penance... boys and girls, can we say "Fred Farkel"?
It had to be when Steve got married. What was a grandfather doing with a stepchild old enough to be his grandchild? The character of Dodie was awful (sorry Dawn Lyn).
This show reeked from Day One, and got worse after Steve married Barbara and that Dodie was on it! I hated that bitch Barbara. Boy, was she a whore for money. In one episode there was only a RUMOR that Steve could be promoted to Vice President, and she forced him on a shopping trip to get him a new suit so he'd have better chances. She was in a frenzy over it, and Steve really didn't give a damn. Who the hell was she, anyway? Her dead husband wasn't rich. I thought it was funny when Steve didn't get the position because Barbara wanted him to have it so bad. She was also a snob to Robbie's old friend from Bryant Park, who became a hippie. Barbara kept frowning at him, and didn't want him in the house. This show was never funny.
I faithfully watch this show every day (with back-to-back episodes on the Hallmark Channel), and the episodes near the end of the series are downright disturbing. Chip marries Polly??? WTF??? They look like they're 12! And they're living in a dorm for married couples? How many colleges actually do that? And then today, Robbie left Katie (who is the hottest sitcom wife, hands down, of any sitcom wife in TV history) to go rafting down the Colorado River with his hippie high-school friend. It was just stupid! Katie should have kicked his white-bread ass out and hooked up with Uncle Charley. The storylines just got ridiculous and creepy toward the end. And poor, poor Dodie. It's not Dawn Lyn's fault that she was given crap lines and made to dress like a child prostitute. She did a good job with what she was given. They just kept cramming more and more people onto the show until you didn't care about any of them anymore. At least Ernie was slightly more tolerable to listen to after his voice changed. I swear that kid endured a four-year puberty with that damn glass-shattering voice. And doesn't it take at least a year or two to start calling your stepparent "Mom" or "Dad"? I still don't!! On here, it was "Mom" and "Dad" immediately. This was especially annoying coming from the boys, who were not little kids and could certainly refer to Barbara (*shudder*) by her first name. She was SO not needed on this show. She had to be Steve's age, with a 6- or 7-year-old daughter?? Come on!! Some shows need to know when to fade away gracefully instead of being dragged off kicking and screaming into Rerun-land.
My Three Sons had an impressive twelve year run, and no show can survive that long without going through several changes, including cast. The show went through three phases with (1) the black and white years, (2) then when the first son leaves to be replaced by Ernie, (3) then when Steve marries Barbara. The best years were when the cast included Robbie, Chip and Ernie before they started having serious relationships with women. My favorite episode is when Robbie has two dates, and tries to separately entertain both of them at the same restaurant without either being wise to his scheme. As the boys got older and more mature, it wasn't as fun. KATIE WAS DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS, so it wasn't too bad when Robbie settled down. The show should have taken a new title after Steve marries Barbara, because the whole dynamic changed: no more sons, and the household is now half men and half women. I think the Barbara years is when the show became too sappy.
Some of the comments here are TOO harsh against poor Dodie, who seems to have become a lightening rod for this decline of My Three Sons. She was like six or seven years old. Blame the damn script writers and producers, who were going to outrageous links to enlarge the family, and keep the show on life support. The show became another show entirely when there was just one son left, and the house is taken over by women. Blame Barbara, who is always plotting with Katie. I applaud Dawn Lyn for writing in and expressing her views, and she shouldn't have to defend herself. The script writers give sixty-plus year old Steve Douglas a seven year old step daughter to create warmth. That's stretching things. The show seemed to be about the new characters, and had nothing to do with the old series. Keep in mind that the only original cast member left in the last few years of the series was Fred MacMurray. Steve should have sat back, realized that he was supporting a house full of people he had no blood ties to (except the triplets which we (and he) seldom saw), so he should have quit his aerospace job, sold the house, and kicked the whole lot of freeloaders into the street. Fred MacMurray is too nice to do that though.
My Three Sons was still a Top 25 show in 1970-71, and it didn't decline appreciably in the ratings (less than one rating point, making it No. 19 overall), so CBS couldn't cancel it in that purge-mad season of rural-appeal shows. So the network decided to bury it alive. First it went up at 10:00 P.M. on Mondays against the second hours of Monday Night Football and NBC's strong movies. When it STILL got adequate ratings, CBS sent it to Thursdays at 8:30 against Flip Wilson (No. 2 in the ratings) -- AND gave it a lead-in in Me and the Chimp. Don Fedderson, the producer, must have busted a blood vessel. If the show declined in the final season, he was responsible by saying "If you treat my show like crap, I'll give you crap." (That and The Smith Family, which had also been a hit in 1970-71 but bombed the next season, were his last shows, unless he's somehow involved with the Family Affair revival on The WB -- which I seriously doubt.) Although CBS sensed it had a smash hit in All in the Family (which inherited the Saturday time slot) and you can't blame the network for deciding to remake the Saturday schedule around AITF and Mary Tyler Moore and the transplanted Carol Burnett (and look how successful they were), their treatment of My Three Sons should have gotten Fred Silverman horsewhipped.
Personally "Sons" jumped when Steve got remarried--not because I have anything against Beverly Garland or Dawn Lyn (I liked both of them), but because the cast at that point was so darn big--about as big as that for "The Simpsons." I wish Fedderson had jettisoned Robbie, his family, Chip, and Uncle Charley, and started a new show with Steve, Barbara, Ernie, and Dodie.
I could blame Dodie, or all of the bland Stepford wives who clogged up the last 4 to 5 years, but the real problem was when Mike vanished without a trace after getting married. He wasn't even mentioned! It's one thing if you are a minor character who goes poof early in a show's run (Chuck Cunningham, for instance), but Mike was a core character, a major draw for the show. To pretend that he never existed was outrageous and insulting. Oh, and I loathed that episode about Robbie's band and the older lady singer who tried to be "with it". Shoot me now!
I have to agree with the other post about Fedderson - he died in 1994 so it would be quite a feat for him to be involved with the WB Family Affair revival. M3S would be quite better remembered if it had called it a day before Katie, Polly, the triplets, Barbara and Dodie.
Anyhow I'm glad Dawn Lyn (whose site I clicked on) wrote that. She was very cute as Dodie. I recall an episode when she had a nightmare about the Douglas's dog Tramp (though the show had otherwise jumped the shark). Dodie herself was not the reason the show jumped (I happen to be about her age;born in 1960, so I'm a year older, also born in Southern California as well:)).
I want to apologize to Dawn Lynn for my comments that she probably construed as hurtful. I am the person who made the "short dress" comment. I didn't mean to imply that it was her fault for how she was dressed - I would have been embarrassed, too. It seems they did that to a lot of little girls on TV during that era. I meant it in the context of "what were the producers/directors thinking?" Also, about my comment "that awful Dodie" - I'm sorry for that - I did find the character they had her play annoying, but I fully realize that was the way Dodie was written - not something she had control over. I'm sure Dawn was a much more intelligent and pleasant little girl than the one they had her portray. I guess I didn't do a good job of distinguishing between the character & the person behind it. I am sorry if I hurt her feelings.
The unfortunate death of the great William Frawley was a low blow in relation to My Three Sons.Once he had passed,Mike(Tim Considine)also left and then the show had a rushed foundation.To tell the truth here in Australia on Fox Classics which is the best channel on cable,which also shows The Phil Silvers Show,M*A*S*H,Green Acres,Perry Mason,Lost In Space,etc,rarely shows color episodes of My Three Sons.I have probably only seen 5 color episodes but have seen all b/w episodes,so i guess im lucky to not see the shows downfall.Putting it clearly,once the b/w episodes finished,so did MTS(my three sons).It had all too much change with moving and marriage and a little girl whom was adopted?please producers,wisen up.The altoghether loving household that was apparent was so heart warming;Bub was firm but very fair;Steve was the ever caring hard working parent;Mike was the hip-happening older brother;Robbie the school casanova with his various funny girl troubles;and loveable Chip,who was always in some sort of scheme.It was very smooth in its execution,and was always a top rater.It is surely one of the greatest tv shows in history.The JTS high was also the welcoming of Ernie,Chip`s new best friend.I much prefered Sudsy and wonder what happened to him.Ernie was acceptable but dissapointing in the process.He was the new person to fill in for Mike,and I was very jittery in wondering if the next MTS episode I see will be the last of Mike and Bub.The story really did go nowhere after that,the most ridiculous I heard was Steves cousin coming in from Scotland?????But in conclusion Bub and Mikes Disapearence was the low point that made MTS JTS.
I used to watch this show in the mornings after doing my paper route, in the years before the major networks started their news shows at 6AM. Only the colored shows were run so I can't comment on the Bub/Mike years. My favorite episodes were from the Bryant Park days, when Robby was in college, Chip in high school, and Ernie's voice hadn't changed yet. I don't blame the Dodie character for this show jumping the shark, I'd say it was before that when they moved to California. After Robby got married and had three kids at once the show lost whatever it was that made it interesting. Episodes I remember most were the one where Chip was growing his hair long (Charlie: "Didn't I give you a buck twenty-five to get a haircut? Did you lose it in a crap game on the way there?") and Robbie wanting to ditch college to sell houses (Steve: "What are you doing?". Robby: "What does it look like? I'm shoveling mud into the fresh vegetable bin!"). Remember Robby's band, The Griefs, and their song "I'd be a Good Man to Have Around the House"? ("Ha, ha, ha, ha...yes I do, baby!").
In the first five seasons (B&W and on CBS) the three sons where Mike, Robby, and Chip. That little four eyed mongoloid Ernie was just a neighbor kid who came on the show once in a while. When the show moved to ABC for the sixth season, all of a sudden Mike is gone and Ernie is the youngest "son". Bull****! One of the worst shark jumps ever. Not only that the writing turned from witty and wise assed to just plain sappy.
My Three Sons survived many potential Shark jumps, but try as it did, the show couldn't overcome the arrival of that frumpy, sullen, annoying kid, Dodie. The show withstood the departure of Mike, the coolest son, along with his hottie wife, Sally (played by Meredith MacCrae, who would go on to play Billy Jo Bradley on Petticoat Junction); the adoption of supernerd Ernie; the marriage of Robbie and Katie (who's beauty made up for the loss of Sally); the birth of Robbie and Katie's triplets; and even the introduction of Steve's first serious love interest, Barbara. When Barbara first spoke of having a little girl from a previous marriage, many viewers must of thought, "aahh, a cute, charming little girl to perk things up at the Douglas house". No such luck. Depressing and startlingly disheveled, Dodie (who bore no resemblance to her good looking mother) showed up like the angel of death - - you knew the show didn't have much time left after that. What's amazing is that the show did hold on for two more years, and introduced still another woman to the Douglas mix - - Chip's attractive but syrupy wife, Polly. Polly was cute, alright, but she simply wasn't enough to overcome the human downer that was Dodie. Dodie ranks right up there with every other child actor brought on an aging show in it's final year(s) (ala the Brady Bunch's Oliver, All in the Family's Steffi, The Partridge Family's Ricky, etc.) to help it, only to seal its doom. I hope the actress who played her moved on to better things (with a start like that, it could only get better!).
The Hallmark Channel recently aired the colored rerun of "My Three Sons", so I watched them to see if Dodie was as annoying as I thought she was when I was a kid. With every apology in the world to Dawn Lyn SHE WAS! Dodie was a pioneer "New Kid in Town" (Trish from "Donna Reed" and Jenny from "Dakari" were others). She was a "cute" new kid added on because Chip and Ernie were wayyyyyyyyy to old to be cute anymore. I never thought she fitted in with the rest of the cast. Therefore (without any UNNECESSARY hostility to Dawn Lyn, who waws a young child at the time) I can honestly say that this show jumped when New Kid in Town Dodie joined the cast.
I'd also like to add that after the show was colorized, it had a cast so large you needed a news letter to follow along (eg. Dodie, a possible contender for Cousin Oliver's place as most annoying child-character).
This show came on before I was even thought of, and from time to time I would watch the show. I wouldn't say I watched every time I saw it on, but when I did see I enjoyed it alot more in black and white. Watching it in colour didn't seem right. Shame on all of you for knocking on that little girl. I'm sure she was forced into acting and had no say in what she wore and was told what to do. If you want to blame anyone blame it on the producers. Don't blame it on some kid who didn't know any better.
My Three Sons never jumped, it was one of the greatest shows ever, over its lengthy time span it continued to evolve but was always the coolest. Seems like syndication in the late-70's was mainly the mid-60's episodes, never caught the b/w ep's until Nick at Nite in the mid-80's and never saw the "fergus" saga until the late-80's (maybe TBS?). The complainers about Beverly Garland are off-base, for one thing she's totally hot in her 50's movies. Uncle Charlie rules, he's like a mod Doctor Who earthbound and sent to the Douglas abode. His haircut (and color) are the wickedest. I'm not a huge fan of adorable children in TV shows but Dodie is lovable enough and she sports the moptop. Don "Yellow Balloon" Grady is cool, and both Livingston brothers are groovy in their own way. I've known a few girls who've had crushes on Ernie. 65-68 era "sons" definitely is the best thread-wise, tapered slacks/fitted shirts. A fashion pinnacle we're not likely to approach again in today's "easy fit" jeans/fleecewear world. Have to agree with the consensus re:Tina Cole being one of the all-time TV cuties. And of course, Fred MacMurray is the best. Even the Fergus episodes are totally watchable and surreal to boot. It's too bad the show didn't run until at least 1978, maybe Dodie would've been a punk and the Weirdos could've been in an episode.
This was a great show until the arrival of the most annoying character ever created, the dumpy, frumpy Dodie. That little annoyance took much of the humor out of the show, and, after reading her post above, I see that after more than 30 years she's still a party pooper!
Contrary to public opinion ,Dodie didn't wreck the show. She was told by the producers to be an annoying little kid which she did well. The producers made a huge mistake by not having Polly on a lot. Polly and Katie together would have been right up there with Mary Ann and Ginger in the super hot chick department. The producer's mistake with regards to Polly came during the Dodie era. Dodie did not wreck the show. The producers did. Ronne Troup was super hot. The producers could have learned a thing or two from Sherwood Schwartz.
Dodie was so pathetic - - she just brought that show down to where it was nearly impossible to climb back up. Chip's new wife, Polly, could have saved it during the last season if the producers showed more of her - - she was such a cutie - - Polly and Katie together, oo la la! But that annoying little urchin Dodie proved to be the ultimate shark jump, and after reading her post above I see that after all these years she's still a pain in the ass!
The last season is awful, with the split screen double role for MacMurray as Uncle Fergus. But, before that, it was always fun. Especially the Bryant Park years. And, nobody has really mentioned how totally hot Don Grady was. WOOF!
My favorite episode was when the teenage Chip throws his first party at home where the guys are supposed to bring dates. Later the father drops down stairs to check up on things and finds that the music has stopped and that the lights are off. When he turns the lights are he finds the guys sitting together on one side of the room and the girls on the other and are merely talking to each other. When the father asks why the lights were off, chip replies, "Gee, dad. The lights are always turned off at grown-up parties. We're just trying to figure out why." I laughed so hard that I almost peed in my pants.
William Frawley didn't die during the run of this show, but he began to have ill health (he guested on the Lucy Show during the '65-66 season). Uncle Charlie was an annoying character and much more of a cliche than Bub, who really did seem to belong to the family. William Demerest was a wonderful bit player in old gangester and adventure filsm, but totally out of place here. Still, I wouldn't put all the balme on him. Bub's departure was the firs of a series of cascading events that ruined the show: moving to California (several other shows did that a the same time), adopting the annoying Ernie (the kid worked better as an occasional guest on Ozzie & Harriet), marrying off just about everyone, bringing on the triplets, and introducing Beverly Garland (only her pas as the star of many Roger Corman epics made me appreciate her), and the little girl whose annoying character seems more vivid to others than to me. these were the kinds of decisions that no doubt, came down from network executives, people not known for their creativity, but famous for their cliched thinking. In the case of this show, their usually ill-fated decisions were not met by major declines in the ratings and so the cliches piled one on another. For a long time, this was part of CBS's Saturday night line-up which, at various times, included All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and the Carol Burnett Show, classics all, plus this turkey.I suspect tha the time slot kept the show alive rather than the cliches. Watch the old b&w shows, they deal with real childhood & adolescent problems. Other than the often annoying, know it all Mike, the characters are people you might care about.
Absolutely amazing. This show broke all the rules, they added stray cast members (Ernie), changed the cast (Uncle Charlie for Bud) had plenty of babies (Rob and Chip both had kids!) and even moved to a new state! But it survived B&W to color! Amazing.
"My Three Sons" jumped during its final season when they had Fred MacMurray play his Scottish cousin Fergus and the show went downhill from there. Robbie had left the season before probably because he felt he had gone on long enough and everyone else in the cast must have felt the same way since they seemed to mail in their performances from then on. Until that final season, this had been a great show, one of the seminal family comedies of its era, and one of my favorite shows of all time. I would love to see it on DVD! I would also like to comment on the shabby treatment that Dodie/Dawn Lyn has been unfairly getting on this website. A few years ago, all 12 seasons of "My Three Sons" aired on CTS, a cable channel in Canada. I was excited, since this show was one of my favorites as a child. I especially looked forward to the episodes involving Polly, since I absolutely adored her and thought she was so much hotter than Katie, and the ones where Dodie appeared. Why? Well, contrary to popular opinion, I thought she was really cute and adorable and in no way did she appear annoying to me, even though I could see how it could happen, living with a new family at a young age and trying to gain acceptance in a male-dominated household. I'll use a couple of examples here to make my point. There was one episode where Dodie was being picked on in school by a bully so she asks Chip and Ernie to walk with her to make her feel safe and secure. She has the bully meet them and then tells her tormentor that she has an even older brother who is married (Robbie) and that she should watch out for him too. Now then, if her new brothers found her annoying and intolerable, they would have let Dodie fend for herself and let her get beat up every day and not care one bit what happened to her. But the boys were very supportive and even enjoyed the task of looking out for their new little sister. Another of my favorite episodes took place on Steve's and Barbara's first wedding anniversary. The family gave them each one lovely present after another, and this made Dodie sad because she wasn't able to get them anything nice which they deserved. So what Dodie did was draw and trace her own hand and then presented it to them, writing on it: "My left hand, closest to my heart". This from someone who's supposed to be annoying? I still cry whenever I watch, or even think about, that episode. Dawn/Dodie, you're simply wonderful, no matter what anybody says! Take that, fellow shark jumpers!
This is one of my favorite television shows from my childhood. But when Robby left...that was the end of the show for me. Katie was just never the same.
In a certain MY THREE SONS later episode (that I recall from it's initial run), Fred MacMurray acknowledges having ONLY three sons, Robbie, Chip, and Ernie, with not even a hint that Mike may have existed. (The same went for HAPPY DAYS when Chuck went unacknowledged when bringing up family members.) Maybe the then writers were too young to recall.
I was lucky (or old) enough to watch "My Three Sons" when it first premiered, and the premise was funny enough: widowed dad, three sons (all fitting into the "typical" age groups), and a grumpy old housekeeper played by William Frawley (I think he was supposed to be Fred MacMurray's father-in-law). Anyway, eventually the youngest kid--Chip, played by Stanley Livingston--had a cockeyed friend named Ernie (Barry Livingston, his real-life younger brother). When Mike (Tim Considine) was written off the show, suddenly Fred actually adopts Ernie, so now there are "my three sons" again! And was there ever a more insipid kid actor than Barry Livingston? He'd say some stupid line like "can I have hunk of milk" (also uttered on "Leave it to Beaver" by Wally), and then the camera would just stay on his face. There'd be no dialogue for approximately a minute or so. All we'd see is Ernie with his eyes crossed, his mouth drooping, wearing a "cute" little boy expression. I also noticed these pregnant pauses on "Family Affair," which was also produced by MTS's Don Fedderon, I believe. Later, when the totally noxious "Dodie" joined the cast, these pauses were used for her little monologues. Except Dodie wasn't cockeyed, so we'd just watch her fidgeting. By that point, Ernie was "cool," speaking in a breathy kind of 70's cool way, and Chip was this helmet-headed teenager who was already married to his mini-skirted trollop. Robbie was married, with three "adorable infants" (while his annoying wife stayed reed thin--go figure), and Mike was history. Ancient history. I don't believe he was ever mentioned again! I read Dawn Lyn's comment at the beginning of this thread. While I support her right to defend "Dodie," I must also point out that the character truly bit. Thank you.
This show jumped so many times it is unheard of. Maybe due to it's length. The worst was Polly. First of all she kept badgering Chip to marry her. He didn't even want to. And Steve says this and agrees to let him marry??? Second the actress who played her always lumbered around with a hunched back---EW The best episode is when Joanie from "Happy Days" picks on Dody and then Dody turns the tables by threatening Ernie on her (yeah like Joanie couldn't have taken him) Am I the only one bothered by the fact by the end of the series Robbie left, Katie moved back in. And so now Steve is supporting a house full of people (Uncle Charlie, His wife, his stepdaughter, his stepson [Ernie], his daughters-in-law (Polly and Kattie) and he isn't related to any of them??? (yeah I know Chip and Polly lived on campus but you know Steve was paying for it.
It's hard to realize now, but the late MTS episodes, as poor as they seem today, did resonate in the early 70's with late Boomers like myself. The show had slowly changed from it's earlier format (a typical goofy family sitcom - I remember an episode where a runaway circus lion invaded the house while the family slept!) into a format that, at least for the era, somewhat acknowledged the dizzying changes of the times. I don't think any other show had a group of young characters (not counting the oldest son written out of the show!) grow to maturity through the incredible period of cultural turmoil and change that occurred between 1960 and 1972. Although the weekly situations in the late episodes were still forgettable sitcom fodder, the show itself quietly acknowledged some of the big societal changes going on. An example: I believe I remember the Robbie character went to Vietnam (to account for the actor leaving the show), at a time when no other TV show even came close to acknowledging the existence of the war, let alone its effects on families. Give the late run of the show some credit for that alone!
Would everyone please stop the Dodie hate?? It's annoying and unjustified. People should take the show for what it was. Families go through many changes in twelve years. Although, one does wonder why we never hear from Mike again. Even a one sided phone conversation would be nice every now and then. But I loved the Robbie/Katie story, especially when he sees her for the first time and he sees her as a bride. I also enjoy the Chip/Polly story, but I get so mad at Polly's dad! (Even though they are so young). And Ernie! How cute is he!? Adorable. And Uncle Charlie was just plain funny! The only possible shark jumping time was that darn cousin Fergus!
My humble apologies to Dawn Lyn, I'm sure she did her best with the tripe that was handed to her, but the show jumped the shark when she and her mother became part of the household. (I also found it unbelieveable that Ernie never had objections to a teacher he had a problem with, marrying his dad. Things that make you go "Guy!") Katie (probably THE most gorgeous 1960s TV actress who didn't run around in harem costumes)had an easier time fitting in, probably because she was more believeable. Dodie, frankly, wasn't. She didn't have the loving relationship with Steve and the others that Katie did. Katie was forever hugging and kissing on everyone, and flashing that brilliant smile (or that PO'ed pout, depending on her mood)But Dodie seemed forever depressed, and was merely tolerated by the family, and her grating whines of "Mama" was probably the reason Steve spent so much time at the office. And a longer dress REALLY would have helped - those frequent flashes of white whenever she so much as blinked were exasperating.
One of the comments listed for "Growing Pains" is, and I quote (or should I say, I cut and paste): "I think there should be a new jumping category for when the same guest actor plays a different part in two or more episodes." In MTS, the same actor played two different characters in successive EPISODES! The goober who smashed into the car while Katie was shopping, and later showed up with his dad to pay for the damage, was on the show the following week as a totally different goober who went camping with Chip and his friends. He had a different name each time. You know who I mean, the goober with the Charlie Sheen eyebrows. Anyway, that's all. Oh yeah, I forgot. Katie was TOTALLY hot even though she wore that frosted lipstick popular in the 60s and had a habit of fainting all the time. Okay, I'm done now.
I had always thought the Douglas boys to be pretty cool, until one episode which featured Don Grady (Robbie) trying to become a rock star! "I'd be a...GOOD MAYYYN TUH HAVE A-ROUND THE HOUSE...." This band had to have launched "nerd rock", because I couldn't believe they took themselves seriously with those hideous late sixties clothes! UGGH! I think patriarch Steve was secretly after Rob's babe Katie (Yum, she was hot), but he hid it well! Uncle Charley was concealing raging boners for Katie too, but also didn't do anything. That little c--k teaser Katie loved to shake her best assets around and enflame the whole damn household and then give it up to only ONE of them! I think Steve only took on the annoying Barbara to make Katie jealous that HE was gonna finally "get some" and it wasn't gonna be with her! I read somewhere that mega-babe 50's B actress Allison Hayes might have been cast as Steve's wife, but a honey like her would never have flown as Dodie's mother. As it happened Allison died in '79, but I'd have loved to have seen her in that role. She was a hottie and could she ever act!!
Jumped the moment mike and bub were gone.I must respond to the previous poster about alison hayes(star of attack of the 50 foot woman).In bright lights you are displaying your ignorence of b-movies and your lame stab at coolness.Any camp cat knows that there was NO hipper b-movie actress in the 50's than beverly garland.And to everyone else,lay off dodie rudeness!This show sucked big time before she ever came near it!
Fred MacMurray developed from the absent-minded professor to TV's ideal father. Of course, it took a decade to do so. Sad the rest of the show had to fall into decay around him. To the person who made the previous comments: Talk about "lame stabs" at being cool!! And you'd help your cause by learning how to write! Bev Garland was a surly b**ch. Allison Hayes rocks!
When Chip hit puberty the show hit the skids. His hair looked like a fur helmet with every hair in place and even his sideburns combed in line. He would come in from playing football with perfect hair.
MTS survived quite well the death of replacement of William Frawley ("Bub") and the introduction or Ernie. But when the weddings take place and the triplets enter the picture, it became contrived and completely scrapped the premise of an all-male family. They should have hung it up at that point.
I have only recently seen the show, and I'm glad that i never saw it before it was cancelled because i would have been so depressed. I heard so many great things about it, and i thought they couldnt be true, that i wouldnt be able to relate to a show of the 90s that much. I am now in 10th grade, and MSCL was so much better than all the crap that is on tv these days. Please put the show in the "never jumped" category.
This show was great the first few years but after awhile, it made NUMEROUS jumps and it just kept jumping all the way to the end. Bub dies, Mike leaves, Ernie is introduced, the family moves to California, Robbie gets married, Robbie has kids, Steve gets married, Steve has a stepdaughter, Chip gets married, Ernie hits puberty.........hoo......that's a lot of jumps.
I want to comment on the message from Dawn Lyn. I was so happy to read a post from you! I was a big fan of My Three Sons. I am now 49 and grew up with this fine show. Yes some people can be very cruel. When I first found this site, I thought I'd be reading positive comments from fans. But JTS seems to attract non-fans of TV shows. I don't know where you would find positive feedback, fond memories, or appreciative posts. But I'll at least try! When Hallmark began airing MTS reruns, my daughters and I began watching together. They were in Elementary school then and loved the show as I did! I've hooked them on many of my old shows - the Waltons, Eight is Enough, Little House, etc. Can you tell by that comment, that I loved family type shows? Yes I did! My parents had a rocky marriage and eventually divorced. So for a teen girl to grow up in an argumentative household as I did, you can imagine what a safe haven My Three Sons was for me! You should be proud you were on such a fine show Ms. Lyn. My favorite storyline was when the triplets were born. My favorite character was probably Robbie and then Katie. But I also liked your character too. I agree your dresses were very short but watch any old show from that era or a movie and girls' dresses were barely long enough to cover their underwear! It must have been a trend back then. So again, try your best to ignore negative comments from people here. They don't get it! They obviously didn't appreciate My Three Sons the way most fans of the show did. MTS will always have a very special place in my heart Ms. Lyn. I thank for you for those wonderful memories.
My Three Sons changed drastically-but it managed to weather the cast changes and situation changes without much loss of viewership.Uncle Charlie wasn't Bub,but he wasn't supposed to be.Sure,Bub was more lovable-but Uncle Charlie was one of those crusty but soft-hearted men who endeared himself to the family pretty quickly.Mike's departutre(it was a Chuck Cunninghamlike exit),resulted in their adopting Ernie-and I always liked him,perhaps because Bary Livingston was even closer to my age than his brother.The move to California,the marriage of Rob and Rob's getting three sons were interesting developments-and even Steve's remarriage was a good addition.I think it improved the series slightly-and I thought Dodie was cute.However it should have thrown in the towel after year 11.Robbie had left and although he was still mentioned(and it would be hard not to refer to him with Katie and the kids still living there)it just wasn't the same without three sons...and with Chip making only a handful of appearances during year 12,it didn't seem the same at all.Every hit show lasts at least one year too long.
Dodie was the horror child of Sixties TV. I recall my friends and I scaring each other back then with stories of Dodie entering our lives, sometime through a sinister adoption agency, other times through a Satanic impregnation of our mothers (a la "Rosemary's Baby"). I spoke once to Beverly Garland, who played Fred McMurray's wife in the later episodes, and while she was kind to Dawn Lyn, she agreed that Dodie didn't come off real well. Dodie was enough to make any show jump the shark.
Give Dodie a break! I watched the show as a kid and remember laughing out loud at her deadpan delivery. She cracked me up and does not deserve all the slams she got on this board. Give her a break -- she was a kid! I especially liked the episode where Dodie's friend visited and had a crush on Ernie. She stared at him as fixedly as Margie Whipple later stared at Peter Brady. Dodie and her friend (Beatrice?) conspire to make Beatrice's dream of kissing Ernie come true. When he naps, the girls steal in. Beatrice plants one on him. A breathless Dodie asks how it was, and Beatrice replies in the same deadpan manner as Dodie, "It was like kissing a chair." That situation has stuck with me for 35 years. Props to Dawn Lyn and her guest star.
Chip gets married! I was only 10 or 11 at the time, but I remember thinking how totally stupid this was. Good God! That boy was brought up to be too smart to elope at 18! On other matters, even at my young age, I remember how freakin HOT Tina Cole was. Jeez, what a POA! And knock off the Dodie-hating. I never thought of her as outrageously annoying. She was certainly no Seven (Married..With Children). That disgusting brat was enough for states to think about abolishing child-abuse laws.
One word: Ernie. This show might have set a record for most shark jumps in a series, but the introduction of that unwanted, dim-witted, 4-eyed dork was the watershed moment for this once great show.
MY THREE SONS was the classic CBS sitcom in which widower Fred MacMurray raised, well actually, 4 sons, because after Tim Considine left the show, Steve Douglas adopted Ernie, played by Barry Livingston, who turned out to be quite the charmer. As a matter of fact, my favorite episodes of the show were the ones that were about Ernie. Great character. The show, however, did jump the shark when Steve remarried to Beverly Garland's character. Steve had raised those boys by himself all those years with help from no one but Charley and Bub. The addition of Beverly Garland to the cast was superfluous and unnecessary.
This show was a classic,up to the death of the legendary William Frawley who played Bub,that is.I could handle Ernie,but could`nt say he was a good addition.I have rarely seen any episodes of MTS that were after Bub,but from what I saw they were terrible.Uncle Charley just did`nt fit,Mike leaving & Ernie being adopted was a knockdown,but having it go from B&W to color,Steve,Robbie and Chip marrying/remarrying and the addition of a daughter was a knockout.I guess the actors can`t be held responsible,that credit goes to the writers.The Bub and Mike years were the best IMO .THIS SHOW SHOULD BE RELEASED ON DVD ASAP!A big thank-you to the ORIGINAL cast (Steve-Fred Macmurray;Bub-William Frawley;Mike-Tim Considine;Robbie-Don Grady;Chip-Barry Livingston;Sudsy-Ricky Allen and Tramp!)for making it the classic it was
My Three Sons initially jumped from Day One. The black and white years of this series sucked big style. The characters were square, the stories were square, the setting was square. It was one big square family sitcom in the middle of an endless sea of early 60's square sitcoms. Then about halfway through the run, there were great changes. The snotty older brother Mike mercifully married and left. I could never stand squirrely actor Tim Considine, who walked around like he had a stack of Pringles up his butt and was trying hard not break them. Around the same time, that fat, satanic, old, bastard William Frawley, playing fat, satanic, old, bastard grandfather Bub, left for health reasons, and the series moved from third world network ABC to top-rated CBS. This is where things got good. Suddenly My Three Sons reverse jumped from a lousy show to a truly funny one. Someone got the bright idea to change its setting from the deadly dull mythical Midwestern Bryant Park to groovy North Hollywood, California. By that time the series was in cheesy living color, and William Demarest had been added to the cast as salty seamen Uncle Charley. Charley was the most hilarious sarcastic foil in sitcom history -only Darlene from Roseanne even comes close. The lines that came out of Demarest's mouth, delivered with such sour deadpanning, were comic brilliance. I remember once the family was on its way to a wedding or something and Steve asked, "You think we oughta be getting ready, Charley?" To which Uncle Charley bitchily snarled, "No, I thought we'd just lounge around here all day playin' Parcheesi!" Now, the interesting thing was that the tone of the show had not changed one iota since its debut 1960, but that's what made it so funny because the WORLD HAD CHANGED. There the Douglases were living smack dab in the middle of wild Hollywood in the swinging 60's, and the family was still just as square as ever, giving My The Three Sons a subtle comedic tone that bordered on outright parody. Taken this way, it's hands down one of the funniest sitcoms ever. Sort of the Police Squad! of wholesome family comedy. After the move to Hollywood, MTS began adding a couple of new characters each year until the show's cast became so large, it would have taken a trip to ancestry.com to figure out all the relationships; however, like the aforementioned Roseanne, this actually worked in the series' favor because like a long-running soap, it never grew stale... not until the last season that is. MTS seriously JTS in 1971. The writers took the soap opera angle too far, adding Steve's Scottish identical twin cousin (!) Fergie McBain, who came to visit and quickly fell in love with a cocktail waitress who had a big mole on her face. This mindblowing plot seemed to take up most of the story narrative for weeks Meanwhile, Don Grady as Robbie bailed out, and the writers had him sent off to Peru on special assignment. Why characters couldn't ever go anywhere normal (like London or Paris, or even Miami) is beyond me, but his absence meant far less airtime for the sexiest actress in sitcom history...Tina Cole, and that was truly the end of My Three Sons. I'd love to see the 1965-71 years on DVD, with commentary by Cole, of course.
As out of kilter as Mrs. Kravitz on Bewitched used to get about the mildly odd scenes at the Stevens' house ("Abner, I'm sure I saw an ostrich in their living room!"), the poor woman would have had to be committed if she had lived next door to Steve Douglas and his crew. There were some very strange goings-on at the Douglas house: The head of the family was the original Stepford dad--dutifully meeting the expectations of his assigned role, while showing all the personality of a dead pelican; In the same year that the uncle who was living with them died, the oldest son left home, supposedly to get married, but then was never heard from, or ever even mentioned, again, as if he had never existed; when the uncle and the son were gone, the family immediately came up with two replacement pods, when another uncle suddenly appeared, and a neighbor boy who looked like an alien from the frog planet was adopted into the Douglas clan when his parents conveniently had an "accident" at just the time Steve Douglas needed a third son. Yes, it's obvious that the Douglas family harbored a terrible secret. Even more terrible was the quality of the show in its last few seasons. It seems that this show went through three basic stages: the early years with the original cast, which were fresh and funny; the middle years when Ernie and Uncle Charlie were new on the scene, when the show was still decent (and probably benifited from a lack of competition from other family sitcoms, since these years came between the end of Beaver and Ozzie & Harriet and the premiere of the Brady Bunch); and then, the later years, when the show was wrecked by a compulsion on the writers' part to keep getting characters married. Okay, it was natural that the oldest son got hitched, same with a second marriage for the solid but boring patriarch, but when they got Chip hooked up at the ripe age of eighteen that was too much. I half expected an episode where the family petitioned the California legislature to lower the minimum age for marriage so Ernie could get hitched. Mostly the show was just too syrupy sweet those last few seasons, all about how the Douglas family's great bounty of love would conquer any problem, even a young wife's evil father (by the way, contrary to what was said in an earlier posting, it was Chip's wife Polly, not Katie who married Robbie, who had the nasty dad). Don't remember the line where Polly tells Chip to stop saying "man" and BE one, but I can believe it. It fits all too well with the ridiculous sappy drivel that this once-good show had degenerated into late in its run. And all this love was supposed to originator from dry, bland Steve Douglas. Yeah, right. Make me wanna barf.
Too many marriages in the show's last couple of years. Contrary to some of the comments here, I liked Uncle Charlie. Sure, he was a gruff old buzzard, but what do you expect from a former sailor? This was one of those tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold kind of characters. Some of the comments here make it obvious that a lot of people don't feel that the show pulled off that image for Uncle Charlie, but I keep thinking of the episode where Robbie got married. After he and Katie leave for their honeymoon, Steve has a poignant moment standing at the door to Robbie's old room, looking around and remembering. When Steve is the one needing someone older to step in and say the right words, Uncle Charlie comes through. Hey, by the way, can people lay off of Dawn Lyn? How much acting ability do you expect from a little kid? Besides, the show turned into melodrama the last couple of seasons, which was the reason they decided to turn a child character into a kid with an undiagnosed case of Asperger's syndrome, but that was the writers' fault, not the kid's.
This show jumped when My Three Sons became, in effect, My Four Sons. Then it turned into My Four Sons & My Second Son's Wife & Triplets, followed by New Wife and Daughter and Third Son's Wife. You almost needed a program to keep track of the cast. Also, count me among the group who liked Uncle Charley. I honestly didn't see much difference in his character compared to William Frawley's Bub.
I don't think that it ever jumped the shark. I love this show and think that it was good in the later seasons as well as in the earlier seasons. I like the ones with Polly(Chip's girlfriend)and Barbara and Dodie. I think Katie was a nice add to the show also. This is one of the best 60s shows that I have ever watched.
MTS only jumped in the final year or two. Sure it was syrupy, but I knew as a young boy that Katie was a total babe! I wanted her sooo bad! I always thought Barbra, for an older woman, was beautiful too. Polly on the other hand was unattractive bore, and don't even mention Dodie. OMG, I hated her! Even as a 10 yr old boy I wanted her dead! How irritating a character does it take until viewers rise up and demand change? (Seven?) Now I don't doubt that Dawn Lyn was and still is a fascinating & marvelous individual, but that character SUCKED DONKEY DROPPINGS! I was a bit too young to have initially seen the B&W yrs, and after seeing those episodes on nick at nite, or TV Land, or whomever was airing them, was blown away to find out that the MTS that I had grown up with was not quite the original cast. Fred from I Love Lucy???? No Way! Mike? Whose Mike? I always thought Uncle Charlie was great. He didn't take s**t from the boys, or from Steve. Ernie was just a bit older than me, so I liked that character, and Chip was cool for an older brother. Robbie was just there most of the time...until Katie came into the picture. AHHH Katie... well, don't get me started again.
I'd have to say this show first jumped the shark when the family moved west from Bryant Park. (Thankfully, though, we did not have to endure the celebrity appearances that usually accompany a show's relocataion to California.) I believe one of the first episodes in California shows Robbie meeting Katie at his new high school and envisioning her in a wedding dress. Gee, I wonder what's going to happen with these two characters. A couple of other points: How come Bub and Mike were seldom mentioned after 1965? Out of sight, out of mind, I suppose. Oh, yes--Tina Cole was a major babe! She was the only redeeming part of the show's westward relocation.
My Three Sons initially jumped from Day One. The black and white years of this series sucked big style. The characters were square, the stories were square, the setting was square. It was one big square family sitcom in the middle of an endless sea of early 60's square sitcoms. Then about halfway through the run, there were great changes. The snotty older brother Mike mercifully married and left. I could never stand squirrely actor Tim Considine, who walked around like he had a stack of Pringles up his butt and was trying hard not break them. Around the same time, that fat, satanic, old, bastard William Frawley, playing fat, satanic, old, bastard grandfather Bub, left for health reasons, and the series moved from third world network ABC to top-rated CBS. This is where things got good. Suddenly My Three Sons reverse jumped from a lousy show to a truly funny one. Someone got the bright idea to change its setting from the deadly dull mythical Midwestern Bryant Park to groovy North Hollywood, California. By that time the series was in cheesy living color, and William Demarest had been added to the cast as salty seamen Uncle Charley. Charley was the most hilarious sarcastic foil in sitcom history -only Darlene from Roseanne even comes close. The lines that came out of Demarest's mouth, delivered with such sour deadpanning, were comic brilliance. I remember once the family was on its way to a wedding or something and Steve asked, "You think we oughta be getting ready, Charley?" To which Uncle Charley bitchily snarled, "No, I thought we'd just lounge around here all day playin' Parcheesi!" Now, the interesting thing was that the tone of the show had not changed one iota since its debut 1960, but that's what made it so funny because the WORLD HAD CHANGED. There the Douglases were living smack dab in the middle of wild Hollywood in the swinging 60's, and the family was still just as square as ever, giving My The Three Sons a subtle comedic tone that bordered on outright parody. Taken this way, it's hands down one of the funniest sitcoms ever. Sort of the Police Squad! of wholesome family comedy. After the move to Hollywood, MTS began adding a couple of new characters each year until the show's cast became so large, it would have taken a trip to ancestry.com to figure out all the relationships; however, like the aforementioned Roseanne, this actually worked in the series' favor because like a long-running soap, it never grew stale... not until the last season that is. MTS seriously JTS in 1971. The writers took the soap opera angle too far, adding Steve's Scottish identical twin cousin (!) Fergie McBain, who came to visit and quickly fell in love with a cocktail waitress who had a big mole on her face. This mindblowing plot seemed to take up most of the story narrative for weeks Meanwhile, Don Grady as Robbie bailed out, and the writers had him sent off to Peru on special assignment. Why characters couldn't ever go anywhere normal (like London or Paris, or even Miami) is beyond me, but his absence meant far less airtime for the sexiest actress in sitcom history...Tina Cole, and that was truly the end of My Three Sons. I'd love to see the 1965-71 years on DVD, with commentary by Cole, of course.
I just want to make a comment to all of you Dodie bashers-I was a little girl just about Dodie's age when she was on the show. I don't know how many of you were around during the early '70's, but if you were, you may recall that the beauty ideal of the time was pretty much blond hair, blue eyes and, if you were of a certain age, a golden California tan, a la the Brady girls. I, on the other hand, had the same general look as Dodie: very dark brown hair cut short and a very fair, porcelain complexion. Whenever I would watch "My Three Sons", I really did identify with Dodie. People even commented that I looked somewhat like her. So, in a Cindy Brady world, it made me feel good to see another little girl who looked sort of like me and was still on TV too. Therefore, I always felt a special connection to Dodie, and you people are really hateful to bash her the way that you have on this forum. I actually loved the entire MTS cast, from crusty old Uncle Charlie (although the dyed-orange bangs definitely weren't a good look for him!) to cute, squeaky-voiced and squeaky clean Ernie to cute, perky Katie to EXTREMELY cute, hot Robby...after all you guys, this show was made at about the same time as the Manson murders. Give me sweet and wholesome any day!
1969: When Dodie entered the picture. I could tolerate Bab's to a certain extent, but Dodie ? I remember an annoying episode where she is running around worrying about the second grade. Katie was also in turmoil about her bouffant going gray and had to drag her along grocery shopping. And did you ever notice when Steve & Barbara went over to eat at Robbie & Katie's, that Dodie was there too ? Why not Chip, Ernie and Uncle Charlie ?
The show was very funny, and although Dodie did send the show downhill, the introduction of the beautiful Polly (played by Ronne Troup) sent the show back upward. I agree that marrying Chip when they were both 18 was very stupid, but I'm sure Chip realized how beautiful she was. It's a shame she didn't show up very often past 1970, especially in the dreadful final year when Chip and Polly were barely in the series at all!
My 3 Sons jumped the shark when Dodie joined the cast and then fell further when Chip got married, though Polly was beautiful and bubbly and lovely to gaze upon. Whether or not one chooses to blame the actress, the fact remains that Dodie detracted from the show mightily and broke up the general theme of the show in the first place, that of trying to watch 3 boys grow up in a male-dominated household. Granted, by then stunningly hot Katie had entered the scene, along with Dodi's mother, to break up the all-male cast. But the general theme of the show, and hence its name, revolved around THREE SONS. How could it continue that way with some sniveling, bratty twerp of a girl in the household? ... Overall, however, I loved the show. Being born in 1962, I vaguely recall watching the show in the late '60s and early '70s during its initial run, but it was mostly during reruns that I became familiar with the show. I loved virtually all of the characters (except Dodi) and disagree vehemently with anyone who disliked Bub, Uncle Charlie, Steve, the triplets, the wives, Ernie or anyone else -- though I will quickly grant that Ernie could be sickening in the early years and his voice WAS equally repugnant as he went through puberty. But for those who found Steve bland and boring, you mean you wouldn't want a wealthy, successful, caring, loving, patient father like that in real life? Get REAL! The world would be paradise if all parents were so ideal. So he didn't rival James Bonds for excitement and adventure. NEWS FLASH: That's a GOOD thing in a parent, not a NEGATIVE. He was a stable, trustworthy role model, completely reliable and supportive. If that's bland, I'll take bland over drug dealers and strip joint frequenters who blow the rent money on booze, women, gambling or drugs.
I am about the same age as the actor that played Chip and rarely saw the last couple of seasons but when Chip married Polly that was shark time. Chip had no more business getting married than I did at the time. A couple of other comments, Uncle Charlie rocked, Katie was HOT, and Dodie wasn't that bad. Get a life people.

What the heck was all that? A reprinting of every comment ever made on the internet about My 3 Sons. I read about 1/2 or less, it was too pointless to waste anymore time on.

I agree Hazel. I felt I was reading a book and I couldn't digest it all. From the first sentence it appeared it was written by Dawn. Good lord she went on.

A lot of those comments lose credibility when you see that even Charley's name is misspelled. Several other errors as well. Katie's hairstyle was in no way a "bouffant" when she saw the grey hair, I could go on...

And it's sad that while Fergus appeared in the black & white era too, no one will recall that -- and instead use the character to tear down the color seasons. ARRRRRRRGH! UNFAIR Bias anyone?

I fondly remember the B&W episodes and prefer that era. That was "My Three Sons." I've seen some eps featuring Beverly Garland playing Steve's wife & Ernie as 4th son and it like an alternate universe of this once vibrant show.


I must say that I loved how the show evolved over the 12 year run. I grew up a kid in the 80's and grew up watching the black and white eps on Nick at Nite and the color eps from the 70's. As a kid, I thought that the show was off the air for six years and then came back for new episodes. LOL. (NAN Jumped from 1965 to 1971).

During the summer of 1991, TBS totally revised their schedule and added My Three Sons to the schedule airing at 06:35am. I thought that I'd be seeing black and white shows but TBS started with color episodes. This was so cool to me as a kid. It seemed like a continuation of the black and white eps. These eps also gave me closure as to how (in the black and white shows) best friend Ernie became one of the sons during the 70's episodes. I got to see how Ernie was adopted into the family.

As a whole, I loved the show's evolution. I loved the addition of Barbara. Beverly Garland was a doll in the role. She was a sweet lady. I loved the moment that she shared with Ernie when she said she'd try to be a good mother to Ernie and then followed up with a kiss on the cheek.

To, me it didn't jump the shark, it simply ran its 12 year fantastic course. It was able to reinvent itself not once, but TWICE!!! I believe in part that is why it lasted as long as it did. Three formats in twelve years in impressive and maybe it could have gone a little longer but it ended when it was supposed to. 1) Widowed father with three sons and Uncle. 2) Uncle and eldest son depart and then another Uncle is brought in along with an adopted son. The show shifts gears allowing the remaining cast to morph into different role and responsibilities. 3) Father marries after so many years of being widowed which he deserved. He also becomes father to his first daughter (2nd)Eldest Child is a family man with 3 kids, next oldest son marries out of high school and the family takes on new roles and they all grow.

I love the show as a whole and am looking forward to owning the series on DVD through ioffer. I have investment in this family as though I know these people myself. I look forward to what they do and what they say. Wonderful series.

A lot of those comments lose credibility when you see that even Charley's name is misspelled. Several other errors as well. Katie's hairstyle was in no way a "bouffant" when she saw the grey hair, I could go on...

And it's sad that while Fergus appeared in the black & white era too, no one will recall that -- and instead use the character to tear down the color seasons. ARRRRRRRGH! UNFAIR Bias anyone?


Agreed. I loved the Katie character. She was sweet and was a great fit for Robbie. I see no reasons to tear down the color episodes. Why must we hate on those seasons? Tim Considine left and Bill Frawley passed on. The show had to be revamped and the transition was a good one. I see no issue. These were likeable people. I love that there are 12 seasons to dig into and check out.

What the heck was all that? A reprinting of every comment ever made on the internet about My 3 Sons. I read about 1/2 or less, it was too pointless to waste anymore time on.

I think those were all the comments from the Jumping the Shark page.
If they were separated by asterisks or something, that would make that reading a heck of a lot easier!

Agreed. I loved the Katie character. She was sweet and was a great fit for Robbie. I see no reasons to tear down the color episodes. Why must we hate on those seasons? Tim Considine left and Bill Frawley passed on. The show had to be revamped and the transition was a good one. I see no issue. These were likeable people. I love that there are 12 seasons to dig into and check out.

I love Katie! I love the Katie-centric episodes. The show changed and grew over the years, and that's okay with me.

I agree. There is nothing wrong with change. If the show hadn't changed, the show my have been canceled and not run for the 12 years that it had.

I agree. There is nothing wrong with change. If the show hadn't changed, the show my have been canceled and not run for the 12 years that it had.
The show was originally cancelled after the first 5 seasons at ABC, which refused to invest in the transition to color.

After 7 seasons in Bryant Park, the ratings had slightly sagged. Coincidentally, Desilu studio was sold, and Fedderson had to move the production. So, they decided to recenter the location to LA, and marry off Rob.

It really was a good move, and boosted to ratings, and interest.

When Mike (Tim Considine) left....

Now that I’m watching this, I felt the show took a downward turn when he left. I love the eps he’s in. (Thank you Me-TV!)

But the show kinda rode the waves. Up and down. Down: Mike & Robbie leaving.

Up: Barbara coming on board. William Demarest. Tina Cole re-appearing as Katie (just saw Tina on a recent MTS ep as a classmate of Robbie’s)

I wished "nerdy" Ernie had gotten married.

DOdie, but I don't have any problem with the child actress. .who can be see quoted frpm the old JUMP THE SHARK site by TMC.

I will say the idea of Barbara having a daughter from her first marriage was very sound; even if Barbara were younger, statistically women were marrying at younger ages on average back then -- so it seemed highly likely that she would have at least one child before becoming a widow.

If I had to choose a Jump the Shark, I would go with the decision of not replacing Don Grady for Season 12 -- it was just bad to have Katie raising the 3 toddlers alone. But it was a "no win" situation -- a replacement Robbie would be odd to say the least.

Dodie. a poor mans Buffy Davis...