Let's speculate (vis-vis the characters/show, not the actors/reality) why Mike Douglas had such a dramatic and final falling out with his family to the point he didn't return for big events.

Did he run away to Canada to avoid the draft?

He first got a job "back east", and then ended up in Arizona or some such place.

When the rest of the family thought Steve was going to remarry but didn't tell them, they wanted to go live with Mike. The on-screen storyline was that Steve set the family straight, but in reality, Mike didn't want them. He had kind of "divorced" the family.

Steve tried to get Mike to return for Robbie's wedding, and subsequently to see the triplets, to no avail. Robbie even tried to get him to return for Steve's wedding, again with no luck. It appeared that Mike and Sally had forever parted with the rest of the Douglases. And we never knew exactly why.

Maybe Mike was forced to talk to "Myrtle" on the phone and it freaked him out.

Thanks to the show's timeline on Mike's vanishing act provided by Stevea -- here's a further exploration of the draft theory:

If Mike were to decide to become a conscientious objector or draft evader, this would cause relevant issues in the Douglas household. For one, Steve is a government contractor and works in the "Military Industrial Complex," so his son being a draft dodger could cause issues at work, if known. Likewise, Uncle Charley - being a passionate veteran, would have taken an outspoken view of such an action. The resulting conflicts in the household could cause Steve to make up a story for those outside the family about Mike "moving East/Arizona" to hide the truth and keep the peace. Mike wouldn't have been able to return from Canada until the 70's, missing all weddings and births (well, maybe he was back in time for Ernie's wedding, if one commenced). At that point, Steve welcomed him back and went golfing as if nothing had happened. Robbie and Chip weren't at home, but Katie sang a song.

Mike wouldn't have been an unconscious objective though, he was already an active member in the reserves, I believe Air Force reserves. So here's how I sees it.

Mike leaves with Sally goes off to Mike Land decides he's not happy at all with Sally, throws her by the curbside, marries his true love, Jeanie. Then goes off to fight the good fight against the commies in Viet Nam, wins the war single handedly. Is given a ticker tape parade upon his return, goes off to Fiji to live happily ever after with Jeanie and their 6 daughters.

Steve and the family go to visit every Summer and stay at Mike's palatial estate. Then the rest of the family return in the fall and go back to school and Steve to work. This explains why Mike and Jeanie and their 6 kids are never seen, all the reunions were always in the Summer when the show was on summer vacation. Thanks for sharing my vision.:crazy:

I know this thread is called mike's falling out .......LOL....Nice threads and speculation, when i interviewed Tim Considine & Cynthia Pepper in the mid 90's he simply said he had no interest and hinted at monetary issues since now the show was on another network ABC, quite successful and in completely different direction. Don Grady was now the big chief, Tim was an author (not sure now) had been the best known original douglas child when the series began coming from also ABC's The Mickey Mouse Club Spin & Marty fame. He had simply lost total interest in acting except for big screen roles and ABC had little interest in heavy negotiations with its' previous mouseketeer.....as did Don Fedderson who turned down Tims' desire to direct more sons' episodes, he also got married shortly after leaving. He was very nice, but did have "some" ego and his "brother" Don Grady weren't always the best of friends.

Maybe Mike was drafted and died in Vietnam. If they were living in Arizona, that’s fairly close to Los Angeles, so no excuse to miss your brother’s and father’s wedding. Chip eloped, so he would have had the excuse of not knowing.

I know this thread is called mike's falling out .......LOL....Nice threads and speculation, when i interviewed Tim Considine & Cynthia Pepper in the mid 90's he simply said he had no interest and hinted at monetary issues since now the show was on another network ABC, quite successful and in completely different direction. Don Grady was now the big chief, Tim was an author (not sure now) had been the best known original douglas child when the series began coming from also ABC's The Mickey Mouse Club Spin & Marty fame. He had simply lost total interest in acting except for big screen roles and ABC had little interest in heavy negotiations with its' previous mouseketeer.....as did Don Fedderson who turned down Tims' desire to direct more sons' episodes, he also got married shortly after leaving. He was very nice, but did have "some" ego and his "brother" Don Grady weren't always the best of friends.

It's a shame he left the show. It wouldn't have been so bad to let him direct a few more episodes unless he was terrible at it.

Let's speculate (vis-vis the characters/show, not the actors/reality) why Mike Douglas had such a dramatic and final falling out with his family to the point he didn't return for big events.

Did he run away to Canada to avoid the draft?

That's a good speculation. He also might have landed a job that took him to another country, maybe somewhere in South America or New Zealand and was unable to return.