I am not a fan as much as I would like to be. 12 seasons is a long, long, long time.

It seems like they ran out of ideas. I am not so sure that having Steve get married and an instant family helped the situation any.

I think I like FKB better.

FKB is a classic.

I'm in the minority on M3S, since I like the later seasons better. Virtually everyone favors the Bub years.

In the color years I'm not a fan of seasons 6 and 7, since I think many of the episodes are just plain silly. But starting in season 8 the show moved production since the Desilu studios closed. Thus the Douglas move, written to be to California. Robbie marries, instant new situations. Season 9, Katie gives birth to triplets, more new stuff; same with season 10 when Steve marries. Seasons 11 and 12 aren't as well-known since they were never regularly syndicated (12 and the last half of 11, never officially syndicated at all), but 11 had Chip marry, and 12 had Steve's cousin from Scotland visit and marry. So, many more situations to add to the latest silly thing Ernie did.

I will go through it again, at a later time. For me, the first round through I am learning who is who and what to expect. I can't stand that Dotie chick and the way everyone just melded together and just saw Barbara as a mom. It seems unrealistic.

Any idea why they had Steve open the show with a welcome in the last few seasons? I am watching on YouTube so his welcome opening might have been cut out and it was in all the shows.

I'm a fan of Elinor Donahue so FKB is of great interest to me -- with that said however, I don't think her beauty really blossoms until she begins on TAGS. Likewise the Susan Oliver episode of FKB is great, but no comparison to her later work when she plays lovely characters who really cut loose at times.

Jane Wyatt was a very nice-looking woman, but rarely if ever does she have a chance to break away from her dowdy established FKB mom character on the series. By contrast, the last few years of M3S feature some extremely hot fashions -- especially for Katie. (Donna Reed looked so glamorous on rare occasions in her series, but to see Jane like that you'd probably need to have a look at her on "Here Come the Brides" or Star Trek.)

Some of my favorite FKB episodes involve Bud's dating and other interest in women, like the Roberta Shore appearances. I also like how he's a more laugh-aloud humorous character in general than any of the 4 sons.

One of my favorite things about M3S is seeing many of the guests at the apex of their beauty -- Yvonne Craig, Brenda Benet, Leslie Parrish, Mariette Hartley, Vera Miles, Elaine Giftos, Terry Moore, Sherry Jackson, Joanna Moore, Lori Martin, the Cartwright sisters, Susan Silo... They are a big part of why I'm a M3S fan. With a few exceptions, like Mariette, they were in the color seasons which like stevea I prefer over the Bub years.