According to TV Insider, all seasons of "My Three Sons," S01 through S12, are coming to Prime Video on December 1. Exciting stuff!

The full list is here: https://www.tvinsider.com/1112481/coming-amazon-prime-video-freevee-december-2023/

EDIT 12/01/2023 12:34pm ET: Every new title with a December 1 release date is now available on Prime except for "My Three Sons". It seems that the release may have been delayed. There’s no information about a new release date.

I found it here, too.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarcher/2023/11/23/amazon-prime-video-announces-new-films-and-tv-shows-for-december-2023/?sh=3c9bf649623a

Very exciting, indeed. Amazon Prime recenly added "Petticoat Junction" including many (not all) episodes from seasons 4-7 and the ones I have watched were uncut. I don't really expect they will have uncut episodes for M3S, but there is always hope.

The free website Tubi currently has seasons 4 to 11 of The Danny Thomas Show and the episodes appear to be complete/unedited.

FilmRise seems to control The Danny Thomas Show now, and I think they remastered all the seasons (4 thru 11) unedited. For some reason they put out a DVD of season 4, but that was the end, it appears.

FilmRise seems to control The Danny Thomas Show now, and I think they remastered all the seasons (4 thru 11) unedited. For some reason they put out a DVD of season 4, but that was the end, it appears.

I would prefer to have all those seasons on DVD but watching them on line is better than nothing.

Towards the end of season 11, there's three episodes with a young Italian actress/singer, her name is Pupa, she's cute looking but I had never heard of or seen her before so I did some research and it seems that she wasn't in show business for very long, only during that 1960's time frame and that's about it.

I would prefer to have all those seasons on DVD but watching them on line is better than nothing.

Towards the end of season 11, there's three episodes with a young Italian actress/singer, her name is Pupa, she's cute looking but I had never heard of or seen her before so I did some research and it seems that she wasn't in show business for very long, only during that 1960's time frame and that's about it.

I seem to remember her also appearing in a season 10 episode, where Danny discovered her on the overseas trip. I could be wrong, though.

I seem to remember her also appearing in a season 10 episode, where Danny discovered her on the overseas trip. I could be wrong, though.

No you're correct about that, she's also in one episode from the 10th season.

In a way it's sad that she didn't stay in show business, she had the cute looks and seemed to be talented, I can only imagine that she chose to take a different path of life.

It's past midnight, December 1, here on the East Coast. All other new content additions for Prime are now available, but "My Three Sons" is still absent.

It's past midnight, December 1, here on the East Coast. All other new content additions for Prime are now available, but "My Three Sons" is still absent.

Yeah, I keep checking back every now and then, and it's still absent. It's now 12:37pm on December 1, and nothing.

still nothing

I read on another forum that a similar thing happened with "Twelve O'Clock High". It was supposed to have been available on Prime Video on January 1, 2023, but it was also delayed. It didn’t become available until a few weeks later. On another forum, the earliest post I saw about the show being available on Prime Video was from February 3, 2023.

Music clearances don't change though.

As of today, "My Three Sons" has been removed from Amazon's official December 2023 title list, so it seems it has been delayed. There is no word as to when the series will be available for streaming.

As of today, "My Three Sons" has been removed from Amazon's official December 2023 title list, so it seems it has been delayed. There is no word as to when the series will be available for streaming.

Isn't it still on Pluto though?

Isn't it still on Pluto though?

Yes, but only the first 2 seasons.

I noticed today that Prime has finally put up ONE SINGLE EPISODE of My Three Sons. So, we're getting there. Apparently, one episode at a time, lol.

By the way, it's season 1, episode 22, "Man in a Trenchcoat".

I'm also seeing a link for season 2, but it currently says, "This video is currently unavailable". I've been told that the series was added to Prime on December 21, but for now, just one episode. Hoping to see the rest later.

I'm also seeing a link for season 2, but it currently says, "This video is currently unavailable". I've been told that the series was added to Prime on December 21, but for now, just one episode. Hoping to see the rest later.

I didn't see that until you mentioned it. Then I looked it up. Funny how they have a season 8 cast photo for season 2. Come to think of it, they have a picture of Steve, Robbie, Chip and Ernie for the season 1 episode.

I will be so happy when this comes to fruition!

I noticed today that Prime has finally put up ONE SINGLE EPISODE of My Three Sons. So, we're getting there. Apparently, one episode at a time, lol.

By the way, it's season 1, episode 22, "Man in a Trenchcoat".

That episode is now marked as "unavailable," so no episode on Prime as of now. Hopefully that changes on or after January 1, 2024.

We appear to be getting closer to the show’s release on Prime. Links for S03-S09 have been created, but all redirect to an unavailable page. The first 2 season are also still unavailable.

EDIT: The show is now listed under the "Coming soon to Prime" section.

Nearly every thumbnail used for the available seasons is wrong. For example, the S03 thumbnail shows Robbie, Katie, and the triplets. That should be a S09 thumbnail, but the S09 thumbnail looks like a S06 or S07 thumbnail. The S04 thumbnail shows Uncle Charley, but he didn't come along until late in S05. Mike is nowhere to be found in the S01-S05 thumbnails.

(Apologies for the quality of the screenshot. I had to downsize the image enough for it to fit on the page without taking up a lot of space.)

Also i see Ernie in season 2. Probably done by a twenty-something who's never seen or heard of the show.

I really hope that seasons 10-12 show up.

Also i see Ernie in season 2. Probably done by a twenty-something who's never seen or heard of the show.

I really hope that seasons 10-12 show up.

I'm sure they'll show up at some point. All the titles in the "coming soon" section on Prime Video are scheduled to show up within the next 2 weeks. Some titles have release dates, some don't. I'll be keeping an eye on Prime to see if there are any changes.

Seasons 1 through 9 are now available! Seasons 10-12 are still not available yet.

EDIT: There are some episodes missing: They are:

- S03 E04 "Moment of Truth"
- S03 E20 "The Dream Book"
- S03 E21 "Big Chief Bub"

- S04 E04 "Dear Robbie"
- S04 E17 "Second Chorus"
- S04 E18 "Never Look Back"
- S04 E28 "The People's House"

- S05 E09 "Goodbye Again"

- S06 E08 "Monsters and Junk Like That"
- S06 E24 "Kid Brother Blues"

- S07 E02 "Fly Away Home"
- S07 E04 "Good Guys Finish Last"
- S07 E08 "Fiddler Under the Roof"
- S07 E11 "A Real Nice Time"
- S07 E15 "You Saw a What?"
- S07 E22 "The Best Man"
- S07 E23 "Now in My Day"
- S07 E30 "The Sky Is Falling"

- S08 E01 "Moving Day"
- S08 E24 "Uncle Charley's Aunt"

It's now listed as unavailable again.

Seasons 1 through 9 are now available! Seasons 10-12 are still not available yet.

EDIT: There are some episodes missing: They are:

- S03 E04 "Moment of Truth"
- S03 E20 "The Dream Book"
- S03 E21 "Big Chief Bub"

- S04 E04 "Dear Robbie"
- S04 E17 "Second Chorus"
- S04 E18 "Never Look Back"
- S04 E28 "The People's House"

- S05 E09 "Goodbye Again"

- S06 E08 "Monsters and Junk Like That"
- S06 E24 "Kid Brother Blues"

- S07 E02 "Fly Away Home"
- S07 E04 "Good Guys Finish Last"
- S07 E08 "Fiddler Under the Roof"
- S07 E11 "A Real Nice Time"
- S07 E15 "You Saw a What?"
- S07 E22 "The Best Man"
- S07 E23 "Now in My Day"
- S07 E30 "The Sky Is Falling"

- S08 E01 "Moving Day"
- S08 E24 "Uncle Charley's Aunt"

It's now listed as unavailable again.

Glad you posted this. I was watching the show a few hours ago but came back to see that everything was unavailable. I thought something was wrong on my end, so good to know I'm not the only one unable to view the show.

It's now listed as unavailable again.

Boy, this is a roller coaster alright!

Boy, this is a roller coaster alright!

And the ride is continuing. Links for S10 and S11 are now available, but the show is still not available to stream.

The thumbnails used for S10 and S11 feature Bub and Mike… who only appeared in S01-S05 (excluding Mike's appearance in S06 E01).

Also i see Ernie in season 2. Probably done by a twenty-something who's never seen or heard of the show.

I have similar thinking with regards to the Ozzie & Harriet DVD's from MPI because those DVD's are not formatted in 4:3 full frame, instead they are windowboxed. Maybe MPI hired a 20-something year old to work on the DVD's who has no clue that classic old TV shows like this are supposed to be formatted in full frame, but I bought the season sets anyway because the episode content was too good to pass up. I had always been pleased with previous DVD's from MPI, Family Affair, Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, and a few others, but the Ozzie & Harriet's are pretty much a disaster.

I'm not really a big fan of My Three Sons and I generally don't like to do the streaming stuff, but having said that, if the entire series, all 12 seasons, would be issued on DVD with every episode complete, unedited and unaltered, and formatted in full frame, it would be difficult for me to pass that up.

I have similar thinking with regards to the Ozzie & Harriet DVD's from MPI because those DVD's are not formatted in 4:3 full frame, instead they are windowboxed. Maybe MPI hired a 20-something year old to work on the DVD's who has no clue that classic old TV shows like this are supposed to be formatted in full frame, but I bought the season sets anyway because the episode content was too good to pass up. I had always been pleased with previous DVD's from MPI, Family Affair, Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, and a few others, but the Ozzie & Harriet's are pretty much a disaster.

I'm not really a big fan of My Three Sons and I generally don't like to do the streaming stuff, but having said that, if the entire series, all 12 seasons, would be issued on DVD with every episode complete, unedited and unaltered, and formatted in full frame, it would be difficult for me to pass that up.

I have found a setting on my DVD player that allows for just the side black bars. I have a wide-screen TV, and I find this setting way less annoying. If I still had my regular CRT TV, I'd find even this very annoying, as it way when I had Cozi-TV where much of it had the side black bars.

^Also, unfortunately, they're still fooling around with over-the-air TV. There are two things, one in use now called ATSC 3.0, and its evil accompaniment, DRM, which seems likely to cause trouble.

I have found a setting on my DVD player that allows for just the side black bars. I have a wide-screen TV, and I find this setting way less annoying. If I still had my regular CRT TV, I'd find even this very annoying, as it way when I had Cozi-TV where much of it had the side black bars.

I watch on a CRT TV, the remote for my DVD player has a zoom button and when I was watching one of the Ozzie & Harriet DVD's from MPI, I tried the zoom button but it enlarged the picture too much so I just put it back to the regular setting and watch episodes windowboxed with black bars on all four sides. Shame on MPI for windowboxing the DVD's but it is what it is.

Over the air TV is bad and getting worse, I don't think any of the retro channels that run the classic old shows transmit in full frame anymore. Programs are either widescreened or windowboxed and it's all garbage. Turner Classic Movies is the most recent network to change, movies that TCM used to show in full frame are now windowboxed. For a while there I was recording Bowery Boys movies from TCM, I'm just glad that I was able to record the ones I needed before the changeover occured and the movies were still airing in full frame.

I am not seeing any of the seasons. Did they remove all of the thumbnails?

I am not seeing any of the seasons. Did they remove all of the thumbnails?

I'm only seeing thumbnails for S10 and S11 in the search results. You can see them by sorting the results by "newest arrivals". The series page with S01-S09 is still up with, but you won't find it by searching on Amazon. I've had the page bookmarked since the series was available briefly on January 8, so that's how I'm still able to see it.

I watch on a CRT TV, the remote for my DVD player has a zoom button and when I was watching one of the Ozzie & Harriet DVD's from MPI, I tried the zoom button but it enlarged the picture too much so I just put it back to the regular setting and watch episodes windowboxed with black bars on all four sides. Shame on MPI for windowboxing the DVD's but it is what it is.

Over the air TV is bad and getting worse, I don't think any of the retro channels that run the classic old shows transmit in full frame anymore. Programs are either widescreened or windowboxed and it's all garbage. Turner Classic Movies is the most recent network to change, movies that TCM used to show in full frame are now windowboxed. For a while there I was recording Bowery Boys movies from TCM, I'm just glad that I was able to record the ones I needed before the changeover occured and the movies were still airing in full frame.

To be fair, those entities are catering to the majority (the people who own widescreen TVs). This is what was said in this message:

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=446923&highlight=MeTV

This is what someone said in that message (well the gist of it anyway):

“To be fair, it’s been more than 14 years since the digital television transition in the United States, and most people have widescreen TVs. Watching old 1:33 ratio TV on these TVs looks like black bars on both sides.

“It’s not black bars; it’s just unused screen space. That’s what happens when you fit an almost square image onto a rectangular screen. You’re still getting the full image originally broadcast in 1980something. Perhaps more, because those old sets had plenty of overscan.

“I feel for people who still have old 4x3 TVs, as I’m sure pillarboxing looks awful and small on their sets, but two decades into the widescreen era, they are the minority and networks and TV stations just aren’t catering to them anymore.”

Now I can see both sides of the argument though.

Seeing stuff that was hidden by overscan in the era it was made is similar to what happened with the HD remastered version of My Fair Lady - Harrison toupee joins, Hepburn's fillings etc. were digitally removed because, as with the giant blob of dirt on a B/W/ Hartnell episode of Dr Who that was removed even though it would have been seen on original TX in 1966, it was felt the MFL filmmakers would not have wanted these things to be visible to audiences.

To be fair, those entities are catering to the majority (the people who own widescreen TVs). This is what was said in this message:

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=446923&highlight=MeTV

This is what someone said in that message (well the gist of it anyway):

“To be fair, it’s been more than 14 years since the digital television transition in the United States, and most people have widescreen TVs. Watching old 1:33 ratio TV on these TVs looks like black bars on both sides.

“It’s not black bars; it’s just unused screen space. That’s what happens when you fit an almost square image onto a rectangular screen. You’re still getting the full image originally broadcast in 1980something. Perhaps more, because those old sets had plenty of overscan.

“I feel for people who still have old 4x3 TVs, as I’m sure pillarboxing looks awful and small on their sets, but two decades into the widescreen era, they are the minority and networks and TV stations just aren’t catering to them anymore.”

Now I can see both sides of the argument though.

Hopefully the CRT TV's that I have will continue working for a good while longer because I have no desire or plans to purchase one of those flat, widescreen jobs.

I recently bought a CRT TV from a seller on ebay, a nice Sony Trinitron set with 20 inch screen, it's used but in perfect working condition.

Aside from the local newscasts, I seldom watch over the air TV anymore. And thankfully, most all of the classic TV DVD's that I have are full frame formatted as they should be. MPI screwed up the Ozzie & Harriet DVD's but I'm getting adjusted to watching episodes with black bars on all sides of the screen. I don't like it but it is what it is.

A link for S12 has now been posted. Links for S03-S06 and S10-S11 have also been posted. If you recall the last time, links for the show were posted a day before the show became available. Links for S01-S09 were posted on Sunday, January 7. The show became available (for 16 hours) on Monday, January 8. I'm hoping that's also the case here.

**SEASONS 1-12 ARE NOW AVAILABLE.**

S10 has the most edited episodes of any season, by my count. There are, surprisingly, many complete episodes in S11 and S12. Here's a quick rundown of edited episodes for S10-S12:

S10 (E20 is missing):
E03-E05, E08-E12, E14-E16, E19, E21, E24-E24: 22 minutes

S11:
E13-E14, E17, E20, E22: 22 minutes

S12:
E01-E04, E06, E12, E18-E21, E24-E24: 22 minutes
E17: 21 minutes
E18: 18 minutes

I'll have a full rundown of each season by later today, hopefully.

S10 has the most edited episodes of any season, by my count. There are, surprisingly, many complete episodes in S11 and S12. Here's a quick rundown of edited episodes for S10-S12:

S10 (E20 is missing):
E03-E05, E08-E12, E14-E16, E19, E21, E24-E24: 22 minutes

S11:
E13-E14, E17, E20, E22: 22 minutes

S12:
E01-E04, E06, E12, E18-E21, E24-E24: 22 minutes
E17: 21 minutes
E18: 18 minutes

I'll have a full rundown of each season by later today, hopefully.


Regarding S10: Fortunately the uncut KONG episodes still exist. Strange about S10 E20, "Charley's Cello" I will look at my copy and see what is likely the cause. However, ME TV did not run S8 E01, with the recent airing of S8, and I noticed it is not on the Amazon episodes, either. I can't think of anything that would be of issue with "Moving Day."

Regarding S11: This is really interesting that so many are complete for the first 12 episodes. I am one who actually liked the Chip & Polly early S11 episodes. I counted 7 episodes that were 22 minutes. I have one N@N episode that is uncut from the remainder of S11

Regarding S12: No uncut Fergus episodes?!?!? Skipping right over that one. Of the 22 minute Amazon episodes, I have 6-7 uncut N@N episodes. Included is, "Katie's Career, " which is a scant 18 minutes on Amazon. I know the song by Don Grady is sometimes cut out, but it still should be around 22 minutes like on Me TV, etc. I am curious to see what else is missing from that episode.

Not complaing one bit, though. This is a long time coming and I am thrilled to be able to stream M3S. Amazon also recently came through with some nice uncut episodes of S4-S7 of "Petticoat Junction."

After a nearly two-month delay, “My Three Sons” has officially been released on Amazon Prime Video, and hopefully it’s here to stay. Let me first say that, when it comes to music replacement, I’m not the person to ask about that. DVD prints of seasons 1 and 2 were told to have had music replaced, so I’m going to assume it’s the same here, but someone with more knowledge of this matter can tell me if I’m wrong and can also tell me if music has been replaced in episodes from other seasons. On that note, allow me to discuss each season, including the quality of the prints used and the number of edited episodes.


Seasons 1 and 2

Let’s start with seasons 1 and 2. There isn’t much to say here. These are the same prints that were released to DVD, currently being aired by MeTV, and available for streaming on Pluto TV. As everyone knows, these are the only two seasons to have been digitally restored.


Seasons 3-5

Let’s get to seasons 3-5, which were recently released on DVD a few years ago. Most of the prints on Prime appear to be the same broadcast prints airing on MeTV, though based on what I’ve seen, some of the episodes do have higher quality audio. The DVD prints may also be the same as the broadcast prints, but since I don’t have any of the DVDs, I can’t compare them. Based on screenshots, they seem to look a bit better. Judging by my comparisons of episodes from MeTV and Prime, Prime’s prints do look a bit better. As with the DVD prints, there are edited episodes in each season, but a majority seem to be complete based on the runtime (between 24 and 25 minutes). These prints, like the broadcast prints, are also the same Viacom prints that aired on Nick at Nite during the 1980s, sans Viacom logos (though if you listen closely, you can still hear the print-through echo of Viacom’s logo after the end credits on some episodes). However, there is one episode that still has a Viacom logo intact, that episode being S04 E24, “Stage Door Bub”. The broadcast print does not have this logo, so that was interesting to see. Like the DVD volumes, there are episodes on Prime Video that have been edited. Those are below:

S03:

S03 E02 “Robbie’s Employment Service”: 22:18
S03 E05 “Daughter for a Day”: 22:17
S03 E09 “Chip’s Last Fight”: 22:17
S03 E12 “The Beauty Contest”: 22:30
S03 E19 “Flash Back”: 22:27
S03 E34 “When I Was Your Age”: 22:24
S03 E26 “Evening with a Star”: 23:37


S04:

S04 E07 “My Friend Ernie”: 22:28
S04 E08 “The End of You-Know-What”: 22:20
S04 E09 “The Toupee”: 22:17
S04 E24 “Stage Door Bub”: 22:12


S05:

S05 E08 “A Touch of Larceny”: 22:19
S05 E12 “First You’re a Tadpole”: 22:30
S05 E13 “You’re in My Power”: 22:30
S05 E20 “He Wanted Wings”: 22:15
S05 E35 “The Leopard’s Spots”: 22:38


Seasons 6-9

Now onto seasons 6-9. The great news is that many of the episodes have a 25-minute runtime, meaning they’re complete. Based on the few episodes I looked at, these prints are the same 1990s Viacom broadcast prints currently airing on MeTV. The episodes I looked at even end with Viacom’s logo from 1990. There’s not much to add here. Video quality and audio quality are good. Even though many episodes are complete, a few are not. Those are also below (including missing episodes):

S06 (missing: E25 and E32, none edited)


S07 (missing: E02, E03, E08, E11, E12, E22, E23, and E29):

S07 E25 "Charley O' the Seven Seas": 22:19
S07 E26 "Help, the Gypsies Are Coming": 22:22
S07 E27 "Ernie's Folly": 22:22
S07 E31 "So Long, Charley, Hello": 22:24
S07 E32 "Weekend in Paradise": 22:25


S08 (missing: E01 and E24, none edited)

S09 (none missing or edited)


Season 10

Onto season 10. I’m listing it separate from S06-S09 because of the prints used. The first two episodes are sourced from 16mm prints and do not have an intro or closing credits. They look decent and sound alright, but they’re worse quality than the broadcast prints. The runtime for both episodes is around 24 minutes. Many episodes in this season are edited. The edited episodes are mid-1990s syndication prints from Paramount; these are the same prints that TV Land aired during that time. The runtime on all these Paramount prints is between 21 and 22 minutes. There are, however, a few complete prints, with these being 1990s Viacom syndication prints. I don’t know why Amazon couldn’t acquire complete Viacom prints of every episode of S10, but you get what you get. Both Paramount and Viacom prints are in good quality (I think the Viacom prints look a bit better) and sound great as well. Surprisingly, there appears to be a digitally restored episode: E13, “It’s a Woman’s World”. The video and audio quality are fantastic. This is a Paramount print, not a recent CBS print, which has a runtime of about 25 minutes. This is the only restored color episode. Below are the runtimes for the edited episodes:

S10 E03 “Is It Love?”: 22:12
S10 E04 “A Ring for Barbara”: 22:03
S10 E05 “The Littlest Rebel”: 22:07
S10 E08 “Came the Day”: 22:01
S10 E09 “Mexican Honeymoon”: 22:14
S10 E10 “After You, Alphonse”: 22:15
S10 E11 “Rough on Dodie”: 22:04
S10 E12 “Silver Threads”: 22:02
S10 E14 “Table for Eight”: 22:01
S10 E15 “Double Jealousy”: 22:08
S10 E16 “Dodie’s Tonsils”: 21:56
S10 E19 “Guest in the House”: 22:08
S10 E20 “Charley’s Cello”: 22:33
S10 E21 “The Honeymoon Is Over”: 22:33
S10 E23 “Mister X”: 22:09
S10 E24 “Dodie’s Dilemma”: 22:07


Seasons 11 and 12

Season 11.1

Now, let’s get to the most-anticipated seasons, seasons 11 and 12. Let’s start with the first half of season 11, episodes 1-12. The broadcast prints looked great, looking a bit like prints of seasons 6-10, but they looked a bit softer. The prints on Prime are the same prints. The runtime for the broadcast copies of the first 12 episodes when aired on MeTV was 23:01. Fortunately, all 12 episodes are complete network prints. Amazon left the broadcast slate intact on S12 E03 which lists that episode as being a “network” print, so I’m confident when I say that E01-E12 are network prints. According to the slate, CBS mastered the show to Digital Betacam in 2017, so I’m sure the first 12 episodes also came from Digital Betacam tapes. The broadcast print of episode 12 ended with a strange logo combo, the CBS Television Distribution logo preceding Viacom’s 1990 logo. That same logo combo is not intact on Prime’s print. As with the broadcast prints of the first 11 episodes, only the CBS Television Distribution logo follows the credits on these episodes.

Season 11.2

Moving on to the last half of season 11, episodes 13-24. Here we get to the color episodes that were out of syndication until 2018, with the last time these episodes airing occurring in the early 2000s on Odyssey (now Hallmark). These are mostly the same broadcast prints, so the quality is unchanged, though Prime's prints seem to look a bit better. In the broadcast prints, eight episodes in the second half of the season retain Viacom’s logo, seven episodes retaining their first logo from 1971 (the V-IA-COM logo), with episode 24 retaining their “V” logo from 1976 (I’m still surprised those logos were kept intact). Broadcast copies of the following episodes retain those logos, again, after the CBS Television Distribution logo: E13, E14, E17, E18, E20, E21, E23, and E24. Except for E23 and E24, those logos are not intact in Prime’s prints, surprisingly. Only the CBS Television Distribution logo was kept. E23 and E24, however, differ from the broadcast prints in that the CBS Television Distribution logo is not shown before or after Viacom’s logo. Both prints have not been recently altered, meaning the intro wasn’t replaced by a cleaner copy like on most of these episodes. Another bonus is the addition of Fred MacMurray’s greeting in which he says, “Hi! Welcome to our show.” Every episode except E20 and E22-E24 have this greeting.

Runtimes for the recent broadcast copies of these episodes are inconsistent, meaning that the episodes were edited. That’s the case here, unfortunately. Below are the runtimes for the broadcast and streaming prints (broadcast print runtimes are in bold):

S11 E13 “St. Louis Blues”: 22:12 (22:06)
S11 E14 “The Liberty Bell”: 22:38 (22:26)
S11 E15 “The Love God”: 25:39 (23:01)
S11 E16 “The New Vice-President”: 25:39 (23:01)
S11 E17 “Robbie’s Honey”: 22:14 (22:15)
S11 E18 “Ernie Drives”: 25:37 (23:01)
S11 E19 “Dodie Goes Downtown”: 25:41 (22:58)
S11 E20 “The Recital”: 22:14 (22:15)
S11 E21 “Debbie”: 25:46 (23:01)
S11 E22 “Fit the Crime”: 22:20 (22:15)
S11 E23 “The Return of Terrible Tom”: 22:30 (22:10)
S11 E24 “After the Honeymoon”: 22:31 (22:21)


Season 12

Onto the last season, season 12. Some here have said that this season may be the worst when it comes to the quality of the prints used. Like season 11, a few episodes retained Viacom logos in the broadcast prints, those being: E06, E08, E09, E10, E11, E15, E16, E18, E23, and E24. Only E04 and E23 still retain Viacom logos in the streaming prints, the rest just have the logo for CBS Television Distribution. E04 and E23, like a couple episodes in the second half of S11, have not had their intro replaced by a cleaner copy and only have a Viacom logo, no logo for CBS Television Distribution. The Prime print of E23 is also the same as the broadcast print. The broadcast print also didn’t have the logo for CBS Television Distribution preceding the Viacom logo.
Like with the second half of season 11, Prime’s prints are mostly the same broadcast prints. Strangely, some of the episodes on Prime have a slightly shorter runtime than their broadcast equivalents. Here’s a comparison (like S11, the broadcast print runtimes are in bold):

S12 E01 “The Advent of Fergus”: 21:59 (21:49)
S12 E02 “Fergus for Sale”: 22:19 (N/A)
S12 E03 “Lady Douglas”: 21:54 (21:49)
S12 E04 “Goodbye Fergus”: 22:26 (23:01)
S12 E05 “Four for the Road”: 24:58 (23:01)
S12 E06 “Polly the Pigeon”: 24:56 (23:01)
S12 E07 “Happy Birthday, Anyway”: 22:04 (21:59)
S12 E08 “Proxy Parents”: 24:55 (23:01)
S12 E09 “The Enthusiast”: 24:52 (23:01)
S12 E10 “Katie’s Career”: 18:25 (18:41)
S12 E11 “Polly’s Secret Life”: 24:58 (23:01)
S12 E12 “The Sound of Music”: 21:50 (21:46)
S12 E13 “TV Triplets”: 24:58 (23:01)
S12 E14 “Three for School”: 25:01 (23:01)
S12 E15 “Alfred”: 21:57 (21:59)
S12 E16 “Buttons and Beaux”: 21:11 (21:15)
S12 E17 “Peanuts”: 24:59 (23:01)
S12 E18 “Bad Day for Steve”: 22:23 (N/A)
S12 E19 “Second Banana”: 24:59 (23:01)
S12 E20 “Bad Day for Barbara”: 22:25 (22:21)
S12 E21 “The Birth of Arfie”: 21:59 (21:56)
S12 E22 “Lonesome Katie”: 25:00 (N/A)
S12 E23 “Barbara Lost”: 22:17 (22:15)
S12 E24 “Whatever Happened to Ernie?”: 22:14 (22:16)


That's the rundown of each season. Overall, it's great that nearly the entire series is available for streaming on one service. Sure, there are missing episodes, but if you have captures of these episodes, they can fill the void. It's unfortunate that there are still edited episodes, but you get what you take. I'm satisfied with the quality of the prints used except for most of the episodes in S10. The runtimes for most of the S10 episodes are shorter than the MeTV runtime of 23:01 for each episode. Besides that, many episodes in every season are complete, with some seasons, such as S08 and S09, not having any edited episodes. I'll also note that some episodes are numbered incorrectly. For example, S12 E06 is actually S12 E07 and S12 E07 is actually S12 E06. This doesn't affect many episodes, though, and not every season has incorrect numbering.

Season 10

The number of syndication-edited episodes is a real mystery. On local TV here all of season 10 (and, as noted by CJ, also on KONG) episodes were full-length.

Season 11.1

These are the episodes that were originally part of the mastered-to-videotape syndication episodes, but were removed from circulation sometime in the early 2000s. So at long last, here are all the full-length syndication episodes, available again.

Season 11.2

Seven of 13 episodes are still syndication-edited length, which lines up with what MeTV had. Now we get to see full-length syndication episodes for the other 6.

Season 12

Generally, the season 12 episodes with a 23 minute-range airtime on MeTV SHOULD have complete-length counterparts...meaning MeTV edited out around two minutes. That holds true for all the episodes except 12.4, which SHOULD be a complete episode. The total syndication-edited number of episodes is 14; full syndication length, 10. The good news here is that these full-length episodes have not aired since the Nick at Nite days in the 1980s (Nick had more full length episodes than 10, possibly all). (Note: 12.10 length is due to the removal of 1 or 2 songs, which would bring it to normal syndication-length). In the 1980s Nick at Nite had full-length prints of more episodes. Also, since the network 35mm prints are probably lost somewhere in the Paramount vaults, the original show opener continues to be "lost", and the network-length syndication episodes still have the season 10 opener. Also retained on these prints would be the ridiculously sped up closing credits, which also cut out the main cast (resulting in no episodes with credits for Ronne Troup or Dawn Lyn).

Amazon claims S12 Ep 7 is 25 minutes. Is that wrong, Logo Man?

Amazon claims S12 Ep 7 is 25 minutes. Is that wrong, Logo Man?

S12 E07 is actually S12 E06. Amazon's ordering is wrong for certain episodes, which I found out after going through the episodes.

S12 E07 is actually S12 E06. Amazon's ordering is wrong for certain episodes, which I found out after going through the episodes.

OK, this makes sense, and tracks with what MeTV aired. Happy Birthday, Anyway is a short episode.

The only one that doesn't make sense in S12 is episode 4. It should be a 25 minute episode, based on the 23 minute episode MeTV has.

I think Amazon also reversed the episode lengths of nos. 16 and 17. 16 should be 21 minutes and 17 should be 25.

Season 12
S12 E10 “Katie’s Career”: 18:25 (18:41)

A truncated print of this episode, originally broadcast on Odyssey, is currently available on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRacdRq7tkQ

It runs about 20:35 when deducting the incorrect opening and snippets of commercials.

"Charley's Cello" from Season 10 seems to be missing from Prime... or am I the one who's missing something?

"Charley's Cello" from Season 10 seems to be missing from Prime... or am I the one who's missing something?

Charley's Cello is missing, as are a few episodes from season 8. The Cello episode probably has to do with music clearance.

It's unfortunate about the edited and missing episodes on Amazon streaming.

It amazes me that this long running family sitcom of 12 seasons and 380 episodes has been allowed to become so neglected. Only seasons 1 and 2 have been remastered for DVD. Seasons 3 to 5 got DVD releases but without remastering and some of those episodes are edited for syndication versions. I bought the DVD's of seasons 1 & 2 and stopped there.

Which episode did everyone watch first?

I went straight to "Guest in the House" with Tony Dow from Season 4 because that episode cracks me up.

It's unfortunate about the edited and missing episodes on Amazon streaming.

It amazes me that this long running family sitcom of 12 seasons and 380 episodes has been allowed to become so neglected. Only seasons 1 and 2 have been remastered for DVD. Seasons 3 to 5 got DVD releases but without remastering and some of those episodes are edited for syndication versions. I bought the DVD's of seasons 1 & 2 and stopped there.

Wise move! In season 3 thru 5 they managed to find a few episodes that look really good. And too many are definitely edited syndication episodes.

Wise move! In season 3 thru 5 they managed to find a few episodes that look really good. And too many are definitely edited syndication episodes.

The edited episodes is what bothers me the most, if all the episodes from seasons 3 to 5 were complete/unedited then most likely I would buy the DVD's, remastered or not.

Here are notes on the actual positions of the season 12 episodes on Amazon Prime, in red:

S12 E01 “The Advent of Fergus”: 21:59 (21:49)
S12 E02 “Fergus for Sale”: 22:19 (N/A)
S12 E03 “Lady Douglas”: 21:54 (21:49)
S12 E04 “Goodbye Fergus”: 22:26 (23:01)
S12 E05 “Four for the Road”: 24:58 (23:01)
S12 E06 “Polly the Pigeon”: 24:56 (23:01) swapped with S12 E07
S12 E07 “Happy Birthday, Anyway”: 22:04 (21:59) swapped with S12 E06
S12 E08 “Proxy Parents”: 24:55 (23:01)
S12 E09 “The Enthusiast”: 24:52 (23:01)
S12 E10 “Katie’s Career”: 18:25 (18:41)
S12 E11 “Polly’s Secret Life”: 24:58 (23:01)
S12 E12 “The Sound of Music”: 21:50 (21:46)
S12 E13 “TV Triplets”: 24:58 (23:01)
S12 E14 “Three for School”: 25:01 (23:01)
S12 E15 “Alfred”: 21:57 (21:59) swapped with S12 E19
S12 E16 “Buttons and Beaux”: 21:11 (21:15) swapped with S12 E17
S12 E17 “Peanuts”: 24:59 (23:01) swapped with S12 E16
S12 E18 “Bad Day for Steve”: 22:23 (N/A)
S12 E19 “Second Banana”: 24:59 (23:01) swapped with S12 E15
S12 E20 “Bad Day for Barbara”: 22:25 (22:21)
S12 E21 “The Birth of Arfie”: 21:59 (21:56)
S12 E22 “Lonesome Katie”: 25:00 (N/A)
S12 E23 “Barbara Lost”: 22:17 (22:15)
S12 E24 “Whatever Happened to Ernie?”: 22:14 (22:16)

Which episode did everyone watch first?

I went straight to "Guest in the House" with Tony Dow from Season 4 because that episode cracks me up.

I started at the beginning because this is the first time, I can view the show without it being on Youtube, recorded by a well-meaning person who doesn't have good quality episodes.

I was too young to enjoy the show when it first aired.

I was too young to enjoy the show when it first aired.

I think most of us are too young to have seen the show when it was aired. Thank goodness for syndication!

All the seasons are there, but some episodes are missing.

All the seasons are there, but some episodes are missing.

Most often, it appears to be music issues. For example, a missing episode from season 8 (episode 24) is "Uncle Charley's Aunt." In this episode the Katie character (Tina Cole) sings the pop song "Downtown," accompanied by the Douglas family, at the beginning. Since nothing was licensed for streaming years ago--it didn't exist, of course--the simplest--cheapest--thing to do is to pull the episode. The episode will air this Monday on over-the-air MeTV, but probably not streaming on Frndly TV, and obviously not available on Amazon Prime.

In this episode the Katie character (Tina Cole) sings the pop song "Downtown," accompanied by the Douglas family, at the beginning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcEM_xdHe7c

Yes. Streaming or DVD/Blu-ray are scuppered but that does not affect perpetuity agreements struck for TV broadcast decades ago.

I received a message about the episodes on Prime. Have they been removed? I guess the rights have expired.

This title is unavailable due to expired rights

Yes, I am in the middle of season 3 and now can't find it. I am so disappointed. I have loved the early years with Bub as I have never seen them before. Just fun seeing Mike and Bub. Many funny episodes.

Yes, I am in the middle of season 3 and now can't find it. I am so disappointed. I have loved the early years with Bub as I have never seen them before. Just fun seeing Mike and Bub. Many funny episodes.

This points out one of the disadvantages of streaming, and a plus for physical media. With Sons at least one can own the black and white seasons on DVD.

This points out one of the disadvantages of streaming, and a plus for physical media. With Sons at least one can own the black and white seasons on DVD.

I agree. I may have to purchase the early seasons. I guess I thought they would have had the rights longer than a year, but it tells you what I know.

On a side note, I really like Bub so much better than Uncle Charley.