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Father Knows Best (1954): 15 Weird Facts You Didn't Know Remember when Jim Anderson always had the answer, Margaret kept the peace, and the Anderson kids somehow learned life lessons in under 30 minutes on Father Knows Best. Starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray, and Lauren Chapin, the series defined the 1950s ideal of American family life — but behind the perfectly polished living room at 607 South Maple, the real story was far stranger than anything Jim Anderson had to solve before the credits rolled. Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 01:13 - #15: The Series Was Almost a Different Show — Robert Young 03:15 - #14: Fans Refused to Let It Disappear 04:44 - #13: One Episode Was Never Meant for TV 06:26 - #12: The Famous TV House Had a Secret Past 08:20 - #11: Billy Gray Took an Unexpected Turn 09:58 - #10: Nearly the Entire Cast Was Replaced — Lauren Chapin 11:06 - #9: One Episode Sparked Serious Debate 13:06 - #8: A Future TV Dad Started Here — Robert Reed 15:13 - #7: Lauren Chapin’s Real Story Was Much Darker 17:16 - #6: Several Episodes Vanished 18:56 - #5: Robert Young Hid a Lifelong Struggle 20:45 - #4: Cable TV Introduced the Show to a New Generation 22:07 - #3: The Show Influenced Springfield 23:56 - #2: The Cast Had Surprising Sci-Fi Connections — Jane Wyatt 25:47 - #1: The Show Ended on Its Own Terms — Eugene Rodney

Story by Ed Gross PETER K. ACKERMAN: "In my book, I talked about one of my first memories. I was three years old, sitting on my mom's lap, the TV is on and she's saying, ‘Look honey, look,' and I heard the voice of the woman whose lap I was sitting on and suddenly I realized, ‘Oh, my mom's on this thing called TV.' And I still didn't conceptualize it. I thought everybody's mom was on TV at some point. But it got to the point where famous names became more routine. Billy Gray from Father Knows Best called a lot. He and mom were close. By the time I was old enough to know who the actors were, the phone would ring and it would be Billy. Orson Welles called the house, too. Another time, we rented a beach house in Santa Barbara and the phone rang. It was Desi Arnaz. I went out to get dad, who he was calling for, and he was in the ocean, so he told me he'd be there in a minute. I got back on the phone with Desi and he kept me on the line. He was delightful. He said, ‘Oh, do you like the horse races? How old are you?' and that sort of thing. Just a lovely conversation." Elinor Donahue and Billy Gray, two-fifths of the Father Knows Best cast. What Peter didn't realize at the time was that the call involved one of the most debated stories in television history. Harry Ackerman had long been associated with the development of the multi-camera filming technique that helped revolutionize television sitcoms. He only learned the significance of it gradually, hearing pieces of the story over the years. PETER K. ACKERMAN: "Nobody took sole credit for it. My dad always said it was a conglomeration. It was [producer] Jess Oppenheimer, Desi Arnaz, my dad and a technical guy whose name I'm forgetting. They collectively figured out this was the way to do it. Lucille Ball needed a live audience. The technical people had already experimented with multiple cameras, Desi knew Lucy wasn't doing well on film alone, and together they came up with the system. It wasn't one person. It was a group effort." "But that day, I remember my dad coming out to the little sandbox we had there in the house afterward and telling my mom that Desi was writing a book and was going to say that he invented the three-camera technique. Which shows Desi is a good man and respectful. Desi explained to my dad that the publishers needed something. There were probably things he didn't want to tell or reveal and things he was willing to change a little bit. Basically, he was telling my dad, ‘Listen, it's not personal. We know you were a part of it. But my publishers really want me to have something that helps sell the book.'"