Season 10 & 11 Opening Credits - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

bencasey · 12-09-2021, 09:42 PM

Obviously they put one set of opening credits on all of the episodes. The last 2 seasons, Sid Melton and Pat Carroll were regulars so they must have been in the opening credits. Their names don't appear in the closing credits.

stevea · 12-09-2021, 10:48 PM

The same thing happened with what remains of season 12 of My Three Sons. The sped up closing credits eliminate the regular cast, so Dawn Lyn and Ronne Troup aren't credited anywhere. A supposedly original opening credit showed up on Facebook, but it's probably fake, since Dawn Lyn's name is mis-spelled Lynn.

Someplace I have an original Danny Thomas opener that includes Sid Melton in it. It's probably from some other season but attached to a season 10 or 11 episode. it's the animated opener with the feather duster and jazzed up version of Danny Boy.

stevea · 12-13-2021, 07:59 AM

I've since found a season 11 episode with Pat Carroll in the closing credits as guest star. I assume she's billed that way in any S11 episode she's in. So that opener with Sid Melton is from season 11.

My guess is that with Sid and Pat's up-front status in season 10 both were in the opening credits.

Howard · 12-19-2021, 07:48 PM

When I watched the original run of the show on CBS they ONLY used the animated/jazzed-up music opening but that's long since gone. The one currently used is the cheap-looking silhouette of faces. At least they got rid of the "Make Room for Daddy" opening and in the END-CREDITS it says The Danny Thomas Show whereas under the MRFD closing credits they erased it, happily!

Howard · 12-19-2021, 07:51 PM

Love THAT OPENING; so much better than the STILL-PHOTOS/SILOUETTE opening they currently use. When I was a kid the feather-duster opening was the only one CBS showed in prime-time!

stevea · 12-19-2021, 10:57 PM

Yep, somewhere I have a few of the earlier-season (like maybe season 6 or 7) episodes, and they have that feather-duster opening.

I really don't know where that silhouette opening came from or why they did not use the original theme and title in syndication. Maybe Danny wanted to title all the openings to match the first three seasons when the episodes ran on NBC daytime and subsequently in syndication (by then dropping the first four seasons), but it certainly made for a lot of re-editing. If only they had VCRs back then--I'd have decent copies of the first three seasons.

By the way the original season 11 opener I found has an animated Charley at the end, and the announcer says, And Sid Melton as Charley Halper.

I actually don't like the Cozi earlier season closings with the longer-running theme, simply because in most episodes, the theme is chop-edited several times and it sure is obvious. I can't imagine they were that way originally and they are fine on the Make Room for Daddy syndication episodes MeTV ran.

Howard · 12-23-2021, 06:16 PM

Never saw them in opening credits but am sure they're in all closing credits!

Howard · 12-23-2021, 06:24 PM

Interesting observations! When they were shown on NBC daytime (seasons 5-9) they only had the MRFD openings of various types in all the different apartments except for season 8 used a generic opening.I remember only seeing the silhouette-opening when it started syndication BUT it always said 'MRFD". When COZI-TV took the show over from ME-TV that was the first time I saw it said ' The Danny Thomas Show" in both the opening and final credits.I remember seeing the DUSTER opening only when I saw it on Mon. night's on CBS and never understood why they buried it? I love the jazzy-theme much more! I think it's great that YouTube actually has a bunch of openings!

Howard · 06-12-2022, 06:19 PM

Nope; they were never in the Opening credits. Throughout the series' run, it was always just the four principals except when Sherry Jackson appeared in season 5/6. I really wish they would digitize the Original CBS Prime-Time animated opening credits( it's on YouTube!) At least now the show is being referred to as The Danny Thomas Show rather than the Make Room For Daddy and the opening/closing credits reflect this!

stevea · 06-13-2022, 12:15 PM

You ought to see the season 4 DVD set which just came out. They did the show as it should be done--back to the original broadcast masters, with commercials, on as many episodes as possible.

I've seen only one so far, my favorite from season 4--the one where Rusty runs away to an orphanage.

I'd really like to see this treatment for seasons 5 thru 11, as well.

Howard · 06-13-2022, 06:51 PM

How interesting! I would have thought this little-known company would have the crappiest picture quality and bad transfers. Maybe they got the COZI-TV prints as those were superior to anything I've ever seen. I actually thought they did a remarkable job changing the aspect ratio from 1:33 to 1:78 with zero distortion!

stevea · 06-13-2022, 08:57 PM

I'd have thought COZI also but these have the ORIGINAL openers, and the original rolling credits at the end. They are 29+ minutes long with great quality. Others are the COZI ones, with the same openers, except 25+ minutes long.

Unfortunately I don't know how many are the original real deal vs. the COZI versions. Of course, I wouldn't mind the COZI versions, but full length--but these back to 1956/7 versions are great.

Howard · 06-14-2022, 04:53 PM

Very interesting to know! How could they be 29 minutes when all shows of that era were only 25? Pretty sad considering today all half hour shows are only 21 since the 90's started and that's why any show sold into syndication doesn't have to do any cuts.

stevea · 06-14-2022, 09:06 PM

When you include the commercials, and Danny giving the brought-to-you-bys, it must add up to 29 minutes or so.

Howard · 06-16-2022, 06:37 PM

Oh......with the commercials; now I understand why it's 29 mins. Makes perfect sense. So sad that in the old days all the sitcoms ran 25+commercials instead of today they run 21 minutes! I've noticed that LITB doesn't have any scenes/edits missing; a rarity! I've also discovered that the reruns of "Mary Tyler Moore" are now running the CBS original-length versions instead of the 22 minutes cut-down reruns when this show went into syndication. What a treat!

12-09-2021, 09:42 PM	#1
bencasey Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: Long Beach Posts: 1,692	Season 10 & 11 Opening Credits Obviously they put one set of opening credits on all of the episodes. The last 2 seasons, Sid Melton and Pat Carroll were regulars so they must have been in the opening credits. Their names don't appear in the closing credits.

12-23-2021, 06:24 PM	#8
Howard Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 23, 2003 Posts: 238	Interesting observations! When they were shown on NBC daytime (seasons 5-9) they only had the MRFD openings of various types in all the different apartments except for season 8 used a generic opening.I remember only seeing the silhouette-opening when it started syndication BUT it always said 'MRFD". When COZI-TV took the show over from ME-TV that was the first time I saw it said ' The Danny Thomas Show" in both the opening and final credits.I remember seeing the DUSTER opening only when I saw it on Mon. night's on CBS and never understood why they buried it? I love the jazzy-theme much more! I think it's great that YouTube actually has a bunch of openings!
	Last edited by Howard; 12-23-2021 at 06:27 PM. Reason: added content

06-12-2022, 06:19 PM	#9
Howard Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 23, 2003 Posts: 238	Nope; they were never in the Opening credits. Throughout the series' run, it was always just the four principals except when Sherry Jackson appeared in season 5/6. I really wish they would digitize the Original CBS Prime-Time animated opening credits( it's on YouTube!) At least now the show is being referred to as The Danny Thomas Show rather than the Make Room For Daddy and the opening/closing credits reflect this!
	Last edited by Howard; 06-16-2022 at 06:33 PM. Reason: clarification/addition

06-16-2022, 06:37 PM	#15
Howard Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 23, 2003 Posts: 238	Oh......with the commercials; now I understand why it's 29 mins. Makes perfect sense. So sad that in the old days all the sitcoms ran 25+commercials instead of today they run 21 minutes! I've noticed that LITB doesn't have any scenes/edits missing; a rarity! I've also discovered that the reruns of "Mary Tyler Moore" are now running the CBS original-length versions instead of the 22 minutes cut-down reruns when this show went into syndication. What a treat!
	Last edited by Howard; 06-17-2022 at 05:01 PM.

12-09-2021, 10:48 PM	#2
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,164	The same thing happened with what remains of season 12 of My Three Sons. The sped up closing credits eliminate the regular cast, so Dawn Lyn and Ronne Troup aren't credited anywhere. A supposedly original opening credit showed up on Facebook, but it's probably fake, since Dawn Lyn's name is mis-spelled Lynn. Someplace I have an original Danny Thomas opener that includes Sid Melton in it. It's probably from some other season but attached to a season 10 or 11 episode. it's the animated opener with the feather duster and jazzed up version of Danny Boy.

12-13-2021, 07:59 AM	#3
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,164	I've since found a season 11 episode with Pat Carroll in the closing credits as guest star. I assume she's billed that way in any S11 episode she's in. So that opener with Sid Melton is from season 11. My guess is that with Sid and Pat's up-front status in season 10 both were in the opening credits.

12-19-2021, 07:48 PM	#4
Howard Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 23, 2003 Posts: 238	When I watched the original run of the show on CBS they ONLY used the animated/jazzed-up music opening but that's long since gone. The one currently used is the cheap-looking silhouette of faces. At least they got rid of the "Make Room for Daddy" opening and in the END-CREDITS it says The Danny Thomas Show whereas under the MRFD closing credits they erased it, happily!

12-19-2021, 07:51 PM	#5
Howard Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 23, 2003 Posts: 238	Love THAT OPENING; so much better than the STILL-PHOTOS/SILOUETTE opening they currently use. When I was a kid the feather-duster opening was the only one CBS showed in prime-time!

12-19-2021, 10:57 PM	#6
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,164	Yep, somewhere I have a few of the earlier-season (like maybe season 6 or 7) episodes, and they have that feather-duster opening. I really don't know where that silhouette opening came from or why they did not use the original theme and title in syndication. Maybe Danny wanted to title all the openings to match the first three seasons when the episodes ran on NBC daytime and subsequently in syndication (by then dropping the first four seasons), but it certainly made for a lot of re-editing. If only they had VCRs back then--I'd have decent copies of the first three seasons. By the way the original season 11 opener I found has an animated Charley at the end, and the announcer says, And Sid Melton as Charley Halper. I actually don't like the Cozi earlier season closings with the longer-running theme, simply because in most episodes, the theme is chop-edited several times and it sure is obvious. I can't imagine they were that way originally and they are fine on the Make Room for Daddy syndication episodes MeTV ran.

12-23-2021, 06:16 PM	#7
Howard Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 23, 2003 Posts: 238	Never saw them in opening credits but am sure they're in all closing credits!

06-13-2022, 12:15 PM	#10
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,164	You ought to see the season 4 DVD set which just came out. They did the show as it should be done--back to the original broadcast masters, with commercials, on as many episodes as possible. I've seen only one so far, my favorite from season 4--the one where Rusty runs away to an orphanage. I'd really like to see this treatment for seasons 5 thru 11, as well.

06-13-2022, 06:51 PM	#11
Howard Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 23, 2003 Posts: 238	How interesting! I would have thought this little-known company would have the crappiest picture quality and bad transfers. Maybe they got the COZI-TV prints as those were superior to anything I've ever seen. I actually thought they did a remarkable job changing the aspect ratio from 1:33 to 1:78 with zero distortion!

06-13-2022, 08:57 PM	#12
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,164	I'd have thought COZI also but these have the ORIGINAL openers, and the original rolling credits at the end. They are 29+ minutes long with great quality. Others are the COZI ones, with the same openers, except 25+ minutes long. Unfortunately I don't know how many are the original real deal vs. the COZI versions. Of course, I wouldn't mind the COZI versions, but full length--but these back to 1956/7 versions are great.

06-14-2022, 04:53 PM	#13
Howard Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 23, 2003 Posts: 238	Very interesting to know! How could they be 29 minutes when all shows of that era were only 25? Pretty sad considering today all half hour shows are only 21 since the 90's started and that's why any show sold into syndication doesn't have to do any cuts.

06-14-2022, 09:06 PM	#14
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,164	When you include the commercials, and Danny giving the brought-to-you-bys, it must add up to 29 minutes or so.