M3S - Twelve Season Overview

[Mark J. Cuccia]

I have a list of all 380 episode titles of M3S, with original ABC-TV / CBS-TV Network air dates, which I intend to transcribe into a .txt or .doc file and post eventually...

but here is an overview of the series' 12 seasons...

The first four seasons are quite "stable", Steve Douglas, a widower, his father-in-law taking care of the household duties, three sons, Mike (H.S. to College; Tim Considine), Robbie (Junior High to High; Don Grady), and Chip (grade school - "just a klunky kid; Stanley Livingston), and the dog Tramp...

Chip's friend "Sudsy" Pfeifer, later Chip has a new younger Ernie (Barry Livingston, Stanley "Chip" Livingston's real life brother) comes into the series...

01: 1960/61 ABC-TV B&W Desilu
02: 1961/62 ABC-TV B&W Desilu
03: 1962/63 ABC-TV B&W Desilu
04: 1963/64 ABC-TV B&W Desilu
05: 1964/65 ABC-TV B&W Desilu
during the fifth season, "Bub" O'Casey - Bill "Fred Mertz" Frawley leaves the series and is replaced by his "brother", "Uncle Charile" O'Casey - William Demerest. Also, Mike (the original eldest son) is engaged to Sally Morrison.

06: 1965/66 CBS-TV COLOR Desilu
In the first episode this season, Mike (Tim Considine) and Sally get married and go off on their honeymoon - all within the first three min's. They are never seen again in the series, although RARELY occasionally referred to. To fill the "void" of the third son, Ernie (Barry Livingston, Stanley Livingston "Chip's" real life brother) had become orphaned and is adopted by the Douglas family.
07: 1966/67 CBS-TV COLOR Desilu

The episodes filmed at Desilu took place in the 'mythical' town of Bryant Park, no-state-ever-named/known.

The episodes filmed at CBS Studio Center (the old Republic Pictures Studios) in North Hollywood took place in California.

08: 1967/68 CBS-TV COLOR CBS-Studio-Center
Steve's job transfers him to California in the first episode. They move into a new house in North Hollywood. This change in setting is all due to the production change in film studio. (Lucy had sold Desilu to Paramount, and CBS/Fedderson Productions decided to move filming of M3S and Family Affair over to the now CBS-owned Studio Center formerly Republic Studios).
Robbie meets Katie (Tina Cole) and they fall in love early in this season, and get married.

09: 1968/69 CBS-TV COLOR CBS-Studio-Center
Katie becomes pregnant and has triplets...
Rob & Katie's "three sons"

10: 1969/70 CBS-TV COLOR CBS-Studio-Center
Ernie is doing poorly in school, so Steve goes to see the teacher to see what can be done to solve the problem. The teacher, Barbara (Beverly Garland) is a widow - Steve and Barbara fall in love and get married. Barbara has a little girl from her earlier marriage, Dodi (Dawn Lynn).

11: 1970/71 CBS-TV COLOR CBS-Studio-Center
Chip has grown into a college student by this season, and falls in love with "Polly" (I can't remember offhand who plays Polly). Polly's OVER-protective father is VERY suspicious of long-haired Chip, thinking Chip is some over-harmoned hippie. Because of the family tension here, Chip and Polly elope and get married. Eventually the dad comes to "accept/tolerate" Chip and the rest of the Douglas family.

There are 24 episodes in the 11th season. The first 12 of these are the last episodes of the "CBS/Color/160 episode" package which Oddysey is presently showing (Fall 2000), and which TV Land showed in the past few years.

The second 12 of the 24 episodes of the 11th season had been seen on Nick back in the 1980's along with the "Bub/ABC/B&W" episodes, and I would ASSUME will be seen on TV-Land weekday mornings.

The 12th and final season, 1971/72, CBS-TV, CBS-Studio-Center, 24 episodes total, were also seen on "Nick" in the 1980's, and I assume will be seen on TV-Land weekday mornings. For all practical purposes, this final season could be called "My Three Daughters(in law)" rather than "My 3 Sons".
The first few episodes have McMurray playing a dual role of his cousin "Fergus" from Scotland (this role was originally seen in the "Bub/B&W/ABC" years of the early 1960s).
But the remainder of this final season had Robbie being transferred to South America. He was no longer seen in the episodes. Many episodes had Katie writing a letter to Robbie and thinking about what to tell him, or reading a letter from Robbie... and the remainder of these and other episodes in this final season centered MOSTLY around Dodi, Katie, Polly -- and Barbara -- thus, "My 3 Daughers(in law)"! :-)

(light humor -- what do you get if you merge My-3-Sons and My-3-Daughters? ... THE BRADY BUNCH).

There are 184 B&W episodes total, ABC-TV, 1960/61 -> 1964/65 (5 seasons)

There are 196 Color episodes total, CBS-TV, 1965/66 -> 1971/72 (7 seasons)

BUT:

There are 7 seasons (1960/61 -> 1966/67; B&W/ABC with the remaining two Color/CBS) filmed at Desilu, set in Bryant Park (no state ever known/named).

There are 5 seasons (1967/68 -> 1971/72; ALL in Color originally seen on CBS) filmed at CBS-Studio-Center, set in North Hollywood CA.

I'll try to start transcribing my list of all 380 episode titles with original network air-dates, into a .txt/.doc file to post, some time soon...

Mark J. Cuccia
mcuccia@tulane.edu

[rjrane]

Excellent overview for My Three Sons,a series that I probably saw all the episodes of at least once.I was the closest to Ernie in age. (Could Bary Livingston have been inspired to ask his older brother if he could be a regular because of a similar situation on the Donna Reed Show earlier in 1963?In case you don't know,in January 1963 Paul Petersen's younger sister joined the Donna Reed cast.)I did get used to Uncle Charlie,but he never was as lovable as Bub.Interesting that all of the original sons got married in the course of the show's run(Ronne Troup played Polly)-and perhaps if it had lasted two years longer,Ernie would've gotten married.
I thought My Three Sons should have ended after year 11,when Robie left.My grandmother thought it should've ended after year 9-before Steve remarried.My brother thought it should've ended after year 7-before Robbie got married.One man I knew thought it should have ended after year 5-by which time Uncle Charlie had replaced Bub and Mike was about to get married-and leave the whole show.

[Mark J. Cuccia]

My own PERSONAL memories of M3S in original network run start with CBS-TV on Saturday nites, right when M3S moved from Desilu/BryantPark to CBS-Studio-Center/California. I remember those Katie/Robbie wedding/pregnant/triplets, the Steve and Barbara/Dodie, and then Chip/Polly episodes QUITE well on CBS on Sat.nites while growing up. I also remember Mannix or Mission Impossible (two Desilu->Paramount dramas) on Sat.Nites (later Carol Burnette took over that time slot), Jackie Gleason starting off the Sat.Nite CBS lineup, Green Acres AND Petticoat Jct back-to-back, all on CBS Sat.nites in the later 1960's...

(M3S on ABC and for the two CBS/Desilu seasons were on Thu.nites -- all Desilu/Bryant Park years were Thu.nites: 1960-67)

But even though I really remember the series originally when 1967/68 started, I really prefer the Desilu/Bryant Park years - thru the 1966/67 season, and really that's where the series should have ended... well MAYBE continuing two more seasons with Katie/Robbie getting married, and then Katie having triplets... that would be nine seasons total.

As for Stanley and Barry -- yes, I've noticed the parallel with the Petersons - "Jeff" and "Trishia" on Donna...

But also, BOTH Stanley and Barry frequently appeared -- first it was Stanley in the late 1950's (before M3S) and then Barry in the early 1960's (before becoming a regular on M3S circa 1963) as neighberhood kids, using their real-life names Stanley and Barry, on "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet"!

I don't know if Don Grady or Tim Considine were neighberhood kids in their earlier years (early/mid 50s) on Ozzie+Harriet though...

I wouldn't at all be surprised if either of them popped up as a neighberhood kid in an early or mid 50's O&H episode though...

BTW, the MUSIC score used on M3S (Bub years), O&H (from 1956 to the end in 1966), and most Screen Gems (Columbia Pictures TV) sitcoms from that same time frame (FKB, Donna, Dennis, Hazel, etc), as well as music score frequently used in Private Sec/Suzie and also her next series The Ann Sothern Show... as well as other sit-coms from that later 50's early 60's timeframe.... ALL that music score seemed to be identical from the same packages of sit-com music!

When Nick and CBN/Family (as well as local stations) were rerunning all of the above, and Disney rerunning the 200 syndicated O&H (and 100 additional "Missing" Adventures of O&H), you really could see the "thread" and "blending" of all of the above sitcoms production styles, themes, scrpts, MUSIC, and of course sets/backlots for those filmed at the same studio lots... there was also a Donna episode (on ABC) which featured Dennis Mitchel (whose series aired on CBS)! Of course both Donna and Dennis were SG/CPT...

I'd frequently tape many of these programs back in the 1980's, sometimes a single tape having several different of the above... and if I were watching the 6-hour tape in the overnite and dozed off, I'd subconsciously hear all of the music and sound effects ALL BLENDING TOGATHER, since most of it all was the same --- Kinda like a "deja-vu"! :-)

Mark J. Cuccia
mcuccia@tulane.edu

[rjrane]

Hey,Mike.Thanks for telling me your own memories of M3S.Mine began when I started seeing more Prime-time shows around 1963.

Anyhow,I also remember the Donna Reed show which guested Dennis the Menace.I have it on tape.I also have 6 early 1963 episodes of Donna Reed on tape,including Trisha's first appearance...and Bob Crane's earliest appearance on Donna Reed.(I'm waiting for when any channel will start running the 1963-65 episodes of Donna Reed,which weren't included in Nick at Nite's package.)

I also remember Barry Livingston(glasses and all)making a guest appearance on Dick Van Dyke as one of Richie's friends.

By the way,your episode listings are wonderful.I have many 1963-65 episodes of M3S on tape,including one which guested Marta Kristen...and a later one which guested Angela Cartwright.(Both of them were in Lost In Space,starting in 1965...and which one was my favorite depended on how old I was then.I was ten when LIS began and 13 when it ended. 'Nuff said!)

[cp]

I like the B&W ones thru the first 2 seasons on CBS in color.

[rjrane]

Ok,cp.The Bryant Park years were your favorites,eh?They probably did have a better average of good shows those years.

My brother liked those early years,too.He thought that the show took a drastic turn for the worse when Robbie married Katie...and he thought it was the pits when Mr.Douglas remarried.

[cp]

Theres many sitcoms that weakened during the last seasons, dont know why guess just works that way (changes in cast?).

[TV Favorites]

Looking for an entire episode guide for My Three Sons? Check out http://tvfavorites.cjb.net and click on the Episode Guides section!

------------------
Patrick
Webmaster of
http://tvfavorites.cjb.net

The Episodes that are listed are from the B/W M3S Episodes and The 160 Colored Episodes Of M3S But there were no synopsis of The 2nd half of Season 11 &12.

M3S And Donna Reed for a long time were on right after the other In the early 1960s It was on Thursday Nights But were sandwiched By shows such as Leave It To Beaver and The Real McCoys But in 1963 Donna was on before M3S Almost 20 years later They were on Nick At Nite First It was M3S And Then Donna Reed Coincidence isn't it On My Television Greatest Hits CD Which has theme songs from The 1950s &1960s The Donna Theme Song Is played after The M3S Theme song. I Wonder if there was any connection Also Donna Reed popped up on T.V. Land back in July During The T.V. Land Baseball Thing and Featured Willie Mays. I Wish T.V. Land Or Pax or some channel Would bring both M3S(Mike/Bub) and Donna Reed back but thats wishful thinking there. But We all Can Dream Can't we maybe someday.

HERE ARE MY 12 ERA TITLES ON M3S

1. Trials and Tribulations 1960-1961
Which The Gang struggles through without a Woman In the house also Introduces Jean Pearson,Hank Ferguson, and Sudsy Pfiffer.

2. FUN AND COMEDY (1961-1962)
Episodes Revolved Around Many Sitcom Stuff Like Mike Looking After Robbie and Chip and Robbie Joining Chieftons Chip Sneaking on Plane,Bub Working In a Department Store, Etc.

3. ACTION AND ADVENTURE (1962-1963)
In this Era Here We see The Douglases Venture out To Other Countries Suchas Japan(#233) And Italy (250) And Introducing An Asian Family (The Wongs)(248) And Mike Joining The Air Force Reserve,Chip Being A Cub Scout and Robbie getting his Letter on His Jacket.

4. NEW LOVE AND NEW FRIEND (1963-1964)
This Era Introduces Sally Ann Morrison(Meredith MacRae) who Gets Engaged To Mike
and Ernie(Barry Livingston) Who becomes Chips Friend Both Hank(Peter Brooks and Sudsy(Ricky Allen) Are gone And Steve almost as everybody(Mike and Robbie) thought getmarried to Susan Duvall(Jaye P Morgan)

5. TRANSITON(1964-1965)
This Era marks major changes in M3S History Bub(William Frawley) Heads To Ireland for Aunt Kates 104th Birthday (Frawley Leaves due to Health Problems) Uncle Charley(William Demarest) Is Introduced This is the final B&W Season and the last on ABC.

6. NEW BEGINNINGS(1965-1966)
The Show is now on CBS And In Color Mike Marries Sally Ernie is adopted.

7. MORE FUN GREAT LAUGHS (1966-1967)
Ernie Gets Allergic To Tramp Steve Runs in a Fathers Jog Race, Ernie discovers a UFO, Robbie Becomes Real Estate Agent for one episode and The group goes to Hawaii.

8. CALIFORNIA HERE WE COME(1967-1968)
The Douglasaes Move To California Katie Is Introduced,Robbie Marries Katie,Chip Plays in a Band With A British Guy From Liverpool Ernie Meets Zsa Zsa Gabor,Robbie Goes in Army Reserves.

9. MY THREE BABIES(1968-1969)
Katie Is Pregnant Gives birth to triplets,Chip Turns 16 Gets Vintage Car.Steve Captures Enemy Agents,Ernie Claims To has ESP, Robbie and Katie tries to tell Triplets apart.

10. ENTER BARBARA AND DODIE(1969-1970)
Barbara and Dodie are introduced Steve Marries Barbara,Adopts Dodie, Dodie Has Tonsilitis,Steve Sprains His Ankle Robbie and Katie Move to an Apartment,Robbie and Katie Visit Bryant Park, Beatrice Dodies Friend Has A Crush On Ernie.

11. ALONG COMES POLLY(1970-1971)
Chip Meets Polly Elopes With her The Girls Are In A Fashion Show,Ernie gets his Drivers License,Dodie Has a Crush On Her Teacher The Show features Three Households (Steve/Barbara,Robbie/Katie,Chip/Polly)

12. THE END OF THE ROAD(1971-1972)
Fergus Mc Bain Comes To California Marries Terri Dowling(Anne Francis Of Honey West Fame)Robbie goes to South America,Episodes Revolved around Katie,Barbara,Dodie and Polly. and M3S Comes to an end. Thanks in part to the people who pulled the plug on Mayberry R.F.D./Beverly Hillbillies/Petticoat Junction/Green Acres/Family Affair/New Dick Van Dyke Show/New Andy Griffith Show and To Rome With Love (Featuring Pre-Charlies Angels and Pre-Dynasty Star John Forsythe).