Some Observations - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

ajgenard · 10-24-2012, 03:39 AM

Now that MeTV has aired a season and a half I've come to realize a few things about Make Room For Daddy, not all of them flattering.

- This has to be the most performance-oriented sitcom in history. Danny randomly breaks into a song or does a bit from his stage show in virtually every episode which wouldn't surprise me to learn it was part of his contract. The comedy numbers from his act seem to work well but the musical numbers very often feel too awkward. Sometimes it's downright silly when he sits down at the piano to sing a simple little song and all of a sudden a full orchestra or entire band can be heard. I understand this was a time when musicals were huge and that TV was still trying different formats but not even I Love Lucy was ever this entrenched with putting on a show within a show.

- There seems to be very few original scripts - 5 or 6 basic plotlines that are altered in varying degrees which leads to extreme predictability. The writers will sometimes throw a couple of their standard plots into a blender and the result is either hit or miss. My personal favorite is "Rusty does something morally wrong, Danny tries to show him it's wrong but Russ don't get it, then at the end Rusty redeems himself." The worst is a whole episode that centers around some silly argument between Kathy and Danny. How on earth did they get 11 seasons out of the same handful of scripts?

- Many of the episodes are extremely dated by today's standards. Some will highlight ideas so old-fashioned they seem quaint or even backwards in the 21st Century. I recall one episode shortly after Danny marries Kathy where Terry had her position as "woman of the house" threatened once Kathy moved in. Another had Kathy furious with Danny because he claims she proposed to him (which she did), and that somehow undermines her womanhood???

- This is definitely one of the earliest sitcoms to adopt a "celebrity of the week" format. Lucy started to get into this during the end of I Love Lucy but didn't really commit to it until The Lucy Show was a few seasons in. Some people dislike this, but I really enjoy seeing Danny perform with some of his celebrity pals. Another thing gone from TV - nowadays it's called stuntcasting and the guest is usually a flavor-of-the-month hack for marquee value only.

Despite the complaints I still enjoy the show and will continue to record it every day on MeTV. It's very much a product of it's time and I'm curious to see how the later seasons will play out in addition to checking out some of the earlier episodes with Jean Hagen if I can.

Jude The Obscure · 11-08-2012, 09:29 PM

You will not see the Jean Hagen episodes on Me-TV. They are not part of the syndication package that SFM distributes.

One thing I'm surprised is how the 5th season has a very dull "Make Room for Daddy" opening while the 6th season uses "The Danny Thomas Show" moniker.

10-24-2012, 03:39 AM	#1
ajgenard Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 09, 2011 Location: PA Posts: 369	Some Observations Now that MeTV has aired a season and a half I've come to realize a few things about Make Room For Daddy, not all of them flattering. - This has to be the most performance-oriented sitcom in history. Danny randomly breaks into a song or does a bit from his stage show in virtually every episode which wouldn't surprise me to learn it was part of his contract. The comedy numbers from his act seem to work well but the musical numbers very often feel too awkward. Sometimes it's downright silly when he sits down at the piano to sing a simple little song and all of a sudden a full orchestra or entire band can be heard. I understand this was a time when musicals were huge and that TV was still trying different formats but not even I Love Lucy was ever this entrenched with putting on a show within a show. - There seems to be very few original scripts - 5 or 6 basic plotlines that are altered in varying degrees which leads to extreme predictability. The writers will sometimes throw a couple of their standard plots into a blender and the result is either hit or miss. My personal favorite is "Rusty does something morally wrong, Danny tries to show him it's wrong but Russ don't get it, then at the end Rusty redeems himself." The worst is a whole episode that centers around some silly argument between Kathy and Danny. How on earth did they get 11 seasons out of the same handful of scripts? - Many of the episodes are extremely dated by today's standards. Some will highlight ideas so old-fashioned they seem quaint or even backwards in the 21st Century. I recall one episode shortly after Danny marries Kathy where Terry had her position as "woman of the house" threatened once Kathy moved in. Another had Kathy furious with Danny because he claims she proposed to him (which she did), and that somehow undermines her womanhood??? - This is definitely one of the earliest sitcoms to adopt a "celebrity of the week" format. Lucy started to get into this during the end of I Love Lucy but didn't really commit to it until The Lucy Show was a few seasons in. Some people dislike this, but I really enjoy seeing Danny perform with some of his celebrity pals. Another thing gone from TV - nowadays it's called stuntcasting and the guest is usually a flavor-of-the-month hack for marquee value only. Despite the complaints I still enjoy the show and will continue to record it every day on MeTV. It's very much a product of it's time and I'm curious to see how the later seasons will play out in addition to checking out some of the earlier episodes with Jean Hagen if I can.

11-08-2012, 09:29 PM	#2
Jude The Obscure Retired Eternal Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Dec 10, 2006 Posts: 7,520	You will not see the Jean Hagen episodes on Me-TV. They are not part of the syndication package that SFM distributes. One thing I'm surprised is how the 5th season has a very dull "Make Room for Daddy" opening while the 6th season uses "The Danny Thomas Show" moniker.