My Three Sons
My Three Sons opening titles.
Genre	Sitcom
Starring	Fred MacMurray William Demarest Don Grady Stanley Livingston Barry Livingston Tim Considine William Frawley Meredith MacRae Tina Cole Beverly Garland Dawn Lyn Ronne Troup Daniel, Joseph, and Michael Todd
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	380
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC (1960-1965) CBS (1965-1972)
Original run	September 29, 1960 – August 24, 1972
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

My Three Sons was a situation comedy that ran from September 29, 1960 to August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of an aeronautical engineer and widower Steve Douglas, played by Fred MacMurray, and his three sons. This seemingly simple premise was a huge hit and a cornerstone of the CBS lineup in the 1960s. With 380 episodes produced, it is second only to The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet as television's longest running (live-action) family sitcom. The show began on ABC in black-and-white, but moved to CBS for the 1965–66 season after ABC would not commit to the expense of producing the program in color. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... This article or section seems to contain too many examples (or of a poor quality) for an encyclopedia entry. ... Fred MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an actor who appeared in over one hundred movies and a highly successful television series during a career that lasted from the 1930s to the 1970s. ... William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 28, 1983) was an American character actor. ... Don Agrati (born June 8, 1944 in San Francisco, California), better known as Don Grady, is an American composer, musician and actor. ... Stanley Livingston is an American actor, born on November 24, 1950, in Los Angeles, California. ... Barry Livingston (born December 17, 1953 in Los Angeles, CA) is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Ernie Douglas on the television series My Three Sons (1963-1972). ... Tim Considine (born December 31, 1940 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor, who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. ... William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) began in vaudeville and as a screen actor, with well over a hundred films to his credit, but gained greater fame as Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy. ... Meredith MacRae (born May 30, 1944 in Houston, Texas, died July 14, 2000 in Manhattan Beach, California) was an American actress. ... Beverly Garland (born Beverly Lucy Fessenden on October 17, 1926) is a veteran American film and television actress with a half-century of credits, from cult 1950s B movies to the hit WB series 7th Heaven. ... Dawn Lyn, born Dawn Lyn Nervik, is an American actress born in Los Angeles, California in January, 1963. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The American Broadcasting Company ( oftenly known as ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... CBS is one of the largest radio and television networks in the United States. ... September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 236th day of the year (237th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section seems to contain too many examples (or of a poor quality) for an encyclopedia entry. ... September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 236th day of the year (237th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fred MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an actor who appeared in over one hundred movies and a highly successful television series during a career that lasted from the 1930s to the 1970s. ... CBS is one of the largest radio and television networks in the United States. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... The Nelson family The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, an American radio and television series, was once the longest-running, live-action situation comedy on American television, having aired on ABC from 1952 to 1966 after a ten-year run on radio. ... The American Broadcasting Company ( oftenly known as ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ...

Along with the change in networks and the transition to color, other changes happened during 1965: William Frawley (who had played Fred Mertz in I Love Lucy in the 1950s) played "Bub" the boy's maternal grandfather until he was declared too ill to work by Desilu Studios and the producers could no longer find insurance for him. They took a gamble on Frawley for half a season, until a suitable replacement could be found. He was replaced by William Demarest who played his brother Charley. According to Frawley's Biography "Meet the Mertzes," he never was pleased with being written out of the show. He would frequently return to the studio and criticize William Demarest's performances. Frawley died a short while later. Tim Considine, who had worked with MacMurray on The Shaggy Dog, played oldest son Mike and did not renew his contract. Considine was into car racing, which his contract forbade. The character was written out with Meredith MacRae who had played his fiance and (in his last episode) new wife. William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) began in vaudeville and as a screen actor, with well over a hundred films to his credit, but gained greater fame as Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy. ... I Love Lucy is a television situational comedy aired on CBS in the 1950s. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 28, 1983) was an American character actor. ... Tim Considine (born December 31, 1940 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor, who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. ... The Shaggy Dog is a 1959 Walt Disney movie about a teenager who is transformed into a sheep dog by a magic ring. ... Meredith MacRae (born May 30, 1944 in Houston, Texas, died July 14, 2000 in Manhattan Beach, California) was an American actress. ...

To keep the show's title plausible, Tim Considine wrote a storyline where youngest brother Richard (better known as Chip - and played by Stanley Livingston) had an orphaned friend named Ernie Thompson (played by his real-life brother Barry) who was awaiting adoption. When Steve tries to adopt Ernie, he faces trouble as a widowed parent, until Uncle Charley (Demarest) comes to the rescue. (In the storyline, the law requires a woman to live in the home of an adoptee. The judge determined that the intent of the law was to make sure a full-time caregiver would be present; with Uncle Charley meeting that role, he assents to a legal fiction declaring him "housemother" to the Douglases.. While three sons were always central to the storyline, the last year and a half of the series had fewer appearances of Don Grady and Stanley Livingston, whose characters were now both married. Grady's character was in the military, which allowed for his wife Katie and their triplet sons to remain within the Douglas household. Chip and his wife Polly had moved into their own apartment. In the common law tradition, legal fictions are suppositions of fact taken to be true by the courts of law, but which are not necessarily true. ...

Reportedly, MacMurray's contract stipulated that he work only 65 days per year. His scenes for each season were produced in two blocks of filming. He would report to the Desilu-Gower lot in late May and work thirty-five days (five days per week, weekends off), then take off for 10 weeks. He would then return to complete his remaining 30 days of shooting and was finished altogether around Thanksgiving. MacMurray's ten-week hiatus in the middle of each season's production schedule freed the actor up to follow other pursuits, while the filming of scenes with the other cast members continued. This sometimes produced noticeable continuity problems onscreen, especially as the boys grew and changed styles.

My Three Sons was created by George Tibbles and produced by Don Fedderson throughout the show's run, with MCA Television co-producing the series during its 1960-65 ABC run. CBS Paramount Television presently owns distribution rights to the entire series (including the more widely seen 1965-71 CBS episodes), while the ABC episodes and the final season on CBS (1971-72) are included in a separate syndication package. The color episodes were syndicated during the 1970s; the earlier black-and-white episodes were seen on Nick-at-Nite in the 1980s, as the color ones were during the 1990s. As well as writing the popular Oscar-nominated song The Woody Woodpecker Song, George Tibbles (1913 - 1987) was also a screenwriter, contributing to such TV series as My Three Sons, The Munsters, Alice and Whos the Boss?. He died of cancer in 1987. ... Don Fedderson (April 16, 1913 in South Dakota - December 18, 1994 Los Angeles, California) was a TV executive producer who created a number of television programs including Date with the Angels, Who Do You Trust, My Three Sons, Family Affair, To Rome with Love, and The Smith Family. ... NBC Universal is a media and entertainment conglomerate formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electrics NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment, part of Vivendi Universal. ... CBS Paramount Television (formerly Desilu Productions, Paramount Television, among other companies) is an American television production/distribution company. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...

Some might also conclude that there were similarity with this show and the 1990s sitcom Home Improvement. Both stars of the show Fred MacMurray and Tim Allen produced family friendly movies for Disney, particularly staring in versions of The Shaggy Dog movies. Both My Three Sons and Home Improvement were shows focused on a man and the relationship he had with his three sons. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Main Cast

• Fred MacMurray, Steven "Steve" Douglas
• Tim Considine, Michael "Mike" Douglas (1960–1965)
• Don Grady, Robert "Robbie" Douglas
• Stanley Livingston, Richard "Chip" Douglas
• Barry Livingston, Ernest "Ernie" Thompson/Douglas (1965–1972)
• William Frawley, Michael Francis "Bub" O'Casey (1960–1965)
• Meredith MacRae, Sally Ann Morrison Douglas (1963–1965)
• William Demarest, Uncle Charley O'Casey, Bub's brother (1965–1972)
• Tina Cole, Katie Miller Douglas (1967–1972)
• Beverly Garland, Barbara Harper Douglas (1969–1972)
• Dawn Lyn, Dodie Harper Douglas (1969–1972)
• Ronne Troup, Polly Williams Douglas (1970–1972)
• Daniel, Joseph and Michael Todd, Robbie, Stevie and Charley Douglas (respectively, 1970–1972)

Recurring cast: Fred MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an actor who appeared in over one hundred movies and a highly successful television series during a career that lasted from the 1930s to the 1970s. ... Tim Considine (born December 31, 1940 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor, who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. ... Don Agrati (born June 8, 1944 in San Francisco, California), better known as Don Grady, is an American composer, musician and actor. ... Stanley Livingston is an American actor, born on November 24, 1950, in Los Angeles, California. ... Barry Livingston (born December 17, 1953 in Los Angeles, CA) is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Ernie Douglas on the television series My Three Sons (1963-1972). ... William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) began in vaudeville and as a screen actor, with well over a hundred films to his credit, but gained greater fame as Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy. ... Meredith MacRae (born May 30, 1944 in Houston, Texas, died July 14, 2000 in Manhattan Beach, California) was an American actress. ... William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 28, 1983) was an American character actor. ... Beverly Garland (born Beverly Lucy Fessenden on October 17, 1926) is a veteran American film and television actress with a half-century of credits, from cult 1950s B movies to the hit WB series 7th Heaven. ... Dawn Lyn, born Dawn Lyn Nervik, is an American actress born in Los Angeles, California in January, 1963. ...

• Cheryl Holdridge, Judy Doucette (1960-1964)
• Mimi Gibson, Carol (1966-1968)
• Lesley-Marie Colburn, Frieda (1964-1965)
• Marcia Mae Jones, Mary (1964-1968)
• Susan Gordon, Eloise (1962-1967)
• Marta Kristen, Linda Francis (1960-1964)
• Ricky Allen, Sudsy Pfeiffer (1961-1967)
• Hank Jones, Pete (1964-1966)

Cheryl Holdridge (born June 20, 1944 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a United States actress. ... Mimi Gibson (born October 19, 1948 in Renton, Washington) is a former child actor. ... Marta Kristen born Birgit Annalisa Rusanen on February 26, 1945, in Norway is an American actress best known for her role as the character Judy Robinson in the cult television series Lost in Space. ... Born July 31, 1918 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Hank Jones grew up in Pontiac, Michigan, where he studied piano at an early age and came under the influence of Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, and Art Tatum. ...

External links

• The Museum of Broadcast Communications' page on My Three Sons
• My Three Sons TV Show - My Three Sons Television Show - TV.com