My Three Sons - General Discussion

[SanDiegoInExile]

5 hours ago, Cobb Salad said:

...... All of a sudden Katie and the triplets have moved back and Robbie is in Peru.   No details on how that came about.  I guess the pay for the Peru job was much better than the one in San Francisco....

I guess we will see an episode in the next week where Katie re-appears.  MeTV has to slash a couple minutes from the show to fit their 6:30 of commercials.  When originally aired in 1970s. I think the commercial amount was closer to 3 minutes per half hour.  An explanation of "Peru" and "SF" could have been part of the lost content.

[Blergh]

Well, all this business of having Katie and the triplets move back into Casa Douglas into a hithero hidden bedroom after Robbie took that indefinitely long assignment in Peru makes me wonder why TPTB felt the need to keep Miss Cole as a regular when all they'd have her do is have her hands full with the triplets, lament Robbie's absence and occasionally give a good quip here and there.  Don't get me wrong, I think it seems to have been a nice gesture on their part to keep giving her steady work despite Mr. Grady's bolting. However; it just seems rare for producers,etc. to want to go that extra trouble for someone who was by no means played a pivotal character. 

[tobeannounced]

@Blergh, do you have any behind-the -scenes details on why Don Grady bolted? Did he ever make another appearance? TIA!

[Cobb Salad]

I don’t know if there was anything beyond him wanting to pursue a musical career but if I remember correctly he didn’t make another appearance on the series.  

He did appear on a reunion special in the 70s with the actors appearing as themselves reminiscing about the show (it was paired with the Partridge Family which I thought was odd); even Tim Considine was there!

[Blergh]

14 minutes ago, tobeannounced said:

@Blergh, do you have any behind-the -scenes details on why Don Grady bolted? Did he ever make another appearance? TIA!

As best I can tell (and it's NOT 'inside information'), the very last episode of Season Eleven was an intended spin off for Mr. Grady and Miss Cole (and the triplet performers) called 'After the Honeymoon' in which the younger Douglases had moved to San Francisco into an apartment with wacky neighbors but CBS passed on it for a series. Thereafter, Mr. Grady evidently decided he'd done all he had interest in doing re Robbie Douglas's character and insisted on leaving the show altogether to pursue his first love of music (while he never became a major star that field, he did steadily earn a comfortable living in it the rest of his life).

  No, Mr. Grady never made another appearance on the show itself but DID come back to the 'what were they thinking/smoking' hybrid reunion (in 1977) of A Thanksgiving Reunion of The Partridge Family and My Three Sons (?!?) in which the Shirley Jones and Fred MacMurray compared (scripted) notes of their respective shows and most of the surviving casts made appearances. 

 Yep, those twists definitely fall under the 'you can't make this up' category!

Edited July 4, 2018 by Blergh
needed half-quote mark

[tobeannounced]

Thank you @Blergh and @Cobb Salad! The episodes make a lot more sense now.

Edited July 4, 2018 by tobeannounced

[Skywalker58]

In the episode with Eve Arden as a guest star did anyone else think it was a possible spinoff? She played an old movie star who had written her memoir and Tramp was on the train with her?

[Gemma Violet]

11 hours ago, SanDiegoInExile said:

Uncle Charley has a bedroom off the kitchen, presumably also with the downstairs bathroom.  I don't think he ever slept upstairs, even in Bryant Park.

When they moved to CA, Steve had a room (just a room, not a master with en suite -- this was the late 60s --- master bedrooms were few and far between in SoCal house design), Robbie had a room, and Chip/Ernie shared.  Once the triplets arrived, Robbie's room was expanded (in a somewhat memorable episode where a gruff contractor melted only for Katie).  Once K+R+3 moved "down the street" to their apartment, Steve conveniently moved into the expanded bedroom with new wife Barbara.  Dodie got Steve's old bedroom.

Thanks for the explanation.  This explains why I seldom see Charlie upstairs except to distribute laundry or something.   :-)

[Blergh]

17 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

Thanks for the explanation.  This explains why I seldom see Charlie upstairs except to distribute laundry or something.   :-)

What's odd that with all the extra folks they got (Katie, then her and Robbie's triplets, then Barbara +Dodie),they not only NEVER put in an additional bathroom but they never were seen attempting to use Uncle Charley's (if he in fact had one but I don't recall one being seen) even during those episodes in which bathroom demand got addressed.

[Jacqs]

22 minutes ago, Blergh said:

What's odd that with all the extra folks they got (Katie, then her and Robbie's triplets, then Barbara +Dodie),they not only NEVER put in an additional bathroom but they never were seen attempting to use Uncle Charley's (if he in fact had one but I don't recall one being seen) even during those episodes in which bathroom demand got addressed.

Uncle Charley is such a gruff old sod that he'd pee his pants rather than admit to needing the toilet ;)

[Gemma Violet]

On 7/4/2018 at 10:52 AM, Skywalker58 said:

In the episode with Eve Arden as a guest star did anyone else think it was a possible spinoff? She played an old movie star who had written her memoir and Tramp was on the train with her?

I missed that one on MeTV.  Or is it coming up towards the end of the series?

[smiley13]

On 7/4/2018 at 9:00 AM, Blergh said:

Well, all this business of having Katie and the triplets move back into Casa Douglas into a hithero hidden bedroom after Robbie took that indefinitely long assignment in Peru makes me wonder why TPTB felt the need to keep Miss Cole as a regular when all they'd have her do is have her hands full with the triplets, lament Robbie's absence and occasionally give a good quip here and there.  Don't get me wrong, I think it seems to have been a nice gesture on their part to keep giving her steady work despite Mr. Grady's bolting. However; it just seems rare for producers,etc. to want to go that extra trouble for someone who was by no means played a pivotal character. 

I would think they brought Katie home because of Tina's popularity.    And as far as the bedroom, whatever happened to the expanded room that Robbie, Katie and the kids used to live in?

[smiley13]

9 hours ago, Blergh said:

What's odd that with all the extra folks they got (Katie, then her and Robbie's triplets, then Barbara +Dodie),they not only NEVER put in an additional bathroom but they never were seen attempting to use Uncle Charley's (if he in fact had one but I don't recall one being seen) even during those episodes in which bathroom demand got addressed.

Didn't they add a bathroom when Robbie and Katie's room was expanded?

[Cobb Salad]

Smiley13,

After Robbie, Katie and the triplets moved to the apartment down the street, Steve moved into the room when he married Barbara.  

[smiley13]

5 minutes ago, Cobb Salad said:

Smiley13,

After Robbie, Katie and the triplets moved to the apartment down the street, Steve moved into the room when he married Barbara.  

So they gave the former Master bedroom to the ever annoying Dodie??  That makes no sense.

I wonder why there was such a drastic change in Barbara's hair from season to season?  The Season 12 long hair looks odd compared to her previous styles,

[Cobb Salad]

Dodie got Steve’s old room.  Steve and Barbara got the larger bedroom that Robbie and Katie previously lived in. 

Regarding Barbara’s hair, it did change a lot from season to season!  I had forgotten about that until seeing these episodes again.  

[SanDiegoInExile]

1 hour ago, Cobb Salad said:

..... Barbara’s hair, it did change a lot from season to season!  I had forgotten about that until seeing these episodes again.  

Yes, however, it never changed at all during each season.  That made it easier for the wacky taping schedule.   It makes it super-easy to tell what season they are showing ! 

Honestly, Season Twelve hair looks like a bad wig.  

[Skywalker58]

The Eve Arden episode was when they still lived in Bryant Park.

[SanDiegoInExile]

1 hour ago, smiley13 said:

So they gave the former Master bedroom to the ever annoying Dodie??  That makes no sense.

Many (most?) homes built in the 1960s didn't really have Master Bedrooms as we now expect them  -- something that realtors consistently have to explain to stunned millenials on the occasional HGTV House Hunters episode.

My grandparents' homes had no en-suite bathrooms, though they had larger bedrooms.  Homes that my parents had in the 1970s had the start of Master Suites.

I have always thought that Dawn Lyn did a decent job, given what was scripted for her.  She had some great lines in the "Debbie Does Douglas" episode.

[SanDiegoInExile]

12 hours ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

Uncle Charley is such a gruff old sod that he'd pee his pants rather than admit to needing the toilet ;)

He does clean house and cook meals wearing snug slacks, dress shoes, a belt, and neatly pressed white shirts.

[SanDiegoInExile]

3 hours ago, smiley13 said:

Didn't they add a bathroom when Robbie and Katie's room was expanded?

I vaguely recall that there was an unseen bathroom included in the expansion/renovation, though I think it was mentioned as "we even got a  tub so you can bathe the boys" rather than a relaxing getaway for the married couple.  I have seen that episode more than a few times over the past 30 years, so didn't really watch all that closely during this most recent airing.

[Jacqs]

Again, Dawn/Dodie is handicapped by the fact that Seasons 11 and 12 where she has longer, better, hair and wears trousers more, are hardly ever syndicated.

[Blergh]

10 hours ago, SanDiegoInExile said:

I vaguely recall that there was an unseen bathroom included in the expansion/renovation, though I think it was mentioned as "we even got a  tub so you can bathe the boys" rather than a relaxing getaway for the married couple.  I have seen that episode more than a few times over the past 30 years, so didn't really watch all that closely during this most recent airing.

Well, let's hope that they didn't mean a portable tub - and if said tub was a permanent fixture, let's hope that there was at least one other new bathroom fixture available. FWIW, Leave It to Beaver was one of the very few sitcoms before the early 1970's that actually SHOWED a commode (and that was only because it was where the Beav hid a pet alligator in the tank).

[smiley13]

20 hours ago, SanDiegoInExile said:

Many (most?) homes built in the 1960s didn't really have Master Bedrooms as we now expect them  -- something that realtors consistently have to explain to stunned millenials on the occasional HGTV House Hunters episode.

My grandparents' homes had no en-suite bathrooms, though they had larger bedrooms.  Homes that my parents had in the 1970s had the start of Master Suites.

I have always thought that Dawn Lyn did a decent job, given what was scripted for her.  She had some great lines in the "Debbie Does Douglas" episode.

My parents home was built in the early 60's.  We moved into it in 1967 as the second owners.  They have an attached bath with double sinks and a large walk in closet with built ins.  I know when Steve was in the room, it was never shown with its own bath though.

[Gemma Violet]

On 7/5/2018 at 9:18 PM, SanDiegoInExile said:

 

Honestly, Season Twelve hair looks like a bad wig.  

If that's the season just finished on MeTV (the season before Barbara's long hair), I totally agree.  You could see the edge of the wig where it met her forehead in several shots.

Edited July 7, 2018 by Gemma Violet

[Gemma Violet]

So glad the Fergus episodes are over.  They could have shot the whole thing in two episodes instead of four.  

[Cobb Salad]

I agree.  That joke with whoever thinking they were talking to Steve but it was really Fergus and vice-versa was done too many times IMO.  

I did think it was funny when Uncle Charlie kept calling Fergus “fungus” though.  

[SanDiegoInExile]

3 hours ago, Cobb Salad said:

I did think it was funny when Uncle Charlie kept calling Fergus “fungus” though.  

<ha>  I was just coming to post that item. 

For the life of me, I cannot understand why Fred MacMurray agreed to be dubbed.  I wonder if he attempted the accent, saw that it was failing miserably, and they hired someone post-taping to re-dub the entire 4 episodes.  I also wonder if they were trying out another *pilot* spinoff which would maybe feature Anne Francis as Lady Douglas, comically learning the ropes of aristocracy in Scotland, with Fungus making an occasional walk-on appearance.   I only saw the end-credits for Episode #4.  They jumped right from the producing credits to the blue screen credits for the voice actor and for Anne Francis.  No "blue screen" credit for the three sons or for the three female cast members. 

The only other funny part throughout the four episodes were Steve whining that he didn't think they looked alike and that Fungus as a "weak chin".

[SanDiegoInExile]

I had meant the mop of hair in Season 12, the final one, now airing.  I never really noticed the wig on the short-cut she wore during Season 11 (The Polly Season).  Given the taping schedule, I suppose it made life easier to have the hair all ready to go. 

[Gemma Violet]

Oh, I see.  Yeah, it could have been a wig both times, but the Polly season hairstyle really jumped out at me in that right above Barbara's forehead you could sometimes see the crevice between wig and head.  Not always, but often.  I guess they threw the wig on in a hurry sometimes and said "Action" before the stylist could blend it in. 

[smiley13]

I agree that the long hair looks like a wig.  Her first two seasons looked more natural to me.  It would be interesting to see any pictures of her off the set during those years to see what was real.

[smiley13]

The Fergus episodes were pretty bad.  I don't recall Chip and Polly appearing at all.  I would love to know what MacMurray's opinion of it was.  As has been said, Uncle Charley added some humor to it all at least.

And were the triplets ever shown?  Or were they locked in a closet somewhere??

[Cobb Salad]

The triplets were in the first part then not seen in the rest of the Fergus episodes.  Maybe they were sent to the closet :) 

Chip and Polly weren’t in any of the episodes nor do I remember it being mentioned where they were.   

[Cobb Salad]

Smiley13,

There’s an interview with her on You Tube which appears to be from the early 70s when the show was still in production which may address your comment. 

[Gemma Violet]

In today's episode, Steve misplaced the triplets.  Yes, the triplets are back with a whole episode revolving around them. 

And Chip and Polly made a 45-second appearance!

By the way, that's gotta be a different dog playing Tramp.

[Gemma Violet]

And today we had an episode all about Polly and Chip!

[smiley13]

18 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

And today we had an episode all about Polly and Chip!

It is funny seeing Chip with that shaggy hair after watching him for all of the seasons so clean cut.

[Blergh]

It's kind of ironic that Stanley Livingston (Chip) now is 67 years old who oddly enough resembles his 'grandfather' Bub (William Frawley) but with very thick and long hair while his younger brother Barry (Ernie) is still in glasses but now bald yet he's had the steadier post M3S acting career!

[Noah Dietrich]

As for Steve Douglas' first bedroom not appearing to have any master bedroom amenities, isn't it odd that Wally and Beaver Cleaver had their own bathroom in a home supposedly built in the late 50's?

[tobeannounced]

I only recently started watching this on MeTV, a few weeks ago, but I have to say "The Enthusiast" is definitely my favorite episode so far. I actually laughed out loud a couple of times. Barbara, it turns out, is extremely competitive and hilarious hijinks ensue. The character is usually so subdued, but she really let lose. The actress who plays her did a great job.

[Blergh]

Yes, the late Beverly Garland did an excellent job playing Barbara who normally was rather sedate but let loose when she got into competitive sports! Have you seen the one in which she pounds the accusatory teacher's desk while yelling 'My son does NOT cheat!'  (and gets Chip a reprieve)?

 I also liked the shocked looks of Steve  and Steve's boss's wife Sylvia Anderson (Irene Hervey) rather startled to see this hithero hidden side of the  2nd Mrs. Douglas!  Somewhat under rated in these latter episodes was how clueless yet sympathetic the wealthy Sylvia was (yet always a gracious hostess despite whatever her husband, son, Barbara,etc. put her through). The late Miss Hervey was quite a stunner in her youth and she still shined as the pretty silver haired Sylvia here.

Edited July 14, 2018 by Blergh
s addenedum

[smiley13]

Loved the Polly makeover episode.  She did look much better with her hair styled and with more fashionable clothes.

[Gemma Violet]

I didn't recognize her when the door was first opened. :-)

I saw in the credits that one of the two girls who came to the apartment (the two who had approached Chip for help) was a Livingston.  No doubt it was Stanley and Barry's sister.

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

I didn't recognize her when the door was first opened. :-)

I saw in the credits that one of the two girls who came to the apartment (the two who had approached Chip for help) was a Livingston.  No doubt it was Stanley and Barry's sister.

No, actually Sandra Livingston was, at the time, Mrs. Stanley Livingston and, while the marriage didn't last much past the show, they had become parents by the time this episode aired.

[Gemma Violet]

6 hours ago, Blergh said:

No, actually Sandra Livingston was, at the time, Mrs. Stanley Livingston and, while the marriage didn't last much past the show, they had become parents by the time this episode aired.

Thanks, Blergh.  It didn't occur to me it could be his wife.

[smiley13]

How gorgeous was Katie in today's episode on ME-TV.  I liked that this one focused on her and all of the family trying to cheer her up.  That short dress and boots that she wore on her night out with Ernie was very cute on her.

[Gemma Violet]

On 7/24/2018 at 7:09 PM, smiley13 said:

How gorgeous was Katie in today's episode on ME-TV.  I liked that this one focused on her and all of the family trying to cheer her up.  That short dress and boots that she wore on her night out with Ernie was very cute on her.

Yep, Katie was a real asset to the show.  Keeping her around when Rob went to Peru shows they didn't want to lose her.  

[Gemma Violet]

Too many Dodie episodes lately.  Last week, there was the one where Dodie has a young admirer and she spends the whole show whining and complaining.  Yesterday, it was Dodie and her friends corralling the family to bag peanuts for the big school fair.  The endings on some of these episodes are so unsatisfying.  After spending the whole night bagging peanuts, Steve finds out the the school fair was last week.  Wouldn't Dodie and her friends know if there had been a fair at school the week before?  Even if it was on a weekend and they didn't attend, other kids would have been talking about it at school.  It would've been more believable if Steve was told the fair was next month, with the joke being they had worked all night when they could have taken their time.

Edited July 28, 2018 by Gemma Violet

[Cobb Salad]

I agree re: too many Dodie episodes.  That Alfred kid was pretty creepy too with coming into the house and going to her room while she was sleeping.  I suspected that was going to be the outcome after he wasn’t found outside the house.  How convenient that no one in the Douglas household checked the front door before going to bed that evening too. 

Looking ahead it appears we’re getting a couple of Barbara episodes so there’s a break from Dodie (I hope). 

It’s interesting that at the end of the series that a lot of the episodes are focusing on the female cast members and the sons are not as prominently featured despite the series name.  

[Cobb Salad]

Keeping Katie around also kept the triplets around, giving the scriptwriters more episode possibilities as well.