My Three Sons - General Discussion

[Jacqs]

Dawn wasn't a two dimensional "cute child". The thought of recasting Dodie makes me think of the Beijing olympics where they abruptly recast the child in the opening ceremony for another child that looked prettier.

[MushMarch]

I was going to disagree with Gemma on Season 1, but then I watched the episodes "The Croaker" and "The Musician".  "The Croaker" may very well be the Plan 9 From Outer Space of M3S episodes, with Peter Tewksbury/Arnold Peyser/Lois Peyser channeling their inner Ed Wood (come to think of it, Plan 9 was released theatrically only a year before M3S began airing).  Watching Bub get all dopey and dewey-eyed over a bullfrog might very well be the low point of Mr. Frawley's acting career - I can just see him during the filming breaks, cursing the things he had to do for a steady paycheck.  Reflecting a bit deeper, I now see that my comparison with Plan 9 is way off the mark, given that Plan 9 is one of the most unintentionally hilarious films of all time (right up there with Tommy Wiseau's The Room), whereas "The Croaker" has nothing funny in it to speak of, intentionally or unintentionally.  The less said about "The Musician", the better.  Let's just say it's a more-annoying-than-usual showcase for Robbie, leading me to ask the question:  How can a guy trip over as much stuff as he does?  I was awkward and 14 at one time, but I don't recall having anywhere near a Robbie-level stumble quotient.  And what happened to the girl he was so gooey-eyed in the public library just a few episodes ago (I think her name was Marilyn).  Now he's dumped her for a high-society Beethoven afficionado.  And that's another thing I didn't have going when I was 14, a Robbie-like success quotient with the opposite sex.  Mine was zero, nada, zilch - just like it was for every other guy I knew back then.  For a guy who's supposedly an uncoordinated dweeb, his talents as a Lothario are Not Of This Earth (sly Beverly Garland reference!)

[MushMarch]

MeTV has (thankfully!) started airing Green Acres on Saturday mornings, right after Petticoat Junction, starting with Season 1 and "Oliver Buys a Farm".  I haven't seen Green Acres since the early 00's, when TVLand briefly showed it to ride on the wave of that execrable reality show with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie (I can't remember the name of it, and darned if I'm going to look it up).  In short, it's a sign of good TV times to have it back, one of my very favorites in the old, classic, and much-missed Nick at Nite lineup of the late 80's/early 90's (you know, before the vile no-talent ass clowns at Viacom destroyed it).  And now, to my M3S tie-in point:  This thread had a previous discussion of Ernie in Hooterville, and after watching the early episodes of Green Acres, I wonder what his reaction would be upon finding out that Oliver's mother (played by the wonderful Eleanor Audley) is the same person as Barbara's mother (also played by the wonder Eleanor Audley).  In one Ernie-type word:  GOSH!  This Douglas family really gets around - a veritable plethora of talented Ripleys!

Edited September 23, 2018 by MushMarch

[MushMarch]

I stated something along these lines earlier in the favorite episodes thread, but I'll also set it out for discussion on this thread as well:  Could early M3S seasons Robbie Douglas possibly trip over any more obstacles (major, minor, or otherwise), or has he reached the saturation level (let's label this level "Ottoman" in recognition of Dick Van Dyke and his well-timed grace & humor in the annals of classic 60's TV pratfalls).
 

On 5/9/2014 at 7:55 AM, Milz said:

The more I watch Robbie, the more I can't stand him. What the heck did Katie ever see in that jerk?

 

 

The more I read this comment, the more I realize that it has probably won this particular thread.  And maybe a few others.

[Cobb Salad]

@MushMarch,

The situation you describe reminds me of a scene in St Elsewhere (from the 80’s) - one of the orderlies on the show was on The White Shadow a few years prior and played the same character.  (Coolidge).  Another character from the White Shadow (Salami) was on a couple of St Elsewhere episodes as a different character.  When Coolidge spots who he thinks is Salami, he starts talking to him like he’s his long lost buddy - “Salami” brushes him off saying he doesn’t know who he is.  Anyway, spotting this kind of stuff with actors playing recurring roles on different shows of the same era and considering how they’d each interact if the shows met can be fun.  

[Jacqs]

a female Ernie would've been interesting. I explore this in my gender transformation My Three Sons story: 

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8504161/1/My-Three-Sons-When-Boys-Become-Girls

[Blergh]

I'll bet Steve was relieved when both Chip and Ernie (albeit adopted) turned out to be closer to Mike's temperment as teens than Robbie's hyperness (and ,even when Chip was a kid, he didn't treat the furniture like his own personal track hurdles the way Robbie did as a teen).

[MushMarch]

Well, here we are at season 2 of M3S on MeTV.  There are the superficial differences, such as the young actors playing the three sons appearing to be a bit older (for some reason, Robbie stands out a bit more in this category) and the haircuts are different (what's going on with Chip's eye make-up, though?).  Then there is the bigger difference, that being the noticeable change in directors from Peter Tewksbury to Richard Whorf.  The show is in the process of converging to its familiar and steady groove laid down in later seasons, with the slapstick silent-movie anarchy of the Tewksbury episodes mostly gone and replaced with the stately pace that would become the signature tone of M3S over time.  One eye-opening exception appeared to be episode 5 of season 2, "A Perfect Memory", as Steve reminisces over a high school sweetheart who is in town but can never seem to make the connection - only to be sent a message by her later saying that she didn't meet up with him so as to preserve their teenage memories of one another.  It's quite a poignant episode, and not at all like the others in season 2 (so far).  For a moment, I found myself thinking that Richard Whorf was really outside the box on this one - until I looked it up and found that it was a Peter Tewksbury-directed, previously unaired holdover from season 1.  I find myself looking forward to the upcoming episode "Robbie's Band", wondering if Robbie's band has any songs other than "I'd Be a Good Man to Have Around the House" in their repertoire.

Edited October 6, 2018 by MushMarch

[MushMarch]

One more thing about season 2:  The end credits.  After the listing of Tim Considine, Don Grady, et al, the Chevrolet automobiles roll, just as in season 1 - except these are the 1962 models, and therein lies the thread of this very personal connection.  The first Chevrolet seen is a 1962 Impala, the very car that I grew up in.  My Father bought one new off the showroom floor in early '62, and I was born not too long after that.  Our car was a bit different than the one in the credits, a hardtop as opposed to a convertible, but it was built like a tank and survived everything that was thrown at it - including being slammed into in a supermarket parking lot by a Cadillac some time during the early 70's.  We had that car until I was 19.  The summer after my first year of college, with the car well north of 200,000 miles of wear and tear on it, the transmission failed at the same time the gas tank fell off.  My father received $25 for it from a junkyard for scrap, but the memories that live on from growing up in that car are priceless.  They don't make 'em like that anymore.

[Cara]

I know the topic is about our favorite episodes. But the one I saw today I think it has been my least favorite of the ones that I have seen. It was the one where Steve goes on vacation by himself and meets up with that other couple who won’t leave him  alone. The most interesting thing about it was seeing Irene Ryan playing a part other than Granny!

[MushMarch]

Season 3 is now airing on MeTV.  Gene Reynolds has replaced Richard Whorf in the director's chair, and Chip's hair is further along the journey from blonde to the eventual brown. The make-up department has toned down his eyeliner in this season, or maybe it's just the poor resolution of the episodes in season 3.  Given that season 3 has never (at least to my knowledge) received a remastering treatment for release on DVD (as seasons 1 and 2 did), most of the episodes have (visually) an unfocused quality and several descend into a 1950's kinescope (think Tales of Tomorrow) level of blurriness.  The audio isn't much better - the closed captioning sometimes registers as "inaudible".  The episode that kicks off season 3, "Weekend in Tokyo", has an interesting premise - Steve has free tickets and whisks the family (sans Bub) off for, you guessed it, a weekend in Tokyo.  But let's pause right there to consider how silly that is - an actual weekend in Tokyo would be absolutely miserable since most of that would be spent fighting off jet lag.  But, true to TV norms, the Douglas family shows up fresh as daisies after an umpteen-hour flight (usually took me about 14 hours the several times I went with my wife) and are ready for their rollicking weekend.  But the weirdness is just beginning.  Mike visits the "sights" in Tokyo, all of which appear to be those notorious parts of Tokyo looking like a Japanese botanical garden in the LA area.  And somehow I remember the gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo to be more impressive than the koi pond seen here.  Steve has an exceptionally uncomfortable moment involving the grandmother from the Japanese host family and a Japanese bath (I can't unsee her tugging at his yukata belt), making for a cringeworthy attempt at comedy.  And then Mike pulls his usual "I can't forget about her, I'm tragically besotted" routine regarding the daughter of the host family - and she's completely forgotten about by the next episode.  And the scenes with Chip and the roughly-same-age son of the host family could serve as a series of textbook examples of what this thing called stereotyping is all about.  So . . . in summary, not my favorite episode, and the trend has continued pretty much up to this point.  For those who like to play the "You may remember me from . . . " game, you'll spot Tim Matheson (later Otter in Animal House; his surname is spelled "Matthieson" in the end credits) in the episode "Chip's Last Fight", and you can spot future More/giallo actress Mimsy Farmer as Robbie's lastest heartthrob in "Steve Gets an A".  One last thing:  Why did they even bother with the horrible drawings of Chevrolet automobiles in the end credits?  The pictures are so badly done that it's nearly impossible to tell what the product is, let alone that it's for Chevrolets.

Edited November 30, 2018 by MushMarch

[Jacqs]

@MushMarch  @smiley13 @Cara @Blergh If only all the energy that was used on endless Brady Bunch rehashes had been used on a sequel series for M3S. Although "Still the Dodie" would be a very cheesy title. For my own gratification, I'm writing a Dodie's Prom Dance story set in 1981.

[Jacqs]

Anyone still here?

[SanDiegoInExile]

The site revamp probably lost more than a  few folks. 

As for me, the show has no merit until the family moves to CA.  Those five seasons - the Katie Season, the Triplet Season, the Barbara Season, the Polly Season, and The Last Dreadful Season - are the only ones which are Must See TV for me.  Then again, I taped (yes on an ancient VCR) most of those episodes during the last run-through, just in case MeTV decides to tinker with their schedule and drop the show.  

Edited March 9, 2019 by SanDiegoInExile

[Jacqs]

@SanDiegoInExile I always thought Dodie could have been handled better. Not a child from a stage school as such, but someone better able to handle M3S's production environment. In Season 10 (the Barbara Season) - which is the only glimpse of Dodie that most viewers in US syndication ever see - Dodie might have also worked better as a blonde with longer hair. Yes, Buffy Davis of the sister show was also blonde, but i'm thinking that a blonde and blue eyed Dodie could have appealed better to the adult women in the audience, a crucial demographic if you want your family show to survive.

[SanDiegoInExile]

I've never really gotten the Dodie Hate that's out there.  And I would never blame the fading of a decade-old show on the addition of a six-year-old.  Taken in full, it seems that Dawn Lyn did an acceptable job.  I think the bigger issue was that the producers wanted a very young child in the role.

[Jacqs]

@SanDiegoInExile At least a genuine 3 or 4 year old (which seemed to be what they were trying to force The Barbara Season Dawn to be) cast in 1969 wouldn't have been given the rude and insolent remarks of 1980s tv children. I hated 4 year old Raven on The Cosby Show for that reason.

[SanDiegoInExile]

Dodie was in First and Second grade during the show.  I recall one episode where she was in a panic about going into Second Grade.  She was portrayed as the same age as Erin Moran and Jodie Foster, who played two of her schoolmates.

It's hard to compare 1970 America with today.  Katie and Robbie were married with triplets before turning 21.  Chip and Polly were 18, barely a decade older than little Dorothy.

Plus, M3S was uber-conservative.  I just re-watched the episodes when Katie marries into family.  They had twin beds for their first two shows as husband-and-wife. (And why would Robbie even have twin beds in a room he shared with no one?) A king bed appeared by their four-week anniversary.  At least, they made a Big Deal about the honeymooners spending two weeks having sex in their hotel room, ignoring all the amenities of the luxurious resort where they honeymooned.

Plus, for half an episode, old codger Steve yanked on his stinky pipe and warbled that "women cry...it's just what they do".  Charming.  /sarcasm.

[Jacqs]

@SanDiegoInExile So it didn't matter to them that Erin Moran is almost three years older than Dawn Lyn?

[SanDiegoInExile]

Who knows what was in the producers mind.  I didnt IMDB any ages.  I do recall that Erin was a stronger actress (playing the bully).  I think that Dawn Lyn has said on her FB or in interviews that the show purposely dressed her as a younger girl than her regular clothing.  After all, this was the show where not a single Douglas male ever wore blue jeans, shorts, or even sneakers.

[Jacqs]

@SanDiegoInExile Yeah, I think they wanted a younger child, and judging by some of the lines, a child that was still wearing diapers at night...

[MushMarch]

Fans of M3S:  Check out the latest Simpsons episode "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh".  The couch gag in the opening credits plays homage to the My Three Sons opening credits sequence, with similar graphics and (left to right) Bart, Maggie, and Lisa (with Maggie in the middle suspended in mid-air a la Chip, and later, Ernie).  The music used is a variation of the M3S theme, with the title changed to "My Three Kids", as Homer announces in a voice-over.  The very last credit lists "And Groundskeeper Willie as Angry Uncle Angus".  

Edited April 9, 2019 by MushMarch

[Jacqs]

I wouldn't mind seeing Groundskeeper Willie meet Uncle Charley. Hee Hee Hee...

[HyeChaps]

Hello. I just found this forum and read all seven pages this morning. I watched M3S in real time back in the day. 

In high school, I wrote my own episode, “Chip Gets Drafted”, for my classmates to perform in theatre class. This was probably 1972, before internet fanfiction. 

[Jacqs]

Chip as a War Veteran would be interesting. Ditto Dodie dealing with the disco craze.

[Cobb Salad]

Robbie was in the reserves at least during the season he and Katie had the triplets.  It would have been an interesting story line to pursue more of instead of having him marry so quickly.  They never had Chip enlist in the reserves.  Both attended college so they could each get a deferment.  So the fan fic could be Chip flunks college and gets drafted?

If the show lasted in to the 70s it would have been interesting to see what storylines they would have pursued - if one wanted to learn about the 60s by watching this show they would have missed a lot of what really happened.    I wonder if the same approach would have been made for later 70s episodes.  

[Cara]

I saw the episode today when William Frawley leaves the show. I was surprised how well he looked and how competently he did his scenes. I had read so much about what poor health he was in and was uninsurable. Of course looks can be deceiving. He did die relatively soon after that.

[LucyEth]

Whatever happened to Ernie's dog Wilson, we only see Tramp now and no mention of Wilson.  Guess they just phased him out without any recognition.  He meant so much to Ernie wish they would have kept him as part of the show.

Edited April 27, 2019 by LucyEth

[SanDiegoInExile]

29 minutes ago, LucyEth said:

.... no mention of Wilson. ......

Hardly a surprise.  They went multiple seasons without a mention of eldest son Mike. None of the Douglas Wives even know that Sally exists.

[Cobb Salad]

Who knows what happened to Wilson.  There was an episode where Wilson and Tramp didn’t get along but by the end of the episode they were friends.  

I guess Wilson went off to the same place as Tiger, the Brady’s dog.  

[LucyEth]

1 hour ago, Cobb Salad said:

I guess Wilson went off to the same place as Tiger, the Brady’s dog.  

Tiger was actually killed on set during filming by a truck on the lot.  They decided to not address it and just not mention him anymore.😪

[Gemma Violet]

I saw the episode the other day where Robbie is dating a balloon-adorned nightclub dancer.  She was very sweet and seemed to really like Robbie and vice versa.  After having dinner at the Douglas home, she tells Steve to keep Robbie away from the club.  Apparently, she thought she wasn't good enough for Robbie.  Then she had a guy pose as her boyfriend to shoo Robbie away.  At the end, I thought Robbie would find out what she did and run back to her, but it just ended with Steve saying she was a nice girl.  Did they edit out a tag at the end or is that how it ended?  If so, I'm disappointed in Steve for not telling Robbie that she didn't really want to break up with him.  Kind of made Steve look like a snob.

[Jacqs]

Question for you people: how would have improved the character of Dodie?

[MushMarch]

I also noticed the disappearance of poor Wilson.  The continuity director must have been asleep at the wheel for season 6, since another discrepancy pops up.  In the season opener "The First Marriage", right after the wedding ceremony Steve and Mike are saying their goodbyes and Steve says to Mike, "Who would have ever thought it?  My number one son headed back east to be an assistant psychology instructor!"  In the later episode "Marriage and Stuff", it's established that Mike and Sally are living in Arizona (this is the 13th episode of season 6, and I fairly certain that it's the first time Mike and Sally have been mentioned since the opener).  All along, I've been under impression that the Bryant Park of the first six seasons was situated somewhere roughly in the midwest U.S. (I've come across a couple of online opinions stating that it was supposed to be in Michigan).  Steve must be really poor with geography, since there isn't much in the U.S. save California and Hawaii that the state is east of.  And when someone does say "back east", it is usually assumed that they mean New England, New Jersey, or New York (maybe Pennsylvania in an extreme case).  

Another continuity problem can be found within "The First Marriage" episode.  In the season 5 episode "The In-Law Whammy", Mike gets to meet Sally's father (played by Sebastian Cabot - they really did a poor job of casting on that one.  As professional an actor as Cabot was, he is simply not believable as Sally's father).  When the wedding party gets together for the big photo on the church steps in "The First Marriage", Sally's father is nowhere to be found - and Sebastian Cabot would be very hard to miss, to say the least.  It's not very likely that the father of the bride would be absent from such an important event (to be fair to the producers, Cabot was probably unavailable and unaffordable for what would have been an extreme cameo appearance).  One final thought about "The First Marriage":  Could the producers have given Tim Considine any more of a bum's rush than they did?  The wedding is over and Mike and Sally take off within the first three minutes of the show.  Would it have been that difficult to show them at least exchanging vows, with the wedding party looking on approvingly, before moving on so hastily to their departure?  It was sad to see both Tim Considine and Meredith MacRae leave the series - in my opinion, Mike was the strongest character of all the brothers and it would have been just as great to have Sally as a regular in the series as it was to later have Katie in the series.

[Cobb Salad]

I saw the episode “Marriage and Stuff” on MeTV yesterday and found the mention of Mike and Sally odd but it was just a convenient plot device.  Really, would Steve just run off and abandon his sons like that?  I thought the episode was silly and like a tame version of a Three’s Company episode.   I guess not enough time would have passed for Mike and Sally to have decided to move from “back East” to Arizona?  However, it seems like more often than not TV shows then didn’t really pay attention to continuity because the alternatives the writers came up with in their minds were better story wise. Plus I’m sure they thought no one would pay attention to details like this.

I agree they should have shown the wedding between Mike and Sally, especially since they had a lengthy engagement.  It would have been nice to have the characters appear every so often but I’m aware of what was going on the behind the scenes that would have not made that possible.  Oh well.  

Something else I’ve been wondering is according to what I’ve read (either IMDB or Wikipedia, I don’t remember) that when the show was in development they wanted to call it “The Fred MacMurray Show” but he objected - if they did I wonder if they would have added Ernie after Mike left.  

[MushMarch]

On 5/9/2019 at 9:17 PM, Cobb Salad said:

I saw the episode “Marriage and Stuff” on MeTV yesterday and found the mention of Mike and Sally odd but it was just a convenient plot device.  Really, would Steve just run off and abandon his sons like that?  I thought the episode was silly and like a tame version of a Three’s Company episode.   I guess not enough time would have passed for Mike and Sally to have decided to move from “back East” to Arizona?  However, it seems like more often than not TV shows then didn’t really pay attention to continuity because the alternatives the writers came up with in their minds were better story wise. Plus I’m sure they thought no one would pay attention to details like this.

I agree they should have shown the wedding between Mike and Sally, especially since they had a lengthy engagement.  It would have been nice to have the characters appear every so often but I’m aware of what was going on the behind the scenes that would have not made that possible.  Oh well.  

Something else I’ve been wondering is according to what I’ve read (either IMDB or Wikipedia, I don’t remember) that when the show was in development they wanted to call it “The Fred MacMurray Show” but he objected - if they did I wonder if they would have added Ernie after Mike left.  

Yeah, they really painted themselves into a corner with the number "3" in the title.  But I do have to give props to Fred MacMurray for having a degree of humility (unusual for Hollywood) that led him to reject "The Fred MacMurray Show" titling.

[MushMarch]

On 4/29/2019 at 7:59 AM, Jacqs said:

Question for you people: how would have improved the character of Dodie?

Some suggestions:

(1)  Not have the character in the first place.

(2)  If you're going to have the character, find someone more talented and more appealing than Dawn Lyn to portray her.

(3)  Lose the way creepy short dresses.

[Cobb Salad]

13 hours ago, MushMarch said:

Some suggestions:

(1)  Not have the character in the first place.

(2)  If you're going to have the character, find someone more talented and more appealing than Dawn Lyn to portray her.

(3)  Lose the way creepy short dresses.

I’d vote for #1 if they couldn’t find anyone to satisfy #2.  Since the show was already on a while already I guess they couldn’t do anything new or fresh to keep people interested except marry Steve off.  Since Ernie was older they lost the little kid stories for the show so we get Dodie whose story lines were pretty dull IMO.  

[Jacqs]

Plus the whole "dolls, dresses and perfume" dynamic of Dodie... yeah.

Then came Polly (or as she's better known, "adult woman trying to play 8 years younger than she is"). Ronne was almost pushing thirty, and boy, was it starting to show...

[MushMarch]

On 5/11/2019 at 11:42 PM, Jacqs said:

Plus the whole "dolls, dresses and perfume" dynamic of Dodie... yeah.

Then came Polly (or as she's better known, "adult woman trying to play 8 years younger than she is"). Ronne was almost pushing thirty, and boy, was it starting to show...

There's an episode in (I think) the second season of M3S where Ronne Troup plays one of Robbie's classmates - which means roughly 5-6 years older than Chip.  And then in season 11, she's starting off college with Chip and eventually marrying him.  She must have been held back a number of grades (take that, social promotion!) AND also made the move from Bryant Park to LA.

On 5/11/2019 at 11:53 AM, Cobb Salad said:

I’d vote for #1 if they couldn’t find anyone to satisfy #2.  Since the show was already on a while already I guess they couldn’t do anything new or fresh to keep people interested except marry Steve off.  Since Ernie was older they lost the little kid stories for the show so we get Dodie whose story lines were pretty dull IMO.  

Oh, I forgot one:

(4)  Lose that stupid, ugly doll (or was it a puppet?) Myrtle - as in, lose it to the nearest active incinerator.

[MushMarch]

Speaking of Wilson, mysteriously lost dog of Ernie:  The same dog pops up in the background in the episode "What About Harry?" shown recently on MeTV.  Steve is visiting a woman who matches unclaimed/unwanted dogs with suitable owners, and there's the Wilson dog lounging on the couch in the background in one shot.  I'm guessing that since Frank Inn did all the animal stuff with nearly every TV series back in those days, Wilson was just one dog out of many from his active talent pool.  The dog who portrays "Harry" looks an awful lot like the Shaggy Dog (played by "Sam") from the 1959 film - speaking of which, starred both Fred MacMurray and Tim Considine (I think it was from this that MacMurray recommended Considine for the role of Mike.  Poor Tim Considine - according to Wikipedia, "Sam" clawed him in the eye during filming).

[libgirl2]

On 5/14/2019 at 5:45 PM, MushMarch said:

There's an episode in (I think) the second season of M3S where Ronne Troup plays one of Robbie's classmates - which means roughly 5-6 years older than Chip.  And then in season 11, she's starting off college with Chip and eventually marrying him.  She must have been held back a number of grades (take that, social promotion!) AND also made the move from Bryant Park to LA.

Oh, I forgot one:

(4)  Lose that stupid, ugly doll (or was it a puppet?) Myrtle - as in, lose it to the nearest active incinerator.

I never was a Dodie fan! Luckily I forgot about that awful Myrtle until I was just reminded. 

[Jacqs]

Cast a better looking child. maybe blonde and less plain. And better scripts. And, in Season 10, stop trying to make Dodie the tallest, oldest pre-schooler on the planet. If you want a four year old, Fedderson, cast a four year old. Not a six year old,

[MushMarch]

Another "Mike mention" in the season 6 episode, "Steve and the Huntress":  Steve is showing an African explorer he just met (what's up with Steve in season 6 anyway?  Ol' Swingin' Steve is suddenly getting way more "girly action" than Robbie or Mike ever experienced) around the house and introducing her to the family when they stop by and admire Mike's college diploma hanging on the wall.  I wonder why Mike didn't take it with him - I've always had mine in possession, although never hanging on a wall (it's in a box somewhere . . . at least I hope it is).  I never would have considered having my folks hang it up at their place.  Maybe that's a Bryant Park thing?  I'm not sure why this "Mike mention" even takes place - unlike the earlier one in "Marriage and Stuff" (or even if you count Mike's last appearance in "The First Marriage"), it doesn't figure into the plot in any way, shape, or form.  It's just . . . there.

[MushMarch]

On 4/18/2019 at 1:55 PM, Cara said:

I saw the episode today when William Frawley leaves the show. I was surprised how well he looked and how competently he did his scenes. I had read so much about what poor health he was in and was uninsurable. Of course looks can be deceiving. He did die relatively soon after that.

I also saw that episode recently.  As soon as he announced that he was headed back to Dublin, I knew the end was coming soon for the Bub character - and sure enough, it did, by the end of the episode.  And I agree, he looked well and was still playing the character with the same A game approach that he always brought.  In retrospect, losing Frawley was a blow to the series IMHO.  He imbued the Bub character with extra human dimensions (empathy, understanding) in a seamless way that Demarest's Uncle Charley sorely lacked - or, when Demarest attempted them, it came off as forced, obligated by the script, and not wholly sincere or natural.

Edited May 18, 2019 by MushMarch

[Jacqs]

Frawley had a severe heart condition and his death would have come soon, even if he hadn't been dropped. @MushMarch @Cobb Salad @SanDiegoInExile

[Cobb Salad]

On 5/14/2019 at 6:45 PM, MushMarch said:

There's an episode in (I think) the second season of M3S where Ronne Troup plays one of Robbie's classmates - which means roughly 5-6 years older than Chip.  And then in season 11, she's starting off college with Chip and eventually marrying him.  She must have been held back a number of grades (take that, social promotion!) AND also made the move from Bryant Park to LA.

She stalked Robbie, saw he got married then targeted Chip instead, LOL. 

Another example of the people behind the show not keeping track I guess or they did not figure we fans would be talking about the show as we do many years later 😊.  Plus the black and white episodes were not shown again until the late 80s.

Tomorrow’s MeTV episode includes a pre-Katie Tina Cole (I think her 3rd and last appearance before the California episodes) playing another girlfriend of Robbie’s. They were always paired together. 

[Gemma Violet]

On 5/20/2019 at 4:06 PM, Cobb Salad said:

 Another example of the people behind the show not keeping track I guess or they did not figure we fans would be talking about the show as we do many years later 😊.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that on the first run, the episodes in question can be months or years apart and viewers wouldn't notice these things, but on reruns, the episodes can be just a few weeks apart.  It seems to happen on a lot of old shows.  They didn't anticipate the concept of repeats, obviously.  😄

ETA: Editing to add it's not just older shows.  I remember reading about some character actor playing 3 or 4 different roles during the run of Law and Order.

Edited May 25, 2019 by Gemma Violet

[Jacqs]

@Gemma Violet Old shows are designed to make you tune in again the following week, not to watch the next episode seconds later!

[Cara]

They must have had a very limited wardrobe budget. I’ve seen the same clothes repeated multiple times. I know I’ve see Robbie wear one shirt at least a dozen times! 😉

Edited May 26, 2019 by Cara