Father Knows Best (1954)
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William D. Russell — Director
Episodes 62
The Motor Scooter
Jim buys Bud a motor scooter but Margaret won't let him have it.
Read MoreFootball Tickets
Jim gets tickets to an important football game, and picks one of the kids to go with him—only to be blackmailed by an important client (who wants to go to the game, too) out of one of his tickets. He then tries frantically to find a second one.
Read MoreLive My Own Life
Bud moves out, but discovers he can't clean, cook, or take care of himself.
Read MoreGrandpa Jim's Rejuvenation
Jim comes to believe that he is over the hill.
Read MoreBud's Encounter With the Law
Bud becomes increasingly paranoid when Kathy (who has a fascination with the new washing machine, and puts everything in there) places a letter addressed to him by the police department in the washing machine, and ruins the letter, so he doesn’t know why he is asked to be there within seven days.
Read MoreThanksgiving Day
Kathy writes the best poem in the fourth grade on what Thanksgiving means to her, and Jim builds the poem up in his mind to unreasonable expectations for a fourth grader. When he actually finds out what the poem consists of, his hopes for Kathy’s future are deflated and he disparages the poem to Margaret, unwitting that Kathy has overheard.
Read MoreSecond Honeymoon
Jim's weekend retreat, just he and his wife, seems like a perfect idea, at first. But he doesn't want to pass this on to the kids when he learns that the kids have plans with them; and then when the kids take the news too easy, Jim and Margaret are befuddled. They leave, but soon they start thinking about their kids and after reaching the lodge they want to phone in - but no one answers the call...
Read MoreTypical Father
Jim becomes worried that things between Betty and a new male friend of hers are getting too serious.
Read MoreMargaret Goes Dancing
Jim and Margaret rarely disagree on anything. But when he finds out Margaret signed them up to take dancing lessons, Jim refuses to do so, and ends up defiantly going to his old club, leaving her to take lessons alone.
Read MoreThe Christmas Story
Jim takes the family into the woods to cut down their own tree, and they become stranded there.
Read MoreSparrow in the Window
Kathy discovers a wounded Sparrow on the windowsill of the house—which she then considers hers—and the whole family becomes involved in trying to help it get better.
Read MoreBoy's Week
Jim receives a traffic ticket and Bud is appointed to be judge on that day.
Read MoreA Friend of Old George's
An unwanted visitor that won't leave spoils Kathy's birthday party.
Read MoreBud the Snob
Bud is deemed a snob by the girls in school because he won’t speak to any of them. When Jim talks it over with him, he discovers that Bud‘s real problem is that he becomes tongue-tied around them.
Read MoreThe Promised Playhouse
After making a big deal about people keeping their word, Jim is forced to put his words into practice to set a good example for his family.
Read MoreJim the Farmer
Jim wants to give up his office job in order to move into the country to lead a quiet, and less stressful, life as a farmer. Margaret doesn't think that he means it seriously, but he crosses more lines to fulfill his dream than he ever has before.
Read MoreFather of the Year
Jim is happy to learn his kids are planning to enter him in a Father of the Year contest. But things, of course, don’t go smoothly.
Read MoreThe Mink Coat
Even though finances have grown a little tight in the Anderson household, Jim buys Margaret a mink coat that ends up being more trouble than it’s worth.
Read MoreThe Matchmaker
Margaret tries to get her cousin and her boyfriend married.
Read MoreBud the Bridesmaid
Margaret's cousin (from the previous episode) is set to wed in the Anderson household, but things go wrong, due to the nervousness of the prospective bride and groom, and the wedding is called off. Poor Bud is reeled in to do a stand-in for the bride at the rehearsal.
Read MoreProud Father
Jim tries to help the children regain their confidence.
Read MoreFather Delivers the Papers
Bud injures himself, so Jim delivers the papers on his route to avoid Bud being fired.
Read MoreNo Partiality
Kathy and Betty fight for the attention of the same man.
Read MoreClose Decision
Margaret worries the entire day over what will become of Bud’s future if he doesn’t develop good character. This is tied in with a baseball game Bud is trying to get to play in.
Read MoreArt of Salesmanship
Jim tries to encourage Bud to take after him in salesmanship.
Read MoreFather's Private Life
Jim comes home tired one day and is harangued by the kids. So, he and Margaret set up new rules to give him some time to relax—but it ends up backfiring.
Read MoreLessons in Civics
A new highway is getting built, and for that the old community hall is going to be pulled down. That's something Jim wouldn't like to see since the hall is a historical monument, and also, memories from his youth are connected with this hall. Everyone from the family sees how much the hall means to Jim, and they use different ways to organize help.
Read MoreFirst Disillusionment
Bud loses a job to a boy who fakes his resume, which leads him to believe it is alright to do this himself
Read MoreWoman in the House
Margaret is forced to invite a woman who makes her uncomfortable because she is Jim's friend's wife.
Read MoreNew Girl at School
Bud learns that the girl he likes is dating his best friend.
Read MoreKathy Makes Magic
Kathy gets a new magic set, from a trade with a friend, and becomes convinced she can truly wield magic.
Read MoreAdvantage to Betty
Betty has recently taken up tennis at school and is chosen for a photo shoot for the paper. This causes friction between her and her doubles partner, Eula, who is the team’s best player.
Read MoreThe Big Test
Bud is accused of cheating because he is suddenly getting high grades in class.
Read MoreFather Is a Dope
After commenting on a sitcom (“Father Does It Again”) the family watches together one night, Jim speaks about how TV fathers are often portrayed as dumb in comparison with their families. Later, he plans on going hunting and starts believing that Margaret and the kids are secretly trying to get him to stay.
Read MoreSpirit of Youth
When Jim gets an invitation to a dance for his class reunion—class of ‘33—the kids start behaving as if their parents are ancient. Then, when the kids at their alma mater treat them the same, Jim and Margaret deal with the thought of getting older.
Read MoreBud, the Ladykiller
Bud gets irritated by a girl (whom he refers to as “Dumb Dora”) who has a crush on him, hurts her feelings when his irritation leads to cruelty, and must make amends.
Read MoreMargaret's Premonition
Margaret has a premonition of danger for Jim’s upcoming business trip, and tries to get Jim to postpone it. But Jim believes it’s a bunch of superstitious nonsense, and insists on going anyway.
Read MoreStage to Yuma
Tate Idsen saves a stagecoach from savage Indians in a flashback sequence.
Read MoreBad Influence
Bud gets in trouble when his latest friend turns out to be a kleptomaniac.
Read MoreBetty Hates Carter
Betty is indignant when Jim arranges a date for her with an old insurance salesman buddy’s son, Carter.
Read MoreJim, the Tyrant
Jim comes home early from work, after a long, hard day, and expects to gain comfort from his family, but is quickly disillusioned when they all are too absorbed in their own interests and tasks to pay attention to him. This just makes his mood more sour and he declares at dinner that if he must, he will become a tyrant. This leads to unwelcome consequences.
Read MoreBetty's Brother
Bud is having trouble in school and the family are hard-pressed to find out why. Eventually, Jim and Margaret come to the conclusion that, since he’s entered high school, he’s lost his confidence over being constantly compared to Betty and her accomplishments.
Read MoreBetty Earns a Formal
Betty gets a job to pay for a new, expensive formal for the Cinderella Ball at the country club.
Read MoreThe House Painter
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Bud, the Wallflower
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The Bus to Nowhere
The last few days Betty has no fun, she's sullen and does nothing. No one gets through to her, not even her parents. Betty faces a personal crisis when she has to find answers, basically, to the meaning-of-life question. The only way out for her is to put Bud's story (which he has written as an assignment) into reality: Enter a bus and go as far as the money takes her.
Read MoreKathy, the Indian Giver
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The Historical Andersons
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The Grass is Greener
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The Persistent Guest
Bud new friend won't leave the Anderson house because he has no family.
Read MoreFamily Reunion
The family tries to think up excuses to keep from going to Margaret's family reunion.
Read MoreFamily Dines Out
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Bud, the Boxer
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Betty, Girl Engineer
Betty decides to become an engineer. Doyle: Roger Smith. Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Billy Gray, Lauren Chapin.
Read MoreThe Martins and the Coys
Betty and her boyfriend refuse to see again after Jim and his father fight.
Read MoreDilemma for Margaret
Margaret admits before the PTA that she can't control her children.
Read MoreHero Father
Former baseball star Duke Snider appears in this episode. Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray, Lauren Chapin. Sandy: Tommy Ivo. Bramer: Kenneth Tobey. Kippy: Paul Wallace.
Read MoreFather, the Naturalist
Jim fights the elements to collect plants for Kathy's nature folder. Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray.
Read MoreThe Ten Dollar Question
The family member who doesn't tattle for one week will receive ten dollars.
Read MoreAdopted Daughter
Kathy finds a receipt for $25 from the adoption center and believes she was adopted.
Read MoreBetty's Graduation
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Betty's Graduation
When Kathy refuses to graduate from high school, the family tells her about Betty's reluctance to graduate from High School, too. This is a recut version of episode 63. It is not part of the syndication package and is considered ""lost"".
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