Question about Make Room for Daddy (a.k.a. The Danny Thomas Show) (1 Viewer)

[jimmyjet]

when you say "thomas's wishes", are you referring to danny or marlo ?
if danny, are his wishes known ? in other words, what were his reasons ? if it was something emotional, then they may never release those years.
if it was simply because he did not think they would be remembered, then i think they could eventually be released.
i feel pretty confident that most watchers fall into my category (i.e. would like to see the early years even if they have never seen them).

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I read that Danny Thomas hated Jean Hagen, mainly because she hated him (which is why she quit, and why he had her character die, instead of just getting a new Margaret, like Darrin on "Bewitched.")
However, those Hagen episodes were rerun for a long time on the NBC network in daytime in the early 1960s, so I don't really believe the story.
If anyone's interested in releasing this series, it would be silly to pretend the first four seasons don't even exist. Besides, I've always been curious to see that fourth season, when there was no mother at all. Come to think of it, if any season had been withheld from syndication, it would be that one, because when they started over, Margaret would be magically alive again, which they might have thought would seem odd. But, of course, releasing them on DVD is another situation entirely.

 

[jimmyjet]

from the various research that i have done, i think the thing that makes the most sense is that danny's ego was bruised that jean hagen was considered the bigger draw.
if danny thomas actually wrote in his will not to release the jean hagen episodes to the public, that is consistent with an ego problem. and ridiculously petty, which egos very often are.
i mean jean hagen is dead. i cant imagine that danny would have cared if her offspring made some residuals.
the first 4 years is an important aspect of the show. you simply cant dismiss it as if it never happened.
i wont buy anything until and unless they give us the whole series, which probably means i will never own it. because now i think it is highly unlikely that the jean hagen episodes will ever be released, unless for some reason the rights are sold.

 

[shoeshineboy]

Being that Danny Thomas founded St. Jude hospital in St. Louis, which serves children who are ill, it would be foolish for the family --- if they continue too hold the rights to 1-4 seasons --- to follow some long ago grudge by the patriarch; couldn't the proceeds gained by farming out the rights, plus residuals, help a lot of sick children?

 

[jimmyjet]

isnt that estate worth a gazillion dollars ?
i suspect that any money made by them from sales of a mrfd set (even if it was the complete series) would be peanuts compared to what they already have.
it is a shame that some personal situation may be preventing millions of people from enjoying something.
and at this point in time, what the heck is it accomplishing ? both people are dead. it just seems like a ridiculous waste.
we need more of those types of shows. mrfd was a great show.

 

[JasonPW]

I imagine ego may have played a role, but I do think some of it was Danny Thomas being angry at Hagen for pulling out just when the show was starting to develop roots. If you think about it, it's really pretty miraculous that the show survived. By leaving the show with (what we can presume to be) fairly little warning, Hagen left the show with very few options, and they basically ended up doing a season of on-air auditions to replace her. It's one thing to audition replacement announcers on-camera, as "The Price Is Right" did twice during its run. But to have to write and produce a season's worth of a prime-time series without a core character in place...it brings to mind the Valerie Harper dustup that lead to "The Hogan Family."
If not for serendipitous casting, and a network change that in those days would have been instigated by a sponsor, the show might very well have stalled out at four seasons.

 

[Brent S]

I've always been curious to see that fourth season, when there was no mother at all. Come to think of it, if any season had been withheld from syndication, it would be that one, because when they started over, Margaret would be magically alive again, which they might have thought would seem odd.

Marjorie Lord didn't play 'Margaret'.
Some season 4 episodes dealt with Rusty and Terry trying to get their father to date again. Marjories's character was 'Kathy O'Hara' (aka nickname 'Clancy'), introduced toward the end of season 4 as a nurse (also recently widowed, with a daughter played by Angela Cartwright), hired by Danny to look after Rusty when he comes down with the measles. Danny and Kathy got engaged in the last episode of the season, and left on a Vegas honeymoon when season 5 opened.

 

[Neil Brock]

Marjorie Lord didn't play 'Margaret'.
Some season 4 episodes dealt with Rusty and Terry trying to get their father to date again. Marjories's character was 'Kathy O'Hara' (aka nickname 'Clancy'), introduced toward the end of season 4 as a nurse (also recently widowed, with a daughter played by Angela Cartwright), hired by Danny to look after Rusty when he comes down with the measles. Danny and Kathy got engaged in the last episode of the season, and left on a Vegas honeymoon when season 5 opened.

Actually the daughter was played by Lelani Sorenson in season four and Angela Cartwright replaced her in season five.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Marjorie Lord didn't play 'Margaret'.

I know ... you totally misunderstood what I said, which is probably my fault for not being more clear.

 

[jimmyjet]

there were some comments about daddy in the ozzie thread.

so i thought i would bring it over here.

i had not seen any of it, since a kid.

so i just viewed a couple of short clips, featuring just rusty and angela.

here are my comments :

1) i still liked it, and thought that it was very enjoyable.

2) i can see why i would have liked the two, when i was a kid. they were both very cute.

3) however, they are not really acting like kids. not in the sense that wally and beaver and opie did. they are acting way older than their age, at least in these 2 clips.

4) and they do tend to laugh, at least angela, when something is supposed to be cute. much like larry mathews would do in dick van dyke.

5) these are not necessarily criticisms of the actors. it seems likely that they may have been instructed to do so.

6) but it does make them appear to be more like characters, instead of real children. one of the complaints i have about some of the later shows, with kids making wisecracks that not even most real adults are witty enough to make.

7) i think the main difference for me may be that daddy is first a comedy show, then a family show. whereas ozzie and beaver and fkb are first a family show, then with some humor thrown in.

 

[Susan Nunes_329977]

I read that Danny Thomas hated Jean Hagen, mainly because she hated him (which is why she quit, and why he had her character die, instead of just getting a new Margaret, like Darrin on "Bewitched.") However, those Hagen episodes were rerun for a long time on the NBC network in daytime in the early 1960s, so I don't really believe the story. If anyone's interested in releasing this series, it would be silly to pretend the first four seasons don't even exist. Besides, I've always been curious to see that fourth season, when there was no mother at all. Come to think of it, if any season had been withheld from syndication, it would be that one, because when they started over, Margaret would be magically alive again, which they might have thought would seem odd. But, of course, releasing them on DVD is another situation entirely.

You are right about the Hagen episodes having run on NBC daytime. I used to watch them then. That's why I thought it odd somebody said they weren't ever shown again when I know different.

 

[Mark Collins]

I was able many years ago to pick up the Lucy Ricky cross over episode on VHS. The episode aired after Danny and family did that great cross over episode on the Lucy Desi Comedy hour. They mention visiting Lucy in Ricky in the episode. Here's Lucy DVD also included a Lucy cross over on Make Room For Grandaddy

 

[Neil Brock]

You are right about the Hagen episodes having run on NBC daytime. I used to watch them then. That's why I thought it odd somebody said they weren't ever shown again when I know different.

After the afternoon daytime run on NBC ended, some time around 1964 or 65, the show by that time had left CBS and was sold into syndication. Since there were certainly enough Marjorie Lord episodes, over 200 at the time, later reduced to 161, the 3 Jean Hagen seasons and the widower season were not included in the package. Danny thought so little of those first four seasons that when the 28 year copyright expired, they weren't even renewed and thus fell into public domain. Which is how sporadic episodes from those years popped up on some small stations. The Thomas people actually tried to do an end run around the situation by sending in copies to Library of Congress to try to renew the copyright a couple of years later. Which if anyone ever wanted to challenge, there's no way it would be upheld. If you look up the earlier shows, they will come up with submission dates 31 years after the episodes, which does not constitute legal copyright.

 

[bretmaverick2]

I really enjoy this show. I watch the repeats on a local station and still find the show funny and charming.

Add to that all the appearances by so many stars of that era, I just really like watching it.

Up above, I see mentioned some appearances by Danny & Co. as their 'Daddy" characters on other shows.

Anyone have a list of those appearances?

 

[Mark Collins]

Here are the two Lucy cross over episodes I spoke of.

S6, Ep14 Jan. 5, 1959Lucy Upsets the Williams HouseholdDanny convinces Ricky Ricardo to move to his apartment during their nightclub engagement, assuring Ricky that Kathy will be a good influence on an out of control spendthrift, his infamous wife, Lucy Ricardo.

One of my favorite scenes from the cross over in 1958 with Danny and Lucy on Lucy Desi Comedy Hour.

1 Dec. 1958)

Lucy and Ricky sublet their country house to the Williams family of "Make Room for Daddy", but when their vacation plans are put on hold and they've got nowhere to go, they move in with the Mertzes with the usual results.


Lucy Ricardo creeps into her bedroom where renter Danny Thomas is sleeping. Waters her neglected plant and knocks over a glass]
Danny Williams: [Half awake] Honey? Honey, is that you?
Lucy Ricardo: [out of view of Danny and not wanting her intrusion to be discovered] Huh?
Danny Williams: Is that you, Kathy?
Lucy Ricardo: Uh-huh.
Danny Williams: Aren't you going in to New York, baby?
Lucy Ricardo: Uh-uh.
Danny Williams: Oh good. I'm glad. How about getting daddy a cup of coffee? Huh? Sweetheart? A cup of coffee, dear.
[Lucy quickly disguises herself in Kathy's housecoat]
Danny Williams: I don't think it's such a hot idea, this commuting, honey. I miss you. You miss me?
Lucy Ricardo: Uh-huh.
Danny Williams: I miss you a lot. I don't get to see you much more any more. Living in the country like this.
[Lucy ties Kathy's kerchief around her head, completing her disguise]
Danny Williams: Sweetie?
Lucy Ricardo: Yeah?
Danny Williams: How about that coffee?
Lucy Ricardo: Um-hum.
[tries to casually stroll past the bed. Danny playfully slaps her on the backside, mortifying her]
Danny Williams: Morning, beautiful! Come here, lover.
[Pulls her to bed with her back facing him and kisses her back and neck, while Lucy grimaces in horror]
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Kathy Williams: I would like to know what your wife was doing in our bedroom, scratching my husband's back!
Danny Williams: Yeah, so would I.
Kathy Williams: You be quiet!
Ricky Ricardo: Why were you scratching his back?
Lucy Ricardo: Why was I scratching his back?
Ricky Ricardo: You heard me!
Lucy Ricardo: He asked me to.
Kathy Williams: Ah, hah. WHY did you ask her to scratch your back?
Ricky Ricardo: Yeah, why, WHY?
Danny Williams: [wide-eyed and innocently] It itched.

."Make Room for Granddaddy" - Lucy and the Lecher (1971) TV episode, Played by Lucille Ball (as Lucy Carter

Lucy returns in the one season Make Room For Grandaddy in a Here's Lucy cross over and brings along at the end of the episode an old pal from I Love Lucy Days calling her not by the I Love Lucy person she played but by a name we always heard about on Lucy but never saw the person.

 

[Ron1973]

Slightly off topic here. Who owns Make Room for Granddaddy? I caught the episode where Lucille Ball guest starred and couldn't quit laughing!

 

[Mark Collins]

Gosh Ron I have no idea. MPI would know since they put the episode on the 3rd season of Here's Lucy. I read there were 32 episodes of that one season show. Perhaps MPI will bring it out.

 

[Ron1973]

I only watched the one episode with Lucy and I was thoroughly entertained. I wouldn't expect a bunch of extras or even scanned for HD. Maybe, just maybe?

 

[Neil Brock]

Slightly off topic here. Who owns Make Room for Granddaddy? I caught the episode where Lucille Ball guest starred and couldn't quit laughing!

The Thomas estate controls the series, as they do the rest of Danny's shows. Distribution and licensing for all of their shows is currently handled by SFM Entertainment.

 

[Ron1973]

The Thomas estate controls the series, as they do the rest of Danny's shows. Distribution and licensing for all of their shows is currently handled by SFM Entertainment.

Thanks.