My Three Sons: I Want a Complete Box Set (1 Viewer)

Being an avid TV fan like I am, it's often baffling to me just how many classic shows I let slide under my radar. MY THREE SONS is one of those shows. I've always known about it, I just never got around to watching it.

MY THREE SONS had an impressive twelve-season run, airing from 1960 to 1972, totaling 380 episodes. It was one of the longest-running sitcoms for a number of years. That record has since been bested. The series starred film star Fred MacMurray as a widowed father raising three sons with the help of their grandfather played by William Frawley (of I LOVE LUCY fame). MY THREE SONS ran on ABC for five seasons (1960─1965) before the network decided to cancel the show (even though it was placing #13 in the ratings) because they refused to pay the additional costs to shoot episodes in color. CBS quickly picked up the sitcom's option, and it ran for another seven years in color, before officially concluded in 1972.

There's another site I'm a part of where MY THREE SONS isn't necessarily a popular classic series among the majority. While they respect it as cozy and occasionally well-structured, they typically pass it off as bland and not their cup of tea. MY THREE SONS certainly isn't laugh-out-loud funny, but it is an enjoyable little comedy.

I'd like to have a complete series box set. I'm not entirely sure how well the first five seasons have done on DVD, and if they haven't met expectations, the producers may be weary of releasing more seasons. Also, I'm sure there might be some issues because the show ran on two separate networks. ABC might have been willing to release the five seasons they aired, but CBS might be holding out. I don't know.

ClassyCo said:

I'd like to have a complete series box set. I'm not entirely sure how well the first five seasons have done on DVD, and if they haven't met expectations, the producers may be weary of releasing more seasons. Also, I'm sure there might be some issues because the show ran on two separate networks. ABC might have been willing to release the five seasons they aired, but CBS might be holding out. I don't know.

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Networks have nothing to do with it. The entire series is owned by CBS now.

I mean, ABC didn't have any say in releasing Laverne and Shirley. Why? Because CBS is the owner of Laverne and Shirley. Fox didn't keep the first three seasons of Sliders off of DVD, because Universal has always been the owner of the show.

No, CBS started My Three Sons on DVD off badly with replaced music and split seasons, and it never really recovered. There was progress being made through CBS's MoD program, but then the merger happened and it's unclear as to if they're doing classic shows on MoD anymore.

So, circumstances hurt My Three Sons releases more than anything. And, I'm betting at first CBS expected more, sales-wise, than a show like this ever would've provided, which also didn't help matters.

It appears to be owned by CBS, according to the syndication bible.

The Obsolete Man said:

No, CBS started My Three Sons on DVD off badly with replaced music and split seasons, and it never really recovered. There was progress being made through CBS's MoD program, but then the merger happened and it's unclear as to if they're doing classic shows on MoD anymore.

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The last hope for a complete series dvd set, would be if ViacomCBS outsources it to VEI.

I bet we’ll get a season 1-5 set out soon I’d buy that I like the early years of the show the best

The Obsolete Man said:

So, circumstances hurt My Three Sons releases more than anything. And, I'm betting at first CBS expected more, sales-wise, than a show like this ever would've provided, which also didn't help matters.

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Does that mean that CBS expected exceptional sales numbers for something like this, even considering that many who purchase DVD releases of television series more often go for new/current over classic?

Dave Scarpa said:

I bet we’ll get a season 1-5 set out soon I’d buy that I like the early years of the show the best

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If they released a set like this, I'd buy one.

ClassyCo said:

If they released a set like this, I'd buy one.

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Only if the episodes are complete and without any music alterations. Being remastered in High Definition would be an absolute bonus, but I’d take them even if they weren’t in HD. But they have to be full running time and unaltered.

Gary “ I’d like the whole run, but seasons 1-5 and the first episode of S6 would suffice” O.

Gary OS said:

Only if the episodes are complete and without any music alterations. Being remastered in High Definition would be an absolute bonus, but I’d take them even if they weren’t in HD. But they have to be full running time and unaltered.

Gary “ I’d like the whole run, but seasons 1-5 and the first episode of S6 would suffice” O.

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Yeah, I haven't seen a lot of the show with William Demarest in the cast, so I seriously doubt I'd want the seasons without William Frawley.

While there really wasn't anything "wrong" with William Demarest, I remember my sister and I being *very* upset when "Bub" left the show. It was decades later before I discovered it was due to illness. Then Mike marries and leaves. When it moved to CBS is when, IMHO, it began to decline and my sister and I pretty much stopped watching. To that end, a properly done box set of Seasons 1 to 5 would be perfect and all I'd want to own.

BobO'Link said:

While there really wasn't anything "wrong" with William Demarest, I remember my sister and I being *very* upset when "Bub" left the show. It was decades later before I discovered it was due to illness. Then Mike marries and leaves. When it moved to CBS is when, IMHO, it began to decline and my sister and I pretty much stopped watching. To that end, a properly done box set of Seasons 1 to 5 would be perfect and all I'd want to own.

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Some of the later seasons and episodes were still good. I always liked Tina Cole as Katie.

BobO'Link said:

While there really wasn't anything "wrong" with William Demarest, I remember my sister and I being *very* upset when "Bub" left the show. It was decades later before I discovered it was due to illness. Then Mike marries and leaves. When it moved to CBS is when, IMHO, it began to decline and my sister and I pretty much stopped watching. To that end, a properly done box set of Seasons 1 to 5 would be perfect and all I'd want to own.

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This is why I was careful to add season six, episode one to my wish list. It contains the wedding of Mike and Sally.

Gary “the more Meredith MacRae, the better” O.

I like the entire series but have a soft spot for 66–68. They were the first seasons I remember seeing in syndication in the 1970s. Didn’t see any of the black-and-white episodes until the Nick at Night run the 1980s. I once had a friend who hated the show because of “that a—hole Uncle Charley”. I don’t share his ire, I like William Demarest in this and the final season of Wells Fargo. Tina Cole does a good job on the Four King Cousins LP, more happening than one might expect. A recent viewing of the 1958 Annette serial with Tim Considine makes me want to give the early years another viewing.

I bought a set off eBay where someone had recorded them all off TV, so they're syndicated transfers and some run a couple minutes short, but the set is complete in terms of episodes and the original music is there. It makes me sad to think this is as good as it's probably ever going to get in my lifetime. I just try to forget the terrible debacle and enjoy the show. But man I'd love a complete set too, even if it was just DVD.

Tina Cole was such a great addition to the show that I'd want several more seasons.

The episodes that were centered around Katie with her and Robbie falling in love, getting married, the pregnancy and birth of the triplets, Katie and her new family performing the song Downtown in one episode (My favorite song since before I even could speak, my parents say), and some later episodes that were centered around her like the heartbeat episode with the sump pump are some of my favorite episodes.

I was born in 1982. I was watching seasons 6-11 for years before I discovered that there were black & white seasons with either the internet when I first went online around 1997 or that big marathon that TV Land had with the early seasons (Although I should've suspected with the black & white flashbacks that Steve has in one episode I think after Chip marries, but I thought as a dumb teenager that they just did a good job of casting a younger Chip for a few brief scenes).

It's these seasons that made me fall in love with the show, so I sure wouldn't skip them although I wouldn't be kept awake at night if seasons 10-12 never came out. They're not awful, but there's no standout episodes in those last few seasons and the new cast additions did nothing for me. But it's Tina Cole that is the primary reason why I fell in love with My Three Sons and those early seasons with her are must have releases in my book.

The discovery of excellent black & white seasons some years later was just a happy byproduct of my crush on Tina Cole.

LeoA said:

Tina Cole was such a great addition to the show that I'd want several more seasons.

The episodes that were centered around Katie with her and Robbie falling in love, getting married, the pregnancy and birth of the triplets, Katie and her new family performing the song Downtown in one episode (My favorite song since before I even could speak, my parents say), and some later episodes that were centered around her like the heartbeat episode with the sump pump are some of my favorite episodes.

I was born in 1982. I was watching seasons 6-11 for years before I discovered that there were black & white seasons with either the internet when I first went online around 1997 or that big marathon that TV Land had with the early seasons (Although I should've suspected with the black & white flashbacks that Steve has in one episode I think after Chip marries, but I thought as a dumb teenager that they just did a good job of casting a younger Chip for a few brief scenes).

It's these seasons that made me fall in love with the show, so I sure wouldn't skip them although I wouldn't be kept awake at night if seasons 10-12 never came out. They're not awful, but there's no standout episodes in those last few seasons and the new cast additions did nothing for me. But it's Tina Cole that is the primary reason why I fell in love with My Three Sons and those early seasons with her are must have releases in my book.

The discovery of excellent black & white seasons some years later was just a happy byproduct of my crush on Tina Cole.

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Substitute Meredith MacRae for Tina Cole, and the character of Sally for Katie, and you’ve described me. LOL


Gary “I would not at all be opposed to the Tina Cole years being released as well, as I do like her and the character she played on the show“ O.

Considering I like William Frawley far better than William Demarest (even though I've only seen pieces of him), I'd probably be alright with a bundle of the first five seasons.

LeoA said:

Tina Cole was such a great addition to the show that I'd want several more seasons.

The episodes that were centered around Katie with her and Robbie falling in love, getting married, the pregnancy and birth of the triplets, Katie and her new family performing the song Downtown in one episode (My favorite song since before I even could speak, my parents say), and some later episodes that were centered around her like the heartbeat episode with the sump pump are some of my favorite episodes.

I was born in 1982. I was watching seasons 6-11 for years before I discovered that there were black & white seasons with either the internet when I first went online around 1997 or that big marathon that TV Land had with the early seasons (Although I should've suspected with the black & white flashbacks that Steve has in one episode I think after Chip marries, but I thought as a dumb teenager that they just did a good job of casting a younger Chip for a few brief scenes).

It's these seasons that made me fall in love with the show, so I sure wouldn't skip them although I wouldn't be kept awake at night if seasons 10-12 never came out. They're not awful, but there's no standout episodes in those last few seasons and the new cast additions did nothing for me. But it's Tina Cole that is the primary reason why I fell in love with My Three Sons and those early seasons with her are must have releases in my book.

The discovery of excellent black & white seasons some years later was just a happy byproduct of my crush on Tina Cole.

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I remember seeing Tina Cole guest star in an early black and white episode and was surprised to see her playing an entirely different character, and not so sweet!

Museum Pieces said:

I bought a set off eBay where someone had recorded them all off TV, so they're syndicated transfers and some run a couple minutes short, but the set is complete in terms of episodes and the original music is there. It makes me sad to think this is as good as it's probably ever going to get in my lifetime. I just try to forget the terrible debacle and enjoy the show. But man I'd love a complete set too, even if it was just DVD.

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Me too. I have a set like yours from TV recordings, but a complete commercially released set with all original music and uncut episodes would be terrific.

Ron Lee Green said:

I remember seeing Tina Cole guest star in an early black and white episode and was surprised to see her playing an entirely different character, and not so sweet!

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She isn't so sweet? I have a hard time believing that.