Father Knows Best was an American radio and television comedy series which portrayed a middle class family life in the Midwest.  It was created by writer Ed James in the 1940s, and ran on radio from 1949 to 1954 and on television from 1954 to 1960.

The May 27th, 1954 episode of The Ford Television Theatre show was called “Keep It in the Family”.  This 26-minute episode stars Robert Young as Tim Warren, head of the Warren Family. With him was wife Grace (Ellen Drew), older daughter Peggy (Sally Fraser), younger daughter Patty (Tina Thompson) and son Jeff (Gordon Gerbert).  Developed by Young and his partner Eugene Rodney, it was intended as a pilot for a Father Knows Best television series.  In the episode, Peggy dreams of making it as an actress but a talent scout who has raised her hopes just wants people for his acting school.  Only Robert Young remained of the radio cast when the series moved to CBS Television:

• James “Jim” Anderson, Sr. – Robert Young

• Margaret Anderson – Jane Wyatt

• Betty “Princess” Anderson – Elinor Donahue

• James “Bud” Anderson, Jr. – Billy Gray

• Kathy “Kitten” Anderson – Lauren Chapin

As before, the character of Margaret was portrayed as a “voice of reason,” but Jim’s character was softened to that of a thoughtful father who offered sage advice whenever one (or more) of his children had a problem.  Jim was a salesman and manager of the General Insurance Company in Springfield, while Margaret was a housewife.  One history of the series characterized the Andersons as “truly an idealized family, the sort that viewers could relate to and emulate.”   As the two eldest children aged from teen-ager to young adult, Betty (1956) and Bud (1959) graduated from high school and attended Springfield Junior College.

Young left the series in 1960 at the height of the show’s popularity to work on other projects, but reruns continued to air in prime time for another three years, on CBS from 1960 to 1962, and on ABC from 1962 to 1963.  Following that, reruns were shown on ABC-TV in the early afternoon for several years.

The facade of the Anderson House depicted in the series’ opening credits is the same structure used as Mr. George Wilson’s home in Dennis the Menace and again, in remodeled form, as Captain/Major Anthony Nelson’s residence in I Dream of Jeannie.  Originally built in 1941 during the production of a series of Blondie movies, this theatrical property continued to serve for many more years as part of the back lot of Columbia Pictures (now Warner Brothers Ranch in Burbank, California).  The house can also be seen in both its familiar Father Knows Best style and later renovated variations in episodes of Hazel, Bewitched, The Monkees, The Partridge Family, and in numerous other television comedies and dramas.