Father
Knows Best. Ozzie and Harriett. The
Donna Reed Show. My Three Sons. Leave
It To Beaver.
These are the top five iconic television classics
that were filmed in black and white.
However, contrary to popular opinion, from an
organically-aesthetic perspective, each of these shows and their characters
were not all that black and white.
In fact, they were very colorful and
multi-dimensional.
At times, and in retrospect, when any one of these
programs are referenced in the spectrum of television in particular, and
popular culture in general, they are too many times pidgin-holed as too sentimental
or lacking depth, story and character development.
In reality, such an assessment could not be further
from the truth.
The characters on each of these shows interacted with
one another on very real terms; they treated each other as honestly as possible
within the context of their time. The
shows may be products of their time; but they delivered as honest a portrayal
of family life as was possible by the medium of their era (early 1950s-to early
1960s).
For example, on Father
Knows Best (which began on radio) Jim and Margaret Anderson, as played by the
elegant Robert Young and Jane Wyatt, on several occasions became legitimately
and realistically upset with and disappointed in their children (played by Elinor
Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin).
In fact, during one particularly startling moment from the series, when
all three children were acting selfishly, Wyatt’s Margaret berated them as a
group and actually called them brats!
On The Donna
Reed Show, the iconic film star of big-screen classics like It’s A Wonderful Life (1946),
transferred to the small screen by portraying a character who fully embraced
being a housewife and mother. She cared
for and adored her husband (played by Carl Betz) and children (Shelley Fabares,
and real-life siblings Paul Peterson - a comedic genius from the word go - and Patti Peterson), but was always sure
to correct them in very straight-forward terms if she believed they were
off-track in any way, shape or form (particularly when it came to not
displaying loving-kindness).
Fred McMurray, as the star of My Three Sons, was one of the first widowed parents on television,
and always took an amiable, but firm hand in raising his trio of teens (Mike
Considine, Don Grady, and more real-life siblings Barry Livingston and Stanley
Livingston (the latter of whom joined the series after Considine left).
Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsly as Ward and June Cleaver on Leave It To
Beaver, watched over their two young sons (Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow) with
a close but a respectful eye, making certain to allow their children the space
that each human being deserves – at any age - for their own personal growth. Leave
it To Beaver, in fact, was one of the most mature family sitcoms in
history, despite the fact that its stories were essentially told from the
perspective of its youngest child.
The Adventures of Ozzie
and Harriet (which like Father Knows Best began on radio) displayed the king and queen of classic TV
parentage raising their two sons,
Ricky and David Nelson (who were in reality their real-life off-spring
off-camera) with sound, spiritual hand; based on the very realistic stories of their
very reality – as they were all playing themselves!
So, anytime anyone attacks these and other such
family TV classics (even when they transferred into color) as being overtly-syrupy,
I respond as did once the genius Michael Learned during an appearance on The Today Show. Certain critics mistakenly attack The Waltons, the esteemed 1970s family
series on which Ms. Learned starred as the matriarch, because, “Those who call
our show too saccharine simply don’t watch it.”
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