Make Room for Daddy

[Stanislav]

Been thinking about this classic sitcom, and wondering why, despite having been pretty popular in its era, it has had limited exposure in syndication. I never saw it on any independent stations in areas I've lived. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall it turnning up on the classic superstations like TBS, etc., nor early retro cable outlets like TV Land or Nick at Nite. (If it did air on any of those, it must have been sporadic, short-lived, or buried in a scheduling black hole.) And even with the current crop of retro channels, it has yet to turn up. Matter of fact, I can honestly say I've not seen an episode broadcast in a good 40+ years.

Why is this show so neglected? Is there some legal snafu regarding rights? Is there some aspect of the humor that just doesn't click with modern viewers? I dare say if you ask most people today who Danny Thomas was, a few might vaguely recall that he was a comedian, many more would only connect him with St. Jude's, and mentioning "Make Room for Daddy" will elicit blank stares from most!

 

[AKA]

I watched it on Nick at Nite as a kid. According to Wikipedia, they aired the show from 1988 until 1991.

 

[Hal Erickson]

MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY was placed in local syndication in 1967, after having run weekly under both that title and THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW on ABC and CBS from 1953 through 1965 (the 64-65 season comprised of reruns), and daily on NBC's afternoon and weekend schedule as MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY from 1960 through 1965. Though all the episodes were seen on network, the first three seasons starring Jean Hagen as Danny's wife, and the "interim" 1956-57 season where the widowed Danny dated several ladies before finally meeting wife number 2 (Marjorie Lord), were removed from the syndication package. Likewise, several of the episodes from the 1962-63 season wherein Danny and Marjorie travelled to Europe and the UK (filmed on location) were removed, though the in-between episodes which showed their children back in New York, looked after by Danny's boss Sid Melton and his wife Pat Carroll, were still in the package (curiously, neither Melton nor Carroll received screen credit in the syndicated versions of these episodes, though they'd gotten "special" billing in the network prints). In Milwaukee, independent Channel 18 ran the abbreviated MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY package (comprised of about 2/3 of the original episodes) throughout the early to mid 1970s. Evidently the package didn't do well nationwide, so it wasn't seen much outside of the "big" markets. In recent years, several of the Jean Hagen episodes have shown up on PD tapes and DVDs, though they were never officially released to off-net syndication. This was once my favorite sitcom, and I agree that it should be seen more often nowadays.
BTW: Contrary to popular belief, there was NEVER an episode in which Danny tearfully told his children that his first wife had just died, though references were made to her passing during the 56-57 season (which opened several months after the tragedy).

 

[bpatrick]

The last time I recall a commercial station airing reruns of the
Thomas show was WLAC (now WTVF) Nashville--in 1969. I
agree it's a shame it's never shown anymore; Danny was probably
the most believable of all '50s TV dads, and the plots were believable
because, as Marlo would probably tell you, they came largely from the
real-life Thomas household (even the phrase "Make Room For Daddy"
derived from the fact that when Danny returned from weeks on the road
the kids would have to shift bedrooms to "make room for daddy"). She
once said that the whole family would gather at Danny's house on Monday
nights to watch the show, would recognize something that had happened
in real life, and someone would ask, "You didn't really use that, did you?"

And to keep the family connection Margaret (Jean Hagen) is Marlo's real
name; she never could pronounce it when she was a little girl; Terry (Sherry
Jackson) is Danny's other daughter; the production company, Marterto, was
made up of his kids' names (Marlo, Terry, and Tony).

 

[wbhist]

In New York City, MRFD aired in the 1967-69 period on WOR-TV (Channel 9). I think its syndication may've dovetailed with the point when B&W shows were beginning to lose their syndication value as color shows were moving on up.

 

[FreddyE1977]

1) It is in black-and-white.

2) The series is somewhat disjointed, going through major cast, mood and plot changes over time.

3) Danny Thomas has been dead for quite some time, and sadly, a lot of people have forgotten him.

Not that they should. The work he did for children with the Shriners Hospital was tremendous.

 

[Stanislav]

Danny was probably
the most believable of all '50s TV dads, and the plots were believable
because, as Marlo would probably tell you, they came largely from the
real-life Thomas household (even the phrase "Make Room For Daddy"
derived from the fact that when Danny returned from weeks on the road
the kids would have to shift bedrooms to "make room for daddy").

I never really bought that premise. Even a modestly successful man has his own bedroom -- why would anyone have to "shift" when he was home?

 

[Stanislav]

The work he did for children with the Shriners Hospital was tremendous.

St. Jude's, not Shriners (though both are fine institutions). Marlo has seen to it that the legacy he established with St. Jude's lives on.

 

[Mark Giardina]

I remember reading somewhere that Danny Thomas was not very happy when Sherry Jackson (his TV daughter) either posted for Playboy magazine or appeared nude in some foreign-made flick.

Sherry grew up to be quite a "looker". Some may remember her appearance on an episode of Star Trek.

One tragedy of that show is the death of Rusty Hamer; who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

 

[bpatrick]

Danny was probably
the most believable of all '50s TV dads, and the plots were believable
because, as Marlo would probably tell you, they came largely from the
real-life Thomas household (even the phrase "Make Room For Daddy"
derived from the fact that when Danny returned from weeks on the road
the kids would have to shift bedrooms to "make room for daddy").

I never really bought that premise. Even a modestly successful man has his own bedroom -- why would anyone have to "shift" when he was home?

You'd have to ask Marlo or one of her siblings about that. That's just the story I've heard for years.

 

[LKellerIII]

I remember MRFD airing in local syndication in Los Angeles in the late 60s and/or early 70s. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing it during it's original prime-time run. In fact, I still recall the epside that introduces Sheriff Andy Taylor. IIRC, Danny is driving through Mayberry and is caught speeding. Griffith really hammed it up in that episode with the full Southern accent and corn-pone act, as he did during the first season or so of Andy Griffith, until he decided to tone it down.

I recall being amazed by this Danny Thomas episode, because I had been watching Andy Griffith for years, and didn't realize it began with an episode of another show, though I new it was produced by Thomas, and Sheldon Leonard.

 

[FreddyE1977]

The work he did for children with the Shriners Hospital was tremendous.

St. Jude's, not Shriners (though both are fine institutions). Marlo has seen to it that the legacy he established with St. Jude's lives on.

Yes, they both do so much good work, hard to keep them straight.

I live in an area with a lot of people of Syrian and Lebanese descent who have surely not forgotten
Danny Thomas. Up there with Jamie Farr as the biggest Lebanese-American stars in television.

 

[RadioStarOne]

I always liked the shows featuring Hans Conried as Uncle Touloose. And Angela Cartwright was a favorite too. Danny Thomas work as founder of St. Judes should never be understated, he was a humanitarian's Humanitarian's. He was funny too. We watched this show together as a family every week when I was just a little kid, full of great laughs.

 

[therealjm12]

I grew up watching MRFD. They ran the reruns on NBC weekday afternoons at 4:00 just about the time I was getting off the school bus and Mom had a snack waiting for me. I always admired the talent of Danny Thomas. I don't think anyone could do accents better than him. He was a big influence in my radio career. When they would be looking for someone to do an accent or a funny voice for a spot, they always found me. I got my gift of mimicry from watching Danny Thomas. Talent ran in his family. Not only Marlo but his son Tony produced such series as Golden Girls, Soap, Bensen, and It's a Living.
I would like to see all the episodes returned to the air (not just the later seasons). ME-TV are you reading this?

 

[Stanislav]

Somewhere around her, I have an old 60's TVG with a listing for a variety special. One of the production numbers featured a quartet of (imagine) Danny Thomas, George Burns, Alan King, and Milton Berle singing "You Can't Be a Star Without a Cigar."

Please, o ye gods of the archives....if this still exists, I have GOT to see it before I die! ;D

(I wonder if, had Ernie Kovacs not passed prematurely, this number might have been a quintet...)

 

[Ultimajock]

...Make Room for Daddy ran on KFIZ-TV/34 Fond du Lac WI during its final year of operation, 1971-72. Viacom was distributing it at the time...

 

[anotherguyTN]

I never remember seeing Make Room For Daddy in regular reruns in Memphis, although it is where St. Jude Children's Hospital is based and Danny Thomas was in Memphis frequently. There were some of the PD episodes shown on WKNO PBS 10 in the 90's as part of a show called TV To Remember that had a lot of classic TV reruns from the 50's and 60's, and that's the only time I remember seeing any of them.

I think there are a lot of younger people in Memphis who had heard of Danny Thomas because of his work for St. Jude, but know little or nothing about him as an entertainer. He was buried on the St. Jude property when he died.

 

[Tim L]

In the 1973-75 era, I would come home after school each weekday to try to catch the Make Room for Daddy Reruns on WKBF-61 in Cleveland..They mostly ran at 2 in the afternoon. After Channel 61 left the air, no other Cleveland station aired the show..

 

[onairb]

'MRFD' aired on a San Jose independent, KSTS channel 48, in the afternoons about 30 years ago, as filler between stock market and subscription TV programming. I haven't seen the show since.

 

[nsa1]

WBNX/55 ran it for a while in the mid-80's. Some of the early public domain episodes also aired on low-power Ch 29/35 in the 90's.

In the 1973-75 era, I would come home after school each weekday to try to catch the Make Room for Daddy Reruns on WKBF-61 in Cleveland..They mostly ran at 2 in the afternoon. After Channel 61 left the air, no other Cleveland station aired the show..