DAD’S JOB: Pilot-Rancher KIDS: Penny (Gloria Winters)(12) / Clipper (Ron Hagerthy)(10) WHERE’S MOM?: Unknown. (Please e-mail me if you know the answer) STAND-IN “MOM”: Unknown “Out of the blue of the western sky comes Sky King.” I never saw this show, but here’s what I know about the series: Kirby Grant played a rancher named Sky King, who had a …
Batman
DAD’S JOB: Bazillionaire Crime-fighter KIDS: Youthful Ward Dick Grayson (16) WHERE’S MOM?: Mom and Dad (The Flying Graysons acrobatic team) killed by gangsters STAND-IN “MOM”: either Alfred Pennyworth (Alan Napier) or Aunt Harriet (Madge Blake) Oh yes, he is a TV Single Dad! And who’s more dangerous for his custodial charges, Bruce, or Dr. Quest? You’ve got the foreign-born domestic, …
Bonanza
DAD: Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) / Widower x 3 DAD’S JOB: Rancher WHERE’S MOM?: Each of the three Moms died in childbirth – really! (or NOT — read the Viewer Responses, below)… STAND-IN “MOM”: Hop Sing (Victor Sen Yung) As Danny DeVito said in the movie Tin Men, this show is about “a 50-year-old man with three 49-year-old sons.” Domestic …
To Rome With Love
DAD’S JOB: College Professor KIDS: Alison (Joyce Menges), Penny (Susan Neher), Mary Jane “Pokey” (Melanie Fullerton) WHERE’S MOM?: Died just before episode one. STAND-IN “MOM”: Harriet Endicott (Kay Medford) / Aunt, then Andy Pruitt (Walter Brennan) / Grandpa
Milton the Monster
DAD’S JOB: Mad Scientist KIDS: Milton (voice of Bob McFadden)(last week) WHERE’S MOM?: 10000 cemeteries? STAND-IN “MOM”: Count Kook Producer Hal Seeger patterned this Saturday-morning cartoon after the success of such “monster” hits as The Munsters and The Addams Family. Milton was accidentally created with “too much tenderness” by Professor Weirdo, and was therefore a disappointment to his “dad.”
Fury
Aired 1955-60 Syndicated DAD: Jim Newton (Peter Graves) / Single DAD’S JOB: Rancher KIDS: Joey (Bobby Diamond)(11) WHERE’S MOM?: Dead. So’s Dad. Barry Williams, who would later portray the unforgettable Greg Brady on The Brady Bunch, once described this show as “the single most important program” to get him interested in acting. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing …
The Farmer’s Daughter
DAD’S JOB: Congressman KIDS: Steve (14), Danny (8) WHERE’S MOM?: Dead, not recently – unknown causes. STAND-IN “MOM”: Katy Holstrum (Inger Stevens) Okay, turn the focus on the TV Single Dad format to the foreign-born domestic, responsible for the kids’ well-being. This is basically The Sound of Music set in 1960’s America. Most people know about Inger Stevens’ tragic death, …
Dudley Do-Right
DAD: Inspector Ray K. Fenwick (voice of Paul Frees) / Widower DAD’S JOB: Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman KIDS: Nell (voice of June Foray) (18-ish) WHERE’S MOM?: Dead – Unknown cause STAND-IN “MOM”: Nobody Dudley wound up with his own show, a decade after Rocky‘s premiere, on CBS. Trivia: watch for Hans Conreid (the voice of Snidely Whiplash) popping up in …
The Baileys of Balboa
DAD’S JOB: Fishing Boat Captain KIDS: Jim (Les Brown, Jr.)(16?) WHERE’S MOM?: Dead STAND-IN “MOM”: Buck Singleton? (Sterling Holloway) Who could not like this show? Sam Bailey ran a charter boat service in the middle of a ritzy yacht club named Balboa. He and his son Jim (and their first mate, a Gilligan-like character played by the amazing Sterling Holloway) …