Father Knows Best

1954 - 1960

Bud Takes Up the Dance

3rd October 1954

Episode 1

Bud tries to learn how to dance from a book for his first school dance.

Lesson in Citizenship

10th October 1954

Episode 2

Jim tells his family to help others which leads to complications.

The Motor Scooter

17th October 1954

Episode 3

Jim buys Bud a motor scooter but Margaret won't let him have it.

Football Tickets

24th October 1954

Episode 4

Jim gets tickets to an important football game, and picks one of the kids to go with him—only to be blackmailed by an important client (who wants to go to the game, too) out of one of his tickets. He then tries frantically to find a second one.

Live My Own Life

31st October 1954

Episode 5

Bud moves out, but discovers he can't clean, cook, or take care of himself.

Grandpa Jim's Rejuvenation

7th November 1954

Episode 6

Jim comes to believe that he is over the hill.

Bud's Encounter With the Law

14th November 1954

Episode 7

Bud becomes increasingly paranoid when Kathy (who has a fascination with the new washing machine, and puts everything in there) places a letter addressed to him by the police department in the washing machine, and ruins the letter, so he doesn’t know why he is asked to be there within seven days.

Thanksgiving Day

21st November 1954

Episode 8

Kathy writes the best poem in the fourth grade on what Thanksgiving means to her, and Jim builds the poem up in his mind to unreasonable expectations for a fourth grader. When he actually finds out what the poem consists of, his hopes for Kathy’s future are deflated and he disparages the poem to Margaret, unwitting that Kathy has overheard.

Second Honeymoon

28th November 1954

Episode 9

Jim's weekend retreat, just he and his wife, seems like a perfect idea, at first. But he doesn't want to pass this on to the kids when he learns that the kids have plans with them; and then when the kids take the news too easy, Jim and Margaret are befuddled. They leave, but soon they start thinking about their kids and after reaching the lodge they want to phone in - but no one answers the call...

Typical Father

5th December 1954

Episode 10

Jim becomes worried that things between Betty and a new male friend of hers are getting too serious.

Margaret Goes Dancing

12th December 1954

Episode 11

Jim and Margaret rarely disagree on anything. But when he finds out Margaret signed them up to take dancing lessons, Jim refuses to do so, and ends up defiantly going to his old club, leaving her to take lessons alone.

The Christmas Story

19th December 1954

Episode 12

Jim takes the family into the woods to cut down their own tree, and they become stranded there.

Sparrow in the Window

26th December 1954

Episode 13

Kathy discovers a wounded Sparrow on the windowsill of the house—which she then considers hers—and the whole family becomes involved in trying to help it get better.

Boy's Week

2nd January 1955

Episode 14

Jim receives a traffic ticket and Bud is appointed to be judge on that day.

A Friend of Old George's

9th January 1955

Episode 15

An unwanted visitor that won't leave spoils Kathy's birthday party.

Bud the Snob

16th January 1955

Episode 16

Bud is deemed a snob by the girls in school because he won’t speak to any of them. When Jim talks it over with him, he discovers that Bud‘s real problem is that he becomes tongue-tied around them.

The Promised Playhouse

23rd January 1955

Episode 17

After making a big deal about people keeping their word, Jim is forced to put his words into practice to set a good example for his family.

Jim the Farmer

30th January 1955

Episode 18

Jim wants to give up his office job in order to move into the country to lead a quiet, and less stressful, life as a farmer. Margaret doesn't think that he means it seriously, but he crosses more lines to fulfill his dream than he ever has before.

Father of the Year

6th February 1955

Episode 19

Jim is happy to learn his kids are planning to enter him in a Father of the Year contest. But things, of course, don’t go smoothly.

The Mink Coat

13th February 1955

Episode 20

Even though finances have grown a little tight in the Anderson household, Jim buys Margaret a mink coat that ends up being more trouble than it’s worth.

The Matchmaker

20th February 1955

Episode 21

Margaret tries to get her cousin and her boyfriend married.

Bud the Bridesmaid

27th February 1955

Episode 22

Margaret's cousin (from the previous episode) is set to wed in the Anderson household, but things go wrong, due to the nervousness of the prospective bride and groom, and the wedding is called off. Poor Bud is reeled in to do a stand-in for the bride at the rehearsal.

Proud Father

6th March 1955

Episode 23

Jim tries to help the children regain their confidence.

Father Delivers the Papers

13th March 1955

Episode 24

Bud injures himself, so Jim delivers the papers on his route to avoid Bud being fired.

No Partiality

20th March 1955

Episode 25

Kathy and Betty fight for the attention of the same man.

Close Decision

27th March 1955

Episode 26

Margaret worries the entire day over what will become of Bud’s future if he doesn’t develop good character. This is tied in with a baseball game Bud is trying to get to play in.

Top Cast

Robert Young•Jane Wyatt•Elinor Donahue

Comedy Family

Family man Jim Anderson copes with the everyday problems among his wife Margaret and their three children as they experience day-to-day changes.

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Full Cast

Robert Young

Jim Anderson

Jane Wyatt

Margaret Anderson

Elinor Donahue

Betty Anderson

Billy Gray

Bud Anderson

Lauren Chapin

Kathy Anderson

Full Crew

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