Best TV Dads · Episode 5
Steve Douglas
My Three Sons (1960–72). A calm engineer raising a house full of boys, Fred MacMurray's unusual contract, and a conversation about where the good TV dads went.
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Shannon A big house in the suburbs, early in the morning. Three boys are thundering down the stairs, all wanting breakfast at once. And at the head of the table sits their father, in a cardigan, with a pipe, calm in the middle of the storm.
Gordon Three boys, no mom, and he never once loses his cool.
Shannon That's Steve Douglas. A widower, an engineer, and the father of My Three Sons.
Gordon Okay, I have to say, when I started this show, I didn't even know this one existed. And it turned out to be one of my favorites.
Shannon Welcome to Best TV Dads. Each episode, we sit down with one of television's great fathers. And this time, a house full of boys.
Gordon Episode five. Steve Douglas.
Gordon So, set it up for me.
Shannon My Three Sons started in 1960, and it ran for twelve seasons, until 1972. That's one of the longest runs of any live-action sitcom. In its day, only Ozzie and Harriet ran longer.
Gordon Twelve seasons!
Shannon Steve Douglas is an aeronautical engineer, and a widower, raising his three boys. Mike, the oldest. Robbie, in the middle. And little Chip.
Gordon And who's doing the cooking?
Shannon Their grandfather, Bub, played by William Frawley. The same William Frawley who played Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy. He wears an apron and grumbles a lot, and he loves those boys.
Gordon Fred Mertz in an apron. That's a picture.
Shannon Later on, when William Frawley's health failed, Bub was replaced by Uncle Charley, played by William Demarest. Another gruff old softie in an apron.
Gordon And who played Steve?
Shannon Fred MacMurray. And here's what surprises people. Before this, Fred MacMurray was a movie star. He'd starred in Double Indemnity, a dark crime film, and in The Apartment, as a pretty unpleasant boss.
Gordon Not exactly dad material.
Shannon Not in those days. But then he played the dad in a Disney family comedy, The Shaggy Dog, and audiences loved him. So by 1960, he was the perfect choice to play a warm, sensible father.
Gordon And there was something unusual about how they filmed it, wasn't there?
Shannon There was. Fred MacMurray's contract said he'd only work about sixty-five days a year. So they filmed all of his scenes for the season first, in a couple of big blocks. The boys and the rest of the cast filled in their scenes later, often talking to a stand-in.
Gordon So sometimes, Steve wasn't really in the room?
Shannon Often, no. And you'd never know it, watching. That's how good the cast was.
Gordon So what kind of dad is Steve?
Shannon A calm one. He's an engineer by trade, so he thinks before he speaks. He treats his boys like young men who can reason things out. He gives them room to make their own mistakes, and he's there when they do.
Gordon And there were a lot of mistakes.
Shannon Plenty. Girlfriends, cars, schoolwork, the boys getting in each other's way. But it's never a war in that house. Steve listens, he gives his advice, and he trusts them to come around.
Gordon And the family kept growing.
Shannon It did. When the oldest, Mike, got married and moved away, the family took in a young boy named Ernie, a friend of Chip's who had no family of his own. And Steve adopted him.
Gordon So it was still my three sons.
Shannon That's right. Just a different three. And eventually, Steve married again himself. A teacher, Barbara, who also had a little girl.
Gordon Can I ask you something? Doing this show has been a real eye-opener for me.
Shannon Go ahead.
Gordon The dads I grew up seeing on TV were mostly the punchline. The guy who can't do anything right, and the kids roll their eyes at him. I didn't know television ever did it this way.
Shannon You're not the only one who's noticed. A lot of people feel that somewhere along the way, television stopped showing fathers like Steve Douglas. The wise, steady dad gave way to the bumbling dad, the one who's there for the laugh.
Gordon Why do you think that happened?
Shannon People have a lot of theories. Some of it is just comedy. A dad who falls over is funny. But many people feel it's said something about how our culture has come to see men, and fathers in particular. That a good father isn't something to look up to anymore, just something to laugh at.
Gordon That's kind of sad.
Shannon It can be. But here's the hopeful part. These shows are still out there. Ward, Pa, Andy, Steve. Anyone can watch them, any time. And there are still good dads on television today, if you look for them. That's partly why we started this show. To remind people what a good father looks like.
Gordon I'm glad we did.
Gordon So, what's your pick?
Shannon Mine is from the first season, when the show was in black and white. Any episode with Bub in the kitchen. But if I had to pick one, it's the very first, Chip Off the Old Block. You meet the whole family in half an hour.
Gordon And mine is Brother, Ernie, the one where Steve adopts Ernie. Seeing him make that boy part of the family, for good. That's a father.
Shannon And our rating, out of five neckties.
Gordon Five neckties. Probably matched with a cardigan.
Shannon Five from me too. Twelve seasons, four sons, and never once lost his cool.
Gordon That's Steve Douglas. An engineer, a widower, and a calm, wise father to a house full of boys.
Shannon We'll be back with more of the best dads on television. Until then, go call your dad.
Gordon That's Best TV Dads.