# The great 1950s, as depicted in "Father Knows Best" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [August 12, 2026, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308 "2026-08-12T07:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/41 "2026-08-12T21:43:17Z")
“Lance Sterling will get through!” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/42 "2026-08-12T21:50:18Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > No, the family was not “pretty well off” above the standards of ordinary middle-class viewers. If the Andersons were well-off, they would see a black person everyday - cleaning house and cooking the family meals. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/43 "2026-08-12T22:00:18Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > If the Andersons were well-off, they would see a black person everyday - cleaning house and cooking the family meals. No, many upper-middle-class families did not have any servants. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/44 "2026-08-12T22:01:40Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > For example, Captain Kirk talked computers to death every other episode (or at least quite a few times) because in the mid-to-late 1960s, Americans were very worried about computers. Computers were becoming widespread and people worried (with reason) about their jobs being at risk. Thank God those days are safely behind us! Without going through the trouble of quantifying it (i.e. I am largely pulling this out of my ass) I do find it interesting that there was much more emphasis on calming societal fears back in the day. "Cheer up everybody! You’re a useful, happy cog in the machine." These days it seems to more about provoking them. Yes, that computer AI is definitely coming to take your job. “Sorry, man - you’re just a doomed and helpless cog in the machine.” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/45 "2026-08-12T22:14:15Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > > If the Andersons were well-off, they would see a black person everyday - cleaning house and cooking the family meals. > > No, many upper-middle-class families did not have any servants. The ones in 1950s TV shows and movies do. That’s what this thread is about, right? Not reality. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/46 "2026-08-12T22:24:41Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Not reality. So let’s not pretend that 1950s American television had anything to do with reality. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/47 "2026-08-12T22:28:26Z")
So, let’s pretend 1950s American television is a realistic portrayal of 1950s America? Please note that the comment you refuted was about a fictional family. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/48 "2026-08-12T22:51:46Z")
I started to watch this but the mannerisms of pretty much everyone annoyed me so I didn’t get past around five or six minutes. One kind of funny thing. The second panelist is an actor named Betty Furness. When she was first announced the audio is a little garbled and the captions said Betty Friedan. It confused the hell out of me. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/49 "2026-08-12T23:18:51Z")
I loved when Sam Levenson introduced Furness (who did commercials for some refrigerator company) as “the sweetest thing you can find in a refrigerator”. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/50 "2026-08-12T23:21:48Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > But _Father Knows Best_ is different and indeed rather unique. Ever since the producers made the pivot early in its production from silly comedy to a series of morality plays, the series not only reflected mainstream 1950s culture but it preached it, and it shoved it in your face In the radio version of FkB, Jim was a bit more human: rattled by encounters at work, and prone to overreactions - when there was going to be a series of physical competitions at an upcoming town picnic, he and the other fathers got to bragging about how well they’d do, and each and every one of them exercised themselves into incapability before the event. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Brainy Zelda - I didn’t get the name until years later - was obviously infinitely better for Dobie than all those vacuous lovelies he drooled after. Zelda was clearly the winner - cute, smart, and willing to date Dobie. A triple-threat. Tuesday Weld was pretty, but not compatible or particularly interested in Dobie. A few years ago, I read a book by Walter Jon Williams which had a character using the name “Chatsworth Osborne Jr.” as a pseudonym which was a nice reference to Dobie Gillis - Chatsworth was the rich kid that Dobie knew. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I see a lot of reruns of _Leave it to Beaver_ on MeTV and am surprised by how often the show is about Father Screws Up His Parenting and Apologes to His Sons. And he’s always talking about wanting to be a better father than _his_ father, who was apparently quick to beat him. The Andy Griffith Show often works out that way - Andy misunderstands what Opie is doing, and punishes or berates him, then learns that he was wrong (or Andy realizes that Opie is copying Andy’s bad behavior and has to do better)/ ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/51 "2026-08-12T23:26:45Z")
The actress who played Kitten has spoken and written extensively about her abusive childhood, and Robert Young long battled depression, which he self-medicated with alcohol until he decided he was sick and tired of being sick and tired. He came to my fair multi-city, where a childhood friend practiced psychiatry and he felt he could be anonymous here, and provided seed money for the mental health center that still bears his name. I’ve had to explain that name to more than one member of the Younger Generation, and in fact didn’t know it was him until someone told me. I just assumed it was, oh, Dr. Robert Young who founded it, that kind of thing. > **[Robert Young Mental Health Center](https://www.unitypoint.org/locations/robert-young-mental-health-center)** > > At Robert Young Mental Health Center our experts provide compassionate care as your partners in health in the Moline area. Whatever stage of life you’re in, our goal is to make your care easier and more personal. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/52 "2026-08-12T23:58:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I am shocked that people point to shows like “Father Knows Best” and “Leave It To Beaver” as fine examples of what they want this country to be. I’m sure that those same people actually believe that that’s what the country was like in the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/53 "2026-08-13T01:06:12Z")
Just remember…those sitcoms are not reality TV, but a scriptwriter’s version, filtered thru network guidelines and censorship. Example: Lucy couldn’t say she was pregnant or show her figure during her pregnancy due to the network’s Hayes-code, 50’s-era mindset. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/54 "2026-08-13T01:57:21Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > I’ve always though it was one of the most subversive shows ever produced in that era Subversive? I’d have thought “hegemonic.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/55 "2026-08-13T02:45:28Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > So let’s not pretend that 1950s American television had anything to do with reality. Let’s not pretend that mass entertainment in general has much to do with reality. Does anyone here think all the poor people in Bedford Falls would really hurry to save George Bailey? Did any London orphan really have an unknown half-brother to rescue them in the last chapter? Could three grown men really poke each other in the eyes, hit each other with hammers and cause life-threatening disasters at work, and not only remain uninjured but continue to be friends for 190 episodes? We don’t want to see our real lives in mass entertainment, we want nice, sympathetic characters and easily digestible stories that reinforce what we already believe and get wrapped up in a neat bow. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/56 "2026-08-13T02:48:10Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Could three grown men really poke each other in the eyes, hit each other with hammers and cause life-threatening disasters at work, and not only remain uninjured but continue to be friends for 190 episodes? Hey, I resemble that remark! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/57 "2026-08-13T03:48:05Z")
> [@Lantern2](#): > > While it is clearly the case that women working in non-stereotypical jobs was not common in the 1950s, I don’t think it was always viewed with great hostility either. For example on the TV show What’s my Line, you occasionally get women working unusual jobs and they seem to be treated quite normally. Bill Bryson’s mother worked for the newspaper when he was a kid. My Mother also worked, both during and after the War. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > No, many upper-middle-class families did not have any servants. Yeah, the richer people we knew had someone come clean their house once a week or so, plus maybe a gardener. But a live-in 24 hour servant? Maybe in Beverly Hills. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The ones in 1950s TV shows and movies do. Not Father Knows best, nor Leave it to Beaver. Ozzie and Harriet had “help”- as above, but no servants. In Hazel- 1961, but of course that was _about_ a maid. Can anyone think of any? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/58 "2026-08-13T07:26:54Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > those sitcoms are not reality TV, but a scriptwriter’s version, filtered thru network guidelines and censorship. Example: Lucy couldn’t say she was pregnant or show her figure during her pregnancy due to the network’s Hayes-code, 50’s-era mindset. Nitpick: that was indeed the initial position of the sponsor’s minions, and hence the network’s position, but it was later overruled by the sponsor’s chairman. It was one of the contentious points in which Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz pushed back against antiquated tradition, the other one being resistance by the network to cast Desi as her husband, to which Lucy said “no Desi, no show”. So while the sponsor and network initially objected to portraying Lucy’s pregnancy, Lucy and Desi were adamant that it should be part of the show and old outdated sensitivities cast aside. IIRC, this was the issue that caused Desi Arnaz to appeal directly to the chairman of Philip Morris, the show’s major sponsor. By that time _I Love Lucy_ had become a major hit, and the chairman sided with Desi. Though the story may be apocryphal, he allegedly sent a memo to executives at CBS saying “don’t fuck with the Cuban”. I think it’s fair to say that while _Father Knows Best_ was firmly entrenched in the contemporary zeitgeist and anxious to maintain it, _I Love Lucy_ blazed some new trails in television history. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/59 "2026-08-13T08:49:19Z")
I’ve been following this thread, and while I’ve never seen _Father Knows Best_, I know enough about it, thanks to this thread and from other sources. I’m reminded of nothing more than the 1998 film, _Pleasantville_, with Tobey Maguire (as David in 1998 and as Bud in the 1950s) and Reese Witherspoon (as Jennifer in 1998 and as Mary Sue in the 1950s). How it happens is complicated, and not germane to the thread, but somehow, David and his older sister Jennifer are transported back into the 1950s world of the TV show _Pleasantville_, a _Father Knows Best_ kind of show. Heck, they become Bud and Mary Sue Parker, the kids of the family around which the _Pleasantville_ TV show centres. It’s a fun film. But the big thing is that you’ve got two 1990s teens transported back into a completely artificial TV world of forty years ago that likely never existed. That’s where the hook of this film lies: instead of thinking that she only has one future, and preparing to be a housewife, Mary Sue teaches a boy a thing or two up at the lake (and introduces her mother to orgasms, and don’t ask how). Bud introduces the soda jerk at the Soda Shoppe to real art—the soda jerk is interested in art, but all the art books at the library have blank pages (a TV show doesn’t need them if all they’re going to be is book spines displayed on a shelf). Consequently, the soda jerk paints a nude mural of Bud and Mary Sue’s mother on the wall of the Soda Shoppe. If there’s a point, it is this: we cannot judge _Father Knows Best_ by today’s standards. _Pleasantville_ demonstrates that. Things have changed, and we can’t go back; there are enough people who would refuse to accept the strictures of the 1950s lifestyle. I’d suggest that _Father Knows Best_ is still an enjoyable entertainment, as long as we don’t look at it as a model for the way things ought to be today. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308/60 "2026-08-13T09:57:03Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Things have changed, and we can’t go back; there are enough people who would refuse to accept the strictures of the 1950s lifestyle. There were people in the 1950s who refused to accept the strictures of the 1950s lifestyle, and even more people on whom the strictures of the 1950s were an oppressive yoke, but I assume the corporate advertisers did not see any reason to produce a TV show based on them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-1950s-as-depicted-in-father-knows-best/1032308.md?page=4)