MY THREE SONS: Then and Now [62 Years After]

[@marilynschneider7691]

I still watch My Three Sons on MeTV. And I watched it back in the late 60's when Tina Cole joined the show as Katie. It was great family TV, decent and wholesome. Shows you could watch with your kids.

[@rachelreynolds9681]

Don Grady and Tim Considine my favorites. Loved all the episodes. I was of the right age at the right time. 12:08

[@bonniejahnke6537]

I used to watch this show all the time as a kid, I can now watch it again as an adult on METV and still love it today

[@genapruitt]

My late older brother was absolutely IN LOVE with Tina Cole when we were kids! ❤

[@barbarahill904]

I loved this show so much. They just don't make wholesome shows like this anymore

[@Tbone51]

Born in 1951, "My Three Sons" ran from my childhood to being a young adult. I watched it often and loved the show. This was also the age of television, as it grew from the small, B&W sets to color TV. I still like TV today, having grown up with its emergence. Fred MacMurray was one of my favorite actors from that period and I liked all of the characters. Aside from Fred MacMurray, I liked "Chip" (Stanley Livingston) the best, probably because he was the closest to my age. I still recognize Barry ("Ernie") when he appears in shows today, such as Bosch. Thank you for sharing this; it was very interesting!

[@earlcollinsworth4914]

That could've stayed on the air forever for all I cared! I liked all the cast!

[@star_platinum2821]

our young kids need to be watching these shows

[@roccosophie6498]

Fred MacMurray is my all time favorite of the show. He never, lost his cool. He always said the right thing and he always looked like the model father. William Demarest second. And Tina Cole was my ideal crush in those days. I was completely head over heals in love with her. I was about five years old.😄

[@marchelleharris4842]

This was a good show. I loved that the dad was pretty honest with the boys most of the time.(only once did he hold something back from Robbie) my favorite son was Ernie. He was a cool little boy and a cool teenager.

[@johnsieff2921]

Ernie was Chip's little brother in real life.

[@susan5301]

Shows back then were so gentle, unlike today!

[@larryheyes5743]

I have & will always love"Leave It To Beaver", but I have always loved, "My Three Sons" much more. This show does not get enough credit for having family values and the love the chareters had for one another. I love each and every episoide,from black & white to color. TV stations around the states should place this show on their channels. This show would help bring back true family values.

[@DisneyFan-eg3oz]

Just to let you know it’s on Me Tv five days a week 😀

[@larryheyes5743]

This is by far one of the very best done histories of a great family show of the past. The clips are clear, the audio is very excellent with no trouble of understanding. I give it "5 starts out of 5". Thanks and keep up the excellent work.

[@wandagouge6130]

Loved this show. So funny and so much “normal living” that it was easy to put yourself right in the middle of it. I loved them all!

[@patriciaguenzler9150]

Thanks for the video 👍😀

[@martynewell1181]

My Three Sons was one of my favorite shows They was a orderale family back then It was down to earth show

[@barbsanford8736]

I loved this show! Life was so different back then.

[@patriciaheeks7707]

Loved My Three Sons great family show loved Fred McMurray and the rest of the cast wished they had the older shows on again

[@DreamingDarlin]

They have the older shows here on YT. Time Travel Television is one of the channels.

[@cyndimanka]

My three sons was one of my favorite childhood TV shows. I loved the show. Yes I loved uncle Charlie best because I remember him the most. And of course the oldest brother was my heartthrob

[@kevinsullivan2416]

Loved every season, but when Mike was there it was truly special

[@Jdwify]

I liked William Demarest the best. He was cranky, crusty, and yet charming at the same time. The show was well done and seemed to always have a moral or a teachable moment in the story line. I wish there were more shows like that today.

[@johnsieff2921]

William Frawley and William Demerest both got their start in Vaudeville. They didn't care for each other in real life.

[@su-rv2uq]

I liked uncle Charley too. He didn't take any guff from the boys, always cranky, etc, but he would have died for them. He felt it his job to make sure they were raised right. I thought it was funny when he would call one of them "Alice." My favorite characters were Ernie, Katie and Uncle Charley. I think Ernie had alot more personality than Chip.

[@johnsieff2921]

@@su-rv2uq Did you ever see any of the older B&W episodes? They are by far my favorites. How about Chip's friend, 'Sudsy'? IMO, the scripts were better in the old days. They became increasingly far fetched as the series went on.

[@michaelpowell5266]

Yep, crusty, lovable Uncle Charley- BTW, the latter years of My Three Sons, when Steve and Barbara tied the knot and he adopted Dodie, we couldn't have conversations about that show without bringing up The Brady Bunch. BTW, we've compared notes on both Uncle Charley as the Douglas family's housekeeper and Alice Nelson, the Brady's housekeeper- both were very similar characters on their respective programs!!!

[@connief936]

What a trip down memory lane! Our whole family would watch this show together.

[@bethtyree6346]

I loved Charlie and Bud they were so funny

[@johnsieff2921]

William Frawley played'Bub', not 'Bud'

[@terencehernandez9646]

Great family show.Wholesome comedy!

[@1223jamez]

Love the show, I watch it every morning on METV!

[@Yonder27]

I watch this show every weekday at 6:30 am on ME TV.

[@lifeissweet9826]

I loved the show, especially after they moved to California and met Katie.

[@arthouston7361]

Fred MacMurray's seminal role for Disney was "The Absent Minded Professor," where he invents a substance called "Flubber," that allows his car to fly. Perhaps his best known dramatic role is that of Lt. Tom Keefer, in "The Caine Mutiny."

[@olvinyldude]

Yes, loved his part in Caine Mutiny...

[@doctorbohr1585]

That was Robin Williams, wasn't it?

[@arthouston7361]

@@doctorbohr1585 When Fred McMurray was in the absent minded professor, Robin Williams would have been in kindergarten.

[@doctorbohr1585]

@@arthouston7361 oh

[@margaretburnham5683]

I miss all of these old shows

[@tanafort1562]

I grew up watching the later years of the show. It stayed fine. The younger Uncle Charlie was my favorite - he was the only one I knew. The show is a classic.

[@ginnylorenz5265]

Very Nice job. Thank you!

[@lisamarie2622]

My Mama got me hooked on this show!! We're currently watching the ones where Robbie is married to Katie and they have the triplets! So good!!!

[@Ziggimomspal68]

I had such a crush on Tim Considine…we never missed the show, as a family. My dad liked Fred MacMurray, so we watched it every week.

[@jomiddleton4225]

Love watching this.

[@TheDavBow3]

It was the longest time until I realized that there were 5 seasons in b/w prior. I thought season 6 was it's first season. The b/w seasons, BY FAR, are the best. I thought it declined after that. Mike and Bub very quickly became my favorites. Tina Cole was the highlight of seasons 6 - 12. The show might have hung on a little too long. Great show overall.

[@johnsieff2921]

I Absolutely agree! The longer it was on, the more stretched the story lines became.

[@johnsieff2921]

Bub was my favorite character also. William Frawley had personal issues that affected his health and insurability. He and William Demerest had a well established dislike for each other long before Uncle Charlie replaced Bub in the storyline. The stories were best when Chip was the youngest. What ever happened to Chip's Bestie 'Sudsy'? Ermie began as a recurring creepy kid from the neighborhood

[@TheDavBow3]

@@johnsieff2921 I absolutely agree! William Frawley was a scream as Bub. He had such a fun, sarcastic interaction with the boys. Calling other old women gargoyles was so funny. William Demorest as Uncle Charley actually seemed mean and too crusty. Just not very funny. Tim Considine as Mike instantly became my favorite brother. The storylines of him being the oldest is much better than Robbie's. The Mike, Robbie, Chip dynamic was far superior. I thought Ernie was a bit annoying and out of place. The show really went down hill when Steve got married. Dodie was a bit tough to watch. I stop watching the show when season 6, episode 2 begins.

[@tomdipasquale9633]

I loved that show! I remember Fred from the Disney movies. I heard he was one of the wealthiest actors in his time! I liked liked William Demarest . Perfect role for him. Time is going by so fast!!

[@johnsieff2921]

Rumor has it that Fred owned half of the San Fernando Valley at one time.

[@peoplehavetherights]

@@johnsieff2921 Really?!

[@johnsieff2921]

@@peoplehavetherights I'm not making it up!. I don't know what he owned as far as actual acreage was, but back in the '30s land was dirt cheap up there and he invested heavily.

[@hjd832]

My mother loved this series . She also had 3 sons in succession…

[@GrandmaSandy]

Thank you so much my dear friend for a great walk back through town thank you for sharing the video with us today

[@galepotter4801]

Yes I was raised in that era

[@Natalieleu]

I was sad when it ended, it is hard to pick a favorite.

[@Janko1972]

I heard at the time of this show Fred MacMurray was the most powerful influence in Hollywood. In those days, there was a standard that you had to meet. What was interesting is that he was a widowed father who work at home for the aerospace industry. Very much ahead of his time. But that is what you would expect from the guy whom invented Flubber.

[@taffykins2745]

Wow! Interesting. I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing 👍😊

[@johnsieff2921]

He worked at home only occasionally and portrayed a free lance engineer WHO worked for various aerospace contractors

[@georgemckenna462]

Least we forget Son of Flubber!

[@stooge81]

I invented Flubber and have the patent to prove it! MacMurray stole it from me!

[@debbieomi]

He didn't work at home. He had projects that required working at home after hours but he went to the "plant" every day.

[@terrygrossmann2295]

I used to watch mainly the re-runs. Great show

[@lyleloomis3493]

Exactly there were 4 sons the oldest named Mike that got married and was in Air Force and moved away

[@BenSkyLakewood]

sweet show I wish tv was this innocent today.

[@esthergilligan3292]

I wish you had told us about Steve's wife Barbara and step daughter Dodie. It would have been nice to hear about them too.

[@kerplunkety]

yes it spent too much time on the fossils

[@lindablazek3287]

As well as Polly - Chip's wife

[@rodpaterson2389]

Dodie was played by Dawn Lyn Nervik who was Leif Garrett's real life sister

[@dashriprock3468]

@@kerplunkety The fossils?? The addition of Barbara and Dodie was the final nail in the coffin. Like "Happy Days" and "MASH", this was a fantastic show that lost it's original comedy edge and ran on too long.

[@kerplunkety]

@@dashriprock3468 I get you😃. People don't want to kill the cash cow, so show often overstay. Also, series ran 1960-1972, a period of seismic social change. It had to adapt

[@RVGrannyWA]

Tim Considine was my first crush on TV.

[@todddavis9437]

I liked him in the "egg and I"

[@lisarenae1008]

One of my favorite shows. Newbie here 🫶🏻

[@markdrabkin3299]

My 3 Sons ran for 12 years, yet still t still left us too soon!

[@democratactivist]

Great video that brings back memories

[@taffykins2745]

Sweet! Thanks for making and sharing this! I loved this show when I was a little kid. My favorite actor was the dad, Fred McMurray. I remember seeing him in other productions too. My goodness! It's hard to believe that was so many years ago! Thanks Do you remember, great vid! 👍👍😊

[@joebloggs8636]

Fred was a big star in Hollywood way before he this

[@MarkMcLT]

Just hearing that theme music brings back so much.

[@dano3952]

I remember Katie Douglas singing Petula Clark's song Downtown.

[@ronrobertson59]

We watched the show the entire time it was on the air.

[@MegaTechnoteacher]

My cousin Don produced this and Family Affair

[@DreamingDarlin]

Did he give you any antidotes?

[@WndD_74]

Fedderson?

[@m.e.d.7997]

@@WndD_74 Seems to be

[@michaelpowell5266]

A very good TV sitcom producer, same as Sherwood Schwartz, Sheldon Leonard, Garry Marshall, Gene Reynolds, etc.!!!

[@janloftness]

I liked this show a lot as as a kid. I think it was on Sunday evenings before Ed Sullivan. My favorite was Ernie. He was the funniest of the kids and closest to my own age!

[@UnclePaulsBeatlesPopPlayhouse]

Tina Cole is the most perfect 🥰 tv fantasy wife. Met her In 90s, so gorgeous and sweet 😋

[@DisneyFan-eg3oz]

I am so glad to hear that! On the show I thought she was perfect in every way!😊

[@UnclePaulsBeatlesPopPlayhouse]

@@DisneyFan-eg3oz I adore her, very sweet talented lady while acting and In person. Thanks 😊

[@ljclauson]

I loved them all, it I did especially like chip and Robbie. I really loved that show!

[@osirissokarjones]

Loved that show especially once Katie came on

[@melvinherman]

I enjoyed everything about this show. Each actor played their parts realistically. I can't say which I like the best. Each have special qualities innate to their personalities. Robbie [Don Grady] was the most handsome. He died too soon.

[@lyndabarr2878]

I have always enjoyed William Frawley and all the 3 sons crew

[@janicelee6204]

Never had that show in Canada. But thru watching - I’m gonna look more 👍

[@PatriciaBlomeleyMaddigan]

Yes, it was in Canada. Actually, both the original show and its reruns, which are currently airing.

[@Riogi]

This show is on my list of series to view. I finished Leave It To Beaver and now viewing Hazel and Barney Miller.

[@m.e.d.7997]

You’ll love it

[@gsentinel4821]

I always thought that Barry Livingston resembled a very young Professor Kelp the Jerry Lewis character in "Tne Nutty Professor".

[@mikewalsh1189]

Don Grady didn’t appear in all but one episode. He was absent for the entire final season, although he still appeared in the credits for each episode.

[@patrickmartin4996]

Great Show. I have several seasons on DVD, but not all 12 seasons have been released.

[@stephanwilke7062]

One of my favorite sitcom classics of all time! I still watch it daily on ME-TV! Actually, I tape the episodes on my DVR. The first 5 seasons were the best! However, the move to California and bringing on Tina Cole in season 8 gave the show a refreshing new breath of life. Also, Beverly Garland as Barbara in season 10 was another excellent season and Fred and Beverly had such great chemistry together. I was not a fan of Dody though. Season 11, really was the final season for me. I loved the last episode of season 11 which serves as a pilot for Robbie and Katie moving to San Francisco. With Mike Minor from Petticoat Junction returning to My Three Sons proposed spinoff (he was a regular guest star in seasons 4 & 5 as a fraternity brother of Mike’s), I think the Robbie/Katie spinoff could have been a great success. Season 12 should never have aired. It was exhausting to watch and just not funny anymore. My favorites were Steve, Robbie, Mike, Sallie, Bub, Charley, Barbara, Katie and Chip. Robbie, was a pure natural talent on the show and just exuded so much passion in his character. I was so sad when he passed away at such a young age of only 68.

[@melstark7265]

I’m going to lookup Me TV. You may have just got them a new customer

[@m.e.d.7997]

Stan Livingston was great as Chip young but he became more sedate and unfunny older but he was a great actor

[@peachygal4153]

I never liked Polly much either. Dodi was simply little kid who could not act whom they only wanted to look cute. In my mind, Polly was the only one that did not fit. Marrying Chip off at barely 18 in a whirlwind college romance was a stupid ploy to increase ratings as Don Grady had pretty much left the show in season 12. It seemed to me they needed to move Chip out of the house and on campus so Katie and the triplets could move in, so they married Chip off. Don definitely missed more than one episode, BTW, as for quite a few episodes of the last season Robbie was away in South America on a work project. Also, Polly was NOT Chip's high school sweetheart. she showed up in the last season and they eloped after a whirlwind romance of the first 2 episodes of season 12.

[@Rolanda-Doe.1126]

Stanley Livingston was always my favorite.

[@m.e.d.7997]

Loved Robbie younger but once I saw the original epis Chip stole my heart. He was super adorable. And a great child actor. Resll all those young boys were

[@MrJeep51]

I watched just to see Tina Cole 😍

[@DreamingDarlin]

Bub was my favorite. He seemed more loveable with his grandsons, especially Chip.

[@WndD_74]

Yeah he was a genuine crab-ass, Demarest seemed to beatch’ too much.

[@queenbee3647]

Loved the show. We had three boys in our family too. Plus two girls. Chip and Ernie were my favorites although I loved them all. I didnt really care for the marriage to Barbara and her daughter Dody. Just didnt fit.

[@DaddyOfTheSugarVariety]

Robbie was definitely my favorite, hubba hubba!

[@WndD_74]

@@shauntrailskinner9645 Hubba Hubba is right, what a babe and most like to be the gay son in the show. If they do it over, realistically - make someone gay or a lesbo. BTW, always thought the older girl in Eight is Enough with the lower voice was gay.

[@WndD_74]

@@shauntrailskinner9645 - 👌

[@donnamacwilliams2671]

I loved My Three Sons. Best holesome show. Loved Bill Bub the most. I probably like Chip the most out of all the Boys.

[@tigergreg8]

You forgot the dog, the dog was part of the family too.

[@philkight2630]

I've watched all of the Bosche, and now I'll have to go back looking for Berry

[@gj4578]

I'm pretty sure that Jodie Foster was in some of the later shows. She was not a star yet. She was just a little girl at the time. She was actually on six episodes between 1971 and 1972, according to Google.

[@johnsieff2921]

She played a friend of 'Doodie'

[@janloftness]

She was also on “ The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” as Eddie’s friend.

[@stacystoltz8722]

Cool family

[@JustMe-vo9bq]

I watched this show along with all the other family shows. I had such a crush on Tim Considine from the Mickey Mouse series, Spin & Marty! I even wrote and sent him a fan letter! I was happy see him on my 3 Sons and enjoyed the family dynamics between them,

[@bonniejahnke6537]

My favorite was Ernie, I also liked Uncle Charlie the best

[@sheila-mariejohnson216]

Too funny. I always thought Ermie did look like Chip.only to find out, they are real life brothers!! Watching it now in Metv.

[@kevinosborne2927]

Don Grady did not "appear in every episode but one." He was not a regular during the 12th and final season.

[@stevesayers1941]

this show is before my time but ive been watching it on me tv. bub added alot of flavor to the show....wasnt the same with charlie

[@PatriciaBlomeleyMaddigan]

Tina Cole was on some of the b/w shows, playing different characters. Usually a friend of Robbie.

[@hermanedwards1381]

In the 70s I had a crush on Katie (Tina Cole) 🥰

[@michaelpowell5266]

No question about it, the 1970's became Tina Cole's decade, after My Three Sons- she's appeared in numerous TV shows, afterwards. In 2018, she mourned the passing of Penny Marshall, when she passed away. No, Tina didn't appear on Laverne & Shirley, but was a fan of the show!!!

[@colonburgess9462]

Watched this back in the day, it was great show. Some people were on The Mickey Mouse Show, Tim Constantine was the oldest son.

[@laurasmith5766]

Actually, "Mike" was mentioned several times after he left the show (by the way, I didn't know that Tim Considine had died earlier this year--so saddened to hear that). I don't know when the last reference to Mike was made but I believe it might have been as late as 1969 or 1970, at least 4 years after Considine's departure from the show. Also, though Robbie's wife Katie and the triplets were in the show's final season, Robbie himself was not--he was said to be working in South America. [James B. Smith]

[@retrobilly1719]

Terrible how you take a cheap shot by showing a non flattering photo of the actress years later

[@lesaber251]

It is kind of despicable.

[@m.e.d.7997]

Which actress?

[@francoisedunne223]

My favorite on my three sons was Robbie because I was a middle child and I knew how he felt. I love the program we never missed an episode being a baby boomer it was a good wholesome show nothing like the junk they have on TV today how nice it would be if they would bring that back. But sadly I think those days of family wholesome TV shows have long gone. But at least it’s something in our memories. And I did like uncle Charlie better Bub always acted like he was in a bad mood.

[@carolwood9446]

I loved My Three Sons -- watched it all the time. Robbie was my favorite and so was Bub. It started to go downhill when Tina Cole and Beverly Garland - - along with all the new characters joined the cast

[@stacystoltz8722]

Sweet boyson Mythreeson s

[@chrismorris6544]

I knew this lady who pass away this last Jan. She work for Desi Lou Productions in another show but she said that on the Lucy's set then had booze on set and they were drunk a lot of the time thats why they had big fights Vivian Vance she did not drink.

[@uhdudewhy7980]

For a while there I thought Barry Livingston was Charles Martin Smith.

[@8avexp]

If you've ever seen the My Three Sons-Partridge Family Reunion show, there is a prerecorded clip of William Demarest. Intersetingly, Demarest spoke of Frawley as a good friend. Maybe he was just being diplomatic.

[@johnnymcneal5914]

Talk about a guy who is a jack of all trades

[@MikeyD22]

Absolutely loved this show growing up. My wife has a crush on the younger Ernie! My crush was Katie.

[@digital1937]

Meredith MacRae played Sally Anne Morrison Douglas. She was Mike's girlfriend and later his wife. She was on the show for three seasons (1963-1965). On July 14, 2000, MacRae died at her Manhattan Beach home at age 56 from complications of brain cancer.

[@michaelpowell5266]

I only wished Meredith MacRae had appeared on The Brady Bunch- she would've played Marcia's cheerleading coach. I bet Florence Henderson lobbied to Sherwood Schwartz to get Meredith on that show!!!

[@palladen1933]

You forgot the dog??

[@conniecline201]

Had a crush on Chip

[@ronframes2621]

You didn’t mention Fred MacMurray’s character’s love interest Beverly Garland in the show. I recall her being a regular on My Three Sons as well.

[@WndD_74]

You are right and she was a lot like him but softened his rough edges. I couldn’t stand her kid Doddie or whatever her name was, she was irritating and ugly…she didn’t fit in with the big crew in the end. My favorite was Robbie.

[@michaelpowell5266]

Let's keep in mind June Haver-MacMurray, Fred's wife, recommended Beverly Garland for the role of Barbara in 1969!!!

[@m.e.d.7997]

It showed a real family did not always require a mother and father

[@Hogtownboy1]

Thanks i did not realise that Barry Lightingston had over 160 acting credit. i was not much of a fan of the show but my sis had a mad crush on Don Grady.

[@johnsieff2921]

Don Grady was a musician in really life and had a band most of his life.