Aren't the 1953-57 episodes out of any possible syndication? Seems that all I ever saw in reruns were the Marjorie Lord episodes. Also, was this music dubbed? I thought that the 53-57's had a different beat, albeit the same "Danny Boy" tune (I saw a Hagen ep somewhere, but not sure where).
All I remember as a tot was getting my first TV gaffaw from this show. I"m not sure of the plot...it had something to do with a small person, who was thought to be a leprechaun (sic?). DT wanted no part of this, and when his family warned him, he said something to the effect of..."Oh right. He's gonna use his magical mystical powers and turn me into an egyptian motza ball!" I may be totally off on this, but it is in my head as such.
If I'm repeating someone else's comments, I apologize but - The original title for the show was "Make Room for Daddy" and it aired on ABC. The show later switched to CBS and was renamed "The Danny Thomas Show." Meanwhile, the repeats of the ABC version were syndicated under the title "MRFD." When DT tried to revive the show later on, the title for THAT show was "Make Room for Granddaddy."
There were actually two "reunion" specials after the original series ended in 1964, both on NBC- the first one, "The Danny Thomas TV Family Reunion" in the spring of 1965, and the "Make More Room For Daddy" special on "THE DANNY THOMAS HOUR" in November 1967. That eventually led to the updated "sequel" series "MAKE ROOM FOR GRANDDADDY" on ABC in the 1970-'71 season. There were several "changes" in the Williams' apartment over the years, especially in the transition from ABC to CBS in 1957.
Quite a change of pace here for Jean Hagen, coming into "Make Room for Daddy" off playing Leena Lamont a year earlier in "Singing In the Rain". IIRC, she also has the distinction of being the first continuing character on a TV show to be written out of a series by dying (19 years before McLean Stevenson in M*A*S*H). The syndicated version of the theme, also used in the final two seasons of the CBS run, actually fits the mood of the show better than the version on the 1953-62 first-run episodes.
So that's where the silhouette came from in the closing credits, that's more like it to have that silhouette in the credits, they should' use it when it's named the Danny Thomas show to make less scarier to me
To ad to the Danny Thomas show discussion ,about the intro on this page. the horizontal movement of the title ( THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW ) I recall this opening only being used for the ABC 1956 summer rerun of this show when Jean Hagen had just left . This is the very first intro to name the show the D.T. show , The 4th season fall 1956 the intro appeared 1930's style art deco grapics with a spotlight on Danny T , a less swing version of the theme Danny Boy .I missed 1965 reruns .
Hey ya'll thanks for the knowledge regarding the naming of syndicated shows. I figured there was a reason why old CHiPS were called CHiPS Patrol. Off course the "Patrol" is redundant. I remember that the 1st wife left MRFD contentiously and the show was a great success without her.
Of course, some earlier episodes from the "MAKE ROOM FROM DADDY" era were shown as "THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW" on NBC's daytime schedule in the 1964-'65 season [weekdays, 10am(et)], and later syndicated....
"LUCY IN CONNECTICUT" was merely another way of CBS' extending their "rerun franchise" of "I LOVE LUCY" in the summer of 1960 [it was still on as a Monday-Friday daytime staple on the network]. They took the last 13 episodes, had Eleanor Bunin create a new title sequence (with the "I LOVE LUCY" theme underneath), and sold it to an eager sponsor {I forgot which one}. Pure and simple.
This is the rare syndicated title for the series, as this was an episode that originally aired under the "MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY" title [featuring Jean Hagen as "Margaret", who appeared during the first three seasons]. When Danny initially sold most of the 1957-'60 "DANNY THOMAS SHOW" episodes to NBC for daytime in 1960, the "MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY" title was used because the original series was still airing in prime-time. Eventually, pre-1957 episodes were added before it went off network in 1965.
@fromthesidelines There were also some special, hour-long episodes of "The Danny Thomas Show/Make Room For Daddy" that aired as part of NBC's "The Danny Thomas Hour" (1967-68), analogous to how CBS' "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" aired hour-long episodes of "I Love Lucy" as "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show" (re-titled for syndication as "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour").
@fromthesidelines "The Danny Thomas Show/Make Room For Daddy" was given short shrift by the cable TV nostalgia channels. It's high time some channel air the entire ABC/CBS runs, and NBC hour-long episodes, as well the one-season "Make Room For Granddaddy" series that aired 1970-71 on ABC. My suggestion for a re-packaging title--"Make Room For Danny."
@fromthesidelines TV viewers need to be re-introduced (or, in many cases now, "introduced") to the "Williamses": "Danny," "Margaret," "Kathy," "Terry," "Rusty," "Linda," and "Uncle Tonoose," and to Thomas' off-beat, gentle brand of humor, his marvelous renderings of popular and jazz standards, that comprised the formula of his series'.
@gymnastix - Agreed, a millions times over. "Make Room for Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show" was one of the greatest sitcoms ever on television. It is a criminal shame that it has been overlooked by TV history buffs. It was a hilarious show that had great warmth at the same time, could make you bust out laughing and then make you cry the next minute. For a reference point, if you took "The Andy Griffith Show" (which Thomas produced) and citified it, you'd have MRFD.
@fromthesidelines By the way, I always loved the "sunken" living room of the "Williams" apartment, how that short staircase led up to a landing, from which one could go to the parents'bedroom on the right, the kids' bedrooms on the left.
But the set changed in the later years of the CBS run. So the writers must have moved the "Williamses" to another apartment. Do you recall how they handled that? I think it was still an apartment, not to a single-family house, as on "I Love Lucy."
You're correct that the title font on this film is obviously post-1953. But I'm certain "Make Room For Daddy" was the syndicated title post-1957. So this must be a syndication print (of an ABC ep.) post-1964, when the CBS, prime time run had ceased first-run production (CBS continued airing reruns in prime time for the summer of 1965).
You may verify what I'm saying is correct at either IMDB or TV dotcom, or from the excellent encyclopedia of prime time TV by authors Brooks & Marsh.
@gymnastix back in the early days of tv they tweeked with the title of a tv show so people would know the reruns from the new shows the andy gritth show became andy of mayberry when syndicated on cbs c the shows use 2 be syndicated on the same networks they 1st aired on happy days became happy days again i laverne and shirery became laverne and shirey and company they stopped doing that in the early 80's
@toofargone68 I had already explained all this in two of my previous posts (#s 2 & 3,specifically), if you bothered to read them, beneath here on this comments page..
@toofargone68 But another practice of the television networks, in the early-to-mid 1950s especially, when summer replacement series' were at a premium, was for one network to sell reruns of its prime-time series' to competing networks. Thus Ann Sothern's/Desilu's "Private Secretary" series, on CBS in first-run, aired reruns on NBC in the summers of 1953 and '54.
@toofargone68 This was also done for daytime syndication, as when reruns of "The Danny Thomas Show" (on CBS from 1957 on) aired on NBC daytimes as "Make Room For Daddy," at various periods comprising its ABC-run episodes, later some CBS eps., as explained by "@fromthesidelines" elsewhere on this comments page.
And only those episodes when "The Ricardos" and "The Mertzes" lived in Westport. Connecticut (instead of their Manhattan apartment, which had been the locale of the characters' homes the show's first five years) were titled "Lucy In Connecticut." This was a special situation for a very special show.
I could really complicate things by telling of various titles for the network syndication run of "I Love Lucy," when that show was still in airing in prime time on CBS.
The network aired early Sunday evening episodes (which constitutes prime time on that day only, otherwise prime time begins at 8 p.m. EST, 7:30 p.m. in those days) as "The Sunday Lucy Show."
Once a show was canceled or ceased production, the network syndication reverted to the program's original title.
Today, reruns of shows still airing on networks (or cable) in prime time are simply called "syndicated runs," the titles kept the same as those airing on their network or cable channel or origin. Usually syndicated runs air on independent and mostly UHF channels, not network affiliates. The first-run syndication is unedited or less edited, thereafter cut for more commercials.
As a matter of fact, when "The Danny Thomas Show" aired on CBS in prime time, NBC aired both the ABC episodes and the older, CBS episodes in daytime and on weekends, under the title "Make Room For Daddy."
Other examples of this practice include "Andy Of Mayberry" for "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Daytime Show" for "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and "The McCoys" for "The Real McCoys," when each of these were in reruns on CBS' morning roster with new episodes still airing in prime time.
This was done so as not to confuse viewers with new episodes of a show airing on networks in prime time.
This was usually the practice in the days when networks aired daytime or off-prime time reruns of their own shows, or when competing networks aired off-prime time or summer reruns of another network's shows. The term for this practice was "network syndication."
No, you've got it exactly backwards--"Make Room For Daddy" was the syndicated title for "The Danny Thomas Show" when the show moved to CBS from ABC, where it had originally been titled "Make Room For Daddy."
Aren't the 1953-57 episodes out of any possible syndication? Seems that all I ever saw in reruns were the Marjorie Lord episodes. Also, was this music dubbed? I thought that the 53-57's had a different beat, albeit the same "Danny Boy" tune (I saw a Hagen ep somewhere, but not sure where).
cd637299 2 weeks ago
All I remember as a tot was getting my first TV gaffaw from this show. I"m not sure of the plot...it had something to do with a small person, who was thought to be a leprechaun (sic?). DT wanted no part of this, and when his family warned him, he said something to the effect of..."Oh right. He's gonna use his magical mystical powers and turn me into an egyptian motza ball!" I may be totally off on this, but it is in my head as such.
moboutmen 5 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
One of the shortest sitcoms in TV history!
calimar28 5 months ago
One of the shortest sitcoms in TV history!
calimar28 5 months ago
One of the greatest sitcoms in television history!
MrBasketballplayer50 6 months ago
If I'm repeating someone else's comments, I apologize but - The original title for the show was "Make Room for Daddy" and it aired on ABC. The show later switched to CBS and was renamed "The Danny Thomas Show." Meanwhile, the repeats of the ABC version were syndicated under the title "MRFD." When DT tried to revive the show later on, the title for THAT show was "Make Room for Granddaddy."
WSenator1 7 months ago
There were actually two "reunion" specials after the original series ended in 1964, both on NBC- the first one, "The Danny Thomas TV Family Reunion" in the spring of 1965, and the "Make More Room For Daddy" special on "THE DANNY THOMAS HOUR" in November 1967. That eventually led to the updated "sequel" series "MAKE ROOM FOR GRANDDADDY" on ABC in the 1970-'71 season. There were several "changes" in the Williams' apartment over the years, especially in the transition from ABC to CBS in 1957.
fromthesidelines 7 months ago
Quite a change of pace here for Jean Hagen, coming into "Make Room for Daddy" off playing Leena Lamont a year earlier in "Singing In the Rain". IIRC, she also has the distinction of being the first continuing character on a TV show to be written out of a series by dying (19 years before McLean Stevenson in M*A*S*H). The syndicated version of the theme, also used in the final two seasons of the CBS run, actually fits the mood of the show better than the version on the 1953-62 first-run episodes.
John80220 1 year ago
So that's where the silhouette came from in the closing credits, that's more like it to have that silhouette in the credits, they should' use it when it's named the Danny Thomas show to make less scarier to me
retroman84 1 year ago
To ad to the Danny Thomas show discussion ,about the intro on this page. the horizontal movement of the title ( THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW ) I recall this opening only being used for the ABC 1956 summer rerun of this show when Jean Hagen had just left . This is the very first intro to name the show the D.T. show , The 4th season fall 1956 the intro appeared 1930's style art deco grapics with a spotlight on Danny T , a less swing version of the theme Danny Boy .I missed 1965 reruns .
moosemod1999 1 year ago
Hey ya'll thanks for the knowledge regarding the naming of syndicated shows. I figured there was a reason why old CHiPS were called CHiPS Patrol. Off course the "Patrol" is redundant. I remember that the 1st wife left MRFD contentiously and the show was a great success without her.
tonywallacess45 2 years ago
Of course, some earlier episodes from the "MAKE ROOM FROM DADDY" era were shown as "THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW" on NBC's daytime schedule in the 1964-'65 season [weekdays, 10am(et)], and later syndicated....
fromthesidelines 2 years ago
"LUCY IN CONNECTICUT" was merely another way of CBS' extending their "rerun franchise" of "I LOVE LUCY" in the summer of 1960 [it was still on as a Monday-Friday daytime staple on the network]. They took the last 13 episodes, had Eleanor Bunin create a new title sequence (with the "I LOVE LUCY" theme underneath), and sold it to an eager sponsor {I forgot which one}. Pure and simple.
fromthesidelines 2 years ago
general mills..i think:)
sexymama1966 2 years ago
This is the rare syndicated title for the series, as this was an episode that originally aired under the "MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY" title [featuring Jean Hagen as "Margaret", who appeared during the first three seasons]. When Danny initially sold most of the 1957-'60 "DANNY THOMAS SHOW" episodes to NBC for daytime in 1960, the "MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY" title was used because the original series was still airing in prime-time. Eventually, pre-1957 episodes were added before it went off network in 1965.
fromthesidelines 2 years ago
@fromthesidelines There were also some special, hour-long episodes of "The Danny Thomas Show/Make Room For Daddy" that aired as part of NBC's "The Danny Thomas Hour" (1967-68), analogous to how CBS' "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" aired hour-long episodes of "I Love Lucy" as "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show" (re-titled for syndication as "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour").
gymnastix 7 months ago
@fromthesidelines "The Danny Thomas Show/Make Room For Daddy" was given short shrift by the cable TV nostalgia channels. It's high time some channel air the entire ABC/CBS runs, and NBC hour-long episodes, as well the one-season "Make Room For Granddaddy" series that aired 1970-71 on ABC. My suggestion for a re-packaging title--"Make Room For Danny."
gymnastix 7 months ago
@fromthesidelines TV viewers need to be re-introduced (or, in many cases now, "introduced") to the "Williamses": "Danny," "Margaret," "Kathy," "Terry," "Rusty," "Linda," and "Uncle Tonoose," and to Thomas' off-beat, gentle brand of humor, his marvelous renderings of popular and jazz standards, that comprised the formula of his series'.
gymnastix 7 months ago
@gymnastix - Agreed, a millions times over. "Make Room for Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show" was one of the greatest sitcoms ever on television. It is a criminal shame that it has been overlooked by TV history buffs. It was a hilarious show that had great warmth at the same time, could make you bust out laughing and then make you cry the next minute. For a reference point, if you took "The Andy Griffith Show" (which Thomas produced) and citified it, you'd have MRFD.
WSenator1 7 months ago
@fromthesidelines By the way, I always loved the "sunken" living room of the "Williams" apartment, how that short staircase led up to a landing, from which one could go to the parents'bedroom on the right, the kids' bedrooms on the left.
But the set changed in the later years of the CBS run. So the writers must have moved the "Williamses" to another apartment. Do you recall how they handled that? I think it was still an apartment, not to a single-family house, as on "I Love Lucy."
gymnastix 7 months ago
You're correct that the title font on this film is obviously post-1953. But I'm certain "Make Room For Daddy" was the syndicated title post-1957. So this must be a syndication print (of an ABC ep.) post-1964, when the CBS, prime time run had ceased first-run production (CBS continued airing reruns in prime time for the summer of 1965).
You may verify what I'm saying is correct at either IMDB or TV dotcom, or from the excellent encyclopedia of prime time TV by authors Brooks & Marsh.
gymnastix 2 years ago
@gymnastix back in the early days of tv they tweeked with the title of a tv show so people would know the reruns from the new shows the andy gritth show became andy of mayberry when syndicated on cbs c the shows use 2 be syndicated on the same networks they 1st aired on happy days became happy days again i laverne and shirery became laverne and shirey and company they stopped doing that in the early 80's
toofargone68 7 months ago
@toofargone68 I had already explained all this in two of my previous posts (#s 2 & 3,specifically), if you bothered to read them, beneath here on this comments page..
gymnastix 7 months ago
@toofargone68 But another practice of the television networks, in the early-to-mid 1950s especially, when summer replacement series' were at a premium, was for one network to sell reruns of its prime-time series' to competing networks. Thus Ann Sothern's/Desilu's "Private Secretary" series, on CBS in first-run, aired reruns on NBC in the summers of 1953 and '54.
gymnastix 7 months ago
@toofargone68 This was also done for daytime syndication, as when reruns of "The Danny Thomas Show" (on CBS from 1957 on) aired on NBC daytimes as "Make Room For Daddy," at various periods comprising its ABC-run episodes, later some CBS eps., as explained by "@fromthesidelines" elsewhere on this comments page.
gymnastix 7 months ago
And only those episodes when "The Ricardos" and "The Mertzes" lived in Westport. Connecticut (instead of their Manhattan apartment, which had been the locale of the characters' homes the show's first five years) were titled "Lucy In Connecticut." This was a special situation for a very special show.
gymnastix 2 years ago
I could really complicate things by telling of various titles for the network syndication run of "I Love Lucy," when that show was still in airing in prime time on CBS.
The network aired early Sunday evening episodes (which constitutes prime time on that day only, otherwise prime time begins at 8 p.m. EST, 7:30 p.m. in those days) as "The Sunday Lucy Show."
gymnastix 2 years ago
Once a show was canceled or ceased production, the network syndication reverted to the program's original title.
Today, reruns of shows still airing on networks (or cable) in prime time are simply called "syndicated runs," the titles kept the same as those airing on their network or cable channel or origin. Usually syndicated runs air on independent and mostly UHF channels, not network affiliates. The first-run syndication is unedited or less edited, thereafter cut for more commercials.
gymnastix 2 years ago
As a matter of fact, when "The Danny Thomas Show" aired on CBS in prime time, NBC aired both the ABC episodes and the older, CBS episodes in daytime and on weekends, under the title "Make Room For Daddy."
Other examples of this practice include "Andy Of Mayberry" for "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Daytime Show" for "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and "The McCoys" for "The Real McCoys," when each of these were in reruns on CBS' morning roster with new episodes still airing in prime time.
gymnastix 2 years ago
This was done so as not to confuse viewers with new episodes of a show airing on networks in prime time.
This was usually the practice in the days when networks aired daytime or off-prime time reruns of their own shows, or when competing networks aired off-prime time or summer reruns of another network's shows. The term for this practice was "network syndication."
gymnastix 2 years ago
No, you've got it exactly backwards--"Make Room For Daddy" was the syndicated title for "The Danny Thomas Show" when the show moved to CBS from ABC, where it had originally been titled "Make Room For Daddy."
gymnastix 2 years ago