Writer: Various including Garry Marshall and Bob Fisher
Director: Various including Sheldon Leonard and William Asher
Cast: Danny Thomas, Rusty Hamer, Marjorie Lord, Angela Cartwright, Penny Parker, June Hagen, Sid Melton,
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: S’more Entertainment
Release Date: January 22, 2008

Make Room for Daddy seems to be yet another show that is perceived to emphasize the misogynistic 1950s lifestyle. I don’t necessarily find that lifestyle misogynistic merely because the wife had her fair share of duties and the husband had his. Just because she wasn’t out in the workforce doesn’t make it misogynistic. It’s just slightly dated. This is back in a time when one parent could work and did. Still, that doesn’t mean there was anything necessarily wrong with that. It’s just the way it was. Besides, Kathy Williams made sure to enter the workforce when she wanted.

Make Room for Daddy is a wholesome family show. I had heard for years how great Danny Thomas was, having grown up in Toledo, which is a place where Thomas is revered. I hadn’t really watched reruns of Make Room for Daddy though since they didn’t seem to be on much in the 1980s, at least not in my house. I knew that the show, also known as the Danny Thomas show, was of a similar vein to shows like Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best, but this was the first time I was really able to appreciate a show, which makes me ache for such great writing and good storytelling in a time when reality television reigns supreme.

Release Information:
Make Room for Daddy ran for 11 seasons from 1953 through 1964. Thomas’ on screen children pretty much grew up on the series. The first season premiered on September 29, 1953 and every season had at least 30 episodes in them. The sixth season, which is what this review covers, has 32 episodes and all of them are included in this five disc set. The sixth season of Make Room for Daddy aired from Fall 1958 through Summer 1959. This is when the show was considered to be in its prime.

Make Room for Daddy: Season 6 is the latest release by S’more Entertainment. The DVD was released on January 22, 2008 and is now available at both online and nationwide retailers. You can purchase a copy of the Make Room for Daddy: Season 6 box set at Amazon where it is available for $29.99.

The Make Room for Daddy: Season 6 Plot
By watching this show, it’s easy to see why Make Room for Daddy is one of the longest running family comedies of the 1950s. The show was nominated for a total of 14 Emmy awards, four of which it won in its 11-season run. Danny Thomas took home the Emmy for Best Actor and the show also won for Best Situation Comedy. Sure, this show may be dated today and some people may be shocked by the fact that Thomas threatens conventional 1950-esque punishments to his on screen children (including threatening the belt), but that’s just how families were. If nothing else, it tries to be realistic.

Being the youngest of a second family (my dad had two families 20 years apart with me being born when he was 47 years old), my dad was raising his own kids (my two older brothers) in the early 60s and I can remember a handful of threats to be spanked by his belt myself, back in the 1980s. That’s just how parents disciplined their kids, and trust me, the fear method often worked! I think by letting my son see how parents used to punish their kids by letting him watch Make Room for Daddy, he can be thankful the worst he gets is a grounding or losing something he likes (electronics, watching TV, etc) as the extent of his punishments as opposed to being taken behind the shed and getting whipped by the belt. Kids could learn a lot from this show!

If you can get past what some would call barbaric punishments and the somewhat misogynistic undertones, Make Room for Daddy really is an enjoyable show. Danny Thomas is an exceptional actor and he surrounds himself with a well-acted cast from his wife, Kathy (Clancy) Williams (Marjorie Lord) to his two younger children, Rusty (Rusty Hamer) and Linda (Angela Cartwright). Danny Thomas was known as a well-respected singer and comedian prior to Make Room for Daddy and in the show he capitalized on what he knew best, how to perform. That is part of what made this show so excellent and popular.

Danny Williams (Thomas) is a celebrity. He is trying to escape the pressure of work by having his family Make Room for Daddy at home. This is one of the first seasons where Danny (a widower) is a part of a blended family with his new wife, Kathy (also a widow) and her young daughter, who he adopted, joining the fray. Part of what made this show successful was the amount of guest stars who came on to star in episodes of the show. An all-star cast of famous names stop in throughout the entire series run as guest stars and boy do some of them make an impression.

While Make Room for Daddy is just that, a comedy, it does address issues pertinent to both the 1950s and the society of today. In many episodes, there is a battle of the sexes. Women’s rights are addressed in depth and Kathy even gets a job at one point in the series. There is also a look into teenage dating, with the eldest Williams child, Terry (Penny Parker), starting to go on dates and juvenile delinquency when Rusty joins a gang. Of course, these are just a few of the issues discussed in the 32 episodes that make up the sixth season.

The DVD splits the episodes up across five discs. The breakdown of episodes is as follows:

DISC ONE:

6.1 – “Jack Benny Takes Danny’s Job”
6.2 – “Rusty, The Ward-Heeler”
6.3 – “The First Anniversary”
6.4 – “Terry Goes Steady”
6.5 – “Take a Message”
6.6 – “A Locket for Linda”
6.7 – “Uncle Tonoose’s Fling”

DISC TWO:

6.8 – “Linda’s Tonsils”
6.9 – “Dinah Shore & Danny Are Rivals”
6.10 – “The Reunion”
6.11 – “Kathy’s Career”
6.12 – “The Saints Come Marching In”
6.13 – “Lucille Ball Upsets Williams Household”

DISC THREE:

6.14 – “Tony Bennett Gets Danny’s Help”
6.15 – “Tennessee Ernie Stays for Dinner”
6.16 – “Bob Hope & Danny Become Directors”
6.17 – “Red Tape”
6.18 – “Gina From Italy”
6.19 – “Shirley Jones Makes Good”
6.20 – “Gina’s First Date”

DISC FOUR:

6.21 – “Growing Pains”
6.22 – “Frankie Laine Sings for Gina”
6.23 – “Kathy Leaves Danny”
6.24 – “The Latin Lover”
6.25 – “Losers Weepers”
6.26 – “Grampa’s Diet”

DISC FIVE:

6.27 – “The Double Dinner”
6.28 – “Danny’s Big Fan”
6.29 – “The Surprise Party”
6.30 – “Gina for President”
6.31 – “The Practical Joke”
6.32 – “Linda’s Giant”

There are many excellent episodes to name as my favorite on this disc. All of them are hilarious. However, if I had to pick a few I’d have to say I like “The Surprise Party”, where Danny thinks they’ve forgotten his birthday, “The Saints Come Marching In” where Rusty joins a gang, “Grampa’s Diet” where Grampa sneaks food he isn’t supposed to eat due to his diet, when he comes to visit the Williams household, and “Lucille Ball Upsets the Williams Household”. The last one is pretty self-explanatory.

The acting for Make Room for Daddy is as good as it gets for a television show. As I mentioned previously, Danny Thomas won an Emmy for his acting on the show. Marjorie Lord is a good match for Thomas. They make a good couple and have great comedic humor and chemistry with one another. While Penny Parker does well in her role as Terry, it is the two younger children, Hamer and Cartwright who steal the show. It’s sad to think about the fact that Hamer committed suicide, due to his career seemingly ending with the ending of this show and his life spiraling out of control as a result.

Hamer is an old pro when it comes to humor and he steals every scene he shares with Thomas. Cartwright would go on to have a successful acting career with a major role in The Sound of Music (as one of the Von Trapp children) and Lost in Space. It’s easy to see why, since she is both adorable and talented, making her one of the best little actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, to date.

Despite this being the sixth season, Make Room for Daddy still seems to be full of steam. Where other shows would be faltering and lacking in the humor department, Make Room for Daddy shines through, continuing to be as entertaining as it was in previous seasons. Well, at least from what I’ve seen of them (and unfortunately, that’s not much).

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The audio quality for Make Room for Daddy: Season 6 is decent for the age of the show. I’m glad that it is presented in standard, 1.33:1 ratio, black and white full frames. I was hoping they wouldn’t colorize the show as the cover of the DVD seems to suggest. There are some issues with compression artifacts, grain, and a somewhat soft or blurred picture, but honestly, that’s what I expected going into this review. There could have probably been a little more improvement, but overall, it’s watchable and shouldn’t affect viewing pleasure.

The audio for the Make Room for Daddy: Season 6 box set is better than expected. It’s a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix in English. While there are no subtitles, there is supposed to be closed captioning. I had trouble with that, but it could have been my television. Still, if you expect (or rely on) closed captioning to watch television, you may want to rent this DVD first, just in case it isn’t available for you either. There wasn’t much need for volume toggling and though there are occasional fuzzy sounds, what is here is about as good as it gets for a show this old.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice set of extras on this box set. Make Room for Daddy: Season 6 starts off with a featurette that is 15 minutes long. It’s an “Interview with Marjorie Lord”. It’s unclear when this interview was filmed, but in it Lord talks about the fond memories she has from when she worked on the show. The second disc contains a featurette that is also an interview. This one is much shorter, at around six minutes in length. This is an “Interview with Sid Melton”, who discusses his view on the show as a comedian and friend of Danny Thomas. The second disc has a photo gallery on it, as well.

Disc three has a public service announcement for St. Jude’s Hospital. This is the hospital Danny Thomas founded for cancer research and treatment. This PSA features Thomas’ daughter, actress Marlo Thomas. The fourth disc features yet another interview, this time with the woman who portrayed the littlest actress on the show, Angela Cartwright. The “Interview with Angela Cartwright” is almost 20 minutes in length. Disc five contains an extensive blooper reel, over ten minutes in length. It also features the last featurette on the disc. This featurette is quite short, at less than five minutes in length. It’s called “Marjorie Lord Reads from Her Book”. In it, Marjorie Lord reads a passage from her memoir.

I could have taken or left the last bonus, but everything else was enjoyable. Overall, some really great bonuses have been included.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
Make Room for Daddy: Season 6 might contain 32 episodes of a dated show, but this show is one of the most entertaining shows of all time. With great writing, outstanding acting, and excellent storytelling, Make Room for Daddy is a must watch series for everyone. This show is going to be suitable for families of all sizes and ages, with little to complain about (if you aren’t stupid about the punishment thing) in the way of inappropriate content. Make Room for Daddy: Season 6 is highly recommended. Buy this box set while you can.

Overall Rating:

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