For Baby Boomers who fondly remember My Three Sons as just your typical quaint ‘60s family sitcom, there are surprises in store during these 18 episodes that conclude the groundbreaking 1960-61 first season. Credit goes to director Peter Tewksbury (who helmed every episode) for subverting sitcom convention: “Man in a Trench Coat,” for example, unfolds in film noir style, as middle son Robbie (Don Grady)—influenced by pulp fiction paperbacks—lets his imagination get the better of him as he sneaks around with a flirtatious blonde and tries to elude a stranger who's been tailing him. “Small Adventure” is a Hitchcockian exercise in which the family goes about its business unaware of the danger created when family dog Tramp brings a stick (of unexploded dynamite) into the house. In its debut season, My Three Sons was the raucous flipside to the comparatively staid suburban domesticity of Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver. Fred MacMurray's Steve Douglas was a widower raising his boisterous brood with the help of “dear old Bub,” his gruff father-in-law (William Frawley), in an all-male household that “looks like a disaster area…nothing but bottlenecks and traffic jams.” Between games of keep-away in the living room, blaring trumpet practice, and squabbles over the phone and lack of privacy, there are few quiet moments. While some of the episodes are corny and silly (like the one in which Steve and Robbie think they've found an abandoned baby), others grapple with real-life issues such as first love (Mike and his girlfriend test their feelings for one another by not seeing each other for a week). The full season price tag for a half season's worth of episodes is unfortunate, but for those collecting classic TV, this iconic series is definitely recommended. (D. Liebenson)
My Three Sons: The First Season, Volume Two
Paramount, 3 discs, 461 min., not rated, DVD: $39.98 April 27, 2009
My Three Sons: The First Season, Volume Two
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