Father Knows Best

1954
4.8
96 reviews
Eligible
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Father Knows Best: Season 1 episodes (26)

1 Father Knows Best: S1 E1 - Bud Takes Up The Dance
10/3/54
Bud uses an old book to teach himself to dance in time for his very first date and his very first dance.
2 Father Knows Best: S1 E2 - Lesson In Citizenship
10/10/54
Jim sets out to teach his layabout kids a proper life ethic. He tells them that "active participation equals good citizenship," and that they should volunteer willingly and cheerfully. They take this lesson to heart, but not with the expected results.
3 Father Knows Best: S1 E3 - The Motor Scooter
10/17/54
Jim and Margaret disagree on whether Jim should buy Bud a motor scooter.
4 Father Knows Best: S1 E4 - Football Tickets
10/24/54
Jim and Margaret go to the big football game every year. This year, Margaret finds she cannot go and Betty is promised the ticket-until Jim offers it to someone else.
5 Father Knows Best: S1 E5 - Live My Own Life
10/31/54
Bud feels beleaguered by his parents and siblings, and believes he is ready to take responsibility for his own life. The teenager decides to move out of the house to live on his own.
6 Father Knows Best: S1 E6 - Grandpa Jim's Rejuvenation
11/7/54
Season-only
Jim wants to play badminton, but his kids see him as too old for such things. When a school chum writes that he has become a grandfather, Jim is convinced that the best years of his life are behind him.
7 Father Knows Best: S1 E7 - Bud's Encounter With The Law
11/14/54
Kathy plays with the new washing machine and keeps throwing everything in it. This time, Betty's items for Girls in Government Club are included as well as a letter to Bud from the police. Betty's items are ruined and Bud gets a surprise.
8 Father Knows Best: S1 E8 - Thanksgiving Day
11/21/54
When Kathy writes a prize-winning Thanksgiving poem, Jim envisions his "Kitten" as the next Emily Brontë. His proud fantasy is shattered when he actually reads the poem.
9 Father Knows Best: S1 E9 - Second Honeymoon
11/28/54
Jim and Margaret could use some time away from the house, so they plan a weekend getaway. Jim worries that the kids will be upset if they go, but they adjust more easily to the time apart than their parents.
10 Father Knows Best: S1 E10 - Typical Father
12/5/54
Betty is falling hard for a new guy, and it upsets her father. Jim becomes convinced that Betty is exhibiting all the "recognizable symptoms" of someone who is about to elope.
11 Father Knows Best: S1 E11 - Margaret Goes Dancing
12/12/54
Margaret is sure she could never get Jim to agree to take dancing classes with her. Her friend Myrtle suggests she try the "female art of persuasion"; Margaret tries to make Jim think it was his idea, but he's on to her. "Women are never so obvious as when they're trying to hide something," he counsels Bud.
12 Father Knows Best: S1 E12 - The Christmas Story
12/19/54
In an attempt to remind his family of the real meaning of Christmas, Jim decides the Andersons will cut down their own Christmas tree this year. When they become stranded in the woods during a snowstorm, the true spirit of the holiday seems even more elusive than ever.
13 Father Knows Best: S1 E13 - Sparrow In The Window
12/26/54
When Kathy discovers an injured sparrow on the windowsill, the family takes the little bird in to nurse it back to health. Jim promises her it will get well-and worries what will happen if it doesn't.
14 Father Knows Best: S1 E14 - Boy's Week
1/2/55
After Kathy breaks another window, Jim is committed to teaching his kids about personal responsibility. Then Jim himself gets a parking ticket he thinks is unfair. He takes his fight to court and finds out that his judge is none other than Bud, appointed to sit in during his high school's "Boy's Week."
15 Father Knows Best: S1 E15 - A Friend Of Old George's
1/9/55
The family has a lovely dinner and a special event planned for Kathy's birthday. She's been looking forward to it, but an uninvited visitor upsets the best-laid plans.
16 Father Knows Best: S1 E16 - Bud The Snob
1/16/55
Bud is getting a reputation as a snob; his difficulty in talking with girls is being misinterpreted as standoffishness.
17 Father Knows Best: S1 E17 - The Promised Playhouse
1/23/55
Jim demands that his family start living up to the promises they've made to people. "A promise is supposed to mean something," he tells them. Then Kathy reminds him of a pledge he made to her, and Jim winds up sleeping in her homemade playhouse.
18 Father Knows Best: S1 E18 - Jim The Farmer
1/30/55
Feeling stressed out from all the pressure at work, Jim decides to give up his job, move to the country and become a farmer. As he makes plans for the move, Margaret suspects there is more motivating Jim than just a longing for simplicity and self-reliance.
19 Father Knows Best: S1 E19 - Father Of The Year
2/6/55
The Springfield newspaper is sponsoring a Father of the Year contest. The Anderson children set out to write the winning essay, but can't find the words to describe the "best father in the world." Jim would love to win, but that doesn't stop him from putting his foot down with Betty and Bud.
20 Father Knows Best: S1 E20 - The Mink Coat
2/13/55
Money is tight and Jim lectures the family on fiscal responsibility. The very next day he is presented with an extraordinary opportunity to buy Margaret a mink coat for less than half the regular price, and he grabs it. Margaret loves the coat, but even though she looks like a million bucks, they're more cash-strapped than ever.
21 Father Knows Best: S1 E21 - The Matchmaker
2/20/55
Margaret wages a campaign to get her cousin's boyfriend to propose. Though Louise is hesitant to "trap" Tom, Margaret is sure she knows what to do and takes over.
22 Father Knows Best: S1 E22 - Bud The Bridesmaid
2/27/55
Cousin Louise is getting married in the Anderson home. Margaret is going all-out on the wedding, and Jim is not happy about the bills. When a case of wedding jitters keeps Louise out of the rehearsal, Bud has to stand in for the bride.
23 Father Knows Best: S1 E23 - Proud Father
3/6/55
After he runs into a friend who brags about his overachieving children, Jim wants to help inspire his own brood to acts of greatness. He feels they lack courage and challenges them to face their fears.
24 Father Knows Best: S1 E24 - Father Delivers The Papers
3/13/55
The customers on Bud's paper route have been complaining about him to his boss. When Mr. Collins tells Jim about it, Jim assures him that Bud will fulfill his duties if he gives him another chance. The very next day, Bud skins his elbow and can't complete his deliveries.
25 Father Knows Best: S1 E25 - No Partiality
3/20/55
Kathy demands equal rights with Betty and Bud. Jim agrees and says that whatever Betty gets to do, Kathy gets to do too. When Betty asks to invite a boy over for dinner, Kathy wants to do the same-but no one expects that they both want to ask the same boy.
26 Father Knows Best: S1 E26 - Close Decision
3/27/55
Bud is slacking off-he's not doing his chores and he's put off memorizing a poem to recite in church. Margaret insists he skip his softball game and catch up on his work. When Jim sees that the team is losing without Bud, he sneaks Bud out to the game- against Margaret's wishes.

About this show

Maybe he didn't always know best, but beginning in 1954 insurance salesman Jim Anderson (Robert Young) of Springfield, Ohio, was America's favorite head of household.

Ratings and reviews

4.8
96 reviews
Stephen “Dezz's husband” Crawford
December 21, 2014
More seasons and seasons of The Donna Reed show. I was so happy to see Father Knows Best on here, I like Leave It To Beaver and Bewitched but those shows are always available be it on Netflix or at the store so am glad to see these 4 seasons. Granted it was before I was born but you don't see tv like this much less reality. The kids are relatable they aren't perfect but they aren't complete jerk like the disrespect on tv 2day*mrs.crawford.
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Norma Jacobs
March 8, 2018
I have always loved this show, I still watch it everyday! I would give it a 10 rating if I could! Life just seemed so much simpler in those days. I cry when I watch certain shows, I and laugh a lot @ other shows, but I love the morals and values that are deeply played out by each character in each episode! Families today could learn a lot by watching this show! We live in a very sad world. Respect is a thing of the past! Family ties don`t compare too how it was back then! 😂😂
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Dallas Lakey
February 21, 2015
since the other old shows aren't. I watched every episode and I wish that there were more seasons of it. It's too bad that they took it off of TV.
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