Sketch o’the Week- Family Affair!

Time for another episode of our “TV shows Tom watched as a kid after school” sketch series. This one is kind of odd because it really doesn’t fit with the type of shows I normally watched after school. I was more into the goofy sitcoms with wacky premises like a witch housewife, an astronaut with a genie, a family of monsters, and, of course, World War II prisoners of war. There was just something about this show that kept me from changing the channel… maybe it was the mesmerizing spinning jewel effect opening credits. Anyway our sketch this week id the cast of “Family Affair” Brian Keith, Sebastian Cabot, Kathy Garver, Anissa Jones  and Johnny Whitaker!

“Family Affair” was a huge hit for most of its run in the late 60’s. It was produced by Don Fedderson of ‘My Three Sons’ fame, and like “My Three Sons” had the unusual “hook” of starring a bonafide movie star… in “Family Affair’s” case Brian Keith. Back then movie star actors seldom did more than guest appearances on TV shows, and it was almost unheard of to have them as the main star of a television series. Fedderson was able to do that with Fred MacMurray for “My Three Sons” and Keith for “Family Affair” by having them film all their scenes for the entire season in marathon 30 day blocks. The other actors would shoot any scenes without MacMurray or Keith afterward. That way MacMurray and Keith could do a TV series like this and still do movies the rest of the year. In fact when you watch these shows now you can image reaction shots or conversations where the people talking are not actually seen together in the same shot having been done with the star’s lines done earlier and separately from the other’s.

These days it seems like big time movie stars all have shows on a streaming service.