Tag Archives: Johnny Whitaker

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Family Affair Friday: Season 1, Episode 4, A Matter of School, 10/3/66

This is part of my weekly series about the classic CBS sitcom Family Affair

Season 1, Episode 4, “The Matter of School,” 10/3/66

Written by: Henry Garson. Directed by: William D. Russell.

Synopsis

It’s time to enroll the kids in school. While it’s a simple matter to enroll Buffy and Jody in first grade, Uncle Bill is less certain about what’s best for Cissy. He rejects immediately French’s suggestion of Miss Haycroft’s School in London but reluctantly considers sending her to Bryerfield, a boarding school in Connecticut. Cissy really wants to go to Lexie High, a public school in the city, especially after grocery delivery boy Freddy sings the school’s praises.

Freddy wants to share more than Sugar Pops with Cissy.

But she misinterprets Uncle Bill’s mention of Bryerfield as a hint it would ease a burden on him if she lived at school. She chooses Bryerfield, and Uncle Bill promises her a big evening her first weekend home–dinner at 21, a musical, and a visit to a nightclub. Business makes him forget his promise, though, reinforcing Cissy’s idea that she should be “out of his hair.”

Cute dress. This is a good fashion episode for Cissy.

When she mentions this to Buffy and Jody, they decide to get out of Mr. French’s hair and attempt to take a cab to Connecticut. Talking to the kids, Bill uncovers Cissy’s misconception, and French reminds him about the plans he forgot with Cissy. Uncle Bill rushes to Connecticut to bring Cissy home, and later he finally escorts a lovely Cissy on that special date.

Cissy dressed for her evening out

Random Thoughts

The bonding between Cissy and Uncle Bill is touching, and the ending is sweet. Buffy and Jody provide comedic counterpoint to main story, especially in the scene in which exasperated Mr. French registers the twins for school. (First grade is taught in morning and afternoon sessions, and French asks if the kids can attend both!)

Buffy tries to show her principal exactly where she got vaccinated

This episode introduces a pervasive Family Affair idea that the children will be interacting with peers from many different backgrounds. Freddy tells Cissy and Uncle Bill that kids from penthouses and kids from basements attend Lexie High, and Buffy and Jody quickly make friends with a cabdriver’s son. The principal also notes that the twins will hear a variety of languages spoken in their class.

Uncle Bill’s clients from Afghanistan. The Davis world is a cosmopolitan one.

Guest Cast

Ted Gaynor: John Hubbard. Mrs. Brown: Sarah Selby. Mrs. Hedgemot: Gertrude Graner. Mr. Kabul: Aly Wassil. Freddy: Eugene Martin. Mr. Razini: Naji Gabbay. Mr. Chill: Reginald Lal Singh. Barbara: Liza Garson. Murray: Tony Campo. Sarah Selby had a recurring role for many years as Ma Smalley on Gunsmoke, and she was Aunt Polly in a 1974 TV version of Huckleberry Finn. She would appear in four more Family Affair episodes. Campo, who would return as a different character in season five, was the third Scotty Baldwin on General Hospital; Johnny Whitaker was the first. Gabbay and Wassil would both reappear in season two’s “The Beasley Story,” and Martin would appear once more as Freddy. Hubbard, who would reappear in several episodes as Uncle Bill’s partner, starred in many largely unmemorable films of the 1940s. I strongly suspect Liza Garson is a relative of producer and sometimes writer Henry Garson. Her character struck me as oddly superfluous in her scene even before I noticed the familiar last name.

Barbara’s job is to stand awkwardly behind the principal

Fun Facts

Buffy and Jody attended kindergarten in Terre Haute. In his reluctance to progress to first grade, Jody shows the first sign of being less academically minded than Buffy. The Davis’ apartment building is at 600 E. 62nd Street.

Continuity Notes

Cissy’s desire not to be a burden to Uncle Bill stems from her fear that she was “dumped” on him. We have Terre Haute references. Miss Faversham is mentioned.

Notable Quotes

“She’s like Cinderella, but tomorrow she’ll be our sister again.” Buffy, on Cissy

Today’s Bonus Feature

A Family Affair parody from Mad Magazine, April 1969

If you enjoyed this post, read all my Family Affair entries!

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Family Affair Friday: Season 1, Episode 3, A Gift Horse, 9/26/66

This is part of my weekly series about the classic CBS sitcom Family Affair

Season 1, Episode 3, A Gift Horse, 9/26/66.
Written by: John McGreevey. Directed by: William D. Russell.

Synopsis

Uncle Bill returns from East Africa with gifts for the kids, and Cissy gives him a hand-knit tie. With $1.07 between them, Buffy and Jody decide to find the perfect gift for Uncle Bill. Baffled by French’s suggestion of a gift certificate, they search in vain for something Bill needs. Soon they learn that their friend Mr. McGovern, who operates a hansom cab with a broken-down horse named Rosie, is giving up his cab and parting with Rosie. Of course, they decide a horse is the one thing Uncle Bill needs.

Rosie. She really does look broken down.

When French learns that McGovern sold the children the horse, he bawls the man out for taking advantage of children. Realizing what the gift means to the twins, however, Uncle Bill accepts it and makes arrangements to send “the Rose of Killarney” to live with friends near Danbury, Connecticut.

Mr. French sees the horse. I love Sebastian Cabot’s reactions!

Random Thoughts: Kids, horses–Uncle Bill’s apartment is becoming a real dumping ground. A cute episode. At first, I did think Mr. McGovern was unethical for allowing the kids to “buy” the horse, but he obviously wanted to make sure his friend had a good home.

One big happy family

Not a “Helicopter Butler,” Apparently: When French leaves to confront Mr. McGovern about the horse, no one is at home to supervise 6-year-old Buffy and Jody.

Gratuitous twin cuteness

Guest Cast: Emmet Parnell McGovern: Paul Hartman. Scotty: Karl Lukas. Hartman’s film career included Inherit the Wind and The Thrill of it All. He had a regular role as Bert Smedley, the barber, on Petticoat Junction, and as Emmet Clark in the 1967-68 season of The Andy Griffith Show and on its spin-off Mayberry R.F.D. Lukas would return as Scotty in quite a few Family Affair episodes.

A thaw in Anglo-Irish relations

Fun Facts: Scotty, the doorman, makes his first appearance.

Scotty. Gee, do you think that big sign will figure into the upcoming scene?

Notable Quotes: “It’s just what I wanted, if I knew there was stuff like this.” Jody, receiving an ant farm

Gratuitous Uncle Bill smile

“Mr. Davis is not running a home for superannuated horses.”—French

In the episode’s tag, the twins give Mr. French a gift–kittens!

Of course, he takes this turn of events in stride.

Another kitten shot because…well, I love kittens. And it’s my blog.

Today’s Bonus Feature

TV Guide, December 16, 1967, with a first-person Sebastian Cabot feature. Some things we learn:

* He thinks Michael Redgrave is a better actor than Laurence Olivier.

* Walt Disney doesn’t pay well.

* Brian Keith loves kids but doesn’t suffer foolish reporters gladly.

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Dreaming of Family Affair

Something I’d seen on TV as a child haunted my memory for years.

It involved a perky teenage girl beginning her service as a hospital volunteer. In her starched candy-striper uniform, she was the picture of efficiency. During her first day on the job, however, she made a terrible mistake. An old woman patient begged the girl for a glass of water, and the girl gave it to her. She didn’t know that the woman was on her way into surgery and barred from drinking food and water. The old woman’s doctor became furious with the girl because her mistake could have cost the old woman her life.

Many years later, I saw this show again. My husband, who watched with me, had never seen it before but had heard my description. Well, the show wasn’t quite the way I remembered it. The old woman’s begging and the doctor’s reaction weren’t nearly as dramatic on film as they were in my memory. My husband still teases me about this incident when I share other childhood memories.

In my defense, CBS showed Family Affair in daytime reruns from September 1970 to January 1973, so I was no more than four when I watched Cissy Davis’ stint as a candy striper.

But that scene and others made a vivid—if inaccurate—impression on my young mind, and gave Family Affair a special place in my heart.

Too young for the show’s 1966-1971 primetime run, I discovered it in those daytime reruns. After that, it pretty much disappeared until TV Land aired it in the 1990s.

Revisiting the show then was like encountering an old friend. I enjoyed it so much that in the late ‘90s and early aughts I ran a comprehensive Family Affair web site.

(Kathy Garver left an approving message on my guestbook!)

Since that site is lost in the mists of time and the wreckage of Geocities, I am declaring Fridays Family Affair days on Embarrassing Treasures.  Starting next week, I’ll take a fresh look at one episode each week and share images from my large collection of Family Affair memorabilia.

Why do I like Family Affair so much?

1.      A strange poignancy permeates the show and makes it stand out from similar shows. Unlike every other classic TV sitcom whose premise involved dead parents (My Three Sons, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, and many more), Family Affair showed kids who remembered and missed their parents occasionally—not just in the first episode or even the first season.

2.      Brian Keith is my favorite on-screen father figure ever. Whenever his paternal love radiates through his ruggedly masculine persona, I melt. This happens often in Family Affair, but my favorite Brian Keith dad moment comes in Disney’s 1961 The Parent Trap. Check out the scene that begins at 4:00, when he realizes he’s seeing his daughter Sharon for the first time since she was a baby.

When Keith died in 1997, Entertainment Weekly called him an underrated actor—I wholeheartedly agree.

3.      Mrs. Beasley! What sitcom ever had a product tie-in like this one?  Her old-lady look is unique in the world of dolls and straddles the line between cute and creepy. Episodes where Mrs. Beasley gets lost are always great.

4.      The setting is exotic. Sure, it’s just New York City. But to small-town kids like me, a city childhood did seem exotic. Buffy and Jody lived in a high-rise apartment building and had a terrace. They played in Central Park. A British butler was their babysitter.

Buffy, Mr. French, and Jody

5.      Mr. French! Sebastian Cabot’s chagrined portrayal of Mr. French, forced to take on a nanny role he never sought, cuts the show’s saccharine level and provides some genuine humor.

6.      Buffy and Jody. The names alone are fun to say. (As a young child, I thought “Buffy and Jody” was the show’s title.) Anissa Jones and Johnnie Whitaker are genuinely adorable in the early seasons, although they later faced the curse common to sitcom kids—a mandate to continue being little and adorable long after it was possible or desirable.

7.      That jaunty Frank De Vol theme song and the kaleidoscopic opening effect that mesmerized me as a child (and reminded me of my grandma’s bingo markers). My memory never failed me where that was concerned.