CTVA
The Classic TV Archive - US Comedy Series
Life with Father (1953-55)    Father of the Bride (1961-62)
Life With Father (1953-55)
    Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by:
Rina Fox / Robert Leszczak / Tom Alger [Updated Nov 2017]
references:
Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://www.us.imdb.com)
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LIFE WITH FATHER
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McCadden production
for
CBS (Sundays 7:00 pm ET)(1953-54)
CBS (Tuesdays 10pm ET)(24Aug54 - 28Dec54)
CBS (Tuesdays 8:00 pm ET)(04Jan55 - 5Jul55)
based on the stage play by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
and the 1947 WB film starring William Powell and Irene Dunne.
Produced by Bob Feiner, Fletcher Markle
photoplay by Katharine B. Day, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse

US Situation Comedy series 1953-55
Total of 66 episodes x 30 min  (22Nov53-5Jul55)

Season One (1953-54):
26 episodes x 30 min (live, b/w)
Broadcast live from Hollywood.
Sponsored by Johnson's Wax.

Season Two (1954-55):
13 episodes x 30 min (live, b/w)
1 episode x 30 min (live, color)
26 episodes x 30 min (filmed in b/w)
Sponsored by
Pet Milk (24Aug54 - 28Dec54)
CBS-Columbia TV sets (starting 04Jan55)
(CBS' TV set manufacturing division).
General Mills ("alternate sponsor" starting 5Apr55).

Following the series' CBS run, the 26 filmed episodes were shown in syndication.

starring
Leon Ames as Clarence Day, Sr (1953-1955)
Lurene Tuttle as Vinnie Day (1953-1955)

Ralph Reed as Clarence Day, Jr #1 (1953)
Steven Terrell as Clarence Day, Jr #2 (Dec. 1953-1955)

Ronald Keith as Whitney Day #1 (1953-1954)
B.G. Norman as Whitney Day #2 (1954-1955)
Freddy Ridgeway as Whitney Day #3 (1955)

Harvey Grant as Harlan Day (1953-1955)

Freddie Leiston as John Day #1 (1953-1954)
Malcolm Cassell as John Day #2 (1954-1955)

Dorothy Bernard as Margaret (1953-1955)
Marion Ross as Nora (1953-1955)

Announcer: Bob Lemond

Premise:
Life in an upper-middle-class New York household at the turn of the century.

Leon Ames returned to television with  Father of the Bride (1961-62) 34 episodes as Stanley Banks.

############# Life With Father ###############
############# season 1 1953-54 ###############
##############################################
CBS Sundays 7:00 pm Eastern Time (broadcast live)
Note:
Thanks to "quick" kinescopes, viewers in Los Angeles watched the episodes a few hours
after they were shown live in the Eastern part of the country.

Sponsored by Johnson's Wax.

1.01 [--] Life With Father: (Series Premiere)
22-Nov-1953 CBS Sun. 7pm ET
Synopsis:
In the premiere telecast, carried "live" from CBS Television City in Hollywood, a birthday party for Whitney,
one of the Day sons, turns into an explosive evening. Unbeknown to father, Mother Day has invited the socially-prominent
Ormontons. The fireworks start when they arrive with the Day's new next door neighbor, an insurance salesman named Higgins.
[Long Beach Independent-Press-Telegram] [Hutchinson Kansas News-Herald]

1.02 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
29-Nov-1953 CBS Sun.
Synopsis:
Clarence Day takes issue with a census taker over the invasion of his privacy. [New York Times]

1.03 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
06-Dec-1953 CBS Sun.
Guest cast (according to Boston American):
Nana Bryant
Synopsis:
Father tries futilely to teach mother to keep her household accounts in order. [Long Beach CA Independent-Press-Telegram]

1.04 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
13-Dec-1953 CBS Sun.
Synopsis:
Mother hires a maid and father fires her. [Springfield Union; Massachusetts]

1.05 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
20-Dec-1953 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
Clarence Day tries to show his family how to celebrate an orderly and sensible Christmas. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
Clarence Day plans an "orderly and sensible" Christmas but is thwarted. [San Diego Union]

[--] 21Dec53 Newspaper item:
Steve Terrell, 23-year-old California actor, has succeeded Ralph Reed as Clarence Day, Jr., in CBS-TV's "Life with Father" series.
Reed now is an Ary inductee at Fort Ord. Cal. [Al Salie's column, Boston Daily Record]

[--] Note:
The 27Dec53 and 3Jan54 synopses appear to describe the same episode.
It's not known if this was a 2-part episode or if the plot-line was delayed one week.

1.06 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
27-Dec-1953 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
Mr. Day hits the ceiling when his wife's relatives disrupt the post-Christmas calm of his living room. [New York Times, 27Dec53]
[similar synopses in San Diego Union and Columbus Dispatch]
Synopsis 2:
Father Day, who dislikes having his peaceful routine disturbed, hits the ceiling when Mrs. Day's relatives disrupt
the calm of his living room. [Columbus Dispatch; Ohio, 27Dec53]

1.07 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
03-Jan-1954 CBS Sun. 7pm ET
Synopsis 1:
Mr. Day is extremely irritated when his wife's relatives upset the post-holiday calm. [New York Times, 3Jan54]
Synopsis 2:
Father Day is rankled when Mother Day invites some of her kinfolk to a post-holiday party. [San Mateo CA Times]
Synopsis 3:
Father Day, who dislikes having his routine disturbed by visitors, raises cain. [Long Beach CA Independent Press Telegram, 3Jan54]

1.08 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
10-Jan-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis:
Clarence Day's wonderful family portraiture. [Jersey Journal; Jersey City, NJ]

1.09 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
17-Jan-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
Mr. Day installs the "new fangled" telephone in his home. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
A series of unforeseen circumstances force the reluctant father of the Day family to install a new-fangled telephone in his home.
[San Mateo CA Times]

1.10 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
24-Jan-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
Telephone Troubles. [Boston American]
Synopsis 2:
The newly installed telephone is a handicap to Mother Day. [New York Times]
Synopsis 3:
Mother has a musicale and wants to get father out of the house, but the telephone she has insisted he install keeps him in.
[San Mateo CA Times]

1.11 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
31-Jan-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis:
Mr. Day is convinced by his wife that a donation to build a new church would be a "sound venture." [New York Times]

1.12 [--] Life With Father:
07-Feb-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
Mr. Day decides that his son, Clarence, Jr., should take violin lessons. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
Father prescribes violin lessons for Clarence who is tone-deaf. [TV Guide, Pittsburgh/Tri-State edition]

1.13 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
14-Feb-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
An unsigned Valentine is received by Mr. Day, and his wife is much concerned. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
Clarence Jr. writes a prize-winning Valentine poem which is mistakenly credited to father. [San Mateo CA Times]

1.14 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
21-Feb-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
"A Nurse Takes Over the Household" [Boston American]
Synopsis 2:
Clarence, Jr., has a tonsillectomy and complications set in for Mr. Day. [New York Times]
Synopsis 3:
Father finds he is no longer head of the family when a nurse moves in after Clarence Jr., has an operation on "Life With Father"
seen on KPIX via quick kinescope from Los Angeles at 6:30. [San Mateo CA Times]

1.15 [--] Life With Father: FATHER'S OLD SUIT (Live) (official title?)
28-Feb-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis:
"Father's Old Suit" [Boston American]

1.16 [--] Life With Father: FATHER'S TOOTHACHE (Live) (official title?)
07-Mar-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
"Father's Toothache" [Boston American]
Synopsis 2:
"Family, Too, Feels Father's Toothache"
The torments of father's toothache are felt by the whole Day family while he nevertheless refuses to visit a "quack dentist"
on "Life With Father" over WBAY-TV Sunday at 6 p.m.
A conspiracy to get father into the dentist's chair backfires and almost prevents mother and the boys from seeing Lillian Russell in "The Snake Charmer."
Father finally capitulates, however, and serenity returns to the Day menage. [Oshkosh Wisconsin Daily Northwestern, 6Mar54]
Synopsis 3:
Life With Father becomes uncomfortable when the master of the Day household is painted by a toothache. [Syracuse Herald Journal, 07Mar54]

[--] The following New York Times listing seems to describe a different episode (possibly the 4Apr54 episode):
1.x [--] Life With Father:
07-Mar-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis:
Mr. Day's business routine is upset by a new employee. [New York Times]

1.17 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
14-Mar-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
Stray Dog, Spring, and Gypsy Fortune Teller. [Boston American]
Synopsis 2:
A stray dog upsets the "Life With Father." [Long Beach CA Independent Press-Telegram]

1.18 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
21-Mar-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis:
Rain keeps the Day family "Housebound." [New York Times]

1.19 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
28-Mar-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
Mother Hires A Coachman. [Boston American]
Synopsis 2:
Mother Day contrives an ingenious plot in an attempt to interest father in a new horse and carriage for the family.
[Springfield Union, Massachusetts]
Synopsis 3:
Mother Day hires a coachman, putting the squeeze on her husband to buy a horse and carriage. [New York Times]

1.20 [--] Life With Father: FATHER HIRES A SECRETARY  (Live)(Version 1)
04-Apr-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
"Father Hires A Secretary" [Boston American]
Synopsis 2:
Mr. Day breaks down and hires his first secretary. [Columbus Dispatch,Ohio]
Synopsis 3:
Father hires a girl typist. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Synopsis 4:
Mr. Day hires his first secretary. [New York Times] [Philadelphia PA Inquirer]

1.21 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE CIRCUS  (Live)(version 1)
11-Apr-1954 CBS Sun.
A live episode. [verified -RL]
Sponsored by Johnson's Wax
Announcer - Bob LeMond
Written by Whitfield Cook
Directed by William H. Brown
Guest cast
Marion Ross .......... Kathleen (recurring)
Dorothy Bernard ...... Margaret
The Great Navarro .... Fire Eater
Cecil Weston ......... Bearded Lady
Billy Gould .......... Barker
Noreen Corcoran ...... Little Girl
Louis G. Mercer ...... Mr. Beaujoh the photographer
Gus Shilling ......... Pierre, his assistant
Synopsis 1:
The Day family has a scheduled family portrait to be taken on the same day the children were promised to be taken to the circus.
The portrait is more important, as the photograph will be an anniversary gift for Mr. Day's parents in just 4 days. The children
are disappointed, and they misbehave at the photo session. Their punishment is to stay in their room and get only toast and milk.
Young Harlan Day takes umbrage with this punishment and runs away to join the circus. [RL]
Synopsis 2:
Picture-Taking. [Boston American]
Synopsis 3:
"Life with Father" sitting for a portrait. [Madison Wisconsin State Journal]
Synopsis 4:
Father is faced with a dilemma when his youngest son runs away to join the circus. [Springfield Union; Massachusetts]

1.22 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
18-Apr-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis:
Easter Egg and Outfit Woes. [Boston American]

1.23 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
25-Apr-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
Rumor of burglars. [Madison Wisconsin State Journal]
Synopsis 2:
Mr. Day defies burglars to enter his home. [New York Times]

1.24 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
02-May-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
Popcorn Concession and an Antique Watch. [Boston American]
Synopsis 2:
Clarence Jr. goes into the popcorn concession business. [New York Times]
Synopsis 3:
Father's life upset by popcorn. [Philadelphia PA Inquirer]

1.25 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
09-May-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis 1:
Gossip Gazette and a Libel Suit. [Boston American]
Synopsis 2:
Mr. Day is sued for libel. [New York Times]

1.26 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
16-May-1954 CBS Sun.
Synopsis:
Mr. Day regrets some promises made to his wife during her illness. [New York Times]

[--] 23-May-1954 - start of replacement series "Earn Your Vacation," an audience participation quiz show
hosted by Johnny Carson. (CBS, Sunday 7pm)

############# Life With Father ###############
############# season 2 1954-55 ###############
##############################################
CBS (Tuesdays 10:00 pm ET)(24Aug54 - 28Dec54)
CBS (Tuesdays 8:00 pm ET)(04Jan55 - 05Jul55)

Sponsors:
Pet Milk (24Aug54 - 28Dec54).
CBS-Columbia TV sets (starting 04Jan55)
(CBS' TV set manufacturing division).
General Mills (starting 5Apr55, alternate sponsor).

Episodes 2.01 thru 2.10, and 2.13 thru 2.16, were broadcast live from Hollywood, 13 in b/w, 1 in color.

Episodes 2.11, 2.12, and 2.17 thru 2.40 were shot-on-film (in b/w).
Following the series' CBS run, these 26 filmed episodes were shown in syndication.

2.01 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
24-Aug-1954 CBS Tue. 10pm Eastern (live)
24Aug54 Los Angeles Tue. 7pm Pacific (live)
Synopsis 1:
Mr. Day has trouble with women. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
Father becomes entangled with "the other woman." [Jersey Journal; Jersey City, NJ]
Tonight Father's annoyance stems from an old flame who has a 22-year-old engagement ring, and from his son,
Clarence, who announces his intention to wed. [Long Beach CA Press-Telegram]
Synopsis 3:
Leon Ames and Lurene Tuttle resume their roles as Father and Mother Day in the opening episode which finds Father
somewhat smugly embroiled in a "situation" with an ex-girl friend. [Buffalo NY Evening News]

2.02 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
31-Aug-1954 CBS Tue. 10pm ET (live)
31Aug54 Los Angeles Tue. 7pm PT (live)
Synopsis:
Our heat wave has affected Hollywood's writers, so tonight Father Day blows off steam when the thermometer hits the high spots.
Seems there is no ice to chill his Rhine Wine and that makes "Life With Father" very difficult for the family. [Long Beach CA Press-Telegram]

2.03 [--] Life With Father: FATHER LEAVES THE COUNTRY (Live) (Color)
07-Sep-1954 CBS Tue. (live broadcast in color)
07Sep54 Los Angeles Tue. 7pm PT (live in color)
(no copyright details)
starring Leon Ames and Lurene Tuttle
Synopsis 1:
Father decides to take over the arrangements for the trip home from the Day summer holiday. From this moment on, confusion reigns [RF]
Synopsis 2:
The time for the Day family to return to New York from its summer country place brings on near-disaster. [Columbus Dispatch; Ohio]
Synopsis 3:
At 7 p. m. on channel 2 "Life With Father," starring Leon Ames and Lurene Tuttle, will be the first colorcast to come live from Hollywood's big CBS Television City.
Since it is live we'll be able to see it here in all its glory. This is the story of the Day family and of the irritable Father Day.
Because the entire family is redheaded, the colorcast
will enhance, the natural (and dyed) beauty of the hair.
However, if you have a conventional set you'll see the show in black-and-white as tonight's episode finds the family preparing to
move back to New York from" their summer home and, as always, Father Day gets riled up. [Long Beach Press-Telegram]

2.04 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
14-Sep-1954 CBS Tue. 10pm ET (live)
Synopsis 1:
Mr. Day's old chair is seat of trouble. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
Father Day explodes when his comfortable chair is misplaced. [Buffalo NY Evening News]
Synopsis 3:
The loss of one of the most important things in life of Father Day nearly becomes stark tragedy. [Columbus Dispatch, Ohio]

2.05 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE SEANCE  (Live)
21-Sep-1954 CBS Tue. (live)
Synopsis 1:
"Father and the Seance." Mother, in her mad pursuit of an ermine cape, brings spiritualist Madame Zanzibar into the family circle.
Spiritualism spreads like wildfire, involving everyone, including grandpa. [Jersey Journal; Jersey City, NJ]
Synopsis 2:
Mother Day attends a séance, and makes contact with the spirits. Meanwhile, Father raves. [TV Guide, Wisconsin edition]
Synopsis 3:
A threatened invasion of the Day family household by spirits finds Father meeting it in an ingenious way. [Syracuse NY Post-Standard]
Synopsis 4:
A threatened invasion of the Day family household by members of the spirit world finds Mr. Day meeting it in an ingenious and "scientific" way.
[Columbus Dispatch, Ohio]
Synopsis 5:
Mr. Day holds a séance. [New York Times]

2.06 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
28-Sep-1954 CBS Tue. (live)
Synopsis 1:
Mr. Day gets clipped by a lady barber and likes it. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
Mr. Day gets clipped by a lady barber and then steps up the frequency of his visits to the tonsorial parlor. [Columbus Dispatch, Ohio]

2.07 [--] Life With Father: FATHER DOES A LAND OFFICE BUSINESS (Live)
05-Oct-1954 CBS Tue. (live)
copyright date 4Oct54
Synopsis:
Mr. Day does a land office business. [NY Times]

2.08 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
12-Oct-1954 CBS Tue. (live)
Synopsis 1:
Father Day learns that no force, not even the weight of his harsh dictums, can halt the progress of young love on "Life with Father."
[Charleston Gazette, West Virginia] [Columbus Dispatch, Ohio]
Synopsis 2:
"Life With Father" proves difficult for Clarence when he is locked in room for becoming engaged. [NY Times]

2.09 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
19-Oct-1954 CBS Tue. (live)
Synopsis 1:
The usual aplomb of Father Day survives rough treatment. [NY Times]
Synopsis 2:
The aplomb of Father Day survives rough treatment as Mother inveigles him into appearing in a "Living Pictures" tableaux
she is conducting at the church. [Columbus Dispatch, Ohio]
Synopsis 3:
This is a wonderful jumble of various comic impasses, including a French maid and butler, a disarming Parisian bookseller,
and various problems with the steam-pipes. [Jersey Journal, Jersey City, NJ]

2.10 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
26-Oct-1954 CBS Tue. (live)
Synopsis 1:
Halloween plagues Father Day. [NY Times]
Synopsis 2:
When Halloween comes to the Clarence Day household, ghosts, gremlins and flying horseshoes lead father to distraction. [Columbus Dispatch, Ohio]

[--] 02-Nov-1954 CBS - pre-empted for news coverage of House and Senate election returns.

2.11 [--] Life With Father: FATHER GOES TO THE OPERA [verified -RL] (Filmed show #1)
9Nov1954 CBS (network rerun 07Jun1955)
copyright date 8Nov54
Guest Cast:
Victor Marchese ....... Guiseppe DelFuente
Synopsis 1:
It's opera season, and much to the dismay of Clarence Day, Mrs. Day stages a musicale in the Day house.
She gets opera star Guiseppe DelFuente (played by Victor Marchese) to stay in their guest room,
but Mr. Day becomes very jealous of the opera singer's advances toward his wife, Vinnie.
Young prankster, Harlan (Harvey Grant) comes to the rescue and puts itching powder in the opera singer's costume. [RL]
Note: RL lists this episode as "live."
Synopsis 2:
Going to the opera is a chore to Father Day; he tries to escape it. [New York Times]
Synopsis 3:
Avoiding the opera. [New York Times, 07Jun55 repeat]
Synopsis 4:
Father Day and his wife have a difference of opinion over the "foreign fiddlefaddle" of a hand-kissing Italian tenor who enters Mother's life.
As the opera season opens, Mother decides to "get into the musical swim" by inviting the singer to the Day home for an afternoon of culture.
Father throws the session into bedlam, and a visit next evening to the opera indicates that his low opinion of the tenor might have been justified.
[Charleston Gazette, West Virginia, 5Oct54]
Synopsis 5:
An itch in time saves Mr. Day the dull pain of suffering through the fiddle-faddle: of the opera Carmen. [Columbus Dispatch, Ohio, 5Oct54]
--Note:
Both the Charleston Gazette and Columbus Dispatch list the air date as 5Oct54. However, based on the 8Nov54 copyright date, 9Nov54 is probably the correct air-date.
--same episode?
2.x [--] Life With Father:
9Nov54 (Charleston WV Gazette)
Synopsis:
Father attempts to prove that a tree is green, is green, is green, despite the time of day, the day of the month or the season of the year on "Life with Father."
[Charleston West Virginia Gazette, 9Nov54]

2.12 [--] Life With Father: FATHER HAS A BIRTHDAY (Filmed show #2)
16Nov54 CBS Tue. (network rerun 14Jun1955)
copyright date 16Nov54
Synopsis 1:
Father Day on his birthday. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
A festive air in the Day household when Father has a birthday. [New York Times, 14Jun1955]
Synopsis 3:
It's Father's birthday and he's feeling his oats---and falling for an art teacher. [TVGuide.com]

2.13 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
23Nov54 CBS Tue. 10pm Eastern (live)
Synopsis 1:
"Turkey Dinner Dilemma" [Boston American]
Synopsis 2:
Thanksgiving pops up again on "Life With Father" as Mr. Day sets himself in readiness for the traditional turkey and trimmings
but finds that his household is disrupted and
the dinner not up to standard. [Long Beach Press Telegram, 23Nov54]
Synopsis 3:
The fact that one Patrick McManus reenters the family cook's life after a 25-year absence has a definite bearing on the developments
during the holiday on Life with Father. [Charleston Gazette; West Virginia]
Synopsis 4:
Thanksgiving at the Days is far from calm when father learns that Vinnie is cooking the turkey. Seems the cook's boyfriend has
returned after 25 years to further upset "Life With Father," presented by Pet Milk. [Mason City Iowa Globe Gazette]
Synopsis 5:
Thanksgiving thought in Father Day reaches fever peak. [New York Times]

2.14 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
30Nov54 CBS Tue. 10pm Eastern (live)
Synopsis 1:
Father Day is involved in Mother's attempt to get her spinster cousin married off. [Buffalo NY Evening News]
Synopsis 2:
Father Day tries to save his partner from the wiles of women. [New York Times]
Synopsis 3:
Day believes that marriages are made in heaven, but she also believes in giving heaven a helping hand. [Charleston Gazette; West Virginia]

2.15 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
07Dec54 CBS Tue. 10pm Eastern (live)
Synopsis 1:
The household of Clarence Day is a house divided when Father Day supports a bond issue involving horse-car tracks on 48th St.
and tries to get Grandfather Day to invest in the project. [Charleston Gazette; West Virginia]
Synopsis 2:
Father floats a bond issue. [New York Times]
Synopsis 3:
Life with Father: battle over horse-car tracks. [Madison Wisconsin State Journal]

2.16 [--] Life With Father: (unknown title)
14Dec54 CBS Tue. 10pm Eastern (live)
Synopsis:
Father Day accepts an invitation to be guest speaker at the annual banquet of the Knickerbocker Club of New York,
despite the protests of Mother Day and their four red-headed sons. [Charleston Gazette; West Virginia]

2.17 [--] Life With Father: FATHER HAS A POOR CHRISTMAS (Filmed show #3)
21Dec54 CBS Tue. 10pm Eastern
copyright date 20Dec54
Synopsis 1:
A Scrooge in the Day family. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
The neighbors suspect that the Days are bankrupt. [TVGuide]
Synopsis 3:
The Day Family conspires to jolt Father out of his gloomy Christmas outlook on Life With Father. Mother and the boys
follow the edict put down by Father and allows the neighbors to think the Days are penniless and can't afford
any holiday trimmings. A rain of charity suddenly changes Father's views. [Syracuse NY Post-Standard, 21Dec54]

2.18 [--] Life With Father: FATHER HAS HIS PICTURE TAKEN (Filmed show #4)
28Dec54 CBS Tue. (network rerun 21Jun1955)
copyright date 23Dec54
Guest cast:
Gus Schilling … Photographer
Synopsis 1:
A nightmare shakes father into action. [New York Times, 28Dec54]
Synopsis 2:
A nightmare, in which Father Day sees his wife with another "husband," frightens him into having his picture taken. [Syracuse NY Post-Standard]
Synopsis 3:
"Father Day has his picture taken," and confusion reigns. [Yonkers NY Herald Statesman]
Synopsis 4:
Mother and Father Day plan surprises at the photographer's. [New York Times, 21Jun55 repeat]
Synopsis 5:
A neighbor convinces mother she should have a picture of father. Father visits a photographer with disastrous results. [San Mateo Times]

2.19 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE SEA CAPTAIN (Filmed show #5)
04Jan1955 CBS Tue. 8pm ET (time change)
LA: 04Jan55 CBS Tue. 8pm PT (time change)
(network rerun 28Jun1955)
copyright date 3Jan55
Guest cast:
Dick Elliott … Commodore
Synopsis 1:
Father's jealous: an old sea captain has moved into the neighborhood. [TVGuide]
Synopsis 2:
Son wants to go to sea. [Yonkers NY Herald Statesman]
Synopsis 3:
The Day boys get a yearning for the sea. [New York Times]
Synopsis 4:
When the youngest members of the Clarence Day family get the nautical wanderlust it raises havoc on "Life With Father."
[Charleston West Virginia Gazette, 28Jun55 repeat]

2.20 [--] Life With Father: FATHER'S LETTER TO THE EDITOR (Filmed show #6)
11Jan1955 CBS Tue. (network rerun 05Jul1955)
copyright date 7Jan55
Synopsis 1:
Mr. Day writes a letter to the editor of The Times. [New York Times, 05Jul55 repeat]
Synopsis 2:
"Father Sends a Letter to the Editor" protesting door-to-door salesmen. [New York Post, 30Mar64 synd.]
Synopsis 3:
The effect of Father's letter to a newspaper is not what he expected. [TVGuide]
Synopsis 4:
Father writes a letter complaining about door-to-door salesmen, and then learns his own boys are selling in this manner.
[San Mateo Times]
Synopsis 5:
Father gets arrested for peddling without a license. [Niagara Falls NY Gazette]
Synopsis 6:
Father Day invests unwisely. [New York Times]

2.21 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE DANCING LESSON (Filmed show #7)
18Jan55 CBS Tue. (syndicated rerun 25Oct56)
copyright date 13Jan55
Synopsis 1:
Clarence must learn the two-step for the big dance and Father assures him he'll teach him.
Then Father enrolls in a dancing school to learn it and so does Clarence. [RF]
Synopsis 2:
Father meets a two-step emergency. [New York Times]
Synopsis 3:
Father Day, an ardent believer in male supremacy, doesn't take lightly the "Fantastic" notion that his son or any red-blooded
American boy needs dancing lessons to impress a female on today's "Life with Father." [Charleston WV Gazette]
Note: The Charleston Gazette lists the air-date as 12-Oct-1954.
Based on the 13Jan55 copyright date, 18Jan55 is probably the correct air-date.

2.22 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE FRENCH CONSUL (Filmed show #8)
25Jan1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 21Jan55
Guest cast:
Torben Meyer … Consul
Synopsis 1:
Father causes a riot in the kitchen by inviting the French consul to dinner. [TVGuide]
Synopsis 2:
Entertaining the French council. [New York Times]
Synopsis 3:
Father Is so eager to please his new business associate that he insists on hiring a French chef and maid.
[San Mateo Times]

2.23 [--] Life With Father: FATHER MAKES MAGIC (Filmed show #9)
1Feb1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 26Jan55
Guest cast:
Patricia Hitchcock … Flora
Synopsis 1:
Father Day tries sleight-of-hand. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
Father mistakes an actress for the niece of an important client. [TVGuide]

2.24 [--] Life With Father: FATHER READS ROBINSON CRUSOE (Filmed show #10)
8Feb1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 3Feb55
Producer-director: Fletcher Markle
Associate Producer: Vincent McConnor
Writer: Whitfield Cook
Synopsis 1:
Father reads Robinson Crusoe to the family. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
The family members, housebound on a rainy day, all pursue activities that annoy other members of the family.
Father tries his hand at minor repairs, Clarence talks on the phone, and father reads aloud from "Robinson Crusoe,"
the episode ends in minor catastrophes. [Paley Center website description]
Synopsis 3:
Father is Robinson Crusoe--in a dream. [TVGuide]
Note:
Possibly a re-staging of show #1.18, from 21-Mar-1954, (which also had a plot line about the family being housebound due to rain).

2.25 [--] Life With Father: FATHER'S SECOND HONEYMOON (Filmed show #11)
15Feb1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 11Feb55
Synopsis 1:
Both Mother and Father try to plan surprises for each other. [TVGuide]
Synopsis 2:
Dinner becomes a complicated affair. [New York Times]
Synopsis 3:
Unknown to each other, both Father and Mother plan a surprise dinner-for-two for their wedding anniversary. [San Mateo Times]

2.26 [--] Life With Father: FATHER IS QUARANTINED (Filmed show #12)
22Feb1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 19Feb55
Synopsis:
The Day family is quarantined with measles. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
"Father is Quarantined" with the rest of the family when the two youngest boys catch the measles. [Detroit Free Press]

2.27 [--] Life With Father: FATHER BUYS A HORSE (Filmed show #13)
1Mar1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 24Feb55
A CBS Television production
Filmed by McCadden Productions
producer: Fletcher Markle
director: Peter Tewksbury
written by Whitfield Cook.
Guest cast:
Richard Deacon
Synopsis 1:
Father is planning to buy a new horse for himself, but the rest of the family thinks he's buying it as a present for the boys.
[UCLA, description by Dan Einstein]
Synopsis 2:
Father orders a horse for the carriage, but Mother assumes it's for the children to ride. [TVGuide]
Synopsis 3:
Father Day wants a horse—and, confound it, he's going to order one on that new-fangled gadget, the telephone. [Buffalo NY Evening News]

2.28 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE NOBLEST INSTRUMENT (Filmed show #14)
8Mar1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 4Mar55
Synopsis:
Father, in his usual cavalier fashion, decides a musician is essential to the rich full life of the Day household,
Clarence and the violin are elected. [Long Island City NY Star Journal]
Synopsis 2:
Clarence Day Jr. prefers baseball to the violin. [Buffalo NY Evening News]
Synopsis 3:
It's baseball vs. violin lessons for son Clarence (Steven Terrell). [TVGuide]
Note:
Appears to be a filmed re-staging of show #1.12, from 07-Feb-1954.

2.29 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE BURGLAR (Filmed show #15)
15Mar1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 11Mar55
Synopsis 1:
Father looks for burglars. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
Novel burglar alarm alarms Father. [Yonkers NY Herald Statesman]
Synopsis 3:
The new burglar alarm gets its test as son Clarence sneaks out on a date. [TVGuide]
Note:
Possibly a re-staging of show #1.23, from 25-Apr-1954.

2.30 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE DRESS SUIT (Filmed show #16)
22Mar1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 18Mar55
Synopsis 1:
Mr. Day's dress suit can't be in two places at once, or can it? [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
Both Father and Clarence want to use the family tuxedo. [TVGuide]
Synopsis 3:
The question of priority on Father Day's dress suit poses a problem when the elder Day's date conflicts with his son's
formal party at the home of Clarence. [Charleston Gazette; West Virginia]

2.31 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND YOUNG LOVE (Filmed show #17)
29Mar1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 25Mar55
Synopsis:
Young love burst into bloom and Mr. Day explodes. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
Clarence, age 17, announces his engagement. [TVGuide]
Note:
Possibly a re-staging of episode 2.08, from 12Oct54.

2.32 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE BICYCLE (Filmed show #18)
05Apr55 CBS Tue.
(New York Times lists 12Apr55 air-date)
copyright date 1Apr55
photoplay by Katharine B. Day, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse.
Synopsis 1:
The enterprising Day boys are printing their own newspaper.
Synopsis 2:
The Day boys venture into newspaper work. [New York Times, 12Apr55]
Synopsis 3:
Four red-headed Day sons become publishers and print a journal that is interesting, accurate and lively.
There's an impish sort of appeal here for the children as they see father hoodwinked. [Buffalo NY Evening News, 12Apr55]
Synopsis 4:
Green eyeshades for the Day sons. [Yonkers NY Herald Statesman, 5Apr55]
Note: "Green eyeshades" were a type of visor worn by newspaper copy editors.

2.33 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE CIRCUS (version 2) (Filmed show #19)
12Apr55 CBS Tue.
(New York Times lists 5Apr55 air-date)
copyright date 8Apr55
Synopsis 2:
Harlan, youngest member of Day family, decides to join the circus. [New York Times, 05Apr55]
Synopsis 3:
Harlan decides to join the circus. [Yonkers NY Herald Statesman, 12Apr55]
Note:
Filmed re-staging of episode 1.21, from 11Apr54.

2.34 [--] Life With Father: FATHER HAS A BAD NIGHT (Filmed show #20)
19Apr1955 CBS Tue ET
copyright date 14Apr55
photoplay by Katharine B. Day, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse.
Guest cast:
Nana Bryant … Nurse MacTavish
Synopsis 1:
Clarence Junior has his tonsils removed and his nurse causes the Day family a sleepless night. [Niagara Falls NY Gazette, 19Apr55]
Synopsis 2:
Noisy "Nightingale" Disturbs Days. [Yonkers NY Herald Statesman, 19Apr55]
Synopsis 3:
The snoring nurse episode, repeat episode. [New York Times]
Note:
Although listed as a "repeat episode" in NY Times, this is possibly a re-staging of ep. 1.14 from 21Feb54.

2.35 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE HEIRESS (Filmed show #21)
26Apr1955 CBS Tue. 8pm ET
copyright date 20Apr55
photoplay by Katharine B. Day, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse.
Synopsis 1:
The Day family's maid Is notified she is heir to an estate but she falls prey to a conman. [San Mateo Times]
Synopsis 2:
Mr. Day proposes a trip to Scotland for a round of grouse hunting. [New York Times]
Synopsis 3:
Trouble starts over a newspaper ad in "Father and the Heiress." [San Bernardino County Sun, 15Oct57 synd. repeat]

2.36 [--] Life With Father: FATHER HAS AN EARLY SPRING (Filmed show #22)
3May1955 CBS Tue. 8pm ET
copyright date 29Apr55
photoplay by Katharine B. Day, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse.
Synopsis 1:
Gypsies and a stray dog complicate matters for Mr. Day. [New York Times]
Synopsis 2:
A stray dog steals the hearts of the Day family. [Yonkers NY Herald Statesman]
Note:
Filmed re-staging of episode #1.17, from 14-Mar-1954.

2.37 [--] Life With Father: FATHER TAKES A TRIP (Filmed show #23)
10May1955 CBS Tue. 8pm ET
copyright date 5May55
photoplay by Katharine B. Day, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse.
Guest cast:
Eilene Janssen
Maggie Magennis
Synopsis 1:
When father plans a business trip to Baltimore his teenage son, Clarence, chooses this as the time to entertain
his young girlfriend and her mother. [San Mateo Times]
Synopsis 2:
Father returns home with a client and his beautiful daughter. [Rochester NY Democrat Chronicle]
Synopsis 3:
Clarence Day Jr., finds it isn't easy to entertain two beautiful young women when they both come to visit at the same time. [Michigan edition TV Guide]
Synopsis 4:
Mr. Day complicates his son's love life. [New York Times]

2.38 [--] Life With Father: FATHER AND THE COACHMAN (Filmed show #24)
17May55 CBS Tue. 8pm ET
copyright date 12May55
photoplay by Katharine B. Day, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse.
Synopsis 1:
When Father Day's prim and proper Boston cousin, Quincy, comes to visit the Day family, it prompts the purchase of a new carriage and
the hiring of a handsome young footman who proceeds to set his cap for Kathleen, the Day family maid. [Charleston Gazette; West Virginia]
Synopsis 2:
The Day family hire a coachman, who begins to woo their maid. [Yonkers NY Herald Statesman]
Synopsis 3:
Spring turns the family Maid's thoughts to love and the footman, Father Day becomes perturbed (again). [Niagara Falls NY Gazette]
Synopsis 4:
Lollygagging — that's what Father Day (Leon Ames) reproachfully calls the lovemaking between his maid and a young coachman he introduced.
[ad in Buffalo NY Evening News]
Synopsis 5:
A proper Bostonian samples Life with Father. [Buffalo Evening News]
Synopsis 6:
Mr. Day's Cousin Quincy, from Boston, comes to visit. [New York Times]

2.39 [--] Life With Father: FATHER HIRES A SECRETARY (Version 2) (Filmed show #25)
24May1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 19May55
photoplay by Katharine B. Day, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse.
Guest cast:
Jean Howell … Theresa
Synopsis 1:
Father's against it, but Clarence hires a woman as typist.
[TVGuide]
Synopsis 2:
Father Day admonition: A woman's place is in the home, not Wall Street. [New York Times]
Synopsis 4:
In Father Day's era, a woman's place was in the home so when some money is missing at the office he suspects a new girl typist.
[Niagara Falls NY Gazette] (Syndicated repeat: 01Jun64 NYC WPIX-11 Tue. 8pm)
Note:
Possibly a filmed remake of episode 1.20, from 04-Apr-1954.

2.40 [--] Life With Father: FATHER GOES GALLIVANTING (final episode) (Filmed show #26)
31May1955 CBS Tue. 8pm Eastern
copyright date 26May55
photoplay by Katharine B. Day, Howard Lindsay, and Russel Crouse.
Synopsis 1:
When Father Day plans an elaborate dinner with a spinster client at one of New York's most fashionable restaurants,
it prompts a wifely plaint for Mother Day on "Life With Father." [Charleston Gazette; West Virginia]
Synopsis 2:
Mother Day takes prompt action to square things when Father Day plans an expensive dinner with a spinster client at one of
the town's most fashionable restaurants. [Niagara Falls NY Gazette]
Synopsis 3:
Mother (Lurene Tuttle) poses as one of Father's out-of-town clients. [TVGuide]
Synopsis:
Mother uses an "old flame" to bait father. [San Mateo Times]

CBS Repeats (Tuesdays 8pm Eastern):
[--] 07Jun1955 - repeat of "Father Goes to the Opera."
[--] 14Jun1955 - repeat of "Father Has A Birthday"
[--] 21Jun1955 - repeat of "Father Has His Picture Taken"
[--] 28Jun1955 - repeat of "Father and the Sea Captain"
[--] 05Jul1955 - repeat of "Father's Letter To The Editor."
[--] 12Jul1955 - start of replacement series 'Star Time Playhouse.'

[--] Circa Aug. 1955, "Life with Father" becomes nationally syndicated. This syndication package is comprised of repeats of the 26 filmed episodes.

############# Life With Father ###############
########### Copyright Information ############
##############################################

CLNA: Katharine B. Day, & Jeremy Nussbaum, Dorothy S. Lindsay and Anna E. Crouse (trustees on behalf of Dorothy S. Lindsay) & Jeremy Nussbaum,
William H. Miller and Anna E. Crouse (trustees on behalf of Anna E. Crouse, Timothy Crouse & Lindsay Ann Crouse)(PWH)

 ############# Life With Father ###############
################# the end ##################
##############################################

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