About this season
Family man Jim Anderson copes with the everyday problems among his wife Margaret and their three children as they experience day-to-day changes.
Episodes (37)
1. Art of Salesmanship
Aired 31 August 1955 • 30 min
Jim tries to encourage Bud to take after him in salesmanship.
2. Father's Private Life
Aired 7 September 1955 • 30 min
Jim comes home tired one day and is harangued by the kids. So, he and Margaret set up new rules to give him some time to relax—but it ends up backfiring.
3. Lessons in Civics
Aired 14 September 1955 • 30 min
A new highway is getting built, and for that the old community hall is going to be pulled down. That's something Jim wouldn't like to see since the hall is a historical monument, and also, memories from his youth are connected with this hall. Everyone from the family sees how much the hall means to Jim, and they use different ways to organize help.
4. First Disillusionment
Aired 21 September 1955 • 30 min
Bud loses a job to a boy who fakes his resumé, which leads him to believe it is alright to do this himself
5. Woman in the House
Aired 28 September 1955 • 30 min
Margaret is forced to invite a woman over who makes her uncomfortable because she is Jim's friend's wife.
6. New Girl at School
Aired 5 October 1955 • 30 min
Bud learns that the girl he likes is dating his best friend.
7. Kathy Makes Magic
Aired 12 October 1955 • 30 min
Kathy gets a new magic set, from a trade with a friend, and becomes convinced she can truly wield magic.
8. Advantage to Betty
Aired 19 October 1955 • 30 min
Betty has recently taken up tennis at school and is chosen for a photo shoot for the paper. This causes friction between her and her doubles partner, Eula, who is the team’s best player.
9. The Big Test
Aired 26 October 1955 • 30 min
Bud is accused of cheating because he is suddenly getting high grades in class.
10. Father Is a Dope
Aired 2 November 1955 • 30 min
After commenting on a sitcom (“Father Does It Again”) the family watches together one night, Jim speaks about how TV fathers are often portrayed as dumb in comparison with their families. Later, he plans on going hunting and starts believing that Margaret and the kids are secretly trying to get him to stay.
11. Spirit of Youth
Aired 9 November 1955 • 30 min
When Jim gets an invitation to a dance for his class reunion—class of ‘33—the kids start behaving as if their parents are ancient. Then, when the kids at their alma mater treat them the same, Jim and Margaret deal with the thought of getting older.
12. Bud, the Ladykiller
Aired 16 November 1955 • 30 min
Bud gets irritated by a girl (whom he refers to as “Dumb Dora”) who has a crush on him, hurts her feelings when his irritation leads to cruelty, and must make amends.
13. Margaret's Premonition
Aired 30 November 1955 • 30 min
Margaret has a premonition of danger for Jim’s upcoming business trip, and tries to get Jim to postpone it. But Jim believes it’s a bunch of superstitious nonsense, and insists on going anyway.
14. Stage to Yuma
Aired 7 December 1955 • 30 min
Tate Idsen saves a stagecoach from savage Indians in a flashback sequence.
15. Bad Influence
Aired 14 December 1955 • 30 min
Bud gets in trouble when his latest friend turns out to be a kleptomaniac.
16. Betty Hates Carter
Aired 28 December 1955 • 30 min
Betty is indignant when Jim arranges a date for her with an old insurance salesman buddy’s son, Carter.
17. Jim, the Tyrant
Aired 4 January 1956 • 30 min
Jim comes home early from work, after a long, hard day, and expects to gain comfort from his family, but is quickly disillusioned when they all are too absorbed in their own interests and tasks to pay attention to him. This just makes his mood more sour and he declares at dinner that if he must, he will become a tyrant. This leads to unwelcome consequences.
18. Betty's Brother
Aired 11 January 1956 • 30 min
Bud is having trouble in school and the family are hard-pressed to find out why. Eventually, Jim and Margaret come to the conclusion that, since he’s entered high school, he’s lost his confidence over being constantly compared to Betty and her accomplishments.
19. Betty Earns a Formal
Aired 18 January 1956 • 30 min
Betty gets a job to pay for a new, expensive formal for the Cinderella Ball at the country club.
20. The House Painter
Aired 25 January 1956 • 30 min
Jim has a bet with Betty and Margaret concerning human nature, integrity and the man painting their house—Mr. Everett.
21. Bud, the Wallflower
Aired 1 February 1956 • 30 min
Bud seems determined not to go to a Senior/Freshman dance that is Sadie Hawkins-themed.
22. The Bus to Nowhere
Aired 8 February 1956 • 30 min
Betty becomes irritable with her family as she goes through an existential crisis.
23. Kathy, the Indian Giver
Aired 15 February 1956 • 30 min
Kathy is taught about fair trading from her father—and ends up trading her doll for a real baby.
24. The Historical Andersons
Aired 22 February 1956 • 30 min
When Bud receives an assignment to write a term paper about a Revolutionary War hero, he ends up researching the life of a relative—Major Nathaniel Oliver Anderson.
25. The Grass is Greener
Aired 29 February 1956 • 30 min
Jim’s old college friend, Charlie Bradley, a successful industrial tycoon, is in town. Charlie, along with Jim, were a part of a group known as The Four Musketeers, in college. Of the four, Jim appears to be the least ‘successful.’
26. The Persistent Guest
Aired 7 March 1956 • 30 min
Bud’s new friend, Fred, won't leave the Anderson house.
27. Family Reunion
Aired 14 March 1956 • 30 min
The family tries to think up excuses to keep from going to Margaret's family reunion.
28. Family Dines Out
Aired 28 March 1956 • 30 min
Betty tells a wealthy friend, Eloise Sanders, that she’s going to a charity dinner at a club. But it’s expensive and she hasn’t asked her father, yet.
29. Bud, the Boxer
Aired 4 April 1956 • 30 min
Bud gets in a tussle with a boy, Eddie, at school, then dreads facing him the next day because the kid wants to fight him. Jim makes Bud face him in a boxing ring to settle it, knowing that Bud will have to face Eddie, eventually. Later, Jim has Bud take boxing lessons.
30. Betty, Girl Engineer
Aired 11 April 1956 • 30 min
Betty takes a vocational guidance course and signs up to get practical experience to become an engineer, but she gets a lot of flack for it because she’s a girl.
31. The Martins and the Coys
Aired 18 April 1956 • 30 min
Jim and a family friend, Frank, fight over an insurance claim and dissolve their friendship over it. Betty and his son, Bob, are dating and this affects them, too.
32. Dilemma for Margaret
Aired 25 April 1956 • 30 min
Margaret is asked to represent her branch of the PTA by giving a speech, but later decides against doing so because of some mischief Betty gets into.
33. Hero Father
Aired 2 May 1956 • 30 min
Bud boasts to his friends, Sandy and Kippy, that his dad can get Duke Snider’s All-Stars to come to Springfield.
34. Father, the Naturalist
Aired 9 May 1956 • 30 min
Jim fights the elements to collect plants for Kathy's nature folder.
35. The Ten Dollar Question
Aired 16 May 1956 • 30 min
Jim makes a bet: the kid who doesn't tattle for one week will receive ten dollars.
36. Adopted Daughter
Aired 23 May 1956 • 30 min
Kathy finds a receipt for $25 from the adoption center and believes she was adopted.
37. Betty's Graduation
Aired 30 May 1956 • 30 min
While the family is readying for Betty’s graduation, Betty becomes conflicted about the event.