During the summer, I take the time normally spent watching new shows and catch up on old programming--which digital channel MeTV makes it very easy to do. I've been DVRing Family Affair (weekdays at 7a eastern) and bingeing on groups of episodes as they pile up. My thoughts overall--
- First off, the show can be summed up as TREACLE! I sometimes feel like I need an insulin shot after watching.
- The concept--swinging bachelor/world trotting engineer Bill Davis (Brian Keith) finds himself with 3 kids after his his brother and sister-in-law are killed in an accident. Teenager Cissy (Kathy Garver) and twin kids Buffy (Anissa Jones) and Jody (Johnny Whitaker) live with "Unca Bill" in his NYC penthouse, along with "gentlemen's gentlemen" Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot), who takes care of the kids when Bill is off on an engineering job (which is often).
- Why is Bill gone so often? Because Brian Keith had a contract where he would only film his part two months a year, so he could do other projects. This is similar to the deal made with Fred MacMurray on My Three Sons--also produced by Don Fedderson. The rest of the cast shot their scenes around him.
- The actors playing the kids are terrible at their jobs. The twins have virtually no expressions when they speak, and Cissy is little better--when Kathy Garver smiles, her face looks like a baby. That matches the mental age of all three kids--dense as rocks.
- The saving grace is Sebastian Cabot as French. How Bill found and hired him is only hinted at (at least so far in my viewing), but thank goodness he did. HIs storylines are far more interesting than the others, and he runs rings around the others in terms of acting. The show really suffers when he leaves from time to time for either health reasons or other work. It's a shame this show basically pigeonholed him for the rest of the his life.
- When French does leave in the first season, his brother (also called Mr. French, and played by John Williams) drops in. It's a lazy plot device and a way to avoid altering scripts.
- Bill has a long line of beautiful dates traipsing through the penthouse, although usually limited to single episodes. He's too busy taking care of the kids, or off on a job.
- Almost all episodes involve a misunderstanding, usually from the kids. If somebody just spoke up, there wouldn't be a series.
- Once in a while, the treacle is broken up with gruesome details--French's first girlfriend was lost in the London Blitz, Bill's buddy in the Korean War was killed just a few feet from him--that kind of thing. It's rather jarring when it happens.
- The show's budget was rather limited. While the penthouse set is sweet, other scenes look ridiculous--"exterior" shots are clearly in a studio, with astroturf standing in for grass.
- Anissa Jones was apparently forced by the producers to look like she was 6 years old throughout the series, to the point of taping down her breasts as she matured in any public appearances. No wonder she ended up as she did...
- Buffy's doll "Mrs. Beasley" was so popular, Mattel sold the doll for years.
- Family Affair drinking game--take a drink when:
- Unca Bill says "see" at the end of a line, as if he's Edward G. Robinson
- When the kids say "whatever that is" in reference to a long word mentioned by an adult
- When Mrs. Beasley appears (not just mentioned)
- Cissy looks confused
- Mr. French mentions "Winnie the Pooh" or "gentlemen's gentlemen"
- Unca Bill has a new girlfriend
- You see astroturf in an "outside" scene
- Believe it or not, the show was nominated for 8 Emmys, and a Golden Globe (it never won).
- Things did not go well for the cast post-cancellaton. Jones committed suicide in 1976, and Cabot died of a stroke a year later. In 1997, after the death of his daughter to cancer, Keith also committed suicide.
- The CW tried a remake of the show with Tim Curry as French--it did not last long.
Overall, I would recommend this show when you're doing chores around the house or working on a project. It doesn't take a lot of concentration to keep up with it.