Classic Television - Prime Time

Make Room for Granddaddy

Original channel

ABC

Original run

September 23, 1970  –  March 18, 1971

Starring

Danny Thomas

Marjorie Lord

Angela Cartwright

Michael Hughes

Rusty Hamer

Sid Melton

Roosevelt Grier

There was a CBS reunion special, Make Room for Granddaddy, in 1969. The special did so well that it was picked up as a series by CBS but Thomas considered the slot they gave it to be a death slot and pulled the show.

ABC brought it back on a weekly basis in 1970, in Make Room for Granddaddy. For the series premiere, Sherry Jackson reprised her role of oldest daughter Terry. There was no mention of her husband Pat Hannigan. Instead, for this new version of the series, Terry's husband was named Bill, who was a soldier. In this episode, Terry left her son, 6-year-old Michael (played by Michael Hughes) in the care of his grandparents (Danny and Kathy) so she could join Bill, who was stationed overseas. In addition to Marjorie Lord, Rusty Hamer, and Angela Cartwright, the only other returning regulars were Sid Melton as Charley Halper and Hans Conried as Uncle Tonoose. During that season, new characters were played by Stanley Myron Handelman and former football player Roosevelt Grier. The show lasted only one year, producing 24 episodes; its cancellation came at a time when the networks were purging content favoring older, rural and other less affluent viewers due to the loss of a half-hour of daily program time in 1971. According to Marjorie Lord, the series faced many obstacles including the unprofessionalism and inexperience of the child actor Michael Hughes; the absence of Sheldon Leonard as producer/director to control Thomas and improve the quality of the scripts; and the fact that ABC switched the time slot of the show from Wednesday nights at 8:00 P.M. to Thursday nights at 9:00 P.M. As a result, the ratings went from mediocre to poor. (from The Lucy Book by Geoffrey Mark Fidelman - Renaissance Books. On page 269, Marjorie Lord and Angela Cartwright talk about Lucille Ball's guest appearance on Make Room For Granddaddy as well as the series itself.)