History Series / MyThreeSons

DomCom about Steven Douglas, a wise, kindly widower, raising his three sons by himself; kind of like half ''Series/TheBradyBunch''. Starred Creator/FredMacMurray and William [=DeMarest=]. The show lasted from 1960 to 1972, a total of 378 episodes in 12 seasons.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Possibly the originator of this trope, except in name. As mentioned below, Bub was no longer referred to sometime after William Frawley left; sometimes, even flashbacks showed only Uncle Charlie. Once after Mike left, it was discussed having the two younger boys move in with him, and then he was mentioned no more, neither was Ernie's being adopted. One imagines the re-marriage and Dodie would have eventually been so retconned, making Beverly Garland's character a very tired woman. Knowing of this policy, Katie's actress wondered what would happen to her if the show continued without Robbie. It only lasted one season past this, though.

* NotWhatItLooksLike: The entire plot of "The Little Ragpicker". Miss Pitts, a neighbor, thinks the Douglas men are criminally dangerous, because of a few out-of-context moments.

* AllAmericanBoy: Chip. He plays baseball, looks up to his brothers (whenever he's not fighting with them), and is blonde.

* MenCantKeepHouse: The men had been perfectly able to manage an all-male household before Katie joined them. When she goes away on a visit to relatives, though, now that there is a woman in the house, they've forgotten all of their housekeeping skills.

* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Bud and Steve play with this dynamic, especially in the episode "Brotherly Love." The former thinks that Mike and Robbie should solve their problems with fisticuffs, while Steve thinks they should resolve the situation with diplomacy. However, Bud is the homemaker and Steve is the breadwinner.

DomCom about Steven Douglas, a wise, kindly widower, raising his three sons by himself; kind of like half ''Series/TheBradyBunch''. Starred Fred [=MacMurray=] and William [=DeMarest=]. The show lasted from 1960 to 1972, a total of 378 episodes in 12 seasons.

* PantyShot: in particular, it's "I see London, I see France, I see Dodie's underpants!"

* ParanormalEpisode: In the episode "Coincidence." After wishing that he'd have had three girls instead of boys, Steve gives a ride to a mysterious hitchhiker visible only to himself. In a unknown neighborhood on the other side of town, Steve's car breaks down and he seeks help at a house with a widow, her mother-in-law and her three daughters - the distaff counterparts of his family, down to being the same age with similar names.

** SupernaturalEpisode: In the episode "Coincidence." After wishing that he'd have had three girls instead of boys, Steve gives a ride to a mysterious hitchhiker visible only to himself. In a unknown neighborhood on the other side of town, Steve's car breaks down and he seeks help at a house with a widow and her three daughters - the distaff counterparts of his family, down to being the same age and similar names.

* MissingMom: Steve's first wife had died at some point before the series began, leaving him a widower with three sons. At some later point, Steve hires his father-in-law (his first wife's father), Charles "Bub" O'Casey (William Frawley), to help manage the household.

* MissingEpisode: Averted. But with 380 episodes, two rerun packages were made of the show. The first (and most popular) consists of the 1965-1970 color episodes, spanning the sixth through midway through the 11th seasons. The other package has the first five seasons (1960-1965, all black-and-white) ''and'' the final 1 1/2 seasons (the second half of the 1970-1971 and the full 1971-1972 seasons). To those unfamiliar with the workings of syndication, the shows that aren't part of the package currently shown on cable or their particular local station might conclude the other episodes are either missing or lost.

* AnAesop

* DomCom

* PanickyExpectantFather: And grandfather.

* ProductPlacement

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute
* ThemeTune

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Possibly the originator of this trope, except in name. As mentioned below, Bub was no longer referred to sometime after William Frawley left; sometimes, even flashbacks showed only Uncle Charlie. Once after Mike left, it was discussed having the two younger boys move in with him, and then he was mentioned no more, neither was Ernie's being adopted. One imagines the re-marriage and Dody would have eventually been so retconned, making Beverly Garland's character a very tired woman. Knowing of this policy, Katie's actress wondered what would happen to her if the show continued without Robbie. It only lasted one season past this, though.

* Panty Shot in particular, it's "I see London, I see France, I see Dodie's underpants!"

in particular, its' "I see London, I see France, I see Dodie's underpants!"

* PantyShot: In the wedding episode in particular, its' "I see London, I see France, I see Dodie's underpants!"

DomCom about a wise, kindly widower raising his three sons by himself; kind of like half ''Series/TheBradyBunch''. Starred Fred [=MacMurray=] and William [=DeMarest=].

** In the case of the addition of Dodie, the former JumpTheShark website entry for ''My Three Sons'' had some very negative remarks about the character, eventually prompting Lyn to post her own entry sharing her positive experiences on the show and working with Mac Murry, Garland, Demarest and the rest of the cast.

** Mike Douglas, played by Tim Considine, who left after the first color episode of the 1965-1966 season when he grew tired of the role. He was married to his girlfriend, Sue Ann (played by Meredith Mac Rae), and the two moved out east ... never to return. His role was replaced by Ernie (Chip's orphaned friend, played by Stanley Livingston's real-life brother, Barry).