YMMV / Father Knows Best

• Condemned by History: The show was hugely popular in The '50s, running for six seasons and reran for years afterwards, but the next two decades made Father Knows Best and its idealized middle-class nuclear family, came off as antiquated. Today, it has become infamous as a symbol of '50s conservatism at its most cornball. Similar shows from its era, such as Leave It to Beaver, The Donna Reed Show, and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis have similar "rose-tinted" reputations, but they do not attract the same level of disdain (even if the latter has fallen into relative obscurity), probably because they don't have associations with rigid, outdated conservatism right there in the title.
• Unintentional Period Piece: This show could not have been made in any time other than the '50s. It revolves around a standard Nuclear Family led by a responsible patriarch and is very much set in the "present day" (the show came out in 1954). Ironically, it's often lost in pop culture that the show was being subversive at the time portraying Jim as a strong figure. In the original radio show, the title was meant to be ironic, with Jim being a traditional Bumbling Dad. There's even an episode of the TV series where Jim complains that fathers on television are always idiots.

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