In the post-war years, America developed a new economic base with a new and ever-increasing standard of living. This new middle-class lifestyle, coupled with the baby boom that ran throughout the 1950s, created suburbia — with housing developments, highways, shopping centers, and all of the other hallmarks of this new society becoming the norm. Originally, Father Knows Best was not much different than similar situation comedies of the period, the concepts of which were basically that “daddy is a well-meaning dumbbell, but we still love him.” However, by the time the show first aired over NBC on August 25, 1949, most of the clichés had been removed, and thanks to excellent writing and the outstanding acting talents of the principals, these hilarious slices of everyday life rise above the norm to make Father Knows Best one of the highlight series of late-era network radio entertainment.
