"Father Knows Best" is a superb series that DESERVES to be released on DVD -- all 6 seasons.

Thank you, Shout! Factory, for making my day with this exciting news. 

This appears to be great news; another one of the classics is getting a release thanks to Shout! Factory.  But I do have one question . . . . assuming that "Father Knows Best" is released by S!F, will full length, unedited episodes be included, or will we see a release similar to S!F's recent "Best Of The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" where edited, syndication episodes were released?

Well, I'm very disappointed to read that it's NOT in the works. A lot of folks would be excited about this one.

Including comments by Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray & Lauren Chapin would, of course, be great, too.

Yes, many, many thanks for releasing FKB. It will be great to have this wonderful, classic TV show on DVD.

I would like to second the request for the Donna Reed show...

Let me second my vote to making certain the episodes are the unedited versions, not the syndicated ones. I have an episode of Father Knows Best in both the unedited and the syndictaed versions. The episode is "Kathy Makes Magic" from I believe, 1956.

The uunedited episode is 2 or 3 minutes longer and opens on an entire scene that is completely missing from the syndicated version. It shows both Margaret (Jane Wyatt) and Kathy (Lauren Chapin) in the Anderson's kitchen, with Kathey wanting to show her mother the new magic set she got in a trade with a friend. It sets up the entire episode and is not merely a throwaway scene.

Once I watched an online interview of Jane Wyatt, recorded in 1999. She made a comment that many of her scenes were edited out or cut short. I wondered at the time if she was exaggerating a bit, but after seeing the unedited and the syndicated versions I now know what she means!

I'm adding my thanks to Shout for bringing this to market and preparing such an appealing package of extras.

In addition to the others, I'd also like to see confirmation that full length episodes will be used for these releases (assumes that Shout was given access to complete episodes).  Hopefully the Robert Young Estate has taken better care of these that the Nelson Estate.  Unfortunately it has been the case time and time again that when rights to a movie/series reside with an actor the preservation of same is often abysmal.  The Roy Rogers film library is a mess because of this and some of Bob Hope's films exist only in substandard form for the same reason.  Even some of Hitchcock's best films had to be rescued from near extinction because he controlled the rights and the master negatives were allowed to deteriorate.

For what it is worth, I'd rather see a release of full length episodes in lesser quality than cut episodes of higher quality.  Even better, perhaps any missing scenes could be reinserted where necessary and where available.  There would be a visual difference but I'm sure consumers would appreciate this attention to detail. 

I should also point out that if Shout is provided only edited episodes that would be disappointing and unfortunate but I understand that Shout would not be to blame for this.

Brian, thanks for the update . . . . this is what distinguishes Shout! from the major studios . . . . your willingness to keep the fans/customers updated.  We'll appreciate hearing more as you get closer to the release date.

Sincerely,

Bobhug

Would love to see the Father Knows Best reunion telefilm on DVD, too.  The 1977 Christmas reunion (Father Knows Best:  Home for Christmas:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319404/ ) was an amazing, feel-good film.  It had comedy, drama, a few vintage clips from the TV series, and much more.  It ran for a number of years on tv, but then disappeared.

Peace and Love,

Hermey