My Three Sons

Review

Common Sense Media says

Classic single-parent family feels surprisingly modern.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

Find out more

Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

Find out more

Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this classic series keeps it clean in terms of content, with only a little light romance surrounding the boys' and their father's love lives. There are also positive messages to be had in terms of pulling together, sharing responsibility, and challenging traditional male stereotypes.

  • Educational value0
    Not applicable.
  • Positive messages2
    Most messages are light and comically moral, and they vary from episode to episode. But there's an overarching sense that a family must pull together to make things work -- and they can still get along, too.
  • Positive role models4
    In an all-male household, males share in the housework, including washing dishes, cooking, and cleaning. The men are more than capable at doing then-traditional "women's" work, so much so that it's portrayed as ordinary rather than extraordinary. As far as female role models go, women are typically written as one-dimensional, secondary characters; however, this changed later on in the series' run when the widower father eventually married.
  • Violence & scariness0
    Not applicable.
CloseExpand to see more details

What's the story?

In the wake of his wife's death, widowed father and aeronautical engineer Steven Douglas (Fred MacMurray) steps up to the plate to raise his three young sons Mike (Tim Considine), Robbie (Don Grady), and Chip (Stanley Livingston) as a single parent, with help from the boys' maternal grandfather, Bub (William Frawley). Later on, their household grows when Steven adopts an orphan (Barry Livingston) and marries a widowed teacher (Beverly Garland) with a daughter (Dawn Lyn) of her own.

Is it any good?

 

MY THREE SONS might be best known today for its familiar theme song. But it's also notable for being the first popular television show to break away from the two-parent household formula and reveal an all-new type of TV family -- one that stood in stark contrast to the working dad and housekeeping mom model idealized on then-popular programs like Leave It to Beaver. It also launched a future trend in TV programming toward more nontraditional families, from The Brady Bunch to Who's the Boss?

On Sons, men did the cooking, the cleaning, and the dishes. But they also did 100 percent of the parenting, at least until MacMurray's character re-married toward the end of the show's run. And to say that was a rare sight for the early 1960s is an understatement. Even today, you don't often see men on TV shouldering so many of the household chores, which makes Sons -- while obviously dated -- feel surprisingly modern.

Sign Up Message
Sign up for our weekly newsletter
Each week we send a customized newsletter to our parent and teen subscribers. Parents can customize their settings to receive recommendations and parent tips based on their kids’ ages. Teens receive a version just for them with the latest reviews and top picks for movies, video games, apps, music, books, and more.
Please enter an email address.
Please check your email address for possible typos.
Sorry, you must be 13 or older to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Sign me up!

What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about the show's role in breaking traditional male stereotypes of its day. How common was it to see a single-parent household, particularly one headed by a male character, on television in the early 1960s? How did that change as the show continued into the early 1970s?

  • Are the issues raised in each episode still relevant to today's kids? How have family dynamics changed since the show first aired?

  • How well does the show's comedy hold up after decades off the air? Which elements still make it feel relatable for modern audiences?

This review was written by Kari Croop

There aren't any reviews yet. Be the first to review this title below.
This review was written by Kari Croop
TV rating:TV-PG
Cast:Fred MacMurray
Genre:Comedy
This review was written by Kari Croop
 

Review It

Share your review with others

Hang on! You need to be a member to post your review.
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines.
About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
Our child development rating guidelines

Great alternatives handpicked by our editors

Other shows centered on nontraditional families
For kids who love classics
Browse more TV
 

vote now

Will you see My Three Sons?

Won't miss it
We'll try
Change it

Already seen it? What do you think?

I recommend it
It's a pass
 
More from Common Sense Media
Age-appropriate reviews
Top advice and articles

Been There? Tell us about it