Father Knows Best
Father Knows Best began as a radio family comedy before becoming one of television’s defining domestic sitcoms. The radio version is worth hearing on its own terms: Robert Young’s Jim Anderson is less an all-knowing patriarch than a father trying to stay one step ahead of work, children and household confusion, while the rest of the Anderson family gives the comedy its warmth and friction.
Where to Start
Researched entry points from recordings already in the Golden Radio Hour archive.
Audition
This is an early surviving broadcast in the GRH holdings, useful for hearing the series at a different point in its surviving run.
Episode details →Emancipation
This is a middle-period broadcast in the GRH holdings, useful for hearing the series at a different point in its surviving run.
Episode details →Rainy Day Activity
This is a later surviving broadcast in the GRH holdings, useful for hearing the series at a different point in its surviving run.
Episode details →Program History
A family situation comedy about Jim and Margaret Anderson and their children, using everyday household problems and generational misunderstandings for warm comedy.
Family situation comedy centered on Jim and Margaret Anderson and children Betty, Bud and Kathy.
The run breaks into several distinct periods: Audition (December 20, 1948 to December 20, 1948), Audition (December 20, 1948 to December 20, 1948), NBC sponsored weekly run (August 25, 1949 to May 21, 1953) on NBC Radio Network, and NBC early family cast (August 25, 1949 to July 5, 1951) on NBC Radio Network.
Names that turn up again and again in the surviving run include Bill Forman (announcer, narrator, and performer), Robert Young (performer), Ed James (creator, writer, and performer), Rhoda Williams (performer), Ted Donaldson (performer), Norma Jean Nilsson (performer), and Jean VanderPyl (performer).
Across its run, the surviving broadcasts are tied to NBC Radio Network.
The stories often return to parenting and household authority, family relationships, home maintenance and domestic projects, household money and allowance, holidays and family celebrations, and teen dating and courtship.
The show also sits in a wider radio history that includes Radio-to-television transition, Postwar suburban family sitcom, Robert Young good-driver campaign, and Consumer household culture.
If you are following the same actors and creative circles, related programs worth opening next include Lux Radio Theatre, The Railroad Hour, The Whistler, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, and Screen Directors Playhouse.
All Episodes & Recordings
Search this program or browse in its validated catalog order.
Audition
An audition or sales-presentation recording associated with Father Knows Best, identified in the archive as “Audition.”
New Year’s Eve
This Father Knows Best installment centers on “New Year's Eve,” the family situation identified in the transcribed episode index.
Safety Campaign
Bud’s unusually good behavior puzzles the Andersons while Jim avoids a call from a judge because he fears being asked to make a speech; the two situations unexpectedly converge.
Elusive Card Game
After Christmas bills alarm Jim, he imposes a strict economy campaign on the family, only to undermine it himself when his desire for a poker game turns a supposedly inexpensive…
A Weekend in the Country
The Anderson children push for a snow-filled weekend at a mountain cabin, but turning their simple getaway idea into a real family trip proves much more complicated.
Jim’s Birthday
This Father Knows Best installment centers on “Jim's Birthday,” the family situation identified in the transcribed episode index.
Income Tax
This Father Knows Best installment centers on “Income Tax,” the family situation identified in the transcribed episode index.
An Uncontrolled Dog
Kathy brings home a stray dog, and Jim's efforts to remove the animal only create more trouble as the persistent pet keeps returning and upsetting the household and neighbors.
The Golf Challenge
Flush with confidence after a golf victory, Jim lectures the family about mind over matter, then finds his own philosophy tested when an ill-timed physical mishap threatens his next match.
Betty’s Screen Test
Betty becomes convinced Hollywood stardom is within reach when a talent scout appears, sending the Anderson household into a frenzy before the situation proves less glamorous than she imagined.
Superstitious Folk
A day of supposed bad omens turns the Anderson household upside down as each family member reacts to superstition, including Jim, who insists he is the rational one.
Time For a New Car
Jim refuses to give up his aging automobile, but a simple repair becomes a chain of breakdowns and expenses that finally forces him to reconsider whether loyalty to the old…
Father’s Day Trip
The Andersons plan a special Father's Day, but Jim chooses a fishing trip instead; when both families join him, the outing ends with illness, lost gear, and the discovery that…
A New Housekeeper
Jim hires a housekeeper to make the family look polished for his boss, but the eccentric helper creates far more disorder than she solves and threatens the very impression he…
New Arrangements
Jim tries to accommodate several social commitments on the same evening, and his carefully arranged schedule collapses into a growing maze of conflicting plans and misunderstandings.
Vacation Arrives
The Andersons try to choose a destination for their summer vacation, but every family member has a different idea and the planning becomes more exhausting than the trip itself.
An Efficient House
Convinced the household needs businesslike organization, Jim introduces an efficiency system that quickly disrupts normal routines and proves that a family cannot be managed like an office.
Family Car Stolen
Jim is already battling a chaotic morning when the family car disappears, turning his rush to make an important appointment into a frantic search through the household's competing needs.
Who Has the Time
Conflicting clocks and schedules leave the Andersons arguing over what time it really is while an uncertain visit from Aunt Martha adds another layer of confusion.
The New Girlfriend
Bud's sudden interest in a new girlfriend collides with Betty's own romantic troubles, leaving Jim and Margaret caught in the middle of an unusually tangled family dinner.
Family Spending
Jim declares war on impulse buying, but his effort to teach the family restraint backfires when a favor for a colleague places him in an embarrassing buying predicament of his…
The Skunk Must Go
Bud proudly brings home a supposedly deodorized skunk won in a raffle, and Jim's determination to get rid of it sends the Anderson home into predictable panic.
A Spooky Cemetery
Lost during a stormy Halloween night, the Andersons seek shelter near a cemetery and find their imaginations working overtime as an already unpleasant trip becomes increasingly eerie.
Too Many Problems
Jim tries to prepare for an important dinner, but one problem after another—from the children's mishaps to new community obligations—keeps expanding his list of crises.
The Bad Barbecue
Jim undertakes an ambitious backyard barbecue for important guests, only to watch the project go disastrously wrong before an unexpected turn rescues the meal.
Enterprising Kids
The Anderson children launch schemes to earn money, but their entrepreneurial efforts escalate into legal and family complications before producing a surprising payoff.
A Modern Thanksgiving
The children leave for separate Thanksgiving celebrations while Jim and Margaret stay behind, but each disappointing outing sends the family back home, where an improvised meal together becomes the holiday…
Betty’s French Teacher
Betty develops an intense crush on her French teacher, and Jim's attempt to manage the infatuation takes an unexpected turn when he discovers his own connection to the young man.
Father Becomes Ill
Jim tries to recuperate quietly from a cold, but the family's constant attention and a stream of well-meaning visitors make rest almost impossible.
Father Becomes Ill (AFRS)
Jim tries to spend a sick day resting in peace, but noisy children, mishaps, and aggressively helpful visitors turn his recovery at home into a more exhausting ordeal than going…
A Hans Christian Andersen Christmas
On Christmas Eve, Jim tells the family a story about Hans Christian Andersen, whose encounters with townspeople and his own storybook characters reveal lessons about love, faith, compassion, and the…
Party Preparations
The Andersons' New Year's Eve preparations are disrupted when Jim wins a live turkey in a raffle, leaving the family to cope with an awkward prize while trying to get…
Taking on City Hall
A dinner-table lecture about civic responsibility inspires Kathy to send the mayor a forceful letter in Jim's name, drawing him into a political dispute he never intended to start.
Missing Furniture
Jim enters a radio furniture giveaway on impulse, and the stunt leaves the Andersons facing the absurd prospect of a nearly empty house.
Redecoration Woes
Expecting wealthy dinner guests, the Andersons try to redecorate their living room cheaply; Jim's disastrous do-it-yourself paint job unexpectedly resembles the expensive fashionable style their guests already admire.
Sound Matchmaking
Jim and Margaret try to push cousin Louise and her longtime boyfriend toward marriage, but their matchmaking maneuvers produce confusion before the couple finally reaches a decision.
Jim Inherits a Ranch in Arizona
Jim learns he has inherited what appears to be a tremendously valuable Arizona cattle ranch, but the family's brief taste of being treated as rich ends when the property proves…
What was his Name
The family becomes preoccupied with solving a series of small mysteries, and Jim's determination to remember one elusive detail turns an ordinary evening into mounting frustration.
Orchid for a Lady
Valentine's Day becomes a neighborhood scramble when gifts and orchids are misunderstood, leaving Jim and the family trying to untangle who sent what to whom.
Always Tell Truth
Kathy promises to tell nothing but the truth on Jim's birthday, and her blunt honesty exposes uncomfortable secrets, embarrasses the adults, and wrecks his planned poker evening.
Cast, Crew & Contributors
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Bill Forman
Robert Young
Parley Baer
Willard WatermanMore Comedy Radio
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