Father of the Bride (TV series)

Did You Know?

• The series never gained anything near the popularity of the 1950 and 1951 films on which it was based.
• Reruns of the show aired in its regular time slot until September 14, 1962.
• Campbell Soup Company and General Mills sponsored the show.

Synopsis

Stanley Banks, a prosperous attorney living at 24 Maple Drive in Fairview Manor, Connecticut, is taken aback when his daughter Kay announces her engagement to Buckley Dunston, while his wife Ellie, son Tommy, and others react with enthusiasm. Over the following weeks and months, the psychologically unready Stanley faces challenges adjusting to Kay's new life, her fiancé, the Dunston family, wedding planning, the wedding itself, and Kay moving into a small apartment with Buckley. Kay gives birth to a son named Stanley Banks Dunston shortly before the series ends. Stanley works at the Manhattan law firm Williston and Banks, with secretary Miss Bellamy, and Delilah is the housekeeper.

Production

MGM Television produced the series, based on the 1949 novel by Edward Streeter, the 1950 film of the same title, and its 1951 sequel Father's Little Dividend. By March 1962, episodes increasingly centered on Leon Ames's Stanley Banks character, who became the dominant figure. Myrna Fahey reportedly desired release from the show, feeling too much emphasis was placed on Ames's character and not enough on her Kay Banks Dunston bride character. Early opening credits featured an animated Cupid with a magic wand; later credits showed the cast on the Banks's staircase. Producers included Rudolph E. Abel and Mort Green, with directors such as Mort Green, Anton Leader, and Gene Reynolds. David Raksin wrote the theme music.