Budget DVD Theater: Make Room for Daddy

Here's the deal: I have a ton of cheapo DVDs and cheapo DVD collections--some of them a buck apiece, others in value sets--and I tend to let them sit around and pile up. Incidentally, what happened to dollar DVDs? I STILL go to the $1 Spot each time I hit Target, hoping to find a new selection of shoddy TV collections. I refuse to believe that every public domain episode of television programming has already been issued on a dozen different dollar discs.

Well, I will no longer neglect these cheapo--er, let's call them BUDGET discs. I'll take one out and write about it every now and then, so that way I reduce the pile AND get to write off the DVDs on my taxes.

(I'm not really gonna write off dollar DVDs on my taxes, of course, but, come on, indulge me and let me act like a real writer just this once).

Kicking off our prestigious new series is Danny Thomas in "Make Room for Daddy." Tonight's episode, "The Children's Governess," is likely a familiar one. There are apparently a handful of episodes of this 1950s sitcom in public domain, and they all show up over and over on various releases. Tonight's selection comes on a cardboard-sleeved collection of 3 episodes.

This episode offers a simple story in which the show's original wife/mom, Jean Hagen, wants her kids to be more proper, or PRAH-pah, so she hires a governess to watch them while she and Danny are out of town. The uptight guv, with all her rules and regulations and manners, drives the kids crazy, and she also conflicts with easygoing Grandma. Oh, I didn't mention Grandma? She just drops in when she finds out the parents were heading out of town, assuming she'll be doing her usual babysitting duties.

The plot isn't innovative, probably not even by 1955 standards, but it produces a solid half-hour of comedy. The high point is when the kids decide to be hyperpolite and PRAH-pah (to expose how ridiculous the governess is), and during breakfast, Rusty comes down and calls Danny FADER.

This simple yet ridiculous utterance infuriates Danny until he declares he wants no more "high-ta-flootin'" talk. Rusty responds by standing up and saying, "My most humble apologies," with a formal bow, which produces a 5-star spit take as Thomas lets go of his coffee/tea/mystery breakfast liquid with abandon. It's a hilarious moment, and you can even see Hagen smiling--not entirely out of character, but I like to believe she's really on the verge of losing it. It's obvious that Rusty Hamer is cracking up. The scene fades out on this high note.

Legend* has it that Thomas' spit take was so prodigious, it reached director Sheldon Leonard 20 feet away. After the scene, a glowering Leonard approached Thomas, raised a clenched fist, and threatened, "Why I oughta..." As the cast, crew, and studio audience held its collective breaths, Thomas just stared for what seemed like hours, until Leonard finally finished his sentence:

"...have you do that EVERY episode, Danny! That was SPECTACULAR!"

As the tension evaporated, a stagehand rushed in with a towel as Thomas and Leonard embraced. The Danny Thomas Spit Take became a staple.

Really, though, it isn't the volume of the launch that makes the spitting so impressive; it's the conviction. No one could accuse Thomas of not feeling this one. Hearing "FADER," then seeing that bow, has so rattled this father that he truly can't hold his water, so to speak.

Throw in the original Pall Mall cigarette commercials (it's eerie but fascinating to see them integrated into a family sitcom) included on the DVD, and this disc is already worth my dollar and then some.

There are two official season sets of this show: Questar's inferior, edited season 5, and S'Mores reportedly excellent (but reportedly non-selling) season 6. Each time I see an episode of "Make Room," I want to see more. Simply put, this is a funny show that is underappreciated today because of its lack of exposure. Daughter Marlo is still around, but I don't see a lot of Danny Thomas hype out there, and though I think this was a Nick at Nite staple in the eighties, good luck finding the show on TV today. I remember seeing it in reruns when I was a wee lad, but seeing it now is like finding a lost gem. The show is not just good because it's old or nostalgic; it's good because it's funny.

And because it has great spit takes.

*"Legend" is another word for "I made it up"