We recall him for Jim Anderson, head of that splendid nuclear family of the Eisenhower Middle American on FATHER KNOWS BEST, and again for his ideal physician DR. MARCUS WELBY. Robert Young never was ignored in the movies. His credits were above average: THE MORTAL STORM, THREE COMRADES, CROSSFIRE, WESTERN UNION, NORTHWEST PASSAGE, PART I - these are wonderful credits with top notch performances by Young to his credit. But like so many fine actors in the movies, he did not gain national fame until he was on American television in two smash series.
What is not recalled is how after FATHER KNOWS BEST, Young did this series, WINDOW ON MAIN STREET. He was a newspaper man returning to his Midwestern home town, and telling the stories of the people in the town one by one. But it was not a successful series. It came out in 1961, so I was too young to get involved in watching it. The only thing I remember was Young in a coming episode advertisement at the end of one of the shows holding up a dollar bill from the 1920s (which was larger in size than the ones in the 1950s and 1960s up to today), and said, "Do you remember when the dollar was this big?" I think that was the only time a commercial for a television episode was the most memorable thing about a show. I cannot tell what precisely went wrong with WINDOW ON MAN STREET, but it barely lasted half a season (judging from the number of episodes). It may have been the subject matter or the scripts or the position of the show in the weekly schedule. At least it did no real damage to Young's career - that's something. But it must have hurt his pride a bit - Young worked on the scripts and production.
What is not recalled is how after FATHER KNOWS BEST, Young did this series, WINDOW ON MAIN STREET. He was a newspaper man returning to his Midwestern home town, and telling the stories of the people in the town one by one. But it was not a successful series. It came out in 1961, so I was too young to get involved in watching it. The only thing I remember was Young in a coming episode advertisement at the end of one of the shows holding up a dollar bill from the 1920s (which was larger in size than the ones in the 1950s and 1960s up to today), and said, "Do you remember when the dollar was this big?" I think that was the only time a commercial for a television episode was the most memorable thing about a show. I cannot tell what precisely went wrong with WINDOW ON MAN STREET, but it barely lasted half a season (judging from the number of episodes). It may have been the subject matter or the scripts or the position of the show in the weekly schedule. At least it did no real damage to Young's career - that's something. But it must have hurt his pride a bit - Young worked on the scripts and production.