Family Affair
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Edmund L. Hartmann Don Fedderson
Directed by	Charles Barton William D. Russell
Starring	Brian Keith Sebastian Cabot Kathy Garver Johnny Whitaker Anissa Jones
Theme music composer	Frank De Vol
Composers	Jeff Alexander Nathan Scott
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	138(list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Don Fedderson
Producers	Edmund Beloin Henry Garson Edmund L. Hartmann
Cinematography	Stanley Cortez Paul Ivano Michael P. Joyce Philip Tannura
Editors	James H. King Charles Van Enger Richard L. Van Enger Sam Vitale
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	25 minutes
Production companies	Don Fedderson Productions Family Affair Company
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 12, 1966 (1966-09-12) – March 4, 1971 (1971-03-04)

Family Affair is an Americansitcom starringBrian Keith andSebastian Cabot that aired onCBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-doengineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional Englishgentleman's gentleman, Mr. Giles French (Cabot), also had adjustments to make as he became saddled with the responsibility of caring for 15-year-old Cissy (Kathy Garver) and the six-year-old twins, Jody (Johnny Whitaker) and Buffy (Anissa Jones).^[1]

Family Affair ran for138 episodes in five seasons. The show was created and produced byEdmund Hartmann andDon Fedderson, also known forMy Three Sons andThe Millionaire.

Indiana native William "Bill" Davis is a successfulcivil engineer who develops major projects all over the world. A wealthy bachelor, Bill lives in a large apartment onManhattan'sUpper East Side, and has a British manservant, Giles French (usually called "Mr. French" or just "French"), as hisvalet.

A year prior to the series, Bill's brother Bob and his wife Mary were killed in a car crash in Indiana, orphaning their three children – teenager Cissy, and younger twins Jody and Buffy. His other relatives believe that Bill is the one most capable of supporting them, so the three move in with him in New York. Consequently, Bill's bachelor lifestyle gets turned upside down.

Initially, "Uncle Bill" is none too pleased to have the three youngsters living with him, but he soon grows fond of them. Mr. French, who effectively becomes a nanny in addition to his valet duties, is also flustered by the erratic situation at first, but he, too, develops an affinity for them. Over time, the bachelor, the butler, and the three orphans find themselves becoming a close-knit family.

When Sebastian Cabot became ill, Giles' brother, Nigel "Niles" French (John Williams) was introduced. He worked for the Davis family for nine episodes in 1967, while Giles was said to be touring with theQueen in theCommonwealth countries. In the final season, Bill hired a part-time housekeeper, Emily Turner (Nancy Walker), to assist Mr. French.

Various other characters were also seen regularly, including several acquaintances of Mr. French who arein service (most notably Miss Faversham, played byHeather Angel), colleagues of Bill's, and friends of Cissy's.

Due toDon Fedderson's strong track record,Family Affair was sold toCBS even before thepilot had been filmed.^[2]

As Fedderson's other program,My Three Sons, had done forFred MacMurray,Family Affair used a 60-day production schedule to accommodateBrian Keith. All of his scenes for the season would be shot in two 30-day blocks, while his co-stars would fill in after the actor's work was completed. This enabled Fedderson to harness movie stars like Keith and MacMurray into television commitments, while still enabling each to make motion pictures.^[2] As a result, each season had a single director for each of the 30-odd scripts.

Since the show'schild actors (Whitaker and Jones) could only legally work eight hours a day, scenes with them were shot first, and as a result the cast and crew were often filming as many as four episodes at the same time.^[2]

Due to the popularity of the series with girls, Buffy's doll, "Mrs. Beasley" (which she often carried with her), was marketed as aMattel talking toy in the United States. Mattel went on to produce two additional dolls, as well, patterned after Buffy: the"Tutti"-sized Buffy and larger "Small Talk Buffy" (talking doll), both of which featured accompanying miniature Mrs. Beasley dolls.

The theme song was composed by veteran television composerFrank DeVol. The opening featured credits appearing over akaleidoscopic view of a multicolored array of gems and precious stones.

Most of the episodes in the fifth season opened with either Sebastian Cabot or the twins saying, "Good evening, so nice of you to join us," and closing the episode saying, "It's been very good of you to watch and we do hope to see you again next week onFamily Affair."

• Brian Keith as Bill Davis - The part was first offered toGlenn Ford, who turned it down.^[2] Keith also held part ownership of the show.^[2]
• Sebastian Cabot as Giles French
• Kathy Garver as Catherine^[3] "Cissy" Davis - Garver was cast at the last minute, in the middle of shooting the pilot, after the actress originally cast for the part gained 15 pounds on a trip to Europe. Garver, though playing a teenage girl, was 20 years old at the time of filming. No scenes were filmed with Garver's predecessor.^[2]
• Johnny Whitaker as Jonathan^[3] "Jody" Davis - Keith suggested Whitaker for the role. Jody and Buffy were originally supposed to be different ages, but after seeing how good Whitaker looked with Anissa Jones, who had already been cast, the producers decided to change them to twins.^[2]
• Anissa Jones as Ava Elizabeth "Buffy" Davis^[4]
• Heather Angel as Miss Faversham, Mr. French's friend
• John Williams as Nigel "Niles" French (season 1)
• John Hubbard as Ted Gaynor, Bill's business partner (season 1)
• Betty Lynn as Miss Lee, Bill's secretary (seasons 1–2)
• Sherry Alberoni as Sharon James, Cissy's girlfriend (seasons 1–3)
• Karl Lukas as Scotty Parker, the doorman (seasons 1–3)
• Gregg Fedderson (producer Don Fedderson's son) as Gregg Bartlett, Cissy's boyfriend (seasons 2–5) - While working on the show Fedderson started dating actress Kathy Garver in real life.^[2]
• Nancy Walker as Emily Turner (season 5)

Anissa Jones (who played Buffy) died of a drugoverdose in 1976, aged 18.^[7]Sebastian Cabot (who played Mr. French) died of a stroke in 1977, aged 59.^[8]Brian Keith (who played Uncle Bill) died by gunshot suicide in 1997, aged 75, two months after the suicide of his daughter, and an undetermined amount of time after he was diagnosed with cancer.^[9][10]

MPI Home Video (under license from the Don Fedderson estate) has released all five seasons ofFamily Affair on DVD in Region 1.

A remake^[12] ofFamily Affair aired onThe WB from September 12, 2002, to March 13, 2003. The remake was produced by Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures, Pariah Films, andTurner Television.Gary Cole played the role of "Uncle Bill" Davis andTim Curry played Mr. Giles French. Fifteen episodes were produced, including the one-hour pilot, but only thirteen episodes were aired by The WB.

A Travis Hunt production titledAunt Cissy and starring Cissy actressKathy Garver was announced in the second quarter of 2019 as "a new family comedy that is not exactly a sequel toFamily Affair... but it has elements of the premise of that classic TV series, plus a few surprises."^[2] Several episodes were shot in late 2019.^[2]

Gold Key Comics, an imprint ofWestern Publishing, published four issues of aFamily Affaircomic book series from January to October 1970.^[13]

Merchandising efforts centered on Anissa Jones' "Buffy" character. Several books were published, including the 1970 hardbackFamily Affair: Buffy Finds a Star by Gladys Baker Bond andBuffy's Cookbook. There were dolls (Mattel's "Small Talk Buffy" and Mrs. Beasley, Buffy's doll on the show) and various other toys.^[14]

A Mrs. Beasley doll, with her glasses missing, appears in the music video for the song "California Tuffy" by theGeraldine Fibbers.

InPolice Academy 2: Their First Assignment, gang leader Zed (Bobcat Goldthwait) is seen tearfully watching the show in his hideout.

The 1982 the L.A. musical groupAngel and the Reruns released a song named "Buffy Come Back" dealing with the "Buffy" actress Anissa Jones' teenage drug overdose.^[15]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toFamily Affair.

• Family Affair(1966-71) atIMDb
• Behind-the-scenes production photos Collection of crew memberStephen Lodge.

• 1960s American single-camera sitcoms
• 1970s American single-camera sitcoms
• 1966 American television series debuts
• 1971 American television series endings
• American English-language television shows
• Television series about families
• Television series by CBS Studios
• Television series by Universal Television
• Television shows set in New York City
• CBS sitcoms

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