MovieChat Forums > Make Room for Daddy (1953) Discussion > Danny Thomas = Far from a great human be...

Danny Thomas = Far from a great human being


After he fired Jean Hagen, called her "a bitch", and replaced her with Marjorie Lord, he began acting like Hagen never existed by banning all of seasons 1-3. Season 4 was never Syndicated, as it was a rebuilding period, and season 5 was when Marjorie Lord replaced Hagen. Which is why it was always seasons 5-9 in Syndication.

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Totally untrue. Seasons 1-4 were in syndication 5 days a week in the late afternoon from the late 50s to the early 60s. Which inspired MAD magazine to do a TV Guide episode summary: "Danny's daytime wife shows up and confronts Danny's nighttime wife, after which Danny is arrested for bigamy".

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👏🏻 I applauded your memory, your good taste (Danny Thomas AND MAD Magazine) and your zeal. Well done!

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That makes him not a great human being something that happens over 50 years ago firing someone? You need to get a life.

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I just assumed seasons 1-4 were never shown in syndication because of copyright reasons. 1-4 were from ABC network and the remaining seasons were from CBS network...

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No, neither ABC nor CBS had ownership in the show, so the network switch didn't affect syndication.

Sherry Jackson has given some interviews in recent years and it's very clear how much she disliked Danny Thomas and his producers. She also implied that he was having an affair with Rusty Hamer's mother.

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The Season 1-3 episodes were shown on daytime in the 1960s. They were pulled from syndication and never offered again after the series ended in 1964. The reason as of course Dannys anger at Jean Hagen for leaving. That's why no references are made to Margaret after he marries Kathy. Season 4 actually was shown on Nick at Nite and the Goodlife Network a few years ago.

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I remember I watched the reruns on channel 5 in New York circa 1980-81, which consisted of seasons 5-9. As far as I knew for a long time, Marjorie Lord was the only mother ever on the show. The previous mother isn't mentioned once in those episodes, and in fact I believe they just acted as if "Kathy" had been the mother all along.

I was SHOCKED to find out that there had been a mother before Kathy.

Also, the last two season weren't in that syndicated package either. I saw one from those years recently on youtube, and I guess I can see why. It wasn't very good, the kids were too old, and Danny and Kathy weren't even in the episode.

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johnm, Rusty always referred to Kathy as Kathy, never mom. They weren't trying to hide the fact she wasn't his mother.

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[deleted]

Let me get this straight: Danny Thomas used cuss words, and had someone whom he personally disliked fired. Damn! So Danny Thomas, father of the adorable Margo, who (she and he) made so many people happy AND who founded St. Jude’s hospital, that has brought new hope to pediatric oncology, was not a great human being? You know, I’ve seen a lot of dimwitted, contemptible stuff on the internet, but this topic is right up near the top. The man was human, which a priori means that he was flawed. The man also left the world better than he found it. Was he great? Perhaps not. The novel Great Expectations posits that a person may be either Great or Good, but not both. Danny Thomas was a Good human being, who did Great things while remaining Good. What the bloody so-and-so have you, anonymous OP, done?

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No, neither Danny or his daughter, MARLO (not Margo) were/are "nice" people, but that's show biz.

Also, let's not forget that Jean Hagen was an alcoholic (even before "The Danny Thomas Show"). I doubt she was
a breeze to work with either. Perhaps he fired her for a reason.

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