I'm referring here to James Brown in this show and Brian Kelly in FLIPPER, and I suppose one might add Peter Graves in FURY.
In all these shows, there is little or no romantic interest with these stars' characters.
No--they were TOTALLY devoted to their kids and animals!
In today's dirty-minded society, that would raise a few eyebrows, no??
Yes, so devoted that each show ends with the same scene most of the time: the cast is gathered around laughing at some antic the animal star has just done. That used to make me groan as a kid! And every show featuring an animal did it. Such scenes typically ended Lassie, Fury, Flipper, Daktari, My Friend Flicka, and many more. Watch for them! If there's an animal that's a big part of the show, the show is directed at kids or families, then there are going to be these group laughing reactions to something the animal did at the end of the show.
"All necessary truth is its own evidence." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
There was a reason for that. I read many shows had a widowed father because having a woman on the show took away from the child theme. Heard it mentioned on one of them tribute marathons to Andy Griffith.
Women complicated things, just like in real life
Not sure I totally understand that since other shows had kids in them that had mothers. Dennis the Menace had a mother and father. Jeff Stone had a mother and father on Donna Reed show. Harold Baxter has a mother and father on Hazel. Beaver and Wally Cleaver have a mother and father and there are probably other's I can't think of right now.
I don't see how women complicate things in real life because without a mother you can't even have a child lol