There's no way during the time this show was coming on the public took it seriously... Did they? Amazingly enough, it lasted for six seasons. I was born in the 90s but I love old TV shows. The acting was so brilliant, and the premise of the episodes actually made you think. It's apparent the writers and crew put in more work compared to now. TV shows in this day and time have poor scripts, ridiculous plotlines, and characters who are either unrelatable or annoying. However, some old TV shows had/have the same issues. Every time I see Father Knows Best, I feel like I'm going to break out in hives. People must've watched this to avoid reality, because it's unrealistic and quite silly. It tells the story of Jim Anderson (Robert Young), an ordinary middle aged man living in safe and sheltered suburbia with his wife and three children. According to the title, he knows what's best for his family. His wife doesn't know much. At least that's how it sounds. Their problems are trivial and of course can be solved within a half an hour. I wonder if some kids back then felt depressed when they watched this, because their family was nothing like what was portrayed on the screen. Generally, the older people I've been around, they didn't talk about their childhood or what their parents were like, and if they did, it wasn't anything positive. I had a coworker who was in her late 60s, and she said she would always be scared of her father when he came home from work. Fans of this show say it taught morals, but if you ask me, I think sitcom writers in the 50s wanted to create a fanciful depiction of family life to help real families temporarily escape their dysfunction. I can't see anyone nowadays enjoying this show, unless they're highly conservative and prudish. Skip Father Knows Best - it's too sappy and dated.