At the half way point of the episode this turns into a very interesting and exciting story. It's one of the best of the 'Father Knows Best' series in my opinion. It really grabs you the first time you watch it and you feel like your sitting right there in the Anderson's living room!
3 Reviews
Very original. Grabs you
tonylimo6 October 2019
When are the Andersons' going to wake up and help these people?
FlushingCaps14 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Other than a couple of minutes of Betty wanting to go somewhere only because her life is so boring because nothing ever happens around Springfield, this entire episode, essentially, deals with the family in their living room listening to a radio. Not a radio program, but people talking to each other on a short wave radio that Bud hooked up.
At first, we are just hearing a family-parents and three children, whose ages seem markedly like the Andersons, and whose voices on the radio also seem to match the actors in this series. I cannot find anything to corroborate this, but I am 95% sure each regular cast member voices their matching characters. The family is on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean and they call grandma and tell her about how they like their new boat and just where they are sailing to.
A while later, we hear that bad weather can make things complicated for the family on the boat. We hear them calling the coast guard because their boat was in danger from the big storm. We hear that the coast guard radio operator is not picking up their signal clearly enough to hear more than a scattered word or two. It is explained that the way the short waves are sent, sometimes, especially during storms, people a thousand miles away can often hear a signal better than someone half a mile away.
The whole family is caught up in the drama about this family in jeopardy, even Betty who just drops her plans and ends up sitting and listening, as they all worry about these strangers.
Now on hearing the coast guard say they need these people's location, that they can't hear their signal, should have triggered the Andersons to call the coast guard and let them know the location that they have heard a few times, as they radioed for help. I kept wondering which of our heroes is going to be the first to say, "Why don't we call to tell them what we know?" Finally they get the idea and Jim calls and saves the day for those people.
This was not a bad drama-it really had very little to laugh at. But it took too long for them to realize they can help-almost like they WERE listening to a radio program instead of real people. I was starting to talk to them through my TV, saying, "Hey people! YOU can call the coast guard yourself. Just dial zero and tell the nice lady who you want. I mean, it's easier than today's 911-they only had to dial one digit.
If they had been smarter, I might have gone as high as 7, probably 6, but the Andersons' being too dumb to rescue those folks more quickly drops it to a 5.
At first, we are just hearing a family-parents and three children, whose ages seem markedly like the Andersons, and whose voices on the radio also seem to match the actors in this series. I cannot find anything to corroborate this, but I am 95% sure each regular cast member voices their matching characters. The family is on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean and they call grandma and tell her about how they like their new boat and just where they are sailing to.
A while later, we hear that bad weather can make things complicated for the family on the boat. We hear them calling the coast guard because their boat was in danger from the big storm. We hear that the coast guard radio operator is not picking up their signal clearly enough to hear more than a scattered word or two. It is explained that the way the short waves are sent, sometimes, especially during storms, people a thousand miles away can often hear a signal better than someone half a mile away.
The whole family is caught up in the drama about this family in jeopardy, even Betty who just drops her plans and ends up sitting and listening, as they all worry about these strangers.
Now on hearing the coast guard say they need these people's location, that they can't hear their signal, should have triggered the Andersons to call the coast guard and let them know the location that they have heard a few times, as they radioed for help. I kept wondering which of our heroes is going to be the first to say, "Why don't we call to tell them what we know?" Finally they get the idea and Jim calls and saves the day for those people.
This was not a bad drama-it really had very little to laugh at. But it took too long for them to realize they can help-almost like they WERE listening to a radio program instead of real people. I was starting to talk to them through my TV, saying, "Hey people! YOU can call the coast guard yourself. Just dial zero and tell the nice lady who you want. I mean, it's easier than today's 911-they only had to dial one digit.
If they had been smarter, I might have gone as high as 7, probably 6, but the Andersons' being too dumb to rescue those folks more quickly drops it to a 5.
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