Father knows best

 

Father Knows Best is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which first began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons with a total of 203 episodes. Created by Ed James, Father Knows Best follows the lives of the Andersons, a middle-class family living in the Midwestern town of Springfield. The state in which Springfield is located is never specified, but it is generally accepted to be located in the Midwestern United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Knows_Best

 

The television series debuted on CBS in October 1954. It ran for one season and was canceled the following year. The series was picked up by NBC, where it remained for three seasons. After a second cancellation in 1958, the series was picked up yet again, by CBS, where it aired until May 1960.

When the show transitioned from radio to television, the character of Jim Anderson, the insurance agent, became less sarcastic and more understanding. In both the radio and television series, hie wife Margaret is portrayed as “the voice of reason”. On television, she was often seen wearing heels, a dress, and a string of pearls, even though few housewives at the time dressed like that on a regular basis.

In a way, “Father Knows Best” was similar to other shows at the time. Among them were the Ozzie and Harriet Show, My Three Sons, the Ed Sullivan Show, and the Lawrence Welk Show. All of them avoided conflict as much as possible, since they tried to be family-friendly shows. 

In January of 1968, “Laugh In” premiered, followed three years later by “All in the Family”. Although “wholesome” entertainment can still be found today, there are lot more shows today that are more open to controversy, and the Jerry Springer Show, which premiered in September of 1991, was the polar opposite of the shows of the 1950’s.

 

Those of us who are dads try to do the best for our kids, and usually we are smart enough not to be too controlling. Then again. James Parnell Spears is not like most dads. His temper, as well as his alcoholism, eventually led to two divorces.

His daughter Britney signed with Jive Records in 1997 at the age of 15. Two years later, her first two studio albums certified diamond, and she became an overnight success. Today, she is worth nearly $60 million.

Since having too much money at too young an age has not been a good thing for too many young performers, Mr. Spears got himself appointed as his daughter’s conservator in 2008, when she was 26 years old. Mr. Spears sought control over his pop-star daughter’s life and business, citing her mental health struggles and substance abuse. By 2008, she had been married and divorced twice.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britney_Spears

For more than a decade, Britney Spears bristled behind closed doors at the court-approved control her father, James P. Spears, held over her life and fortune.

Now, for the first time since 2008, Ms. Spears, 39, will be without her father’s oversight, a Los Angeles judge has ruled, as the singer moves toward terminating her conservatorship altogether.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Brenda Penny granted a petition by Ms. Spears’s lawyer, suspending Mr. Spears, 69, from his position as overseer of his daughter’s $60 million estate — a move Ms. Spears was pleading for, her lawyer said.

Although Mr. Spears had long maintained that the arrangement was voluntary and necessary to protect his daughter’s well-being — crediting the conservatorship with saving her life and revitalizing her career — he filed earlier this month to end it entirely, citing Ms. Spears’s wishes and recent shows of independence. (Ms. Spears said in June that she had not known she could move to end it.)

“This man does not belong in her life, your honor, for another day,” Mathew S. Rosengart, who took over as the singer’s lawyer in July, argued in court. “Please hear the plea of my client.” He said that it would be a “disaster” for Mr. Spears to remain in her life.

 

 

If you are the parent of a child with substance abuse issues, it can be difficult to know what to do.

I just finished reading Hunter Biden’s book, “Beautiful Things”, which details his struggles with drugs and alcohol. Although his dad tired to help, what finally got him back on the wagon was a chance meeting in California with a woman who would subsequently become his second wife.

Joe Biden did the best he could – and so did James Parnell Spears.

Although her fans are delighted by her new found freedom, the truth is that her dad did the right thing in 2008, proving (once again) that father knows best.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/arts/music/britney-spears-court-decision-conservatorship.html