Father of the Bride (TV series)

• Leon Ames as Stanley Banks
• Ruth Warrick as Eleanor "Ellie" Banks
• Myrna Fahey as Katherine "Kay" Banks Dunston
• Ruby Dandridge as Delilah
• Burt Metcalfe as Buckley Dunston
• Ransom Sherman as Herbert Dunston
• Rickie Sorensen as Thomas "Tommy" Banks
• Lurene Tuttle as Doris Dunston
• Irene Tedrow as Miss Bellamy

Stanley Banks is a prosperous attorney who resides at 24 Maple Drive in Fairview Manor, Connecticut, with his wife Eleanor, who is known as Ellie, teenaged son Tommy, and daughter Katherine, who is known as Kay.^[1] Although Ellie, Tommy, and almost everyone else in Stanley's life reacts with enthusiasm when Kay announces her engagement to Buckley Dunston, Stanley is taken aback by the news.^[1][2] In the following days, weeks, and months, the unhappy Stanley, psychologically unready for the marriage of his only daughter, faces many challenges as he tries to adjust to Kay's new life, her fiancé Buckley, Buckley's parents Herbert and Doris Dunston, wedding and honeymoon planning, the wedding itself, Kay and Buckley moving into their own home in a small apartment at 324 Adams Street in Fairview Manor, and life in his own home without Kay around.^[1][2] Kay announces her engagement in the first episode, Kay and Buckley marry in midseason,^[3] and shortly before the series ends Kay gives birth to a son named Stanley Banks Dunston.^[1]

Stanley works in Manhattan at the law firm of Williston and Banks, where Miss Bellamy is his secretary.^[1] Delilah is the housekeeper at the Banks residence in Fairview Manor.^[1]

MGM Television produced the series, which was based on the 1949 novel Father of the Bride by Edward Streeter, the hit 1950 film of the same title based on the novel,^[3] and the film's successful 1951 sequel Father's Little Dividend.^[1]

By March 1962, episodes began increasingly to center around Leon Ames's Stanley Banks character, who "became the dominant figure in the whole show."^[4] Even before Father of the Bride came up for consideration for renewal, Myrna Fahey expressed a desire to be released from the show, reportedly because she felt that too much emphasis was being placed on Ames's "father" character and not enough on her Kay Banks Dunston "bride" character.^[5]

In early episodes of Father of the Bride, the opening credits feature an animated Cupid wielding a magic wand; while in later episodes, the opening credits feature the show's entire cast gathering on the staircase of the Banks's home.^[1]

Robert Maxwell was Father of the Bride′s executive producer, and Rudolph E. Abel and Mort Green produced the show. Episode directors included Mort Green, Anton Leader, Fletcher Markle, Gene Reynolds, and Richard Whorf, and writers included Ken Cooper, Dale & Katherine Eunson, Mathilda Ferro & Theodore Ferro, Mort Green, and James S. Henerson.David Raksin wrote the theme music. Campbell Soup Company and General Mills sponsored the show.^[1]

Father of the Bride premiered on September 29, 1961,^[2][3] and 34 episodes were produced, airing on Fridays at 9:30 p.m.^[2] The series never gained anything near the popularity of the 1950 and 1951 films on which it was based,^[6] and was cancelled after only one season. Its last new episode aired on May 25, 1962. Reruns of the show then aired in its regular time slot until September 14, 1962.^[2][3]