''The Smith Family'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series starring

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

and

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

and produced by Don Fedderson Productions. The series aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from January 20, 1971, to June 7, 1972, for 39 episodes.

Synopsis

Chad Smith is a police detective in Los Angeles. The show covered the exploits of Sergeant Smith and his relationships with his wife Betty and their three children: 18-year-old Cindy, 15-year-old Bob and 7-year-old Brian. The opening season

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

was an adapted version of "

Primrose Lane "Primrose Lane" is a song made famous by country music singer Jerry Wallace. Originally released in 1959, the song rose to number 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was ranked #47 on '' Billboard'' magazine's '' Top Hot 100'' songs of 195 ...

", composed by

Red Callender George Sylvester "Red" Callender (March 6, 1916 – March 8, 1992) was an American string bass and tuba player. He is perhaps best known as a jazz musician, but worked with an array of pop, rock and vocal acts as a member of The Wrecking Cr ...

(as George Callender) and

Wayne Shanklin Wayne Shanklin (June 6, 1917 – June 16, 1970) was an American singer, songwriter and producer. His best known compositions were "Jezebel", " Chanson D'Amour (Song of Love)", and " The Big Hurt". Personal life Shanklin was born June 6, 1916, i ...

.''The Smith Family'' synopsis & credits

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

. Retrieved February 2, 2015.Renewal registration for "Primrose Lane"

United States Copyright Office The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that maintains records of copyright registration, including a copyright catalog. It is used by copyright title searchers who are ...

. Retrieved February 2, 2015.

Cast

as Detective Sergeant Chad Smith, the father of the Smith family *

Janet Blair Janet Blair (born Martha Janet Lafferty; April 23, 1921 – February 19, 2007) was an American big-band singer who later became a popular film and television actress. Early years Janet Blair was born Martha Janet Lafferty on April 23, 1921, in ...

as Betty Smith, Chad's wife *

Darleen Carr Darleen Carr (born Darlene Farnon) is an American actress, singer, and voice-over artist. She is also known as Darlene Carr or Darleen Drake. She has two sisters, both actresses ( Shannon Farnon and Charmian Carr). Early years Carr was born i ...

as Cindy Smith, the daughter * John Carter as Sgt. Ray Martin *

as Bob Smith, the elder son *

Vince Howard Vince House (July 21, 1929 – July 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor. He appeared in over 100 films and television programs, and was perhaps best known for playing the co-starring role of "Motorcycle Officer Vince" in NBC's '' ...

as Sgt. Ed Thomas *

Richard O'Brien Richard Timothy Smith. known professionally as Richard O'Brien, is a British-New Zealand actor, writer, musician, composer, and television presenter. He wrote the musical stage show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' in 1973, which has remained in conti ...

as Captain O'Farrell *Michael-James Wixted as Brian Smith, the younger son

Episodes

Season 1: 1971

Season 2: 1971–72

References

External links

*
Contrasting opening credits for first and second seasons
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith Family 1971 American television series debuts 1972 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming 1970s American comedy-drama television series Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department Television series by CBS Studios Television shows set in Los Angeles