Initially appearing as a segment on the anthology show Love, American Style entitled “Love and the Old Fashioned Father,” Hanna-Barbera’s Wait Till Your Father Gets Home aired in first-run syndication from 1972 to 1974. This animated sitcom centers around Harry Boyle (Tom Bosley), a restaurant-supply wholesaler and married father of three, as he deals with the generation gap as did much of the culture at the time, most notably Norman Lear’s All in the Family. In 2007, Warner Home Video released Season One on DVD. They have now released all 48 episodes as The Complete Series on Blu-ray.
Buy Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete Series Blu-rayLike many men of the era, 40-something Harry was unintentionally at the forefront of a changing culture. He’s not as narrow-minded nor conservative as Archie Bunker, just a bit beleaguered trying to take care of his family whose views about life differ from his. His devoted wife Irma (Joan Gerber) strives to be peacemaker between Harry and their kids. For a few episodes, she works outside the home. Eldest son Chet (David Hayward/Lennie Weinrib) is out of school, has long hair, and no job (for most of the episodes), all which frustrate Harry. Middle daughter Alice (Kristina Holland) is maturing into woman faster than Harry would like. In “Alice’s Dress,” she wants to wear a dress without a bra, and in “The Beach Vacation” she wants to wear a skimpy bikini that she spills out of. Youngest son Jamie (Jackie Earle Haley/Willie Aames) is financially adept, a proto Alex Keaton of Family Ties sans the political angle.
Harry’s next-door neighbor, Ralph (Jack Burns) is former military, current right-wing nutjob. He’s against anyone he thinks is against what he thinks is best for America. He’s ant-hippie, anti-Communist, and in “The Fling,” he reveals his antisemitism when he suggests they don’t want more than one Jewish person at their lodge or “the next lodge dinner’s gonna turn into a matzo ball festival.”
The show is very much a traditional sitcom. The episodes are self contained. There’s no continuity to follow so episodes can be watched in any order. All the plot conflicts get resolved by the end of an episode. There’s a laugh track, which is overused.
A number famous guest stars provide voices. Jonathan Winters plays multiple characters, including his own Maude Frickert and Elwood Suggs, in “Maude Loves Papa.” Imitating a lot of celebrities is “Rich Little, Supersleuth.” There’s even a crossover episode in “Car 54” where Harry’s brother is Gunther Toody, voiced by Joe E. Ross, playing his same character from Car 54, Where Are You?
The video is presented in 1080p/MPEG-4 AVC encoded transfer displayed at its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Colors pop in bold hues. Blacks are inky and whites accurate. The characters and foreground objects are outlined in soft, at times incomplete, black lines. Backgrounds are in pastel and minimal in what they show to set the scene. Sometimes it’s nothing but color. The image looks free from dirt and damage but there are occasional smudges and spots on the backgrounds from the source. The audio is available in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Dialogue is clear. The mix of music, effects, and canned laughter are balanced well together. The back cover lists Special Features, “Animation for the Nation” and “Illustrating the Times,” but they are not included.
For those who like classic family sitcoms, Wait Till Your Father Gets Home fits the bill. The show is of its time yet doesn’t feel dated as the differences between parents and their kids have a timeless quality. The Blu-ray delivers as good a presentation as the source allows.
“Love and the Old Fashioned Father”:
