TV Main Title of the Week

Here are the two main titles for the short-lived, 1971 series THE SMITH FAMILY. Notice the striking difference between the first version and the one they switched to just five episodes later.They obviously had no clue what the tone of their series should be.

 

4 thoughts on “TV Main Title of the Week”

  1. This series was produced by Don Fedderson, after the styles of My Three Sons and Family Affair, his two previous successes.
    Fedderson talked Henry Fonda into playing the dad by promising him the same filming deal he had with Fred MacMurray and Brian Keith: shooting all Fonda’s scenes at once and filming the rest later, then editing the whole schmeer into individual shows.
    The Primrose Lane opening was used for the first season. When ABC renewed the series, they asked for more emphasis on Fonda’s work as a cop; Fedderson “complied” by shooting those scenes of Fonda running and firing for the new opener – none of which, to the best of my knowledge, actually appears in any episode of the series itself, which remained a “warm family comedy” for the remainder of its run.
    Which wasn’t very long…

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