The Danny Thomas show - wikipedia The Danny Thomas show The Danny Thomas Show Danny Thomas and Marjorie Lord, 1962 Also known as Make Room For Daddy Genre Sitcom Directed by Sheldon Leonard William Asher Danny Thomas Starring Danny Thomas Jean Hagen Marjorie Lord Sherry Jackson Rusty Hamer Angela Cartwright Composer ( s ) Herbert W. Spencer Earle Hagen ( MSI ) Country of origin United States No. of seasons 11 No. of episodes 90 ( MRFD ) 254 ( TDTS ) 344 ( total ) 24 ( MRFG ) ( list of episodes ) Production Executive producer ( s ) Louis F. Edelman Producer ( s ) Sheldon Leonard Charles Stewart Running time 23 -- 25 minutes Production company ( s ) Marterto Enterprises ( 1953 -- 1962 ) T&L Productions ( 1962 -- 1964 ) Release Original network ABC ( 1953 -- 1957 ) CBS ( 1957 -- 1964 ) Original release September 29, 1953 ( 1953 - 09 - 29 ) -- April 27, 1964 ( 1964 - 04 - 27 ) Chronology Followed by Make Room for Granddaddy Related shows I Love Lucy The Andy Griffith Show The Joey Bishop Show The Dick Van Dyke Show The Danny Thomas Show ( called Make Room for Daddy for its first three seasons ) is an American sitcom which ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. Episodes regularly featured music by Danny Thomas, guest stars and occasionally other cast members as part of the plot. In March 1953, Danny Thomas first signed the contract for the show with ABC and chose Desilu Studios to film it using its three - camera method. Two proposed titles during preproduction were The Children 's Hour and Here Comes Daddy. Contents 1 Synopsis 1.1 Series changes 2 Cast 2.1 Supporting 2.2 Notable guest stars 3 Episodes 4 Theme song 5 Spin - off and crossovers 6 Sequel 7 Reruns 8 DVD releases 9 References 10 External links Synopsis Thomas with television daughter Terry ( Sherry Jackson ) Thomas played the role of Danny Williams, a successful comedian and nightclub entertainer at the Copa Club, based on the iconic New York City nightclub the Copacabana. Jean Hagen played his serious and loving wife Margaret. Their daughter Terry was played by Sherry Jackson, and their son Rusty by Rusty Hamer. The show 's premise involved Danny rarely having time to spend with his family and Margaret having to deal with the children virtually on her own. She often felt neglected by Danny, and on several occasions felt like leaving him. Margaret was a society woman and strict with the children, but loved her family. Louise Beavers made several appearances during this era as the Williams ' maid, Louise Evans, and often was at odds with Danny and sided with Margaret in most of the couple 's arguments. Nana Bryant often appeared as Margaret 's kind mother, of whom Danny and the children were fond, but Margaret, who had been raised by her aunt and uncle because of her mother often being away on stage tours, was not as warm to her mother. ( Bryant died in late 1955, and rather than the character being recast, it simply disappeared. When Louise Beavers became ill in 1955, Amanda Randolph assumed the role of Louise. ) Series changes For its first three years, Make Room For Daddy garnered decent ratings, but failed to make the list of the top 30 programs. Shortly after the third season finished filming, Jean Hagen left the show over dissatisfaction with her role and frequent clashes with Danny Thomas. Thomas was upset with her for leaving, and felt the show would not last without her. However, he decided to push on. At the start of the fourth season, the series title was changed to The Danny Thomas Show. Both Thomas and producer Sheldon Leonard were faced with a serious dilemma -- how to explain Hagen 's absence. To have `` Danny '' and `` Margaret '' divorce in that era would have been unacceptable to television audiences, so it was explained that Margaret suddenly had died off - screen. It was a risky move because until this time, no character on a TV situation comedy had died. Danny now was a widower juggling a performing career while raising two children on his own. He had Louise and his friends often looking after the children while he was touring. He decided to move them to a boarding school, but later relented and the family moved into a new apartment. During the fourth season, the Danny character dated a few other women and nearly got engaged to a widowed singer until he found out she did not like children. By season 's end, the ratings had suffered and it was decided that a wife and mother was needed to complete the family unit. In a four - part story arc that began airing in April 1957, son Rusty fell ill with the measles and Danny hired Kathy O'Hara ( Marjorie Lord ), a young Irish nurse, to look after him. Kathy was a widow with a little girl ( played by Lelani Sorenson ). Danny and Kathy became fast friends and, not surprisingly, Danny quickly fell in love with her, as did the kids. In the season finale, the two became engaged. In a curious twist, ABC at this point canceled the series, which proved to be fortunate. In the spring of 1957, I Love Lucy, which had reigned as the top - rated show for almost all of its six - year run on CBS, was ending production. When CBS heard that ABC was cancelling The Danny Thomas Show, it picked it up as part of its 1957 - 58 schedule. The Danny Thomas Show made its debut on CBS on Monday, October 7, 1957 at 9 : 00 p.m., inheriting the time slot vacated by I Love Lucy. The fifth - season premiere episode, `` Lose Me In Las Vegas, '' had Danny and Kathy already married and on their honeymoon. The Williams family moved into a larger brand - new apartment and, with the change of network, the producers also changed Kathy 's daughter. Lelani Sorenson was dropped from the cast and replaced by Angela Cartwright as Linda. Linda then was adopted by Danny, and the show 's ratings dramatically increased. In fact, at the end of its fifth season, The Danny Thomas Show posted its highest rating, ranking at No. 2. During this season, Amanda Randolph was sick and rarely appeared as Louise, who was said to be recovering from the flu, with Kathy doing most of the housework. In the early part of the sixth season, Sherry Jackson left the show and the character of Terry was said to have gone to a girls school in Paris. Jackson commented on her close friendship with Jean Hagen and why she left the series, saying, `` The major perk was Jean Hagen. I adored her. We had a great time. She and I were best buddies ; she was my only friend from the Make Room for Daddy cast. What made me specifically want to leave the show ? I had a five - year contract, Jean had a three - year contract. Jean was thoroughly fed up with the series and made it clear that she did n't want to come back. When she left, I was devastated. I did n't want to continue, either. I wanted to break my contract. They would n't let me leave, but gave me less to do ; that 's why I 'm in fewer shows from ages 14 -- 16. '' In Season 7, the character of Terry was brought back, but recast with Penney Parker. Terry was featured in a seven - episode story arc that had her engaged and eventually married to Pat Hannigan ( Pat Harrington, Jr. ), a nightclub friend of Danny 's. After the wedding, the Hannigans moved to California and Terry was rarely mentioned, never to be seen on the show again. In the last two seasons, with Thomas and Lord tired of their roles, Danny and Kathy both regularly traveled, and for much of the tenth season they toured Europe ( with a handful of episodes featuring location footage ). Rusty and Linda were looked after by Danny 's manager, Charlie Halper ( Sid Melton ) and his wife Bunny ( Pat Carroll ). During the 11th and final season, Thomas decided to retire from the show and the program ended in the spring of 1964, finishing as still one of the most popular television programs and ranking at number nine. Cast Danny and Margaret Williams Milton Berle spends some time with Linda and Rusty after Danny and he quit show business. Danny Thomas as Danny Williams Jean Hagen as Margaret Williams ( 1953 -- 1956 ) Marjorie Lord as Kathy `` Clancey '' O'Hara Williams ( 1957 -- 1964 ) Rusty Hamer as Rusty Williams Angela Cartwright as Linda Williams ( 1957 -- 1964 ) Sherry Jackson as Terry Williams ( 1953 -- 1958 ) Penney Parker as Terry Williams ( 1959 -- 1960 ) Louise Beavers as Louise ( 1953 -- 1955 ) Amanda Randolph as Louise ( 1955 -- 1964 ) Supporting Uncle Tonoose ( Hans Conried ) gets a lecture from his older brother, Tufik ( played by Danny Thomas ). The supporting cast included : Sid Melton as Charlie Halper Pat Carroll as Bunny Halper ( 1961 -- 1964 ) Sheldon Leonard as Phil Brokaw ( 1957 -- 1961 ) Ben Lessy as Benny ( 1953 -- 1959 ) Mary Wickes as Liz O'Neal ( 1955 -- 1957 ) Pat Harrington, Jr. as Pat Hannigan ( 1959 -- 1960 ) Jesse White as Jesse Leeds ( 1953 -- 1957 ) Notable guest stars Hans Conried had frequent guest appearances as Danny 's eccentric Lebanese `` Uncle Tonoose ''. ( In real life, Thomas was Lebanese, Conried was not. ) Other frequent guests included Bill Dana as Jose Jimenez, Annette Funicello as an Italian exchange student named Gina Manelli, and Thomas ' protégée Italian teenaged singer Piccola Pupa. Other notable guest stars included band leader and musician Harry James, who appeared in the episode `` The Trumpet Player '', and the legendary Jimmy Durante, who appeared as himself in the episode `` Danny and Durante ''. Episodes Main article : List of The Danny Thomas Show episodes Season Title Episodes Originally aired Nielsen ratings First aired Last aired Network Rank Rating Tied with Make Room for Daddy 30 September 29, 1953 ( 1953 - 09 - 29 ) April 20, 1954 ( 1954 - 04 - 20 ) ABC N / A N / A N / A 30 September 28, 1954 ( 1954 - 09 - 28 ) April 26, 1955 ( 1955 - 04 - 26 ) N / A N / A N / A 30 September 13, 1955 ( 1955 - 09 - 13 ) April 17, 1956 ( 1956 - 04 - 17 ) N / A N / A N / A The Danny Thomas Show 30 October 1, 1956 ( 1956 - 10 - 01 ) April 25, 1957 ( 1957 - 04 - 25 ) N / A N / A N / A 5 33 October 7, 1957 ( 1957 - 10 - 07 ) May 26, 1958 ( 1958 - 05 - 26 ) CBS 35.3 N / A 6 33 October 6, 1958 ( 1958 - 10 - 06 ) May 25, 1959 ( 1959 - 05 - 25 ) 5 32.8 N / A 7 33 October 5, 1959 ( 1959 - 10 - 05 ) May 23, 1960 ( 1960 - 05 - 23 ) 31.1 N / A 8 32 October 3, 1960 ( 1960 - 10 - 03 ) May 22, 1961 ( 1961 - 05 - 22 ) 12 25.9 N / A 9 31 October 2, 1961 ( 1961 - 10 - 02 ) May 7, 1962 ( 1962 - 05 - 07 ) 8 26.1 N / A 10 32 October 1, 1962 ( 1962 - 10 - 01 ) May 6, 1963 ( 1963 - 05 - 06 ) 7 28.7 Ben Casey 11 30 September 30, 1963 ( 1963 - 09 - 30 ) April 27, 1964 ( 1964 - 04 - 27 ) 9 26.7 N / A Theme song The theme music was various versions ( changing over the years ) of the traditional Irish song, `` Danny Boy ''. Spin - off and crossovers The series was responsible for the creation of another long - running sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show. In the seventh season, Danny Thomas is arrested by Sheriff Andy Taylor ( Andy Griffith ) and detained in the small town of Mayberry in an episode entitled `` Danny Meets Andy Griffith ''. The episode aired on February 15, 1960, and The Andy Griffith Show premiered later that year on October 3. The series also crossed over to several other series, including The Lucy - Desi Comedy Hour and The Joey Bishop Show. Morey Amsterdam guest - starred as Buddy Sorrell of The Dick Van Dyke Show in the episode `` The Women Behind the Jokes ''. Some episodes featured Bill Dana as Jose Jimenez, which led to the spinoff series The Bill Dana Show. Danny Thomas played himself in one episode. Sequel The Make Room for Granddaddy cast Guest star Diana Ross with Roosevelt Grier and Thomas in 1971 The show ended in 1964, but Danny Thomas, Marjorie Lord, Angela Cartwright, Rusty Hamer, Sherry Jackson, Amanda Randolph and Hans Conried returned in 1965 for a two - hour - long `` reunion '' special on NBC, The Danny Thomas TV Family Reunion, considered the first TV reunion show, and Make More Room for Daddy, which aired as an episode of The Danny Thomas Hour in November 1967. Shortly after filming the second special in 1967, Randolph died suddenly of a stroke at the age of 70. A CBS reunion special, Make Room for Granddaddy, was aired in 1969. The special did so well that it was picked up as a series by CBS, but Thomas considered its assigned time slot to be too quiet and pulled the show. ABC brought it back on a weekly basis in 1970, in Make Room for Granddaddy. For the series premiere, Sherry Jackson reprised her role of oldest daughter Terry. No mention was made of her husband Pat Hannigan. Instead, for this new version of the series, Terry 's husband was named Bill, who was a soldier. In this episode, Terry left her son, six - year - old Michael ( played by Michael Hughes ), in the care of grandparents Danny and Kathy so she could join Bill, who was stationed overseas. In addition to Lord, Hamer and Cartwright, the only other returning regulars were Sid Melton as Charley Halper and Hans Conried as Uncle Tonoose. During that season, new characters were played by Stanley Myron Handelman and former football player Roosevelt Grier. The show lasted only one year, producing 24 episodes ; its cancellation came at a time when the networks were purging content favoring older, rural and other less affluent viewers after to the loss of a half - hour of daily program time in 1971. According to Lord, the series faced many obstacles, including the unprofessionalism and inexperience of the child actor Michael Hughes, the absence of Sheldon Leonard as producer / director to control Thomas and improve the quality of the scripts, and the fact that ABC switched the time slot of the show from Wednesday nights at 8 : 00 pm to Thursday nights at 9 : 00 pm. As a result, the ratings went from mediocre to poor. Reruns Reruns of the ABC episodes were aired weekdays on NBC from October 4, 1960 to March 26, 1965. CBS aired primetime repeats April 19 through September 6, 1965, on Monday nights at 9 : 30 p.m ( Eastern time ). Subsequently, most of the CBS episodes were then syndicated and offered to local stations. The first four seasons from ABC were not put into syndication. From February 1, 1987 to 1991, the show 's fifth through ninth seasons were shown on Nick at Nite. TV Land has also shown several of the Marjorie Lord episodes. GoodLife Television aired the majority of the episodes from the fourth season through the seventh season ( and select episodes from seasons eight and nine ). Me - TV aired the show from Labor Day of 2012 to December 31, 2014. In 2014, the series joined the weekday line up of Cozi TV, where it currently airs all 1957 - 1964 episodes featuring Marjorie Lord. Episodes of the show can be seen on TVS Nostalgia Network.Com. George Carlin referred to the reruns as `` Daddy has had room made for ''. DVD releases On September 28, 2004, Questar released the complete fifth season on Region 1 DVD. The set includes two special episodes : the fourth - season finale, `` Danny 's Proposal '', and the pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. The complete sixth season on DVD was released on January 22. 2008. It was released by a different company than the one that had handled the fifth - season package, and contained uncut episodes with vintage second - run opening titles from the early 1960s NBC network daytime reruns. Several of the early episodes with Jean Hagen can be purchased on discount DVDs, as these episodes have entered public domain because of lapsed copyright. References ^ Jump up to : The I Love Lucy Book by Bart Andrews ( revised and updated Broadway Books trade paperback edition, 2001 ), ISBN 0 - 385 - 19033 - 6, p. 116 Jump up ^ Weiner, Ed ; Editors of TV Guide ( 1992 ). The TV Guide TV Book : 40 Years of the All - Time Greatest Television Facts, Fads, Hits, and History. New York : Harper Collins. p. 173. ISBN 0 - 06 - 096914 - 8. CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ ClassicTVHits.com TV Ratings : 1957 - 1958 Jump up ^ `` Sherry Jackson ''. IMDb. Retrieved 2017 - 10 - 03. Jump up ^ Brooks, Tim ; Marsh, Earle ( 2007 ). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946 - Present ( Ninth Edition ). Ballantine Books. p. 1681 - 1683. ISBN 978 - 0 - 345 - 49773 - 4. Jump up ^ The Danny Thomas Show, `` Danny Meets Andy Griffith '' Jump up ^ The Danny Thomas Show / Make Room For Daddy and I Love Lucy / The Lucy - Desi Comedy Hour Jump up ^ The Joey Bishop Show, `` This Is Your Life '' Jump up ^ Geoffrey Mark Fidelman, The Lucy Book, Renaissance Books, page 269. ) Jump up ^ DVD details, Make Room for Daddy season five Jump up ^ DVD details, Make Room for Daddy season six Jump up ^ Make Room for Daddy, Volume 1 Jump up ^ Make Room for Daddy, Volume 2 External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Danny Thomas Show. Make Room For Daddy / The Danny Thomas Show on IMDb Make Room For Daddy / The Danny Thomas Show at TV.com Make Room for Granddaddy on IMDb Make Room for Granddaddy at TV.com Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series The Red Skelton Show ( 1952 ) I Love Lucy ( 1953 ) I Love Lucy ( 1954 ) Make Room for Daddy ( 1955 ) The Phil Silvers Show ( 1956 ) The Phil Silvers Show ( 1957 ) The Phil Silvers Show ( 1958 ) The Jack Benny Program ( 1959 ) The Art Carney Special ( 1960 ) The Jack Benny Program ( 1961 ) The Bob Newhart Show ( 1962 ) The Dick Van Dyke Show ( 1963 ) The Dick Van Dyke Show ( 1964 ) The Dick Van Dyke Show ( 1965 ) The Dick Van Dyke Show ( 1966 ) The Monkees ( 1967 ) Get Smart ( 1968 ) Get Smart ( 1969 ) My World and Welcome to It ( 1970 ) All in the Family ( 1971 ) All in the Family ( 1972 ) All in the Family ( 1973 ) M * A * S * H ( 1974 ) The Mary Tyler Moore Show ( 1975 ) The Mary Tyler Moore Show ( 1976 ) The Mary Tyler Moore Show ( 1977 ) All in the Family ( 1978 ) Taxi ( 1979 ) Taxi ( 1980 ) Taxi ( 1981 ) Barney Miller ( 1982 ) Cheers ( 1983 ) Cheers ( 1984 ) The Cosby Show ( 1985 ) The Golden Girls ( 1986 ) The Golden Girls ( 1987 ) The Wonder Years ( 1988 ) Cheers ( 1989 ) Murphy Brown ( 1990 ) Cheers ( 1991 ) Murphy Brown ( 1992 ) Seinfeld ( 1993 ) Frasier ( 1994 ) Frasier ( 1995 ) Frasier ( 1996 ) Frasier ( 1997 ) Frasier ( 1998 ) Ally McBeal ( 1999 ) Will & Grace ( 2000 ) Sex and the City ( 2001 ) Friends ( 2002 ) Everybody Loves Raymond ( 2003 ) Arrested Development ( 2004 ) Everybody Loves Raymond ( 2005 ) The Office ( 2006 ) 30 Rock ( 2007 ) 30 Rock ( 2008 ) 30 Rock ( 2009 ) Modern Family ( 2010 ) Modern Family ( 2011 ) Modern Family ( 2012 ) Modern Family ( 2013 ) Modern Family ( 2014 ) Veep ( 2015 ) Veep ( 2016 ) Veep ( 2017 ) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding New Series Make Room for Daddy / The United States Steel Hour ( 1954 ) Playhouse 90 ( 1957 ) The Seven Lively Arts ( 1958 ) Room 222 ( 1970 ) All in the Family ( 1971 ) Elizabeth R ( 1972 ) America : A Personal History of the United States ( 1973 ) Mayberry, North Carolina TV series The Andy Griffith Show Episodes Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Episodes Characters Mayberry R.F.D. Episodes Telefilm Return to Mayberry Main characters Andy Taylor Opie Taylor Bee Taylor Barney Fife Elinor `` Ellie '' Walker Sam Jones Gomer Pyle Goober Pyle Recurring characters Ernest T. Bass Otis Campbell Helen Crump Briscoe Darling Jr. The Darlings Clara Edwards Warren Ferguson The Fun Girls Floyd Lawson Flora Malherbe Howard Sprague Thelma Lou Related programs No Time for Sergeants The Danny Thomas Show The Jim Nabors Hour The New Andy Griffith Show Related topics Mount Airy Pilot Mountain Desilu Productions Rural purge `` What it Was, Was Football '' Mayberry Machiavelli Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Danny_Thomas_Show&oldid=843509466 '' Categories : 1953 American television series debuts 1964 American television series endings 1970 American television series debuts 1971 American television series endings 1950s American sitcoms 1960s American sitcoms 1970s American sitcoms American Broadcasting Company network shows American television sitcoms Television series about families Black - and - white television programs CBS network shows English - language television programs Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series winners Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list Talk Contents About Wikipedia Italiano Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Edit links This page was last edited on 29 May 2018, at 16 : 23. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what happened to the mother on make room for daddy
Answer: Margaret suddenly had died off-screen