37 episodesFirst aired 31 August 1955
Aug 195530m
Jim tries to encourage Bud to take after him in salesmanship.
Sept 195530m
Jim comes home tired one day and is harangued by the kids. So, he and Margaret set up new rules to give him some time to relax—but it ends up backfiring.
Sept 195530m
A new highway is getting built, and for that the old community hall is going to be pulled down. That's something Jim wouldn't like to see since the hall is a historical monument, and also, memories from his youth are connected with this hall. Everyone from the family sees how much the hall means to Jim, and they use different ways to organize help.
Sept 195530m
Bud loses a job to a boy who fakes his resumé, which leads him to believe it is alright to do this himself
Sept 195530m
Margaret is forced to invite a woman over who makes her uncomfortable because she is Jim's friend's wife.
Oct 195530m
Bud learns that the girl he likes is dating his best friend.
Oct 195530m
Kathy gets a new magic set, from a trade with a friend, and becomes convinced she can truly wield magic.
Oct 195530m
Betty has recently taken up tennis at school and is chosen for a photo shoot for the paper. This causes friction between her and her doubles partner, Eula, who is the team’s best player.
Oct 195530m
Bud is accused of cheating because he is suddenly getting high grades in class.
Nov 195530m
After commenting on a sitcom (“Father Does It Again”) the family watches together one night, Jim speaks about how TV fathers are often portrayed as dumb in comparison with their families. Later, he plans on going hunting and starts believing that Margaret and the kids are secretly trying to get him to stay.
Nov 195530m
When Jim gets an invitation to a dance for his class reunion—class of ‘33—the kids start behaving as if their parents are ancient. Then, when the kids at their alma mater treat them the same, Jim and Margaret deal with the thought of getting older.
Nov 195530m
Bud gets irritated by a girl (whom he refers to as “Dumb Dora”) who has a crush on him, hurts her feelings when his irritation leads to cruelty, and must make amends.
Nov 195530m
Margaret has a premonition of danger for Jim’s upcoming business trip, and tries to get Jim to postpone it. But Jim believes it’s a bunch of superstitious nonsense, and insists on going anyway.
Dec 195530m
Tate Idsen saves a stagecoach from savage Indians in a flashback sequence.
Dec 195530m
Bud gets in trouble when his latest friend turns out to be a kleptomaniac.
Dec 195530m
Betty is indignant when Jim arranges a date for her with an old insurance salesman buddy’s son, Carter.
Jan 195630m
Jim comes home early from work, after a long, hard day, and expects to gain comfort from his family, but is quickly disillusioned when they all are too absorbed in their own interests and tasks to pay attention to him. This just makes his mood more sour and he declares at dinner that if he must, he will become a tyrant. This leads to unwelcome consequences.
Jan 195630m
Bud is having trouble in school and the family are hard-pressed to find out why. Eventually, Jim and Margaret come to the conclusion that, since he’s entered high school, he’s lost his confidence over being constantly compared to Betty and her accomplishments.
Jan 195630m
Betty gets a job to pay for a new, expensive formal for the Cinderella Ball at the country club.
Jan 195630m
Jim has a bet with Betty and Margaret concerning human nature, integrity and the man painting their house—Mr. Everett.
Feb 195630m
Bud seems determined not to go to a Senior/Freshman dance that is Sadie Hawkins-themed.
Feb 195630m
Betty becomes irritable with her family as she goes through an existential crisis.
Feb 195630m
Kathy is taught about fair trading from her father—and ends up trading her doll for a real baby.
Feb 195630m
When Bud receives an assignment to write a term paper about a Revolutionary War hero, he ends up researching the life of a relative—Major Nathaniel Oliver Anderson.
Feb 195630m
Jim’s old college friend, Charlie Bradley, a successful industrial tycoon, is in town. Charlie, along with Jim, were a part of a group known as The Four Musketeers, in college. Of the four, Jim appears to be the least ‘successful.’
Mar 195630m
Bud’s new friend, Fred, won't leave the Anderson house.
Mar 195630m
The family tries to think up excuses to keep from going to Margaret's family reunion.
Mar 195630m
Betty tells a wealthy friend, Eloise Sanders, that she’s going to a charity dinner at a club. But it’s expensive and she hasn’t asked her father, yet.
Apr 195630m
Bud gets in a tussle with a boy, Eddie, at school, then dreads facing him the next day because the kid wants to fight him. Jim makes Bud face him in a boxing ring to settle it, knowing that Bud will have to face Eddie, eventually. Later, Jim has Bud take boxing lessons.
Apr 195630m
Betty takes a vocational guidance course and signs up to get practical experience to become an engineer, but she gets a lot of flack for it because she’s a girl.
Apr 195630m
Jim and a family friend, Frank, fight over an insurance claim and dissolve their friendship over it. Betty and his son, Bob, are dating and this affects them, too.
Apr 195630m
Margaret is asked to represent her branch of the PTA by giving a speech, but later decides against doing so because of some mischief Betty gets into.
May 195630m
Bud boasts to his friends, Sandy and Kippy, that his dad can get Duke Snider’s All-Stars to come to Springfield.
May 195630m
Jim fights the elements to collect plants for Kathy's nature folder.
May 195630m
Jim makes a bet: the kid who doesn't tattle for one week will receive ten dollars.
May 195630m
Kathy finds a receipt for $25 from the adoption center and believes she was adopted.
May 195630m
While the family is readying for Betty’s graduation, Betty becomes conflicted about the event.
