Wait Till Your Father Gets Home

Wait Till Your Father Gets Home
Genre
Directed by
Voices of
Composer(s) Richard Bowden
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 48 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
Producer(s)
Running time 22 minutes
Production company(s) Hanna-Barbera Productions
Distributor Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network Syndicated
Original release September 12, 1972 – October 8, 1974

Wait Till Your Father Gets Home is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired in first-run syndication in the United States from 1972 to 1974 (airing on most NBC stations on Sunday nights at 10:30, except for the ones who had moved their late-night news to that slot). The show originated as a one-time segment on Love, American Style called "Love and the Old-Fashioned Father". The same pilot was later produced with a live cast (starring Van Johnson), but with no success. The show was the first primetime animated sitcom to run for more than a single season since The Flintstones more than ten years earlier and would be the only one until The Simpsons fifteen years later. The show was inspired by All in the Family.[1]

Premise

The 48 episodes feature Tom Bosley as Harry Boyle, a long-suffering suburban everyman dad and restaurant equipment dealer. The Boyle family consists of father Harry; wife Irma (voiced by Joan Gerber); amply contoured teen feminist yet boy crazy daughter Alice; lazy and perpetually unemployed long-haired post-adolescent son Chet who, like his sister, does not want to follow in the morals and values of his parents; and precocious, if rather mercenary, younger son Jamie (voiced by Willie Aames). Harry often bickers with the more liberal Alice and Chet over various social issues of the day, with Irma endeavoring to remain neutral while Jamie is more sympathetic to his father's beliefs. Despite it all, Harry loves his family, and usually tries to support them. Many of the stories revolve around the generation gap between Harry and his children, in which the series' sympathy is typically on his side, leading the character to usually win his arguments.

Despite Harry's conservatism, it pales against that of his neighbor Ralph Kane, who is a John Birch-like ultra-right-winger who is fanatically anti-Communist and obsessed with every absurd conspiracy theory. Following Ralph with his cause is senior citizen Sara Whittaker, whom he addresses as "Sergeant". They have both turned one end of the block into, basically, an armed camp. Although Harry considers Ralph a close friend, he is annoyed at Ralph's extreme attitudes and rarely hesitates to dispute his opinions or preempt his more threatening ambitions.

Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained a laugh track created by the studio.[2] For this show, the studio added a third belly laugh to add a little more "variety" (the only TV series made by Hanna-Barbera to have this added laugh). In addition, the laugh track was also slowed considerably.[2]

During the 1972-73 season, the DePatie–Freleng studio had an animated Saturday morning series called The Barkleys with a very similar family, only they were all dogs. Joan Gerber was also the voice of the "mom" on that show, Agnes. The Barkleys had married couple Arnie and Agnes, teenage kids Terry and Roger, and pre-teen Chester.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
124September 12, 1972February 20, 1973
220September 11, 1973January 29, 1974
34September 17, 1974October 8, 1974

Voice cast

Guest stars

Other "guests" on the series included thinly disguised versions of celebrities who did not provide their own voices, such as guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. When a crooked car dealer on another episode was perceived by real-life Los Angeles car salesman Cal Worthington as being a send-up of him, he sued the studio (Hanna-Barbera), the sponsors (Chevrolet) and the five NBC-owned stations that carried the show.[3]

Production credits

  • Executive Producers: Joseph Barbera and William Hanna
  • Producer: R.S. Allen and Harvey Bullock
  • Animation Directors: Charles A. Nichols and Barrie Helmer
  • Associate Producer: Carl Urbano
  • Story Directors: Stan Walsh, Paul Sommer, Don Christensen, Roger Armstrong, Alex Lovy, Jan Green, Art Davis, Charles Elmurry, George Gordon, Joseph Barbera, Bernie Gruver, Jim Pabian, Earl Klein, Howard Swift, Warren Tuffts, Bob Ogle
  • Voices: Tom Bosley, Joan Gerber, Jack Burns, Kristina Holland, Lennie Weinrib, Willie Aames
  • Production Design: Iwao Takamoto
  • Production Supervisor: Victor O. Schipek
  • Titles: Iraj Paran
  • Musical Director: Richard Bowden
  • Character Design: Marty Murphy
  • Layout Artists: Jerry Eisenberg, Norm Drew, Moe Gollub, Jan Green, Barrie Helmer, Gary Hoffman, Jack Huber, Willie Ito, Don Jurwich, Don Morgan, Lew Ott, Lew Saw, Bob Singer, Terry Slade, Takashi Masunaga
  • Background Artists: Daniela Bieleka, Bill Butler, Cathy Lewis, Walt Peregoy, Don Watson
  • Cameramen: Jerry Smith, Ray Lee, Norman Stainsback, Roy Wade, Tom Barnes, George Epperson, Ron Jackson, Ralph Migliori, Anthony Bliss, F.T. Zeigler
  • Technical Supervisor: Frank Paiker
  • Ink and Paint Supervisors: Billie Kerns and Jackie Banks
  • Xerography: Robert "Tiger" West
  • Sound Directors: Richard Olson, Bill Getty
  • Supervising Film Editor: Larry Cowan
  • Music Editor: Pat Foley
  • Effects Editors: Richard C. Allen, Earl Bennett, Joe Sandusky, Catherine McKenzie
  • Sound Effects: Ryder Sound Services (Season 1), Neiman-Tillar Associates (Seasons 2 and 3)
  • Negative Consultant: William E. Deboer
  • Post-Production: Joed Eaton
  • Animators: Ed Barge, John Boersema, O.E. Callahan, Lars Calonius, Rudy Cataldi, Norm Drew, Hugh Fraser, Zdenko Gasparovic, Jerry Hatchock, Barrie Helmer, Bill Keil, Anatole Kirsanoff, George Kreisl, Ed Parks, Don Patterson, Ray Patterson, Irv Spence, Xenia, Ray Young

Home media

On June 5, 2007, Warner Home Video released Season 1 of Wait Till Your Father Gets Home on DVD in Region 1 for the Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection. The final two seasons have yet to be released by Warner Archive.

Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: The Complete First Season
Set details Special features
  • 24 episodes
  • 528 minutes
  • 4-disc set
  • 4:3 standard
 None
Release dates
Region 1
June 5, 2007

References

Bibliography

  • Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earl. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946 to Present. New York, Ballantine, 2003

Notes

  1. ↑ TV Guide: Wait Till Your Father Gets Home
  2. 1 2 Iverson, Paul: "The Advent of the Laugh Track" Hofstra University archives; February 1994
  3. ↑ Erickson, Syndicated Television, McFarland, 1988
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