Lost 1970 Davy Jones Episode: Make Room for Granddaddy

Make Room for Daddy was a very popular 1950’s comedy sitcom starring Danny Thomas as nightclub entertainer Danny Williams who juggled his successful career with his duties as a husband and father. The cast included Marjorie Lord as his wife Kathy, eldest daughter Terry first played by Sherry Jackson and later Penney Parker, Rusty Hammer as his son Rusty and a young, Angela Cartwright as his adopted daughter Linda. Also in the cast was character actor Hans Conried as Danny’s eccentric Lebanese Uncle Tonoose. (Later to co-star in The Monkees episode ‘The Monkees’ Paw’).

The series was highly successful and ran from 1953 to 1964. The show had many guest stars during its run including Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Sammy Davis Jr., Dinah Shore and Dean Martin. Tony Bennett made his television debut on the program in 1959. The show also provided a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show which introduced the character of Andy Taylor and the town of Mayberry.

After the series first run ended in 1964, a sequel series was developed and premiered in the fall of 1970 titled ‘Make Room for Grandaddy’ with most of the original cast reuniting with Sherry Jackson reprising her role as Danny’s married daughter Terry who brought along her six year old son Michael, played by child actor Michael Hughes,  who stayed with his grandparents. As with the first series, the show featured notable guest stars including Lucille Ball, Diana Ross and Frank Sinatra.

One very notable episode ‘The Teen Idol’ guest starred Davy Jones as teen idol Rick Mitchell who was going to perform at Danny’s nightclub and Danny offers Rick to stay at his home to get away from his hysterical fans. Rick arrives with his ‘manager’ who turns out to be a young lady named Diane played by actress Sherry Alberoni. Danny and his family become a little uncomfortable suspecting a bit of ‘hanky panky’ until Rick confesses that he and Diane are secretly married, fearing the news might put off Rick’s fans. Neither Rick or Diane are happy about the deception, but after a encouraging talk from Danny, Rick reveals his marriage to Diane at his nightclub performance, which thrills Diane. In the episode Davy as Rick performs the song ‘Opening Night’.

 

The episode aired only once on December 30th, 1970 on Davy Jones birthday (also Michael Nesmith’s birthday). The plot of the episode mirrored the real-life secret marriage of Davy with his first wife Linda Haines. ‘Opening Night’, the song Davy performs on the episode, was originally recorded during the 1969 sessions for ‘The Monkees Present’ album. This guest appearance by Davy predates his appearance on The Brady Bunch episode ‘Getting Davy Jones’ by one year.

The reruns for ‘Make Room for Granddaddy’ are currently streaming on Filmrise on the Roku Channel. ‘The Teen Idol’ episode is number S1:E13. It’s a rare episode which has not been seen since its original airing in 1970. It’s a treat to see Davy so soon after his run with The Monkees. Happy to see this Davy Jones TV rarity turn up again for original and new fans to enjoy.

Roku/Filmrise Link:https://therokuchannel.roku.com/watch/d78b493eafb450a9a1477af3a692540e

Fred Velez, 2024.

Fred Velez is the author of the books ‘A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You: The Monkees From A Fan’s Perspective’ and ‘A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You 2: The Monkees From International Fan Perspectives’.

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