Family Affair (CBS, 1966-1971) is a show mostly remembered today because of the tragic death of Anissa Jones, the adorable child star who played Buffy on the series, but who died of a drug overdose at age 18 in 1976, five years after the show ended its network run. That’s unfortunate. While Family Affair was by no means a great show, it was certainly a very good show, not to mention a steady performer throughout its five seasons on CBS. Nicely hammocked between The Andy Griffith Show and The Carol Burnett Show during most of its five-year run, Family Affair delivered solid family entertainment and even solider ratings, finishing among the Top Five shows every week during three of its first four seasons.
MPI marks the 40th anniversary of Family Affair with a nice five-disc set (six episodes per disc) that includes an informative 20-minute interview with Kathy Garver, the actress who played Cissy, the oldest of the three orphans (Jones, as Buffy, and Johnnie Whittaker, as Jody, rounded out the trio) who find themselves reluctantly taken in by their wealthy bachelor uncle, Bill Davis (Brian Keith), and his veddy-veddy proper British butler, Giles French (Sebastian Cabot). The still effervescent Garver provides many interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits, such as how Keith lobbied series producer Don Fedderson to cast the then six-year-old Whittaker as Jody after Keith had worked with him in The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. A photo gallery with cast photos and various production stills rounds out the collection.
Ed Robertson
edr@sidereel.com
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