OTR Review: Father Knows Best "A French Teacher"

Series Name: Father Knows Best
Episode Title: A French Teacher
Original Air Date: 1950
Available On: Old Time Radio Comedy Podcast: August 26, 2009
Sound Quality: Above Average

I have to say that old time radio comedy relies a great deal more on actual scripted jokes than most modern comedy and this episode of Father Knows Best offers a great example of the sort of quality gags that happened when OTR comedy was firing on all cylinders. Sure the father is a little smug and patriarchal (as is common back then) but who cares, his delivery is funny and Betty, the older daughter, is a real hoot.

This episode sees Betty mooning over a french speaker at High School. Father gets the fellow over for dinner expecting him to be a young man not realizing that he's not Betty's new boyfriend, rather he's her French Teacher (as you might suspect given the title of the episode). Classic situation comedy set-up the sort of which could go any which way. Fortunately the whole family has good lines, the French Teacher turns out to be a lot of fun and the jokes fly fast and furious. One of the better OTR comedies I've listened to lately.

Worth the time of any OTR comedy fan.

4/5 Golden Masks

Robert Young and Jean Vander Ply of the radio show version of "Father Knows Best"