Why ‘Family Affair’ Was Much Sadder Than Most Fans Remember
What To Know
- Despite its reputation as a heartwarming comedy, Family Affair was rooted in sadness.
- The show frequently addressed heavy topics like terminal illness and the emotional struggles of its characters.
- A sense of melancholy surrounds the series due to the early and tragic real-life deaths of several cast members.
If one were to ask most people what they remember about Family Affair, the CBS situation comedy from the late ’60s, the average viewer would fondly recall a heartwarming television program full of love and laughter. But thinking about it critically, was it really all that heartwarming? Maybe, but it was also incredibly heart-tugging and truly sad.
Let’s start with the main character, Bill Davis, played by Brian Keith. When viewers are introduced to him, they learn that he is financially well off due to being a very successful civil engineer. However, he is also a very lonely guy, lost in a big city, a perpetual bachelor looking for ways to connect with others, but never quite finding them. His closest friend, Giles French (Sebastian Cabot), is also employed as his valet. Were they friends before Davis put him on the payroll? Probably not.
Davis’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of twins Buffy (Anissa Jones) and Jody (Johnny Whitaker), and their older sister, Cissy (Kathy Garver). What should be a joyous thing is anything but, because these kids have been orphaned; their parents were killed in a tragic car accident.
There is a laugh track on this show, but truthfully, the premise is quite the opposite of hilarity. Instead, they become this patchwork family, which, again, could be heartwarming. But then the viewer is also made aware that these children were shuffled from family member to family member, never quite finding a home until “Uncle Bill” reluctantly allows them into his, and then into his heart.
Beyond the show’s premise, Family Affair did not hesitate to tackle tough topics like terminal illness. In the episode “Christmas Came a Little Early,” Buffy has a friend, played by Eve Plumb — who was not yet cast as Jan Brady — as a terminally ill and definitely will not make it to December 25. The show does not hold back any emotional punches, and again, hammers home the point that real life, even real life as depicted by a television situation comedy, isn’t always unicorns and rainbows.
Everett Collection
For those who have revisited Family Affair in reruns (currently streaming for free on both Pluto and Tubi), there is also a general, overall sense of melancholy due to the fact that many of the show’s stars died way too early.
Some, like Jones, who played the cute-as-a-button Buffy, tragically passed away while still a teenager due to a drug overdose. Then there is Keith, who took his own life in the late ’90s. Keith was suffering from emphysema and lung cancer, and when combined with the unexpected death of his daughter, Daisy, well, the best way to describe Keith’s state of mind was that he was extremely distraught. He fell into a pit of despair that he simply could not climb out of.
Even Sebastian Cabot, who played Mr. French, did not have an easy go of things. Cabot, who was also well-known as a voice actor in many Disney animated movies, suffered a stroke in the late ’70s and passed away at the age of 59.
Only Garver, who played Cissy, and Whitaker, who played Jody, are still with us. Even that has a sad note to it, as they didn’t always seem to get along after the series ended. Fortunately, the two are now on friendlier terms with each other. In 2016, Oprah’s OWN network published a YouTube video documenting their first reconciliatory steps.
Despite all of the heavy stuff in a show that is categorized, for better or worse, as a TV comedy, do not for one minute think that it is not worthwhile viewing. Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of watching Family Affair knows that it is truly a television treasure.
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