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Family Affair

  • TV-G
  • 1966–1971
  • 5 seasons
  • Comedy, Family
  • 6.7

Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional English gentleman's gentleman, Mr. Giles French, also had adjustments to make as he became saddled with the responsibility of caring for 15-year-old Cissy and the 6-year-old twins, Jody and Buffy. The show ran for 138 episodes. Family Affair was created and produced by Don Fedderson, also known for My Three Sons and The Millionaire.

Episodes

30 episodes
  1. 1Buffy

    30 minSep 12, 1966

    The excellent family series begins when Bill Davis, a fantastic construction engineer, unexpectedly adopts Buffy, who along with Jody and Cissy, have lost their parents in an accident. Buffy comes first and at first, Bill doesn't like her and wants to send her back to Terre Haute. Buffy gets the feeling that Bill doesn't like her and runs off to hide in the basement. Bill tells her that he likes her and wants her to stay. In the end, when Bill gets ready to leave for a trip, Jody and Cissy come to be with Buffy.

  2. 2Jody and Cissy

    30 minSep 19, 1966

    Cissy joins the family and Mr. French thinks that he is not wanted anymore. Mr. French changes his mind after Buffy puts her doll in his suitcase and decides to stay after all.

  3. 3The Gift Horse

    Sep 26, 1966

    Buffy and Jody decide to give Bill a great gift- a horse!

  4. 4The Matter of School

    30 minOct 3, 1966

    Bill decides to send Cissy to a private girls' school in Connecticut, and even though she would prefer to attend high school locally, she reluctantly agrees to go, thinking Bill wants to get her out of the way.

  5. 5Marmalade

    30 minOct 10, 1966

    Mr. French is chosen for an ad for marmalade and is a huge promotion success, until he tastes the marmalade that he is hawking.

  6. 6Room with a Viewpoint

    30 minOct 17, 1966

    Buffy doesn't like the new changes in her and Cissy's bedroom and refuses to ever step foot in it.

  7. 7Mrs. Beasley, Where Are You?

    30 minOct 24, 1966

    Buffy's doll, Mrs. Beasley, gets knocked out of the apartment window by accident and Buffy goes up at arms about the whole thing. She fnds out that a little girl owns a doll that looks just like her lost Mrs. Beasley, and realizes that it is not her doll. Suddenly, the real Mrs. Beasley doll is found in a trash bin.

  8. 8Who's Afraid of Nural Shpeni?

    30 minNov 7, 1966

    Mr. French gets Lebanese cooking lessons from a Middle Eastern restaurant owner named Nural Shpeni, and her family forces Mr. French to marry her, whether he wants to or not.

  9. 9A Matter for Experts

    30 minNov 14, 1966

    Buffy and Jody have been spending a lot a time with each other at school, and it is a major concern for the vice principal and a child psychologist who states that Buffy and Jody need to make friends and join in with other children.

  10. 10Beware the Other Woman

    30 minNov 21, 1966

    When an old flame steps back into Bill's life, the children think that he will get married and send them back to Indiana.

  11. 11Take Two Aspirin

    30 minNov 28, 1966

    Bill gets a chance to work with a friend in Mexico on a job, but his trip is cut short when Mr. French comes down with the flu and difficultt in keeping touch with the family.

  12. 12Love Me, Love Me Not

    30 minDec 5, 1966

    When Jody sees a friend getting spanked by his father, his father tells him that he punishes him out of love. So Jody takes it upon himself to earn a spanking from Uncle Bill to see if he loves him enough to enforce physical punishment.

  13. 13The Thursday Man

    30 minDec 12, 1966

    Cissy learns a lesson in snooping when she is to do a paper on Mr. French and finds a shocking secret about him.

  14. 14Think Deep

    30 minDec 26, 1966

    Cissy worships a teacher named Julian Hill and spouts his theories all through the household. Bill invites the teacher to dinner and Cissy sees that he is not the man that she worships so dearly when he goes off on Buffy and Jody for an innocent spill.

  15. 15Hard Hat Jody

    30 minJan 2, 1967

    Jody's allusion about being a constuction worker leads him to ""gaining"" a job with a constuction worker who Bill is trying to get a job with.

  16. 16That Was the Dinner That Wasn't

    30 minJan 9, 1967

    Cissy is disheartened because she will be left out of a mother-daughter event at school, and she doesn't tell Bill what is wrong with her.

  17. 17All Around the Town

    30 minJan 16, 1967

    Bill and the whole family are seeing the Gaynors off on their cruise. Buffy and Jody think that Bill is having dinner with them, but when they find out the thuth, they are left on the dock by themselves. Mrs. Gaynor sees them and calls Bill, but Buffy and Jody run off in the city to find the owner of some money they found on the dock.

  18. 18One for the Little Boy

    30 minJan 23, 1967

    Bill plans to do some serious bonding with Jody by taking him on a business trip, but Murphy's Law plagues the trip. But Jody states that just being with Bill is exciting enough.

  19. 19Fancy Free

    30 minJan 30, 1967

    Buffy and Jody are placed in a fast-learning portion of their grade, but Bill is spending his time with a woman who is quite uncertain about what she wants. The twins get a friendly window-washer to help them with their work, but a call from the school to Bill makes him see that the children are more important than a hot date.

  20. 20A Helping Hand

    30 minFeb 6, 1967

    A lesson to be learned in this episode: Helping people is good, but it only goes but so far. The family learns this the hard way. Mr. French helps out a maid who is very bad with housekeeping by covering up her mistakes, and this charade goes on until she is hired by a guest who is throwing a party. Eventually, she gets fired and she gets on Mr. French. Bill does the same thing when he takes over the twins' school project, and he gets credit. Cissy tells them all about how important it is to get involved in the family because they had none when they were in Terre Haute.

  21. 21Once in Love with Buffy

    30 minFeb 13, 1967

    Aunt Fran's back and she wants the kids to come back with her. She believes that Bill will not be a suitable person for the kids. Of course, Fran thinks that this fact is confirmed when Buffy thinks that Bill doesn't want them there. When teh family gets ready to leave, Buffy sees the light and changes her mind.

  22. 22Ballerina Buffy

    30 minFeb 20, 1967

    Buffy gets chosen for a lead in a ballet, which is totally annoying for a mother whose little girl, Melissa, was passed over for a complete stranger. She has reason to suspect foul play when the casting director is Bill's old girlfriend Margo, but she knew nothing about Bill's children until after she had cast the roles. Then Margo tells Buffy that she will be a big success and travel all over the world. Buffy gets the idea that it means right away, so she botches up her role in the production so that she will not be separated from her new family.

  23. 23The Mother Tongue

    30 minFeb 27, 1967

    Buffy and Jody meets a new girl named Marilyn, who is the daughter of a Chinese diplomat and speaks no English. Mr. French tries to work out his Cantonese and unknowingly insults her.

  24. 24Everybody Needs Somebody

    30 minMar 13, 1967

    Buffy and Jody play matchmaker for Mr. French, but he thinks that they do not want him around because he punished them so severely.

  25. 25The Way It Was

    30 minMar 20, 1967

    Bill sends the kids away for a week-long trip at camp because they are driving him up the wall. He then starts to miss them when he goes back to his bachelor life.

  26. 26All Nephews Are Created Equal

    30 minMar 27, 1967

    Mr. French gets a visit from his nephew David. French is shocked when David announces that he wants to become a dentist, but the final straw comes when he goes out with Cissy.

  27. 27The Prize

    30 minApr 10, 1967

    The twins win a baby lamb in a cereal contest, which is not a good thing if your neighbors are trying to sleep.

  28. 28What Did You Do in the West, Uncle?

    30 minApr 17, 1967

    Bill takes the twins to the rodeo where he meets his old friend Gabe, whom he invites to stay with them. The twins are mesmerized at the thought of meeting a real live cowboy, and Gabe takes them under his wing. Of course, Bill thinks that they like Gabe more than they like him. But the twins tell him that Bill will always come first in their lives.

  29. 29The Award

    30 minMay 1, 1967

    Buffy and Jody want to make an award for Bill for being the best uncle, but they fall allergic to the clay they are making the award with. Bill thinks that the allergies are caused by irregular parenting, but the doctor states that they are allergic to modeling clay.

  30. 30The Butler Method

    30 minMay 15, 1967

    Cissy has trouble finding a date for the Sadie Hawkins dance, and asks a boy who throws her a curve because of a broken leg. Thinking that he is lying, she feels miserable. Bill suggests that an actor friend of his who is visiting escort her to the dance, but Cissy turns him down. Then, Cissy sees that Virgil really does has a broken leg, and she is happy that he didn't lie to her.

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Series cast

Brian KeithBill Davis138 episodes
Sebastian CabotMr. Giles French138 episodes
Kathy GarverCissy Davis138 episodes
Anissa JonesBuffy Davis138 episodes
Johnny WhitakerJody Davis138 episodes
Heather AngelMiss Faversham13 episodes
Gregg FeddersonGregg Bartlett13 episodes
Sherry AlberoniSharon James9 episodes
John WilliamsNigel 'Niles' French9 episodes
John Hubbard8 episodes
Joan VohsMiss Cummings7 episodes
Noel DraytonMr. Hardcastle6 episodes
William Boyett5 episodes
Cosmo SardoWaiter (uncredited)5 episodes
Pamelyn Ferdin4 episodes
Betty LynnMiss Lee4 episodes
Nora MarloweMiss Ponsonby4 episodes
Del Moore3 episodes

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