My Three Sons
Bub in the Ointment
TV Flash files “Bub in the Ointment” as hour 3 of 380 in the TV Flash guide — My Three Sons (1960–1972) on ABC/CBS, season 1, episode 3, aired 1960-10-13, 25 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E03: listed hour 3 of 380 in the My Three Sons guide, hour 3 of 36 in season 1. It aired 1960-10-13 (25 min). The listed hour before it is “The Little Ragpicker” (S01E02). Next is “Countdown” (S01E04).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
When Bub steps on the toes of each grandson in turn, Steve is about to rebuke him when the household returns to normal once again. Being chief cook, dishwasher and housekeeper to three boys is not fun for a grandfather as Bub soon finds out.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Bub in the Ointment sit in the My Three Sons guide?
S01E03 is listed hour 3 of 380 — hour 3 of 36 in season 1, season 1 episode 3.
When did My Three Sons S01E03 air?
Bub in the Ointment aired 1960-10-13 and is listed at 25 minutes.
Where should I start?
MacMurray's Steve Douglas in an early ABC household hour is the calm contract. If you want the later CBS years, Uncle Charley (William Demarest) is the caretaker shift after Bub.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Widower Steve Douglas raised boys across twelve seasons while the household roster shifted in public. Fred MacMurray's unflappable dad — and the Hollywood legend of his block-shot schedule — made long-haul family sitcom into comfort infrastructure. Single-dad domestic engineering at industrial scale.
The household is the long form. *My Three Sons* (ABC then CBS, 1960–1972) ran twelve seasons of widower Steve Douglas raising boys while the roster shifted in public. Fred MacMurray's unflappable dad is the calm center of multi-cam domestic engineering. Production lore still notes MacMurray's efficient all-his-scenes-in-blocks shooting method — Hollywood efficiency as a shooting grammar, not as a scandal. William Frawley's Bub and later William Demarest's Uncle Charley anchored the house as Chip, Robbie, Mike,…
Filed against
- Fred MacMurray as Steve Douglas
Fred MacMurray raised boys across twelve seasons as Steve Douglas on My Three Sons — unflappable widower dad, a household roster that shifted in public, long-haul family sitcom as comfort infrastructure. Single-dad domestic engineering on…
- William Frawley as Bub O'Casey
William Frawley’s Fred Mertz is I Love Lucy’s landlord as a second marriage the country thought it owned — six seasons of live-audience architecture, Desilu timing, blocking every multi-cam still copies. On TV Flash he is the downstairs…
- William Demarest as Uncle Charley
William Demarest’s Jeb Gaine rode Tales of Wells Fargo as frontier-circuit muscle beside Dale Robertson’s soft-spoken company agent — top-ten western of the boom — then kept My Three Sons’ long-haul household as Uncle Charley while Fred…
- Tim Considine as Mike Douglas
Tim Considine eldest-sonned My Three Sons as Mike Douglas — widower dad, twelve seasons of household roster shifts in public, long-haul family sitcom as comfort infrastructure. Single-dad domestic engineering. TV Flash files him as 1960s…
- Don Grady as Robbie Douglas
Don Grady’s Robbie Douglas grew up in public on My Three Sons — widower Steve Douglas, Fred MacMurray’s unflappable dad, a twelve-season household roster that shifted on camera, block-shot schedule as Hollywood legend. Single-dad domestic…