DON GRADY: MY THREE SONS' Robbie Douglas

Let me tell you how excited Deidre and I were to have the one and only Robbie Douglas from My Three Sons himself on Wait, I Know This! He was a fabulous guest and let me just say this...the secret backstage trivia that we live for on this show was delivered in full by Don Grady. I am not going to spoil it for you here. You have to click on the player to hear this episode. You won't believe it. If that's not enough for you then let me continue with the facts about one of americas most beloved TV family's ..The Douglas Family.

I was a big fan of My Three Sons back in the day. I actually wanted to name my first dog Tramp...but that's another story for another day! The show starred Fred Mac Murray and Don Grady, to name a few but on our last show it was Don Grady's turn to let us in on a little backstage trivia that we live for.

We'll get to that in due time...first of all lets travel back to September 29th 1960, the release date for the long running hit.

Little did america know that it would be watching a show that would be known for some unusual trivia facts.

The show was originally to be called The Fred MacMurray Show but MacMurray didn't like it. (By the way, Eddie Albert of Green Acres fame was considered for the lead role as well). This show seemed to have legs of steel for it went through some things that would've killed most shows dead in their tracks. For example, the original grouchy but loveable character of Bub played by William Frawley (Yes, Fred of I Love Lucy fame) was eventually replaced by Uncle Charley (William Demerest) because of Frawley's declining health. A major character change usually doesn't help a show at all. Now, throw in the original son "Mike" played by Tim Considine who also left the show quickly and you have several cast changes that would doom most sit-coms. (Considine left after 5 seasons because he wanted to direct more episodes. Writers said Mike married his girlfriend and left town. LOL)

How bout this one.... After 5 seasons the show switched networks and ran for 7 more!!!! It was a heck of a survivor that's for sure. It ran for 369 episodes or 12 years and was second to only Ozzie and Harriett at the time for the longest running live action comedy in US history.

IMDB has done a heack of a job with some great little known trivia. Check this page out for more. CLICK HERE.

Don is a fabulous musician. He was once in a rock group that soared up the charts in the mid 60's but he went under a fake name and disguise so people wouldn't know it was really "Robbie Douglas" in that band. He proved his talents for sure! Please check out his website to hear what he's up to now. it's an easy one... http://www.dongrady.com/

What do we do, Baby...without THE KEATONS

On September 22, 1982 one america's favorite families was born. Thanks to the mind of Gary David Goldberg The Keaton's showed us how a former hippie couple dealt with the new "money generation" of the 1980's. With their son Alex P. Keaton leading the charge into capitolism and their dim-witted but down-to-earth daughter Mallory Steven and Elise Keaton had their hands full.

It was absolutely one of my all time favorite shows. I did a little digging to find out some interesting trivia about the show. Did you know that the series was originally set in Cleveland but after a few seasons they were magically located in Columbus, OH with no explanation given.

And what would have happened if the producers had gone with their first choice for Alex Keaton, Matthew Broderick. Producer Gary David Goldberg thought Michael J. Fox's audition was horrible. He thought Fox came across too smart alleck but casting director Judith Wiener begged him to see Fox a second time and this time he took a different approach and won him over.

By the way, the P in Alex's name was an ad-lib by Michael J. Fox and the producers loved it and decided to keep it.

IMDB did a great job in looking up obscure trivia (which of course I live for) and here's some of what they had.

· Stars Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter share the same birthday: 21 June 1947. Gross was born in Chicago and Baxter was born in L.A.

· The producers originally wanted Matthew Broderick to play Alex P. Keaton, but the actor had to decline the role when his father became terminally ill.

· Alex's hero is Richard Nixon. Skippy (the perpetual Alex wanna-be) admired 'Gerald Ford'.

· Ed O'Neill was considered for the role of Steven Keaton.

· The black Labrador that appeared after the closing credits with the voice over 'Sit Ubu, sit' was producer Gary David Goldberg's dog, Ubu.

· The show was modeled after producer Gary David Goldberg and wife Diane's real-life experiences as former 'hippies' transforming into suburban family life

· According to Michael J. Fox's last "Spin City" (1996) episode, Alex P. Keaton became a Junior Congressman from Ohio.

· One year before playing Michael J. Fox's father in Back to the Future (1985), Crispin Glover played Alex P. Keaton's friend in the episode Birthday Boy.

· When Meredith Baxter became pregnant during the hiatus between the second and third seasons, her pregnancy was written into the show. However, she still was written out of several episodes after giving birth to twins in real life.

· Elyse's maiden name was Donelly.

· Tom Hanks played Elise Keaton's brother Ned.

· Alex was born in Africa when Elyse and Steven were serving in the Peace Corps.

· Skippy was adopted as a baby by his parents.

· Jennifer was born on Election Day 1972.

· The name of the public television station that Stephen Worked for was WKS.

· Alex attended Leland University.

· Alex, Mallory and Skippy attended Harding High School, Jennifer went to Rudolph elementary school.

· The character 'Steven Keaton' was ranked #12 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue).

· Throughout the series' run, exterior establishment shots of the Keaton home were never used in any of the episodes, which is very unusual for a family sitcom. The vast majority of all scenes were played out in the kitchen.

· US President Ronald Reagan declared "Family Ties" (1982) his favorite TV show during the 1980s.

· In March 2008, creator Gary David Goldberg wrote an essay for The New York Times speculating about what Alex Keaton's political beliefs would be now. Goldberg said that Keaton, as a "true Conservative Republican," would probably no longer feel comfortable in the Republican Party of the late 2000s, "a party whose legacy will include Terri Schiavo and Hurricane Katrina, [and]...waging war against science." Goldberg said that Keaton would have supported McCain in 2000 but no obvious candidate in the 2008 race. He also said that he and Michael J. Fox have different ideas about Keaton's current career; Goldberg thinks Keaton is a pro bono lawyer for the Children's Defense Fund, while Fox believes Keaton is finishing a prison sentence.

And finally one piece of trivia that shocked me. The cast wanted to end the show with the entire family being killed in a plane crash because they didn't want to EVER do a reunion show...thank goodness it didnt end that way. I would've been crushed. Anyway here's a great You Tube video of the last show. It still brings tears to my eyes.

Wait, I DIDN'T Know This...about All In The Family

On January 12th 1971 television audiences were introduced to the man we called the "lovable bigot"...if there is such a thing. Carroll O'Conner came into our avocado, orange and creme living rooms as Archie Bunker with his dizzy wife Edith, semi-dizzy daughter Gloria and her hippie liberal protesting boyfriend Mike Stivic.

But did you know that legendary producer Norman Lear, known for his edgy writing and brash delivery of controversial topics almost made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. He almost cast Mickey Rooney as Archie Bunker. Rooney went on record saying that the show might not be accepted for the racy topics of rape, homosexuality, racial issues...etc. Obviously he was wrong and although Carroll O'Conner agreed, he thought the role was fascinating and accepted the role. Thank goodness.

O'Conner reportedly argued the most with Normal Lear. In fact during a stalemate over his contract negotiation O'Conner went on a strike. The writers had to write three episodes where Archie disappeared on his way to a convention. He finally showed up in time to appear in the last few minutes of the third episode. Rumor had it that if he hadn't comeback the writers were ready to kill off the character of Archie Bunker....again thank goodness.

Some other interesting facts: Penny Marshall was considered for the role of Gloira Stivic. Ironic that she married Rob Reiner later.

Speaking of Rob Reiner...Richard Dryfuss was reported to be extremely interested in that role at the time but Lear chose Reiner.

You may remember Betty GArrett who played neighbor Irene Lorenzo. She was on the show from 1973-1975 but resurfaced later in Laverne and Shirley.

All In The Family was the first show to use the sound of a flushing toilet on air.

The Bunkers last name was originally The Justices in the pilot but later changed.

OK...there's more than you ever wanted to know about the show that broke more ground than any other before its time....and if you don't believe that remember, it was ranked #4 on TV Guide's 50 Best Television Shows of all time and was number one yearly from 1971 to 1976. No other sitcom except the Cosby Show has achieved that level of success.

It was and is a classic.

Stay tuned to http://www.waitiknowthis.com/ as we effort a chat with ANY of these stars. It is truly one of our favorite all time shows.