Watching The Smith Family was like slowing down on the expressway to see the accident. The show was incredibly bad and poorly written. Sure a certain amount of suspension of disbelief applies to any TV series but this show was such a horribly unrealistic unlikable portrayal of an American family. Ron Howard who portrayed Henry Fonda's teen son admits the show was terrible yet enjoyed the experience of working with Fonda. The gal who portrayed the teen daughter tried to act hip but was totally bogus in that role. Michael James Wixted as the pre-teen son always seemed like he was fighting back tears whenever he spoke showing zero range as an actor. The plots were often ludicrous leaving us viewers thinking "Oh c'mon! Real people don't act anything like this." Paul Peterson's appearance as the daughter's ex-con date once arrested by Fonda was indeed Paul's acting swan song. TSF may rank with Life With Lucy as 1 of TV's all time worst sit coms. BTW the crop-duster guy from Petticoat Junction sang that Primrose Lane theme song.
