Revisiting My Childhood Via "The Danny Thomas Show"

 

(From left to right) Rusty Hamer, Penny Parker,
Danny Thomas, Angela Cartwright, and Marjorie Lord.

Although it ran for eleven seasons (1953-1964) and ranked in the top ten in every season but one, “The Danny Thomas Show” seems less beloved today than contemporaries like “I Love Lucy,” “The Donna Reed Show,” “Leave It to Beaver” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” 

In it, Danny Thomas plays Danny Williams, a popular singer and comedian who works in a New York nightclub. He lives in a Manhattan apartment with his wife and two kids. It’s meant as a roman à clef except, ironically, during the show's 11-year run Danny Thomas was primarily a television performer living and working in Los Angeles, where the show was filmed, not a nightclub entertainer working and living in New York City.

Between broadcast TV, cable, and streaming, there’s a lot of bandwidth to fill these days so just about everything is available somewhere. Every program on television back then was either broadcast live or shot on film. Shows shot and finished on film in black-and-white digitize beautifully, so it looks great.  

I was a fan of the show, meaning my parents liked it. I was two years old when it debuted in 1953, on ABC as “Make Room for Daddy.” It became “The Danny Thomas Show” for the fourth season, then moved to CBS for year five. I could usually get a laugh from my parents by calling it "Make Room for Danny."

The original Mrs. Williams, played by Jean Hagen, was unhappy and decided to leave after year three. On the show, she died during the off-season and season four began with Danny as a single parent. The show didn’t change much, and the dead wife was rarely mentioned. By the end of season four, Danny was dating. His new wife was Kathy, played by Marjorie Lord, who brought with her a six-year-old daughter, Linda, played by Angela Cartwright, to begin season five. This corresponded with the move to CBS and the ratings soared.

Unlike many family shows of that era, such as “Leave It to Beaver,” “The Danny Thomas Show” was mostly about the adults, although the kids often got the best jokes. 

Sitcoms in those days were 33 episodes per season. That’s a lot of work, especially for kids. Rusty Hamer played son Rusty Williams for the show’s entire 11-year run. Sherry Jackson, who played Danny’s daughter, Terry, was ready to leave after season four. As her character was by then a teenager, it was natural for her to be around less often. She made occasional appearances through season six. After that she was replaced by Penny Parker. They did a seven-show arc leading to her marriage after which the character largely disappeared.

Angela Cartwright, who played Linda, was always of special interest to me because we're about the same age. After her seven seasons there, she played Brigitta von Trapp in "The Sound of Music," then did three seasons as Penny Robinson on "Lost in Space." After that she worked in TV and film only occasionally.

Unlike most of its contemporaries, “The Danny Thomas Show” featured musical numbers in virtually every episode, and sometimes two or three. Most were by Danny, but many guest stars sang a song or two. Some performances took place in the family's apartment, where he accompanied himself on piano, joined inevitably by a mysterious, unseen orchestra. The orchestra was visible in scenes at the Copa Club (loosely based on the actual Copacabana nightclub), where his act consisted of songs and funny stories.

The heavy use of musical and comedy performances, so far outside the normal sitcom model, may be what dates the show. 

Another regular feature that probably doesn’t play as well now as it did then is the frequent use of guest stars. Some played characters but many played themselves, as Danny’s show-biz friends. They included Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Dean Martin, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnez, Dinah Shore, and many others. Sheldon Leonard, who appeared occasionally as Danny’s manager, Phil, was also the show’s producer and director. 

Recurring characters included Danny’s Uncle Tonoose from Toledo, played by Hans Conried; an Italian foreign exchange student named Gina, played by Annette Funicello; and Kathy’s father, played by William Demarest, who is better known as Uncle Charley from “My Three Sons.” 

Although available to stream, I’m catching shows as they appear on the Catchy Comedy channel and MeTV+.

Bourbon in Washington, Oh My!

 

Kash Patel's personalized
bottle of Woodford Reserve.

The Atlantic isn’t letting up on Kash Patel. Today, Sarah Fitzpatrick, the reporter responsible for the magazine's April 17th exposé, dropped a new story headlined, “Kash Patel’s Personalized Bourbon Stash.” It seems the FBI Director is using personalized 750ml bottles of Woodford Reserve as a gift for folks he wants to impress, a sort of 90° proof calling card.

This is only a story because it’s Kash Patel, a relentless self-promotor who likes to spell it “KA$H,” including on his personalized bottles. A spokesperson for Brown-Forman confirmed that “consumers who purchase Woodford Reserve occasionally have images and messages engraved on the bottle,” adding the disclaimer that, “these engravings occur after the point of purchase.”

An FBI spokesperson confirmed what Patel is doing. “The bottles in question are part of a tradition in the FBI that started well over a decade ago, long before Director Patel arrived. Senior Bureau officials have long exchanged commemorative items in formal gift settings consistent with ethics rules. Director Patel has followed all applicable ethical guidelines and pays for any personal gift himself.”

He did not say if those previous commemorative items contained whiskey.

The FBI, of course, was a product of Prohibition enforcement but, overall, the pearl clutching about this revelation is laughable. Although it’s not the way it used to be in Washington, alcohol has fueled politics since both were invented. Back when legislators remained in the capital for the entire legislative session and landlines were the only way to communicate “back home,” socializing with colleagues, lobbyists, and others from the government and its periphery was a way of life. Alcohol, mostly whiskey, was part of it. This certainly extended to gift-giving.

What was true in Washington was just as true in state capitals.

One bourbon brand still sold today was created by a politician as a gift for, as in Patel’s case, anyone he wanted to impress. His name was Charles Farnsley. He was a politician who served in the Kentucky House of Representatives (1936-1940), as mayor of Louisville (1948-1953), and in the U. S. House of Representatives (1965-66).

The Farnsleys were old Louisville money. Charles was the nephew of Alex Farnsley, an investor who backed “Pappy” Van Winkle and Arthur Stitzel in the formation of Stitzel-Weller during Prohibition. Between his stint in the state legislature and his election as mayor, Charles Farnsley was a lobbyist for local bourbon makers, including Uncle Alex’s Stitzel-Weller.

A statue of Mayor Farnsey on Main Street in Louisville

In 1936, while a member of the Kentucky House, Charles created a bourbon brand called Rebel Yell, a unabashed tribute to the Confederacy. Stitzel-Weller made it for him. Initially, he just gave bottles out as gifts, which he continued to do in his capacity as an industry lobbyist. The whiskey became so popular that Stitzel-Weller began to distribute it commercially, first locally, then throughout the South. 

Charles Farnsley was a contradiction. Although he pined for the “Lost Cause” of the Confederacy, as mayor he desegregated Louisville’s libraries and public swimming pools. In Congress he enthusiastically supported the 1965 Voting Rights Act and other Great Society legislation.

Rebel Yell was briefly discontinued a couple times but has mostly been sold ever since. Over the years everything associated with the Confederacy has been removed, including half of the name. Today it’s just “Rebel,” an MGP/Luxco product. It never was a big brand and still isn’t. 

Suntory’s Booker’s Bourbon started in much the same way, as a gift that salespeople for what was then Jim Beam Brands gave to customers and other friends of the company. For many years Brown-Forman had a gift brand they called President’s Choice used for the same purpose. Virtually every liquor company has done something similar, and most have personalization options for consumers.

Bourbon Distilleries, Ranked by Capacity, 2026

 

One of six column stills at the Jack
Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, TN.

Blogger gives me a rudimentary idea of how many people look at this blog and what, specifically, they look at.

Typically, the two most popular posts are old ones. The most recent post is usually third.

The perennial winners? "Bourbon Distilleries, Ranked by Capacity" from September of 2017 and "The Truth About Tito's and All Vodka" from October of that same year.

I don't know why the vodka post is so popular. Maybe it's because the truth about vodka isn't widely reported. I'm glad people read it, but I don't have anything to add. I did update it, at the end of the post, after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

I know why the other one, about distillery capacity, is so popular. Vendome has a link to it on their website. It deserves an update. Although not a lot has changed, what has changed is big. (It will be up to Vendome if they want to change the link.)

I should mention that the data I'm reporting is not "industry data," it's mine, based on a database I've maintained for years that tracks one simple metric, capacity as determined by the size of the distillery's beer still(s). It's an imperfect metric but it has the advantage of allowing apples-to-apples comparisons.

A distillery can produce less than its beer still's capacity, and everybody does, especially now, but it can't produce more.

You can go back to that 2017 post for more about the database and how I use it.

Brown-Forman's Jack Daniel's Distillery remains #1, although I don't believe it has gotten any bigger since 2017. That's one of Brown-Forman's problems right now. Jack Daniel's is huge but it's a mature brand here in its home market, without a lot of room to grow. It has huge potential outside the U.S., so the recent change in tariffs on whiskey is welcome. 

In addition to the Lynchburg distillery, which only makes Jack Daniel's products, Brown-Forman has three other U.S. whiskey distilleries, all in Kentucky.

Sazerac's Buffalo Trace Distillery has moved up two places into second, since bringing its second 84" beer still online. 

That moves Heaven Hill's Bernheim Distillery in Louisville to #3 and Suntory's Booker Noe Distillery in Boston, Kentucky to #4. Brown-Forman's second-largest distillery, in the Louisville suburb of Shively, remains at #5.

Number six is no longer a tie, since Suntory has taken the 72" column at Clermont out of the running. Sazerac's Barton 1792 in Bardstown has sole possession of #6.

This is a good place to mention that those four companies, Brown-Forman, Sazerac, Suntory, and Heaven Hill (the Big 4) continue to dominate the American whiskey space, as they have for decades. 

The next two are unchanged in terms of rank. Four Roses in Lawrenceburg, now owned by Gallo, is #7 and Suntory's Maker's Mark in Loretto is #8. Heaven Hill's new Bardstown distillery is the new #9, moving Campari's Wild Turkey in Lawrenceburg to #10 in a tie with Middle West Spirits in Columbus, Ohio. Bardstown Bourbon Company, now owned by Lofted Spirits, is #11. Jackson Purchase, in Hickman, is #12. The other Lofted Spirits distillery, Owensboro's Green River, is #13. The Lawrenceburg, Indiana distillery sometimes known as Ross & Squibb, owned by MGP, is tied at #14 with Whiskey House of Kentucky in Bowling Green. 

There is a tie at #15 between two Diageo distilleries, George Dickel in Tullahoma, Tennessee and Bulleit in Shelbyville, Kentucky. That would have been a three-way tie except Diageo's newest distillery, in Loretto, is currently off-line.

At #16 we have Campari's Wilderness Trail Distillery in Danville. Tennessee Distilling Group, in Columbia, Tennessee, is #17.

We'll end it there. As things change, I'll let you know.

It's interesting to note that Gallo, new to the bourbon game, comes in at #7 with the highest-ranking distillery not owned by one of the Big 4. Also now looking like players are Campari and Lofted Spirits, each with two listed distilleries. Lofted is now the biggest contract distiller, supplanting MGP.

I'll conclude with a reminder that this ranking is based on capacity, not production. In this new environment, that's going to vary widely. I've removed from the list distilleries that have announced they won't distill in 2026, but how much the remainder will distill in 2026 is up-for-grabs, since it seems like everybody has more than enough already in barrels.