The Andersons' kitchen actually had working appliances. They were used to make coffee and pastries for cast and crew members when they reported for work in the mornings.
The character 'Jim Anderson' was ranked #6 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue).
The Anderson house in "Father Knows Best" was originally the home of Blondie & Dagwood Bumstead in the popular "Blondie" movie series of the 1930s and '40s. As a result, the faux street where the house is located (at Warner ranch in Burbank) is known as Blondie Street. The same house went on to appear as the home of Dennis's grouchy neighbor, Mr. Wilson, in the 1959 sitcom "Dennis the Menace", and later still, became the home of Tony Nelson in the 1960s sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie". Blondie Street also contains the homes from "Bewitched", "The Donna Reed Show", "Hazel", "Gidget", and "The Partridge Family".
When the sitcom first aired in 1949 on NBC radio at 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays, it was sponsored by Maxwell House. When the series moved from NBC radio to CBS television in October 1954, Robert Young was the only member of the radio cast to make the transition to the TV sitcom adaptation.
When the series debuted in 1954, it did so poorly in the ratings that CBS canceled it in March of 1955. A flood of protests came from viewers insisting that the show be reinstated. It was moved to an earlier time, and gradually became a hit.