My Three Sons
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50 free My Three Sons trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
My Three Sons ran from 1960 to 1972, long enough for the Douglas children to grow up, marry and start families of their own on screen. Fred MacMurray anchored it as Steve Douglas, while the faces around him kept changing: a grandfather gave way to a great-uncle, one brother left and another arrived, and the family even switched networks and moved house. This quiz covers the whole run: the characters and who played them, the storylines fans remember, the guest stars who passed through, and the backstage arrangements that made the series famous among television historians. A handful of questions follow the cast and crew into their other work. It is written for anyone who watched the show first time round or found it in reruns, and for classic TV fans who like a story behind every answer. Expect a mix of easy openers and deeper cuts.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01William Frawley, Bub on My Three Sons, was already famous as landlord Fred Mertz on which sitcom?
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy made William Frawley famous in his sixties, and he followed it with five seasons as Bub, the Douglas family's live-in housekeeper.
Q 02Which later CBS sitcom set in a Malibu beach house matched My Three Sons by lasting twelve seasons?
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men ran on CBS until 2015, and it too outlived a big cast change, killing off Charlie Sheen's character before season nine.
Q 03Which animal turns up in the Douglas attic on My Three Sons after a family day at the circus?
A lion
A lion strolls in from the yard while Ernie is camping outside, and nobody believes the newly adopted boy until it reaches Steve's bedroom.
Q 04What is the profession of Steve Douglas, the widower played by Fred MacMurray on My Three Sons?
Aeronautical engineer
Aeronautical engineer Steve Douglas has been raising his boys alone for six years when the series opens, and well-meaning friends keep trying to find him a wife.
Q 05To which state do the Douglases of My Three Sons move in 1967 after seven seasons in the Midwest?
California
California became home when Steve was transferred to Los Angeles, a move that let Robbie meet his future wife Katie at his new college.
Q 06Before My Three Sons, Fred MacMurray played a murderous insurance salesman in which classic film noir?
Double Indemnity
Double Indemnity cast him as Walter Neff, who schemes with a client's wife to kill her husband, a world away from kindly Steve Douglas.
Q 07Which future two-time Oscar winner appeared on My Three Sons as a child, playing a friend of Dodie?
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster played Priscilla Hobson, one of two friends Dodie invites to stay, years before her Best Actress wins for The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs.
Q 08What set the Douglas home of My Three Sons apart from other family sitcoms when it began in 1960?
An all-male household
An all-male household of a widower, his three boys and their grandfather started a television trend for single-parent families.
Q 09Fred de Cordova, the busiest director of My Three Sons, left to produce which late-night institution?
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show kept him as Johnny Carson's producer until the host's final broadcast in 1992, after 108 episodes directing the Douglas family.
Q 10Which surprise do newlyweds Robbie and Katie deliver in the ninth season of My Three Sons?
Triplet boys
Triplet boys named Robert, Steven and Charles arrive, played at first by uncredited sets of twins, which kept the title's promise going for another generation.
Q 11What is the name of the Douglas family dog on My Three Sons, trained by animal handler Frank Inn?
Tramp
Tramp is a mongrel who drags home anything he can get his jaws on, including, in one first-season episode, a stick of dynamite left over from the Second World War.
Q 12How is Bub, the live-in housekeeper of My Three Sons, related to widower Steve Douglas?
His wife's father
His wife's father Bub is the boys' maternal grandfather, who has helped Steve raise them ever since their mother died.
Q 13Which real-life younger brother of the actor playing Chip joined My Three Sons as adopted son Ernie?
Barry Livingston
Q 21On My Three Sons, Bub leaves to help his aunt celebrate her 104th birthday in which country?
Ireland
Ireland was the writers' exit for Bub when his actor left the series: he goes to see Aunt Kate, and his brother soon turns up to take his place.
Q 22What had Uncle Charley done for a living before he moved in to keep house on My Three Sons?
Merchant sailor
Merchant sailor Charley was due to ship out for the Caribbean within days when he first called on the Douglas family, and he never left.
Q 23Which string instrument does gruff Uncle Charley play on My Three Sons, the subject of a 1970 episode?
Cello
Cello solos on lonely Saturday nights lead Barbara to build a string quartet around Charley, who promptly gets himself thrown out of it.
Barry Livingston first turned up in 1963 as the kid next door, then was written into the family two years later when the eldest brother left.
Q 14Which former Mouseketeer played Robbie on My Three Sons before leaving to become a full-time composer?
Don Grady
Don Grady spent eleven years as Robbie, then wrote scores and signature tunes, including the one that opened The Phil Donahue Show.
Q 15Which star of Disney's Spin and Marty serials played eldest brother Mike on My Three Sons until 1965?
Tim Considine
Tim Considine went on to a small but famous film moment: he is the shell-shocked soldier slapped by the general in Patton.
Q 16Which veteran of Preston Sturges comedies took over the kitchen on My Three Sons as Uncle Charley?
William Demarest
William Demarest arrived midway through season five and earned an Emmy nomination for the role, two decades after an Oscar nod for The Jolson Story.
Q 17Why did William Frawley leave My Three Sons midway through the 1964–65 season after five years as Bub?
Failing health
Failing health made him too costly to insure, so the studio declared him unable to work and Bub was written out; he died the following year.
Q 18Meredith MacRae, Mike's bride Sally on My Three Sons, next joined which rural sitcom as Billie Jo?
Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction made her the third actress to play Billie Jo Bradley, a role she held from 1966 until the series ended in 1970.
Q 19Why did My Three Sons leave ABC for a rival network in 1965 after five seasons on the air?
The cost of color
The cost of color was more than ABC would underwrite, so CBS took the series and aired its remaining seven seasons.
Q 20Which demand in Fred MacMurray's My Three Sons contract was later copied by other television stars?
His scenes shot in blocks
His scenes shot in blocks became known as the MacMurray Method: the star worked 65 days a year while co-stars finished each episode without him, sometimes months later.
Q 24Which singer from the King Family played Robbie's wife Katie on My Three Sons from 1967?
Tina Cole
Tina Cole had already appeared on the series as three different girls before she was cast as the one Robbie marries.
Q 25Which star of the 1950s crime drama Decoy joined My Three Sons as Steve's second wife, Barbara?
Beverly Garland
Beverly Garland joined in the tenth season, and a North Hollywood hotel her husband built was later named after her.
Q 26Barbara first meets Steve Douglas on My Three Sons through which job, with Ernie among her charges?
A teacher
A teacher covering Ernie's class, Barbara asks to speak to his father, and the two widowed parents spend the rest of the day together.
Q 27Dawn Lyn, who played little Dodie on My Three Sons, is the sister of which 1970s teen idol singer?
Leif Garrett
Leif Garrett and his sister both appeared in the Walking Tall films, and in 1978 she played a groupie to his pop idol on Wonder Woman.
Q 28How do Chip and girlfriend Polly marry on My Three Sons after her strict father refuses his blessing?
They elope
They elope with Steve's reluctant permission, after discovering that the private detective tailing them was hired by her father.
Q 29In which fictional Midwestern town do the Douglases spend the first seven seasons of My Three Sons?
Bryant Park
Bryant Park's Douglas home stood at 837 Mill Street, and the family left it behind in the 1967 season opener, Moving Day.
Q 30Which carmaker sponsored early My Three Sons after asking for a series representative of America?
Chevrolet
Chevrolet approached producer Don Fedderson for the series, and its cars filled the Douglas driveway and the closing credits in the early seasons.