Today, we look at how a 1971 episode of My Three Sons had a hilarious early version of “Charlie Bit Me.”
This is “The Past Was Close Behind,” a feature that spotlights moments, exchanges, etc. from older pop culture works that take on a brand new light when viewed in concert with later pop culture works or events. Basically, stuff that looks hilarious (or interesting) in hindsight.
As all know, one of the most famous viral videos ever was “Charlie Bit Me,” a 2007 clip of a 3-year-old boy being bitten by his 1-year-old little brother…
At one point, it was literally THE most watched video in YouTube history.
It has become such an omnipresent part of our pop culture that when I was watching the Season 12 episode of My Three Sons, “Polly’s Secret Life,” I couldn’t help but react when there was a Charlie biting me scene in that episode!
In Season 9 of the long-running family comedy, My Three Sons, Robbie Douglas (the original middle child on the show who became the oldest son once his older brother, Mike, left the series) and his wife, Katie, have triplets. By Season 12, the triplets were now toddlers.
In “Polly’s Secret Life,” the episode opens with the youngest son, Ernie (he was adopted once Mike left), visiting Katie for advice (Katie and the triplets moved back in with the Douglases in Season 12 while Robbie was away working in Peru). She has to distract her triplets while she advises Ernie, so she gets them to play snake and slither on the floor, allowing her to talk to Ernie.
However, the Snake idea goes poorly when Robbie Jr. bites his brother, Stevie (named after Steve Douglas, the patriarch of the family). Then Robbie, himself, is bitten by his OTHER brother, Charley (named after Robbie’s Great-Uncle Charley O’Casey), leading him to shout “Charley bit me!”
It’s very cute just how on point the cadence is, even!
Okay, folks, if you have any suggestions for a future The Past Was Close Behind, drop me a line at brian@poprefs.com!
