<P> Production suffered multiple interruptions for several reasons . It began in December 1962 after Ball's abortive attempt at a career on the Broadway stage . In 1963, production was halted after the box - office failure of her comedy effort Critic's Choice (with Bob Hope). Later, she had a falling - out with Madelyn Pugh (then known as Madelyn Pugh Martin) and Bob Carroll, precisely because their script overly resembled an I Love Lucy television episode, and commissioned another writer (Leonard Spigelgass) to rewrite the script . Mr. Spigelgass does not seem to have succeeded in breaking free of Lucy's television work, so producer Robert Blumofe hired yet two more writers (Mickey Rudin and Bernie Weitzman) to make an attempt . When this failed, Blumofe hired Melville Shavelson, who eventually directed . All further rewrite efforts came to an abrupt end at the insistence of United Artists, the film's eventual distributor . </P> <P> At this point in the production cycle, Helen Beardsley's book Who Gets the Drumstick? was actually released in 1965 . Like many film adaptations, exactly how much the book informed the final shooting script is impossible to determine . </P> <P> Production began in 1967 with Henry Fonda definitely signed on to portray Frank . Mort Lachman, who had been one of Bob Hope's writers, joined the writing team at the recommendation of Shavelson . Leonard Spigelgass received no on - screen writing credit for his efforts in this film . </P> <P> Filming was done largely on - location in Alameda and San Francisco, California with Mike's high - school graduation being filmed at Grant High School in southern California (Frank Beardsley's home, into which the blended family eventually moved, was in Carmel). The total budget is estimated at $2,500,000 US ($175 Million adjusted for inflation); including $1,700,000 for actual filming and post-production . </P>

Where was the movie yours mine and ours filmed