Calendar to Courtship of Eddie’s Father

Here we have series you might have thought were nominated for best series but weren’t (Checkmate, Combat!) alternating with series that did snag at least one for the overall production but would be rather hazy for most people to recall (Calendar, Camera Three, The Celanese Theatre). For one special that falls into the latter category but deserves better, see Chun King Chow Mein Hour.

 

Calendar

CBS Weekdays 10-10:30 a.m., Oct. 2, 1961-Aug. 30, 1963

N: Daytime Program, 1962

Proudly announcing the day and date of the top of each show (apparently in honor of its title), along with the fact that it was live from New York, Calendar was a combination news/entertainment program, so it appropriately featured reporter Harry Reasoner and actress Mary Fickett as co-hosts. Reasoner typically read a brief news summary before Fickett engaged in the first featured guest interview or topic (naturalist Ivan Sanderson was a regular in the summer of 1962), followed by a couple of other topics and at least one commercial performed by Fickett. Throughout it all, Reasoner peppered his conversation with clever quips, giving the enterprise a rather witty air for a daytime series. Though CBS News produced this program, and in fact that division replaced the program with the first edition of a morning news show hosted by Mike Wallace through 1965, most people including this reader regard it more as an entertainment program, hence its inclusion in this book. Fickett later had more success, including an Emmy win, on All My Children, while Reasoner became ABC’s main newscaster most of the 1970s before joining 60 Minutes from 1978 until his death in 1991.

 

The Californians

NBC Tuesdays 10-10:30 p.m.*, Sept. 24, 1957-Aug. 27, 1959

N: Art Direction in a Television Film (Albert M. Pyke, “Man From Paris”), 1959

Cowboys Dion Patrick (Adam Kennedy) and Jack McGivern (Sean McClory) were vigilantes in 1851 (one guess about what state where they lived!) who practiced their trade for less than a season when the show’s sponsor determined their line of work could be viewed negatively (you think?) and had them phased out as Matthew Wayne (Richard Coogan) became the top law enforcer in San Francisco as well as a saloon owner (huh?). Such erratic changes doomed this show to low ratings and just two years on air, plus near obscurity afterward. Its sole nomination came in the only time the art direction category included two westerns, with the other being The Texan, which coincidentally involved Albert Pyke’s brother [CHECK ON THIS] Charles F. Pyke.

Pyke: Shower of Stars.

 

Camera Three

CBS Sundays 11-11:30 a.m.*, Jan. 22, 1956-Jan. 21, 1979

W: Achievement in Daytime Programming (Dan Gallagher, P), 1966

N: Direction, Half Hour or Less (Clay Yurdin, “As I Lay Dying”), 1956; Achievement in Daytime Programming (Nick Havinga and James MacAllen, P), 1968

A potpourri of cultural activities, Camera Three may well have been the cheapest network show of its time (it was not sponsored and typically had no more than a curtain or even no set at all in the background), but it made up for that by an ambitious approach to presenting the arts, virtually giving artists carte blanche to do what they do best, if they were willing to appear at bargain basement rates. Because of that circumstance, actors who rarely appeared on TV such as Richard Burton and Dustin Hoffman took advantage of the opportunity to appear on this show, reflecting the high esteem the creative community had for this series during its remarkable 23-year run until CBS replaced it with Sunday Morning. The prosiac title came from the number of cameras used.

Havinga: First Ladies Diaries.

 

Cannon

CBS Wednesdays 9-10 p.m., Sept. 14, 1971-Sept. 19, 1976

N: Drama Series (Quinn Martin, EP; Harold Gast and Adrian Samish, P), 1973; Lead Actor, Drama (William Conrad), 1973, 1974

Chubby Los Angeles sleuth Frank Cannon (Conrad) indulged his fondness for rich food and drink by charging large retainers to his clients as he tracked down their foes. His bulky girth limited him from chasing suspects on foot, but he made up for it by being a crack sharpshooter and driving around a sporty convertible that included a trendy car phone. This Quinn Martin production included all the trademarks which made distinguished his 1970s shows (and made them somewhat tedious too) – dynamic theme song, opening credits where the narrator identified the episode’s guest stars and title, and divisions of each segment of the show between commercials into Act I, Act II, etc. Nevertheless, the novelty of an obese detective on TV was enough to make this show a considerable hit most of its run (it peaked at #9 in the 1973-74 season), and after nearly 25 years of being a little-known actor, Conrad became a star who did plenty of variety shows and host of daytime holiday specials for CBS in the 1970s. Cannon had a few crossover episodes with another Quinn Martin show, Barnaby Jones.

 

Captains and the Kings

NBC Thursdays 9-10 p.m.*, Sept. 30, 1976-Nov. 25, 1976

W: Lead Actress, Limited Series (Patty Duke); Cinematography (Ric Waite) 

N: Limited Series (Roy Huggins, EP; Jo Swerling Jr., P); Lead Actor, Limited Series (Richard Jordan); Lead Actress, Limited Series (Jane Seymour); Supporting Actor, Single Performance, Comedy or Drama (Charles Durning); Music Composition, Dramatic Underscore (Elmer Bernstein); Art Direction or Scenic Design (Jerry Adams, set decorator; John W. Corso, art director)

The leadoff entry of four adaptations of novels under the title Best Sellers that aired as NBC’s unsuccessful answer to the success of Rich Man Poor Man on ABC, Captains and the Kings was an episodic telling based on Taylor Caldwell’s more bitter novel of the rise in America with grit and determination of feisty orphaned Irish immigrant Joseph Armagh (Jordan, who was great in his only Emmy-nominated role and probably would have earned at least one more nomination had he not died tragically of a brain tumor at age 55 in 1993) from his arrival in 1857 until his death 65 years later. Along the way he finds success under oil baron Durning, who would turn against him for killing his aide despite justification for it; romance with many women, including his wife Bernadette (played by Duke); political intrigue as Joseph’s son (Perry King) runs for President, and much, much more. Lots of famous faces interspersed in it as well, starting with John Carradine as a reverend Joseph met on board the ship taking him to New York City. This entertaining melodrama nevertheless could and should have been more substantial fare with a little more care in the scripting and directing departments. It was nowhere near a quality achievement as the winner in its category, Roots, particularly in light of how they overlapped in covering some of the same years. Incredibly, this was the only entertainment Emmy nomination for legendary movie conductor/composer Bernstein, a 14-time Oscar nominee and one-time Oscar winner whose theme for 1960’s The Magnificent Seven may be the greatest film score ever. (He did win an Emmy in 1964 for composing music for the documentary The Making of the President 1964, however.) This also marked the only win out of four nominations for Waite.

Duke: A Family Upside Down, Family Specials, George Washington, Having Babies, The Miracle Worker, My Sweet Charlie, The Patty Duke Show, Touched By an Angel, The Women’s Room. Waite: Andersonville, The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish, Tail Gunner Joe. Swerling: Baretta, Run for Your Life, Wiseguy. Seymour: Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Onassis: The Richest Man in the World, War and Remembrance. Durning: Death of a Salesman, Eveningshade, Homicide: Life on the Street, NCIS, Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, Rescue Me. Adams: Columbo, The Letter, Moviola, There Must Be a Pony, The Thorn Birds. Corso: Centennial, Tales of the Gold Monkey.

 

Car 54 Where Are You?

NBC Sundays 8:30-9 p.m., Sept. 17, 1961-Sept. 8, 1963

W: Directing, Comedy (Nat Hiken), 1962

N: Comedy Series, 1962; Writing, Comedy (Hiken, Tony Webster, Terry Ryan), 1962, (Hiken), 1963

Creator/producer/writer/director Hiken’s follow-up to The Phil Silvers Show was this less acclaimed effort about two cops at the Bronx’s fictional 53rd Precinct, Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross), a squat ball of energy with nutty ideas, and his partner of nine years Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne), a towering, reserved bachelor. They reported to irritable Capt. Martin Block (Paul Reed) and interacted with many officers, including dispatcher Andy Anderson (Nipsey Russell 1961-62) and Leo Schnauser (Al Lewis), the henpecked husband of wacky Sylvia Schnauser (Charlotte Rae). Lewis and Rae worked so well together that they overshadowed the comic scenes Ross did with his TV wife Bea Pons (as Lucille Toody). Indeed, much of the series has a “nice try but not quite there” feel about it, with everyone pushing a little too hard to inject life in it – particularly the loud laugh track. Gwynne and Lewis later co-starred on The Munsters (1964-66). Each show’s opening (which had Toody performing a different comic bit in the passenger seat each time while Muldoon drove) put no comma after 54, unlike most references to the series, so I have done the same here. Avoid the 1994 theatrical movie remake.

Hiken: Phil Silvers Show, Ballad of Louie the Louse. Ryan: Phil Silvers Show. Webster: Phil Silvers, That Was the Week That Was, Kraft Music Hall.

 

Carlton Your Doorman

N:

“Hello, this is Carlton your doorman” said in a slurred way

 

Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey on Broadway

ABC p.m., March 16, 1969

N: Individual Achievement, Visual Arts (Ray Aghayan, costume designer)

The two former stars of Hello, Dolly! on Broadway teamed up for this peppy variety special with a great rapport and some clever jokes – I particularly liked the one about how they could film Bailey’s autobiography The Raw Pearl and have Barbra Streisand star in it like she did in the movie version of their musical hit. (The connection to the musical extended to having its producer, David Merrick, in the audience for the special.) The emphasis was on songs, so if you do not like Channing’s throaty delivery or Bailey’s vamping, this would not appeal to you. If you do, both women acquitted themselves fine with contemporary music as well as show tunes, with the highlight being Channing’s dead-on spoof of Marlene Dietrich. Aghayan’s costumes were mostly what might be called late 1960s chic, meaning somewhat gaudy compared to today’s current fashions, and for some reason Bailey generally looked better in them than did Channing. There was no winner in this category, and Aghayan would have to wait 14 years until his next nomination (see the Academy Awards).

Aghayan: Academy Awards, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Diana Ross … Red Hot and Blues, Wonderful World of Burlesque II.

 

A Case of Rape

NBC Wednesday 9-11 p.m., Feb. 20, 1974

N: Actress, Drama Special (Elizabeth Montgomery); Director, Drama (Boris Sagal); Film Editing (Richard Bracken)

Montgomery portrayed a housewife molested by a man she meets through a friend who reported the crime and took him to court, and throughout the ordeal she was victimized even more by the system, her social circle, even her husband (Ronny Cox). An all-too-realistic, unsettling and highly-rated TV-movie that propelled its star into becoming a queen of the genre for the next 20 years, and should have been honored as one of the best in the 1973-74 season. Cox deserved a supporting actor nomination for his turn too, and why did the Academy give a slot to the exploitive script for Cry Rape over the excellent one written here by Robert E. Thompson from a story by Louis Randolph? (Thompson had no other Emmy mentions, but he did have an Oscar nod for co-writing They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? in 1969.) By the way, the three excellent nominees had between them 17 Emmy mentions without a win.

Montgomery: The Awakening Land, Bewitched, The Legend of Lizzie Borden, The Untouchables. Sagal: Masada, The Name of the Game, Rich Man Poor Man. Bracken: The Bold Ones, Buffalo Girls, Rich Man Poor Man.

 

Cavalcade of America

ABC Tuesdays 7:30-8 p.m.* (also NBC), Oct. 1, 1952-June 4, 1957

N: Director of Photography (Harold E. Stine, “Night Call”), 1954

Beside his other Emmy nomination, Stine collected an Oscar nomination in 1972 for his cinematography in The Poseidon Adventure.

Stine: Maverick.

 

The Celanese Theatre

ABC Wednesdays 10-11 p.m., Oct. 3, 1951-June 25, 1952

N: Drama, 1951, 1952

The Celanese Theatre was a dramatic anthology sponsored by the Celanese Corporation, “a producer of basic raw materials used in many great industries, including individual chemicals, plastics and chemical fibers,” as it announced in the opening titles. (The company still is in operation.) Airing live from New York, it boasted about the famous playwrights it employed for its scripts (e.g., John Van Druten, Sidney Howard), though most shows were abbreviated adaptations of their plays done by others, and though the cast and crew put on sturdy productions, Celanese erred in thinking that early TV viewers wanted to see previous, somewhat moldy stage shows rather than new works by up-and-coming writers, and that viewers had not seen films based on the productions recently in reruns on local TV either. It alternated weekly with the short movie series King’s Crossroads through December, then with the similar Emmy-winning Pulitzer Prize Playhouse thereafter. All crumbled against boxing on CBS, and ABC replaced it with wrestling. Though it ended after just one season, apparently its attributes held up enough for Emmy voters to nominate it again the following year (Emmys were handed out based on shows airing the calendar year at the time).

 

Charlie Brown’s All Stars!

CBS p.m., June 8, 1966

N: Children’s Program (Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson, P), 1967; Special Classification of Individual Achievements (Charles Schulz, W), 1967

After his baseball team loses a game by the humiliating score of 123-0, pitcher/manager Charlie Brown loses his fellow neighborhood players until a businessman promises to buy the team real uniforms if they join the league. The problem is that the league does not allows girls (like Lucy) or dogs (like Snoopy), so what is Charlie to do? A nice cartoon, although it suffered in comparison to being the first Peanuts TV special after the beloved original A Charlie Brown Christmas (q.v.), or for that matter the next Peanuts special aired and competed against it in the 1967 Emmys, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (q.v.). Incidentally, this was the last time the character of narcissistic Freida appeared a major character in the specials.

 

Checkmate

CBS Saturdays 8:30-9:30 p.m.*, Sept. 17, 1960-Sept. 19, 1962

W: Art Direction and Scenic Design (John L. Lloyd), 1962

One of TV’s greatest mystery series ever, Checkmate was a stylish creation from author Eric Ambler that pitted private investigators Don Corey (Anthony George), Dr. Carl Hyatt (Sebastian Cabot) and Jed Sills (Doug McClure) in a cat-and-mouse chase to prevent unknown assailants from harming their clients. This clever format, with smart scripts, acting, directing and producing, allowed for fascinating shows that propelled the series to finish at #21 in its first season; unfortunately, CBS moved it to Wednesdays in 1961-62, where it failed opposite Perry Como. It deserved better than that, and should not have suffered particularly unfair Emmy nomination omissions for drama series, music (John Williams’ dynamic score amid the swirling opening titles was excellent) and actor (Cabot). Cabot had to settle for fame for a much less challenging supporting role later on Family Affair, where at least he earned his only Emmy nomination. This was the only Emmy win out of five nominations for Lloyd.

Lloyd: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, G.E. Theatre, It Happened One Christmas, Vanished.

 

Cheyenne

ABC Tuesdays 7:30-8:30 p.m.*, Sept. 20, 1955-Sept. 13, 1963

N: Editing (Robert Watts, “Bounty Killers”), 1956

Based on a 1947 film of the same name, but more inspired by the 1953 classic Shane, Cheyenne told the exploits of 6-foot-5 itinerant Cheyenne Bodie (Clint Walker), whose mild demeanor and handsome looks belied his abilities as a sharpshooter and moral force when encountering strangers. Originally one of three shows rotating under the umbrella title of Warner Brothers Presents (the others were Casablanca and Kings Row), Cheyenne surpassed them quickly in quality and ratings as it dropped several lesser elements from its debut, including Bodie’s sidekick Smitty (L.Q. Jones) after the first four episodes. The result was that it was the only one of the three to survive a second year, when it used its own name without the Warner Brothers Presents part. Cheyenne wound up being Warners’ first and final western, thanks largely to Walker’s measured performance and decent scripts that marked the first kind of “adult western” approach used on TV, giving it an eight-year run. This marked the first of seven editing nominations for Watts, who had been with the series since its first season. He would not win a statuette until his work on Mission: Impossible in 1967.

Watts: Centennial, Columbo, Maverick, Mission: Impossible, Vanished

Chun King Chow Mein Hour

ABC Sunday 6:30-7:30 p.m., Feb. 4, 1962

N: Writing, Comedy (Stan Freberg)

Pre-empting Maverick, this special was the best TV showcase ever for the droll wit of its star, Stan Freberg. With no studio audience nor laugh track, Freberg used the premise of celebrating the Chinese New Year as the platform for scattershot comic bits mocking variety shows (particularly and wonderfully Sing Along With Mitch), panel shows, commercials, TV violence and even FCC Commissioner Newton Minow, among other targets, through skits, songs, cartoons and puppetry. He integrated pitches for sponsor Chun King’s Chinese food products seamlessly into the virtually non-stop hour show as well. Offbeat and splendid, with a top-notch crew that included Jack Donohue as producer/director, Billy May as music arranger and conductor, and Saul Bass as production designer. The cast included June Foray, Arte Johnson, Howard McNear, Mike Mazurki and, in an unbilled walk-on, Frank Sinatra. The production itself certainly should have had its own Emmy nomination in 1962 – maybe if it had and won, or had Freberg won for his writing, he might have done more clever specials like this rather than focus on commercials and voiceover work on TV thereafter.

Freberg: Beany and Cecil.

 

College Bowl – See General Electric College Bowl.

 

Color Me Barbra

CBS p.m., March 30, 1966

N: Musical Program (Joe Layton and Dwight Hemion, P); Directing, Variety or Music (Hemion); Art Direction (Tom John); Set Direction (Bill Harp); Lighting (Robert Barry)

The second one-woman special featuring Barbra Streisand in many set pieces, starting with her touring the Philadelphia Museum of Art and imagining herself as the woman in each painting, naturally leading to a song while looking like the character. Thanks in part to using almost the same personnel, this was sometimes a little too derivative of the previous effort, the black-and-white My Name is Barbra (q.v.), right down to Barbra singing on stairs on the right while the credits rolled on the left at the end. Still, it generated its own sufficiently unique brand of magic, particularly when she vocalized, danced and even swung on a trapeze on a circus set featuring a medley of 10 tunes performed amid such wild animals as penguins and an anteater. All the nominees were deserved ones, and it was nice that Barry’s contribution was not ignored the way it was with My Name is Barbra, but why no nod to Peter Matz for his superb orchestrations after winning a statuette for the same the previous year? This held the record for most nominations without a win for a special until “The Snow Goose” on Hallmark Hall of Fame (q.v.) in 1972.

 

Combat!

ABC Tuesdays 7:30-8:30 p.m., Oct. 2, 1962-Aug. 29, 1967

N: Lead Actor in a Series (Vic Morrow), 1963; Cinematography (Robert Hauser), 1963; Supporting Role by an Actor (Conlan Carter), 1964

An underrated 1960s dramatic series, Combat! offered a sober study of U.S Army soldiers slogging through France in World War II, alternating intense battles with thoughtful soul searching by the cast and guests. Lt. Gil Hanley (Rick Jason) and Sgt. Chip Saunders (Vic Morrow) led a platoon composed primarily of privates Paul Lemay (Pierre Jalbert), a Cajun nicknamed “Caje” who spoke French, towering Littlejohn (Dick Peabody), and William G. “Wildman” Kirby (Jack Hogan). Doc (Steven Rogers 1962-63, Conlan Carter 1963-67) treated their wounds. The Emmys unfairly ignored the great writing and directing (including the never-nominated Robert Altman), and the series itself was certainly better than, say, the 1966 drama nominee Bonanza. Combat! was the most successful war drama ever, peaking at #10 in the 1964-65 season. But when it aired in color in 1966-67, the shootouts reminded viewers of Vietnam War news footage, and the competing mild Daktari on CBS defeated it. ABC replaced it with the trendy Garrison’s Gorillas, featuring a quintet of convicts fighting Nazis under threat of death if they failed to stop them (shades of the hit movie The Dirty Dozen), but it ran just one year. There has never been a successful World War II drama series since then.

Hauser: Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

 

The Count of Monte Cristo

NBC p.m., Jan. 10, 1975

N: Lead Actor, Special (Richard Chamberlain); Supporting Actor, Special (Trevor Howard)

A presentation of the Bell System Family Theatre, this supple adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas classic was a production filmed in cooperation with Great Britain’s ITV network. A fine if somewhat fluffy diversion for viewers of all ages, it deserves note for having one of the first film roles for the underused (by Hollywood) talented actress Kate Nelligan. While there are no drawbacks in their performances, I have a sneaky suspicioun Chamberlain (as the title character) and Howard earned their selections for consideration due to the fact that they let themselves look scruffy and bedraggled for part of the film, and when you are at the peak of your good looks as Chamberlain is, well, some lesser minds might call that “stretching” your talent when it really is nothing of the sort. This was the first of four unsuccessful Emmy bids by Chamberlain and the third and last nomination for Howard, previously an Oscar Best Actor nominee for 1960’s Sons and Lovers, among other honors.

Chamberlain: Shogun, The Thorn Birds, Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story. Howard: Hallmark Hall of Fame.

 

The Courtship of Eddie’s Father

ABC Wednesdays 8-8:30 p.m.*, Sept. 17, 1969-June 14, 1972

N: Comedy Series, 1970; Lead Actor, Comedy (Bill Bixby), 1971

Upscale widower Tom Corbett (Bixby) and his adorable, obedient son Eddie (Brandon Cruz) often alternated in offering each other support on how to deal with the opposite sex.  Keeping them both in good health was their Japanese housekeeper, the meek and pleasant Mrs. Livingston (Miyoshi Umeki). A low-key, polished and rather unremarkable sitcom, although the three regulars had definite chemistry, and Nilsson’s theme song “Best Friend” sets the mood perfectly for the opening titles. This was the first of three Emmy nominations without wins for Bixby, and the only one for his work as a series lead, even though he starred in five other series.

Bixby: Rich Man Poor Man; The Streets of San Francisco.