F.B.I. through Funny Face
The F.B.I., Family Affair, Fantasy, The Farmer’s Daughter, Four Star Playhouse and arguably Father Knows Best seldom rank on anyone’s personal best list of greatest TV series, yet here they are, all nominated as Emmy productions at one time (and in the case of The F.B.I., it was the program’s only nomination). There are some deserving ones here, though – see Fear on Trial for one.
The F.B.I.
ABC Sundays 8-9 p.m.*, Sept. 19, 1965-Sept. 8, 1974
N: Dramatic Series (Charles Larson, P), 1969
Inspector Richard Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation pursued criminals in stories “inspired by F.B.I. cases, but incidents, locales, characters and their names are fictitious,” according to the credits. He always got his suspects with the help of another agent, who from 1967-73 was Tom Colby (William Reynolds). They reported to the bureau director’s assistant, Arthur Ward (Philip Abbott). One of the top 10 longest-lasting network TV crime series, The F.B.I. spent all but the first and last of its nine seasons in the top 30, peaking at #10 in 1970-71 and knocking off The Ed Sullivan Show. It’s hard to see how and why it did. Every part of it is passable at best. It comes off as a lesser Dragnet clone, only that the agents were so colorless, they made Joe Friday resemble a gigolo. Its nomination is testament to the poor selection of quality drama in 1969. Revelations after the 1972 death of F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover (who made executive producer Quinn Martin agree to his demands for script and casting approval for the series) that he had abused the agency’s powers to investigate and intimidate many innocent Americans damaged the series’ credibility, and it has been seen little since then.
F Troop
ABC Tuesdays 9-9:30 p.m.*, Sept. 14, 1965-Aug. 31, 1967
N: Lead Actor, Comedy (Larry Storch), 1967
At Ft. Courage in Kansas in 1866, conniving Sgt. Morgan O’Rourke (Forrest Tucker) and Cpl. Randolph Agarn (Storch) manipulated their hapless leader, Capt. Wilton Parmenter (Ken Berry), who was installed at the post thanks to a freak Civil War victory. The two ran moneymaking enterprises in conjunction with Chief Wild Eagle (Frank DeKova) of the Hekawi tribe (pronounced “hek-AH-wee,” as in “Where the heck are we?”) that typically got them and/or the troop in trouble. Parmenter often was in over his head but got matters straightened by the end nonetheless, and being the object of desire for beautiful but tough “Wrangler” Jane Angelica Thrift (Melody Patterson) did not hurt him either. This was the best remembered and arguably most amusing western sitcom, even though it ran just two years and the first season was in black and white. Others have run less than a year – e.g., Rango, Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats, Best of the West, Gun Shy, Zorro and Son and Dusty’s Trail (the latter also starred Tucker) – and this ended after being outrated by its NBC western competition Daniel Boone. Given the cancellation and Storch arguably being a supporting actor, his Emmy nomination was a shock. Though not unmerited, I fear it might have been due to the same reason many daytime actors later earned Emmy nominations, by portraying another character – Storch also played his Canadian cousin Lucky Pierre with a French accent in the second season opener.
Family Affair
CBS Mondays 9:30-10 p.m.*, Sept. 12, 1966-Sept. 9, 1971
N: Comedy Series (Edmund Hartmann, P), 1968, 1969; Lead Actor, Comedy (Brian Keith), 1967, 1968, 1969 and (Sebastian Cabot), 1968; Directing, Comedy (William Russell), 1967; Writing, Comedy (Hartmann, “Buffy”), 1967
The sappiest best sitcom Emmy nominee ever, Family Affair took Manhattan bachelor Bill Davis (Keith), living in an apartment with his butler, Mr. Giles French (Cabot), and weighed them down when Bill’s late brother and sister-in-law died and made him guardian of his teenage niece Cissy (Kathy Garver) and preadolescent fraternal twins Buffy (Anissa Jones) and Jody (Johnnie Whitaker). Grudgingly, the adults made room for the too-precious kids – Jody in early shows lisped “Uncle Bee-you,” Buffy carried her homely yellow-haired doll Mrs. Beasley everywhere, and Cissy was squarer than Julie Nixon Eisenhower. The plots were icky seriocomic setups designed to have everyone hugging at the end, which made it surprising when the WB network revived the property in 2002 (and not so surprising when it ended after six months). Casting the vinegary Keith as head of household did give it a little oomph – he gave some curmudgeonly delivery of his lines in spite of the gooey circumstances. Its eight nominations probably were due to its ratings, as it was a top five hit for three years until The Flip Wilson Show beat it in 1970-71. Time was not kind to most of the cast – Cabot and Jones died within six years after the series ended (Cabot from a stroke at 59, Jones from a drug overdose at just 18), and Keith committed suicide at 75 in 1997 after learning he had cancer.
Russell: The Farmer’s Daughter, You Are There.
A Family Upside Down
NBC p.m., April 9, 1978
W: Actor – Drama or Comedy Special (Fred Astaire)
N: Actress – Drama or Comedy Special (Helen Hayes); Supporting Actor – Comedy or Drama Special (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.); Supporting Actress – Drama or Comedy Special (Patty Duke); Cinematography, Special (Joseph Biroc)
Retiree Ted Long (Astaire) has a heart attack that forces him and his wife Emma (Hayes) to be cared by their adult sons and daughter and leads to them separating for a time. A glossy tale from producers Ross Hunter and Jacque Mapes whose sentimentality extended to its main cast’s effect on Academy voters – it consisted of veterans who could have been nominated 20 years earlier, which was actually the case for Astaire, Hayes and Zimbalist (see An Evening With Fred Astaire, The U.S. Steel Hour and 77 Sunset Strip for proof of that). Biroc was a double nominee in 1978, getting a second nomination in the cinematography for a series category with Washington: Behind Closed Doors.
Fantasy
NBC Weekdays 3-4 p.m., Sept. 13, 1982-Oct. 28, 1983
W: Host or Hostess – Variety Series (Leslie Uggams), 1983
N: Variety Series (Merrill Heatter, EP; E.V. DiMassa, Jr., P), 1983; Host or Hostess – Variety Series (Peter Marshall), 1983
Fantasy fulfilled the dreams, mostly financial ones, of its studio audience and viewers at home by surprising them with presents. A rather sad example of the desperate competition NBC offered in the early 1980s against General Hospital on ABC and Guiding Light on CBS – it replaced reruns of CHiPs, if you can believe that – this pap made one pine for the more enjoyable days in daytime a few years earlier when Peter Marshall hosted and Merrill Heatter co-produced The Hollywood Squares and Leslie Uggams was a frequent guest on it. Uggams won her Emmy the same year Betty White became the first female to win an Emmy hosting a game show for Just Men!
Uggams: Roots. Marshall: Hollywood Squares. Heatter: Hollywood Squares. DiMassa: The Mike Douglas Show.
The Farmer’s Daughter
ABC Fridays 9:30-10 p.m.*, Sept. 20, 1963-Sept. 2, 1966
N: Comedy Program, 1963; Lead Actress, Series (Inger Stevens), 1963; Writing, Comedy or Variety (Steven Gethers, Jerry Davis, Lee Loeb, John McGreevey), 1963; Comedy Direction (Paul Nickell, William Russell, Don Taylor), 1963
Katrin “Katy” Holstrum (Stevens), a native Minnesotan of Swedish decent, served as governess at the Washington, D.C. residence of widower Congressman Glen Morley (William Windom) and won him over as well as his sons Steve (Mickey Sholdar) and Danny (Rory O’Brien) and his mother Agatha (Cathleen Nesbitt) to the point where Katy and Glen married on Nov. 5, 1965. The kind of comedy that is too smooth to dismiss easily yet too ordinary to praise much – a status shared by two of its competitors for top comedy series in 1963, The Bill Dana Show and McHale’s Navy. (The winner, The Dick Van Dyke Show, had no such deficiency.) Nesbitt had a nothing role, and the boys made the comedy cloying. Windom and Stevens did have chemistry though, and their ease in both comedy and drama made them suitable substitutes for Joseph Cotten and Loretta Young in the 1947 movie that inspired the series. The multiple nominees for direction was the first and thankfully only time that occurred for a comedy series, and it was unfair of the Academy to have such a situation exist in competition with other solo nominees.
Stevens: Dick Powell Show. Davis: Bewitched, The Odd Couple. Gethers: A Circle of Children. McGreevey: Judge Scotsboro, The Waltons. Russell: Family Affair, You Are There.
Fast Guns – See Stories of the Century
Father Knows Best
NBC Wednesdays 8:30-9 p.m.* (also CBS), Oct. 3, 1954-Sept. , 1960
W: Lead Actor, Comedy (Robert Young), 1956, 1957; Actress, Comedy (Jane Wyatt), 1957, 1959; Actress, Series Lead or Support (Wyatt), 1960; Direction, Comedy (Peter Tewksbury, “Medal for Margaret”), 1959
N: Series, Half Hour or Less, 1956, 1957; Comedy, 1959, 1960; Actor, Continuing Performance (Young), 1955; Lead Actor, Comedy (Young), 1959; Editing (Richard Fantl, “Betty’s Birthday”), 1956; Direction, Half Hour or Less (Tewksbury), 1957; Writing, Comedy (Roswell Rogers, Paul West), 1957, (Rogers, “Medal for Margaret”), 1959, and (Dorothy Cooper, Rogers), 1960; Teleplay Writing, Half Hour or Less (Rogers, “Margaret Hires a Gardner”), 1957; Supporting Actor, Comedy (Billy Gray), 1959; Supporting Actress, Comedy (Elinor Donahue), 1959
Insurance agent Jim Anderson (Young), usually joined by his wife, homemaker Margaret (Wyatt), offered gentle guidance and advice to his three children with nicknames – Betty, a/k/a “Princess” (Donahue), James Jr. a/k/a “Bud” (Gray) and Kathy a/k/a “Kitten” (Lauren Chapin) – in the town of Springfield (no state given, but it was implied to be in the Midwest). No other 1950s sitcom divides conservative and liberal TV viewers like this one. The former think it is a wholesome, loving, shining endorsement of the nuclear family. The latter deride it as an utterly unrealistic portrait of the same, with the children making nice with the adults and having virtually no complaint with each other at the end of every episode. Bolstering the latter argument are the real-life difficulties most of the cast faced that were not so easily resolved – Young’s alcoholism, Gray’s jail term for illicit drug use, Chapin’s exploitation by her stage parents. There is no argument that its leads were the first actor and actress to win consecutive Emmys in their categories, and that Young and Wyatt did an engaging job in their portrayals. The same cannot be said of the overall comedy, though, with jokes leading toward the cornball variety. The show ended at the peak of its popularity at #6 in 1959-60 after six seasons (not counting the 1949-53 NBC radio version, with Young the only TV member on it), because Young wanted to do other work. It remained in reruns on CBS and then ABC until 1967 and had a reunion special in 1977 that even coaxed Gray, a frequent critic of the series that made him a child star, into appearing. See also Marcus Welby, M.D.
Young: Marcus Welby, M.D. Tewksbury: My Three Sons. Fantl: Alcoa-Goodyear Theatre.
Fear on Trial
CBS p.m., Oct. 2, 1975
W: Writing, Adaptation, Drama or Comedy Special (David W. Rintels)
N: Special – Drama or Comedy (Alan Landsburg and Larry Savadove, EP; Stanley Chase, P); Lead Actor, Drama or Comedy Special (William Devane); Supporting Actress, Drama or Comedy Special (Lois Nettleton); Directing, Drama or Comedy Special (Lamont Johnson)
Humorist John Henry Faulk (Devane), employing attorney Louis Nizer (George C. Scott), successfully sued Aware, Inc. for libel in 1962, charging that the radical right-wing group pressured sponsors of his CBS radio show to drop him by falsely claiming he supported Communism. His $3.5 million decision (later reduced to $550,000) helped kill the long scourge of blacklisting, though Faulk’s broadcasting career never recovered to its former prominence. Based on Faulk’s memoirs of the same name, Fear on Trial included actors who faced had faced blacklisting (e.g., William Redfield) as well as TV producer impresarios David Susskind and Mark Goodson playing themselves. Some faulted the TV-movie for not implicating CBS for buckling under Aware in Faulk’s firing, but those in the know expect that sort of thing when a network deals with its lesser moments. Devane really was not reminiscent of Faulk but brought a strong presence to his part, while Nettleton played Nan Claybourne, a fictional proxy for actress Kim Hunter, who refused permission to have herself portrayed even though her testimony aided Faulk’s case considerably in real life. This was Rintels’ second consecutive win in his category following IBM Presents Clarence Darrow. Producers Landsburg and Savadove previously earned Emmy nominations for documentaries in the 1960s, although Landsburg won an Emmy for Hallmark Hall of Fame prior to this nomination.
Rintels: The Senator, IBM Presents Clarence Darrow. Landsburg: Bill, Hallmark Hall of Fame. Devane: ABC Theatre. Nettleton: ABC Afternoon Playbreak, The American Woman, Golden Girls. Johnson: Many
Fireside Theater
NBC Tuesdays 9-9:30 p.m.*, April 5, 1949-May 22, 1958
N: Film Made for Television (“Time Bomb”) and (“Vain Glory”), 1949
The top dramatic anthology of the early 1950s (it was #2 in 1950-51, since it aired after the #1 show, Milton Berle’s Texaco Star Theater), this was a rather unremarkable production of romances, comedies and dramas obviously shot on indoor soundstages. The nominees came when the series ran two 15-minute episodes per show (counting commercials). The producer and director at that time, Frank Wisbar, became the onscreen host and commercial announcer in 1952-53, followed by Gene Raymond from 1953-55 and then Jane Wyman from 1955-58 (the show was retitled in her honor). Despite its ratings success and long run, episodes of the series are hard to find even among diehard TV collectors, but judging from what is available, chances are it is no great loss for pop culture history. Note: While most references list the title as “Theatre,” it definitely had the “er” ending at least when Raymond hosted it.
The First Churchills
PBS Sunday 9-10 p.m., Jan. 10, 1971-March 27, 1971
W: Lead Actress, Drama Series (Susan Hampshire)
N: Drama Series (Christopher Sarson, Peter Wilson, P)
The first miniseries shown in America as part of Masterpiece Theater, The First Churchills told of the lives and love of the first Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, John Churchill (John Neville) and his wife Sarah (Hampshire) from the 1670s through the 1720s. It set the template for most future miniseries on Masterpiece Theater, namely period dramas set and produced in the United Kingdom. It is a little too stodgy and choppy for my tastes, though it is lovingly presented. The oversights in no nominations for Joan Ellacott’s lavish costumes nor Spencer Chapman’s stunning production design were embarrassments for the Academy. The 12 episodes first aired on the BBC in late 1969 and included portrayals of virtually all the key English royalty of the era. Hampshire’s win was her second in the same category following her win the previous year for The Forsyte Saga, and she would claim another statuette in 1973 for Vanity Fair.
Hampshire: The Forsyte Saga, Vanity Fair. Sarson: Elizabeth R, Zoom. Wilson: The Forsyte Saga, Anna Karenina.
The Flying Nun
ABC Thursdays 8-8:30 p.m.*, Sept. 7, 1967-Sept. 18, 1970
N: Supporting Actress in a Comedy (Marge Redmond), 1968
When viewers protested ABC’s cancellation of Gidget in 1966, the network offered another chance to its star, Sally Field, and production company, Screen Gems. The result was this preposterous concoction. Sister Bertrille (Field) was a novice at Convent San Tanco in Puerto Rico who soared in the air once a gust came along, thanks to her aerodynamic cornet and what might best be called “TV physics.” That activity, as well as her well-meaning yet impetuous nature in addressing events at the church and the community, amused Sister Jacqueline (Marge Redmond) but exasperated their Mother Superior (Madeline Sherwood). Critics were frustrated too, and so were audiences by its third season, when it crash landed opposite The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS and The Virginian on NBC. The series does deserve credit for using a supporting cast composed largely of Hispanics, a rarity at the time, but otherwise this series was deservedly an industry joke. Much has been made about how this series hampered Field’s career, but in fact virtually everyone connected to The Flying Nun found themselves harmed by the association, including its sole Emmy nominee, who never received another regular series role and had to content herself largely by doing Cool Whip commercials.
Ford Startime
NBC Tuesdays 8:30-9:30 p.m.*, Oct. 6, 1959-May 31, 1960
W: Single Performance, Actress (Ingrid Bergman, “The Turn of the Screw”)
N: Achievement, Drama (“The Turn of the Screw”); Single Performance, Actor (Alec Guinness, “The Wicked Scheme of Jebal Deeks”); Directing, Drama (John Frankenheimer, “The Turn of the Screw”); Writing, Drama (James Costigan, “The Turn of the Screw”); Electronic Camerawork (“The Turn of the Screw”)
Inaccurately subtitled as “TV’s Finest Hour,” this odd mélange of dramatic and variety presentations produced iffy results, offering everything from the U.S. dramatic TV debuts of Bergman, Guinness and even Jerry Lewis (poorly starring in a version of “The Jazz Singer”) to musical comedies with everyone from Bert Lahr to Jimmy Stewart. Its most honored production, “The Turn of the Screw,” based on the Henry James story of the same name, served as basis for the 1961 British film The Innocents, with Deborah Kerr in Bergman’s part. But viewers favored the more consistent The Red Skelton Show competing against Ford Startime Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. and then The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp when it moved back an hour in midseason. Bergman won her first of two Emmys here and earned one more nomination, all of which came close to nearly honoring each of her rare American TV roles. That could be said about Guinness too, who besides one more Emmy nomination also netted an Oscar (The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957), a Tony (Dylan, 1964) and two Grammy nominations. On alternate weeks the show’s title was Lincoln Mercury Startime to promote those models from Ford.
Bergman: 24 Hours in a Woman’s Life, A Woman Called Golda. Guinness: Smiley’s People. Frankenheimer: Climax, Playhouse 90. Costigan: Hallmark Hall of Fame, Love Among the Ruins, Eleanor and Franklin, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years.
Foreign Intrigue
Syndicated Weekly 30 minutes, 1951-1955
N: Mystery, Action or Adventure Program, 1952, 1953; Mystery or Intrigue Series, 1954
A rather ho-hum spy series when viewed today, Foreign Intrigue owed most of its fair appeal to being shot on location in Europe as it detailed dated Cold War operations overseas and the efforts of American reporters Robert Cannon (Jerome Thor) and Helen Davis (Synda Scott) to thwart the Commies in their tracks. Thor and Scott, married in real life, appeared only from 1951-53; succeeding them as new reporters were James Daly as Michael Powers and Anne Preville as Patricia Bennett from 1953-54, then Gerald Mohr as an American-born Viennese hotel proprietor in its last season. No matter who was doing what, the series lost three years in a row to Dragnet. Apparently it was an oversight, but the academy’s records list the series as being on NBC in 1953 and 1954, even though it was not. (NBC did distribute the series.)
Four Star Playhouse
CBS Thursdays 8:30-9 p.m.*, Sept. 25, 1952-Sept. 27, 1956
N: Dramatic Series, 1954; Actor, Single Performance (David Niven, “The Answer”), 1954; Actor, Continuing Performance, Dramatic Series (Niven), 1956 and (Charles Boyer), 1956; Actress, Continuing Performance, Dramatic Series (Ida Lupino), 1956; Direction (Roy Kellino, “The Answer”), 1954; Written Dramatic Material (Leonard Freeman, “The Answer”), 1954; Film Editing (Samuel E. Beetley, “The Answer”), 1954, (Beetley, “The Collar”), 1955 and (Beetley, “Tunnel of Fear”), 1956; Cinematography (George E. Diskant, “The Collar”), 1955 and (Diskant, “Tunnel of Fear”), 1956; Art Direction, Film Series (Duncan Cramer), 1954 and 1955
The titular four stars were David Niven, Dick Powell, Charles Boyer and Ida Lupino, in order of how they were introduced at the start of each show. Each alternated in introducing as well as starring in each week’s production. This filmed anthology was really an unspectacular affair that did more to line the pockets of Niven, Powell and Boyer, who all founded the show’s production company and became rich as Four Star Productions created a few other shows later, such as Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater. (Lupino did direct episodes of the series, however.) Based largely on the stars’ popularity among Emmy voters in Hollywood, the series wound up with 14 nominations but no wins. After running four years without being a ratings hit, CBS replaced it with Playhouse 90. Its official title was Singer Four Star Playhouse in honor of its sponsor. Niven and Boyer, neither of whom earned an Emmy nod after this show, worked together later on another Emmy-nominated series, The Rogues.
Lupino: Mr. Adams and Eve. Freeman: Hawaii Five-O, Mr. Novak. Beetley: The Blue Knight, Goodyear Theatre, M*A*S*H, Medical Story. Diskant: Goodyear Theatre.
Francis Albert Sinatra Does His Thing
CBS p.m., Nov. 25, 1968
N: Variety or Musical Program (Frank Sinatra, star; Saul Ilson, Ernest Chambers, P)
Frankie attempts to go mod in this actually rather enjoyable outing. While Diahann Carroll adds little excitement, Sinatra’s other guests the Fifth Dimension do a great job with their hit “Stoned Soul Picnic,” and Frank even dresses up in their shiny blue outfit to sing “Sweet Blindness” with them as well. Couple that with solid backing from Don Costa and his orchestra, a swell job on one of Sinatra’s later hits, “Cycles,” and even Frank in a Nehru jacket at one point (!), and this amounted to a very good hour of music. It is rather surprising given its fine quality that this show was only the taped dress rehearsal - Frank learned before the final performance that his divorce from Mia Farrow was finalized (this was on Aug. 16, 1968), and his heart was not into performing another take. This was the fourth of five annual musical specials with Sinatra to be nominated for Best Variety or Musical Program, after A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim. For the final one, see Sinatra.
Sinatra: Magnovox Presents Frank Sinatra, Sinatra. Ilson: The Danny Kaye Show, The Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff Special, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Chambers: The Bob Newhart Show (1962), The Danny Kaye Show, The Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff Special, Love Sidney, The Second Barry Manilow Special, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music
NBC Wednesday p.m., Nov. 24, 1965
W: Musical Program (Dwight Hemion, P); Lighting (Lon Stucky)
N: Directing, Variety or Music (Hemion); Conducting (Gordon Jenkins, Nelson Riddle)
After some 15 years on TV often coming across alternately as brusque or bored, the Chairman of the Board finally got his act together and mostly just sang in top form his hits. A tastefully done presentation, although rather sedate by Sinatra standards. It is missing some creative touches that made his following special (see next entry) more vibrant. This special probably was helped by the fact that Sinatra’s biggest hit, “Strangers in the Night,” was released during the Emmy voting period, albeit not part of the show.
Hemion: Many. Stucky: Armstrong Circle Theater, Dean Martin Presents Music Country, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music II, IBM Presents Clarence Darrow, Mitzi and a Hundred Guys. Jenkins: Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music Part II, Shower of Stars. Riddle: Riddle: Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music Part II, The Frank Sinatra Show, Max Liebman Presents, Producers’ Showcase, The Rosemary Clooney Show.
Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music Part II
CBS Wednesday p.m., Dec. 7, 1966
W: Audio (Bill Cole)
N: Musical Program (Dwight Hemion, P); Directing, Music or Variety (Hemion); Conducting and Arranging (Gordon Jenkins, Nelson Riddle); Lighting (Lon Stucky); Technical Direction (Joseph Strauss); Special Classification (Sheldon Keller, Glenn Wheaton, writers)
Despite only one win, this sequel was superior to the original thanks to Sinatra being more effervescent, probably due to the more varied settings he encountered, such as feeding off the orchestra’s energy while doing “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World” as if it was a recording session. Frank was joined by his daughter Nancy, and they do a duet on “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby” (their hit “Somethin’ Stupid” occurred in 1967). Frank’s next special was A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim.
Cole: Ain’t Misbehavin’, Bing Crosby and His Friends, The Fred Astaire Show, The Switched-On Symphony, TCB. Hemion: Many. Jenkins: Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, Shower of Stars. Riddle: Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, The Frank Sinatra Show, Max Liebman Presents, Producers’ Showcase, The Rosemary Clooney Show. Stucky: Armstrong Circle Theater, Dean Martin Presents Music Country, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, IBM Presents Clarence Darrow, Mitzi and a Hundred Guys. Keller: Caesar’s Hour, The Danny Kaye Show, An Evening With Carol Channing.
The Frank Sinatra Show
ABC Fridays 9-9:30 p.m., Oct. 18, 1957-June 27, 1958
N: Musical Contribution for Television (Nelson Riddle, for arranging and conducting)
There were two Frank Sinatra Shows in the 1950s. The first was when Ol’ Blue Eyes was in a creative slump, and his CBS show ran for two unproductive years (1950-52). This was when he was back on top and looked on TV as a side gig to make more moolah, so he got a big deal with ABC to do a series alternating between dramatic episodes and variety performances, with Frank in varying degrees of involvement. By all accounts he simply walked through the job, and it shows – even his best efforts, such as his Christmas show with Bing Crosby, have a few flubs by him that could have and should have been corrected if he had cared more about what he was doing. The audience noticed that and tuned to the competing M Squad on NBC instead. If Frank had been as strong and focused as Riddle’s orchestrations were here, he could have really been a TV star.
Riddle: Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music Part II, Max Liebman Presents, Producers’ Showcase, The Rosemary Clooney Show.
Frankenstein
TNT 1994
N: Hairstyling, Miniseries or Special (Patricia Cameron)
See also ABC Wide World of Entertainment.
The Fred Waring Show
CBS Sundays 9-10 p.m.*, April 17, 1949-May 30, 1954
N: Variety Show, 1951
Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, a huge amalgamation of musicians and singers, swarmed over a New York studio to present live lots of instrumental and vocal solos, production numbers with dancing and a sketch or two, broken up briefly by introductions and comments by host/conductor Waring. An elaborate production with melodic music tastefully presented, sort of like a less artificial The Lawrence Welk Show. Some members later had success of their own, such as singer Hugh “Lumpy” Brannon, who became Mr. Green Jeans on Captain Kangaroo, and arranger Harry Simeone, whose 1958 recording of “The Little Drummer Boy” with his chorale has become a yuletide radio airplay perennial. Waring made a relaxed transition to TV after having started his show on radio in 1932 and forming the band in 1917, and he kept performing until his death in 1984. The show shrank to 30 minutes on Jan. 13, 1952 (it lost its second half hour to the game show Break the Bank), and though it continued to finish second to Philco Television Playhouse, sponsor General Electric kept airing it alternate weeks in 1953-54 before letting The General Electric Theater assume the slot full time.
Fred Astaire’s Premiere Theatre - See Alcoa Premiere
Freebie and the Bean
CBS Saturdays 9-10 p.m., Dec. 6, 1980-Jan. 17, 1981
N: Graphic Design and Title Sequences (Gene Kraft, “Health Nuts”)
Why CBS made an hour sitcom adaptation of a 1974 R-rated film with no original cast members is as much a mystery as how it was one of only two nominees for graphic design in 1980-81. It lost to Shogun. For those who care, the winning episode aired Dec. 13, 1980, and Freebie was Tom Mason and the Bean was Hector Elizondo, who mercifully survived this potential career-killer.
Kraft: Salem’s Lot.
Friends
NBC Thursdays 8-8:30 p.m., 199 -200
Its depiction of New York City is at best a fantasy and at worst a gross deception – the city seemed remarkably free of bustle and full of well-off Caucasians. And how did Joey manage to act on Days of Our Lives when it was taped in Hollywood?
Frontier
NBC Sundays 7:30-8 p.m., Sept. 25, 1955-Sept. 9, 1956
N: Teleplay Writing – Half Hour or Less (Morton Fine, David Friedkin, “Patrol”)
Claiming to be based on materials from diaries and official records, this rather grim western anthology was a film production of Worthington Miner, previously producer of the live Studio One. Since it noted that some names and places had been changed, it apparently was sold to NBC as being the cowboy equivalent of Dragnet. The problem was that it strived for realism so much about the hardships of heading west, including deaths, that it forgot about being entertaining and came off as a depressing Death Valley Days instead. It easily lost in the ratings to the alternating Jack Benny Program and Private Secretary opposite it on CBS. Fine and Friedkin created the series as well as occasionally wrote for it, and they later produced the much better I Spy.
Fine: I Spy. Friedkin: I Spy, Kojak.
Funny Face
CBS Saturdays 8:30-9 p.m., Sept. 18, 1971-Dec. 11, 1971
N: Actress, Comedy (Sandy Duncan)
Leaving her native Taylorsville, Illinois (pop. 10,425), aspiring actress Sandy Stockton (Duncan) ventured to Hollywood and encountered comic misadventures with her pal Alice McRaven (Valorie Armstrong), who lived with Sandy in the same apartment building run by Pat Harwell (Henry Beckman) and his wife Kate (Kathleen Freeman). It’s That Girl gone west, with the same principal director, Hal Cooper, but Funny Face sported hackneyed proceedings and Duncan’s shrill delivery. Even CBS programming head Fred Silverman, who enlisted Duncan from Broadway to do this series, admitted it was lousy. So why the nomination? Well, despite its drawbacks, Funny Face retained most viewers watching the show before it, All in the Family, and was a top 10 hit when doctors found Duncan had a tumor behind her left eye that needed removal. The operation was a success, but the recuperation she needed forced the series to end. (Duncan lost vision in the eye but was fine otherwise.) Sympathy for her plight put her up against the more qualified Mary Tyler Moore for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and winner Jean Stapleton for All in the Family. Duncan returned in 1972 with The Sandy Duncan Show, whose opening montage of her childhood pictures was similar to that as Funny Face and shared the same theme song (with Jack Jones’ vocal replaced by a mixed vocal group, however); otherwise, it had a new cast and slightly different angle. The changes didn’t matter – it flopped.
Duncan: Roots.