One-Season Wonders from TV's 1966-67 season
Posted: 26 Mar 2025 23:18 pm
I just discovered, quite by accident, this amazing documentary on YouTube TV, which traces the sad fate of dozens of network TV series that ran, in most cases, for 26 weeks, didn't appear among the Top 70 series in the Nielsens, and were never seen again. YouTube TV has similar docs about several other nostalgic baby boomer TV seasons programmed only by ABC, CBS, and NBC.
Befitting almost every TV series of that era, each episode opened with a 30-60 second intro of the show's stars and plot/overall theme. Several of them were summer replacement series that ran only 13 weeks. However, compare that to recent years, where heavily-promoted network series like CBS's "South of Sunset", a detective series starring Glenn Frey, was whacked after ONE episode due to low overnight ratings.
Tim Conway, who had more than his share of failed series, once suggested that to end the Vietnam War quickly, then-President LBJ (no, not LeBron James) should send him to Vietnam, guaranteeing the war would be cancelled in 13 weeks.
This was the first season that all of the Big 3 networks committed fully to color TV, even if relatively few American homes had them......but those that did were usually more affluent and far more attractive to series sponsors. This was an era when TV Guide's annual Fall Preview Issue in early September was a must-read, with complete scouting reports on every nre series debuting the next week.
This doc is broken down into each day of the week's one-season series, with the opening scenes and stars, then a coda showing which more successful series they were scheduled against, assuring their defeat.
It's all shown as if appearing live on a Sony Trinitron color TV from that era. Some of the series intros include their sponsors,...like Lark and Salem cigarettes, or Scope mouthwash.
So many series from that 1966-67 season, remembered only by their small coterie of devoted fans; here are just a few:
"It's About Time" (admit it, you can still sing the jingle);
"Love On a Rooftop", (starring Judy Carne and Peter Deuel);
"Occasional Wife" (Michael Callan, Patricia Harty);
"Hawk" (Burt Reynolds);
"The Rounders" (Chill Wills);
"Rango" (Tim Conway);
"The Green Hornet" (Van Wiiliams, Bruce Lee, and produced/announced by William Dozier of "Batman");
"The Tammy Grimes Show"; (produced by William Dozier from "Batman");
"Time Tunnel"; (James Darren);
"The Girl From U.N.C.L.E." (Stephanie Powers);
"The Hero" (Richard Mulligan, Mariette Hartley);
"T.H.E. Cat" (Robert Loggia);
"Captain Nice" (William Daniels);
"Mr. Terrific";
"Hey Landlord!" (Will Hutchins);
"The Road West" (Barry Sulivan, Glenn Corbett);
"The Pruitts of Southhampton/"The Phyllis Diller Show"; (writers included Lorne Michaels);
"The Monroes" (Michael Anderson Jr., Barbara Hershey)
"Pistols 'n Petticoats" (Ann Sheridan, Ruth McDevitt)
"Shane" (David Carradine, Jill Ireland).......and.....
"Away We Go" (George Carlin
, Buddy Rich, and Buddy Greco)
And so many more!
Befitting almost every TV series of that era, each episode opened with a 30-60 second intro of the show's stars and plot/overall theme. Several of them were summer replacement series that ran only 13 weeks. However, compare that to recent years, where heavily-promoted network series like CBS's "South of Sunset", a detective series starring Glenn Frey, was whacked after ONE episode due to low overnight ratings.
Tim Conway, who had more than his share of failed series, once suggested that to end the Vietnam War quickly, then-President LBJ (no, not LeBron James) should send him to Vietnam, guaranteeing the war would be cancelled in 13 weeks.
This was the first season that all of the Big 3 networks committed fully to color TV, even if relatively few American homes had them......but those that did were usually more affluent and far more attractive to series sponsors. This was an era when TV Guide's annual Fall Preview Issue in early September was a must-read, with complete scouting reports on every nre series debuting the next week.
This doc is broken down into each day of the week's one-season series, with the opening scenes and stars, then a coda showing which more successful series they were scheduled against, assuring their defeat.
It's all shown as if appearing live on a Sony Trinitron color TV from that era. Some of the series intros include their sponsors,...like Lark and Salem cigarettes, or Scope mouthwash.
So many series from that 1966-67 season, remembered only by their small coterie of devoted fans; here are just a few:
"It's About Time" (admit it, you can still sing the jingle);
"Love On a Rooftop", (starring Judy Carne and Peter Deuel);
"Occasional Wife" (Michael Callan, Patricia Harty);
"Hawk" (Burt Reynolds);
"The Rounders" (Chill Wills);
"Rango" (Tim Conway);
"The Green Hornet" (Van Wiiliams, Bruce Lee, and produced/announced by William Dozier of "Batman");
"The Tammy Grimes Show"; (produced by William Dozier from "Batman");
"Time Tunnel"; (James Darren);
"The Girl From U.N.C.L.E." (Stephanie Powers);
"The Hero" (Richard Mulligan, Mariette Hartley);
"T.H.E. Cat" (Robert Loggia);
"Captain Nice" (William Daniels);
"Mr. Terrific";
"Hey Landlord!" (Will Hutchins);
"The Road West" (Barry Sulivan, Glenn Corbett);
"The Pruitts of Southhampton/"The Phyllis Diller Show"; (writers included Lorne Michaels);
"The Monroes" (Michael Anderson Jr., Barbara Hershey)
"Pistols 'n Petticoats" (Ann Sheridan, Ruth McDevitt)
"Shane" (David Carradine, Jill Ireland).......and.....
"Away We Go" (George Carlin
, Buddy Rich, and Buddy Greco)And so many more!