Alias Smith and Jones is a Western television series on ABC between 1971 to 1973. It starred Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Kid Curry, a pair of Western outlaws trying to reform.
When Duel died suddenly on December 31, 1971 (reportedly of a self-inflicted gunshot), an attempt was made to continue the series with another actor, Roger Davis, in the role of Heyes. The series continued for another seventeen episodes, but never regained its popularity after the loss of Duel. Davis first voiced the intro theme, which explained the storyline. When he was hired to play Heyes/Smith, Ralph Story assumed the intro narration. In the final season the intro referred to Heyes and Curry as "Kansas cousins". Two episodes that season also made reference to them as cousins.
Inspiration Alias Smith and Jones began with a made for TV movie of the previous year called The Young Country, about con artists in the Old West. It was produced, written and directed by Roy Huggins, who served as executive producer of AS&J and, under the pseudonym of John Thomas James, at least shared the writing credit on most episodes. Roger Davis starred as Stephen Foster Moody, and Pete Duel had the secondary but significant role of Honest John Smith, while Joan Hackett played a character called Clementine Hale, the same name as a part played on two AS&J episodes by Sally Field. This pilot was rejected, but Huggins was given a second chance and, joined by Glen A. Larson, developed Alias Smith and Jones.
It was made in the same spirit as many other American TV series, from The Fugitive to Renegade, about men on the run crisscrossing America and getting involved in the personal lives of the people they meet. One major difference was that Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry were guilty of the crimes that they were accused of committing, but were trying to turn a new leaf.
The series was inspired by the success of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman. There were a number of connecting themes: one of the heroes was named Kid Curry which was also the nickname of Harvey Logan, an associate of the real Butch Cassidy (unlike the TV version however, the real Kid Curry was a cold-blooded killer).
The series also featured a group of outlaws called the Devil's Hole Gang which was based on the Hole in the Wall Gang from where Cassidy recruited most of his outlaws.
However, in order to give them an element of sympathy, Heyes and Curry were presented as men who avoided bloodshed (though Curry did once kill in self-defence) and trying to reform.
Premise Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry are the two most successful outlaws in the history of the west. However, the west is starting to catch up with the modern world: safes are becoming harder to crack, trains more difficult to stop, and posses more skilled at tracking them down.
Heyes, the leader of the Devil's Hole Gang, operating primarily in Wyoming Territory, falls out with the other members, and he and Curry decide to "get out of this business". Since they have never killed anyone, they qualify for pardons. Through an old acquaintance, Sheriff Lom Trevors (James Drury in the pilot, variably by Mike Road and John Russell in the series, due to the sporadic nature of the character's appearances), they manage to contact the territorial governor. He agrees to grant them amnesty, but cannot do so openly without angering the public. He therefore makes a deal with them: if they can stay out of trouble for a considerable but unspecified period of time ("until the governor feels we deserve it") and not tell anyone about their arrangement, they will be cleared of all charges. Until then, they will still be wanted ("That's a good deal?").
However, the straight and narrow path is not easily traveled. Heyes and Curry (now calling themselves Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones) often find themselves tangling with lawmen, bounty hunters and operatives of the Bannerman Detective Agency (a satire of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency), not to mention other outlaws. To get out of these sticky situations, they must rely on Heyes' silver tongue, Curry's fast draw, and occasionally a little help from their friends from both sides of the law.
Characters Heyes was deemed "cunning", and Curry was "gunning". Heyes/Smith was considered the brains of the duo, and a card shark. Curry/Jones was the master gun hand, and the brawn. Usually, Heyes figured out ways to make money and save the twosome from precarious situations.
Recurring characters include:
Kyle Murtry (Dennis Fimple) and Wheat Carlson (Earl Holliman), members of the Devil's Hole Gang, formerly led by Heyes and Curry; Harry Briscoe (J.D. Cannon), a Bannerman detective who occasionally finds himself on the wrong side of the law; Patrick "Big Mac" McCreedy (Burl Ives) and Señor Armendariz (Cesar Romero), two ranchers on opposite sides of the US-Mexico border/Rio Grande waging a feud over a valuable bust which represents land that had been owned by Armendariz until the river temporarily switched course, moving the border with it, allowing MacCreedy to sell the acreage. Heyes and Curry get stuck in the middle; Clementine "Clem" Hale (Sally Field), an old friend who has no problem with blackmailing the reformed outlaws when necessary. After Duel's death, Field declined to return to the program, and several scripts intended for her were rewritten and played by Michele Lee, as Georgette "George" Sinclair. In the third season, she did play Clem one last time; Soapy Saunders (Sam Jaffe) and Silky O'Sullivan (Walter Brennan), both retired confidence men that the boys call on when in need of a large sum of cash and a good con to get them out of trouble.
Production notes Filming was not halted immediately following the news of Pete Duel's death. Instead, the crew was ordered to film around his role until a decision was made as to the future of the series.
Memorable quotes Narrator: " Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry: the two most successful outlaws in the history of the West. And in all the trains and banks they robbed they never shot anyone. This made our two latter-day Robin Hoods very popular with everyone but the railroads and the banks" (when Davis advanced to a leading role and the narration was rerecorded by another actor, "Robin Hoods" became "Kansas cousins"). Narrator (from the pilot): "Into the west came many men. Some were good men and some were bad men. Some were good men that had some bad in them, and some were bad men that had some good in them. This is the story of two pretty good bad men." Kid Curry (from the main opening sequence in every episode): "There's one thing we got to get Heyes"; Heyes: "What's that ?"; Kid Curry: "Outta this business!" Wheat Carlson: "If it don't involve dynamite, it ain't gonna work." Hannibal Heyes: "You know ever since you became a dancer you've been some prima donna!" Kyle Murtry: "That's the dirtiest trick I've ever heard of... but I like it." Harry Briscoe: "Remember! A Bannerman man never forgets!" Kid Curry: "I'd say 'tender' but then you'd feel called upon to say something clever and I'd have to kill ya." Sister Julia: "By any chance are you two gentlemen Catholics?" Kid Curry: "No, uh, Kansans, ma'am." Hannibal Heyes: "Alright? I'm better'n alright. I'm brilliant."
Trivia Duel's sister Pamela appeared on a 1983 episode of the Christian talk show The 700 Club discussing Duel's depression. The actor did mention suicide to her saying, "I've been watching you, your stability. I think you can endure it". Today, Roger Davis is a successful California real estate developer. Ben Murphy continues to act and is very popular in Great Britain, having made "meet and greet" appearances in England in summer of 2006. Gene Roddenberry, of Star Trek fame, wrote the story for the episode "The Girl in Boxcar #3."
Alias Smith and Jones with Pete Duel and Ben Murphy
Pete Duel and Ben Murphy - Alias Smith and Jones
Ben Murphy in Alias Smith & Jones, Posse That Wouldn't Quit
Ben Murphy in Alias Smith & Jones, McCreedy Bust Going Going
The Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons (104 episodes) from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969. Developed at a time when the television western was losing ground to the spy genre, this show was conceived by its creator, Michael Garrison, as "James Bond on horseback." It was one of the first television series which could be described as a science fiction Western. Two television movies were made with the original cast in 1979 and 1980, and the series was adapted for a motion picture in 1999 with a new cast and story.
Background The show's creator, Michael Garrison, was no late-comer to the James Bond craze; he and his partner at the time, Gregory Ratoff, purchased the film rights to Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale, back in 1955. They pitched the idea to 20th Century Fox, but the studio turned them down. After Ratoff died in 1960, his widow and Garrison sold the film rights to Charles K. Feldman, who eventually produced the spoof Casino Royale in 1967. Garrison, meanwhile, had brought James Bond to television in a unique way.
The pilot episode, "The Night of the Inferno", was scripted by Gilbert Ralston, who had written for numerous episodic TV series in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1997, Ralston sued Warner Brothers over the upcoming motion picture based on the series. (Wild Wild West was released in 1999.) In a deposition, Ralston explained that he was approached by Michael Garrison, who '"said he had an idea for a series, good commercial idea, and wanted to know if I could glue the idea of a western hero and a James Bond type together in the same show."
Ralston said he then created the Civil War characters, the format, the story outline and nine drafts of the script that was the basis for the television series. It was his idea, for example, to have a secret agent named Jim West who would perform secret missions for a bumbling Ulysses S. Grant.
Ralston's experience brought to light a common Hollywood practice of the 1950's and 60's when television writers who helped create popular series allowed producers or studios to take credit for a show, thus denying the writers millions of dollars in royalties. Ralston died in 1999, before his suit was settled. Warner Brothers ended up paying his family between $600,000 and $1.5 million.
The Wild Wild West told the story of two Secret Service agents—James West, the charming gunslinger (played by Robert Conrad), and Artemus Gordon (played by Ross Martin), the brilliant gadgeteer and master of disguise. Their unending mission was to protect President Ulysses S. Grant and the United States from all manner of dangerous threats. The agents traveled in luxury aboard their own train, the Wanderer, equipped with everything from a stable car to a laboratory.
The show incorporated classic Western elements with an espionage thriller, as well as science fiction/alternate history ideas (in a similar vein to steampunk) and plenty of comedy. In the finest James Bond tradition, there were always beautiful women, clever gadgets, and delusional arch-enemies with half-insane plots to take over the country or the world.
Each episode's title begins with "The Night" (except for the first-season episode "Night of the Casual Killer", which omitted the definite article). Shows with similar naming conventions include: Friends ("The One ..."); The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The ... Affair"); The Rat Patrol ("The ... Raid"); Rawhide (seasons 1–3 and 5–6: "Incident ..."); Monk ("Mr. Monk and...") and Scrubs ("My ...").
The one memorable recurring arch-villain was Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless, a brilliant-but-insane dwarf portrayed by Michael Dunn, who performed almost an identical function for West and Gordon as Professor Moriarty performed for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson—the worthy adversary, whose plans could be foiled but who resisted all attempts to capture him and bring him to justice. Loveless was introduced in the show's sixth produced, but third televised episode, "The Night the Wizard Shook The Earth", and appeared in another nine episodes. Initially he had two constant companions, the huge Voltaire, played by Richard Kiel, and the beautiful Antoinette. This role was performed by Dunn's real-life singing partner, Phoebe Dorin. Voltaire disappeared with no explanation after the third battle against Loveless, while Antoinette was not seen after the sixth one. According to The Wild Wild West Revisited TV movie, Loveless eventually dies in 1880 from ulcers, brought on by anger and frustration at having his plans consistently ruined by West and Gordon. (His son, played by Paul Williams, subsequently seeks revenge on the agents).
Though several actors appeared in multiple villainous roles, only one other character had a second encounter with West and Gordon, Count Manzeppi, played flamboyantly by Victor Buono.
While the show's writers created their fair share of villains (Agnes Moorehead won an Emmy for her role as Emma Valentine in "The Night of The Vicious Valentine"), they frequently started with the nefarious, stylized inventions of these madmen and then wrote the episodes around these devices. Stories were also inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, H. G. Wells, and Jules Verne.
As indicated by Robert Conrad on his DVD commentary for the first season, the show went through several changes in producers in its early weeks of production. This was apparently due to conflicts between the network and Michael Garrison, who had also produced the pilot. Collier Young produced episodes 2-4; Fred Freiberger episodes 5-14; John Mantley episodes 15-21; and Gene L. Coon episodes 22-26. Garrison then returned to the show in time to produce the last two episodes of season one. In August 1967, early during production of the second season, however, Garrison fell down a staircase in his home and died. CBS brought in Bruce Lansbury, head of programming in New York (and brother of actress Angela Lansbury), to produce the show for the remainder of its run.
There was also a cast change made in the first season: the three episodes produced by Collier Young featured a butler named Tennyson who traveled with West and Gordon. Tennyson was dropped after the fourth produced episode, but because the episodes were not broadcast in production order the character was seen on-and-off during the first season.
The first season episodes were filmed in black and white, and were appropriately darker in their tonality. (Cinematographer Ted Voightlander was nominated for an Emmy for his work on these episodes.) Subsequent seasons were filmed in color and the show became noticeably campier. Still, some episodes could be astonishingly violent, and that ultimately was its downfall: according to Susan Kesler's book (see below), CBS bowed under pressure from watchdog groups and cancelled the show. However, the network re-ran several episodes in the summer of 1970 before the program moved into syndication and new life on local stations across the country, including WGN. In 1994, it was broadcast on TNT, which usually preferred the color episodes over the black and white shows. Hallmark Channel briefly aired the series in 2005 as part of its slate of Saturday afternoon Westerns but quickly dropped it after several weeks. Retro Television Network aired the show with two episodes back-to-back on Thursday nights in 2005 but has since discontinued airing the show for unknown reasons.
Robert Conrad and a stock company of stunt players choreographed at least two fight sequences per episode. Conrad also insisted on performing all of his own stunts, such as leaping off a second-floor balcony or running in front of a team of horses. During the filming of one episode, "The Night of the Fugitives", Conrad fell 12 feet from a chandelier onto a concrete floor and suffered a concussion. [1] Production of the series, then near the end of its third season, was shut down two weeks early. (The episode eventually aired during the fourth season, with footage of the fall left in.) Ross Martin broke his leg in a fourth season episode, "The Night of the Avaricious Actuary", and suffered a heart attack a few weeks later after completing "The Night of Fire and Brimstone." His character was replaced temporarily by other agents played by Charles Aidman (four episodes), Alan Hale, Jr. and William Schallert. Aidman said that the script rewrites he had been promised simply amounted to changing the name "Artemus Gordon" to "Jeremy Pike" (his character's name).[3] Pat Paulsen is frequently thought of as a Martin substitute, but he in fact appeared in one of Aidman's episodes, and his character would have been present even if Martin appeared.
Ross Martin once called his role as Artemus Gordon "a show-off's showcase" because it allowed him to portray over 100 different characters during the course of the series, and perform dozens of different dialects. Martin sketched his ideas for his characterizations and worked with the make-up artists to execute the final look. Martin was nominated for an Emmy in 1969.
Props The Wild Wild West featured numerous gadgets. Some were recurring devices, such as James' sleeve gun or breakaway derringer hidden in his left and right boot heels. Others only appeared in a single episode.
Sleeve gun (a Remington derringer, featured in many episodes). In a few episodes the ejecting/retractable support-arm of the device had other useful gadgets attached to it instead of the derringer (i.e. a tiny squirt-can containing acid, iron climbing-claws, various blades, etc.) Lock-pick in the lapel of the bolero-style jacket. Throwing knife in the collar of the jacket. Various explosive devices fitted in the lining of his jacket, inside his belt (and its buckle), and a secret compartment in his holster. A flat metal barbed climbing-spike and a thin, but strong attachable rope or cord that could be shot into a wooden beam or wall from either his deringer or revolver. A small hand-held rod with a built-in spring-loaded motor-driven winch. When used in conjunction with his climbing-spike and rope, the rod-winch can either hoist him upwards to a building's roof, for instance, or lower him into a deep pit, the distance depending on the length of rope deployed. An ejecting knife-blade in his boot, just between the outer sole and toe-box of the boot. Extra bullets in his belt buckle. A thin, but extremely strong wire flexible enough to be coiled and fitted in the inner lining of the crown of his hat; the wire has multiple uses, and is also capable of sawing through a steel bar. Breakaway derringer (featured in numerous episodes) Exploding pool ball (featured in pilot episode) Cue stick that has a hidden sword inside (featured in pilot episode) Cue stick that has a hidden gun inside (featured in pilot episode) Stage coach with ejection seat (featured in "The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth") A ball of explosive in the hollow heel of one boot, and the hem of his jacket is pulled away to form the fuse. A break-away blow-torch, hidden in each boot heel. Aboard the agents' train, two pistols on a wooden stand on desk-activated by a knob on the fireplace. Also aboard the agents' train, the fireplace conceals a secret escape door and an emergency flare signal Several pistols, a few rifles, and other assorted weaponry hidden behind a wall-panel behind the map at one end of the railway car. A shotgun hidden under a revolving table-top. A telegraph in a cane A cigar blow torch The villains often used equally creative gadgets, including:
An earth-quake making device. A brainwashing device using intense sight and sound A cyborg, i.e., a man who replaced much of his flesh and bone with metal, augmenting his strength and invulnerability An early flamethrower Man-sized steam-driven puppets Jars that could preserve disembodied human brains and draw upon their knowledge and psychic force A prototype tank A potion made from liquified diamond capable of allowing a man to move so fast as to be invisible A LSD-like hallucinogenic capable of driving men into fits of killing madness A television A torpedo disguised as a dragon and capable of homing on a radio signal An invisible electronic force field that disintegrated anything that came in contact with it A drug capable of shrinking a man down to a height of 6" A suit of armor that acted as an exo-skeleton A tidal wave-making device that generated giant bubbles A sonic device that allowed the use of paintings as a portal to other dimensions Surgically implanted crystals that when shattered inside the brain by a high-pitched noise, caused the subject to turn into a criminal A giant falcon-shaped cannon, capable of devastating a small town with a single shot The Juggernaut, a steam-powered tank that was triangular in shape, and had a barbed tip.
The train For the pilot episode, "The Night of the Inferno", the producers used Sierra Railroad No. 3, a 4-6-0 locomotive that was, fittingly, an anachronism: it wasn't built until 1891. Footage of this train, with a 5 replacing the 3 on its number plate, was shot in Jamestown, California. Best known for its role as the Hooterville Cannonball in the CBS series Petticoat Junction, Sierra No. 3 probably appeared in more films and TV shows than any other locomotive in history. It was built by the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works in Paterson, New Jersey.
When The Wild Wild West went into series production, however, an entirely different train was employed. The locomotive, a 4-4-0 named the Inyo, was built in 1875 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. Originally a wood-burner, the Inyo was converted to oil in 1910. The Inyo, as well as the express car and the passenger car, originally served on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad in Nevada. They were among several V&T cars sold to Paramount Pictures in 1937-8. The Inyo appears in numerous films, including High, Wide, and Handsome (1938), Union Pacific (1939), The Marx Brothers' Go West (1940), Meet Me in St. Louis, (1944), Red River (1948), Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) and McLintock! (1963). For The Wild Wild West, Inyo's original number plate was temporarily changed from No. 22 to No. 8 so that footage of the train could be flipped left or right without the number appearing reversed. Footage of the Inyo was shot around Menifee, Calif., and re-used countless times during the run of the show. (Stock footage of Sierra No. 3 occasionally resurfaced as well!)
These trains were used only for exterior shots. The luxurious interior of the passenger car was constructed on Stage 6 at CBS Studio Center. (Neither Stage 6 or any of the western streets still exist.) Designed by art director Albert Heschong at the Internet Movie Database, the set reportedly cost $35,000 in 1965.
The interior of West and Gordon's train was used in an episode of Gunsmoke titled "Death Train" (aired 1/27/67).
After her run on The Wild Wild West, the Inyo participated in the Golden Spike Centennial at Promontory, Utah, in 1969. The following year it appeared as a replica of the Central Pacific's "Jupiter" locomotive at the Golden Spike National Historical Site.. The State of Nevada purchased the Inyo in 1974; it was restored to 1895 vintage, including a wider smoke stack and new a pilot (cow catcher) without a drop coupler. The Inyo is still operational and currently displayed at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. The express car (No. 21) and passenger car (No. 4) are also at the museum.
Another veteran V&T locomotive, the Reno (built in 1872 by Baldwin), was used in the two Wild Wild West TV movies and in the 1999 theatrical film starring Will Smith. The Reno is located at Old Tucson Studios.
Theme music, cartoon and graphics The main title theme was written by Richard Markowitz, who was brought in after the producers rejected two attempts by famed film composer Dimitri Tiomkin. However, Markowitz was never credited for his theme on any episode of the series (although he did receive "music by" credit for episodes he'd scored or where he supplied the majority of tracked-in cues); it is generally believed that this was due to legal difficulties between CBS and Tiomkin over the rejection of the latter's work. Markowitz had previously composed the theme to the TV series "The Rebel."
The cartoon teaser for the opening credits was another unique element of the series. The screen was divided into five panels, the center containing a cartoon "hero" who interacted with characters in the surrounding panels. The cartoon Hero actually bears more of a resemblance to Clint Eastwood in Rawhide or James Arness in Gunsmoke than Conrad or Martin, and the vignettes in the teaser reflect Western movie clichés rather than the fanciful situations typical of The Wild Wild West.
The original sequence is as follows:
Hero strikes match, lights a cigarette and begins walking in profile Behind the Hero, in the lower left panel, a robber backs out of a bank; the Hero subdues him with a karate chop In the upper right panel, a cardsharp tries to pull an ace from his boot; the Hero draws his gun and the cardsharp drops his card In the upper left panel, a gunman points a six shooter at the Hero, who puts his hands up. Hero then shoots the gunman with his sleeve derringer; gunman's hand falls limp A woman in the lower right panel taps Hero with her parasol. He pulls her close and kisses her. She is about to stab him but turns away and slumps against the side of the frame, still holding the knife, mesmerized by his kiss. He tips his hat and walks away from camera. This final vignette changed when the series changed to color: the Hero knocks her out with a right cross to the jaw! [Note: This variant can be seen in the original pilot version of the opening credits (included on the DVD release) when the series was under the title The Wild West.] Despite the new version, James West never hit a woman in any episode, although he grappled with some. The original animation, with the Hero winning the woman over with a kiss, was a more accurate representation of West's methods than the right cross. Ironically, it is another example of the emphasis of violence of the show. The camera then zooms into the middle panel and the title The Wild Wild West appears. Camera swish pans to an illustration of the train, with Conrad's and Martin's names on the ends of different cars. The four corner panels were then utilized for the commercial breaks. Each episode was divided into four acts. At the end of each act, the scene (usually a cliffhanger moment) would freeze and a sketch or photograph of the scene would replace one of the panels. (The commercial break freeze frames usually didn't follow in the same order as the main title; they only do so in four episodes - "The Night of the Two-Legged Buffalo," "The Night of the Man-Eating House," "The Night of the Deadly Blossom," and "The Night of the Winged Terror, Part 2.")
The freeze-frame art changed over the course of the series. In all first season episodes other than the pilot, the panels were live-action stills made to evoke 19th century engravings. In season two (the first in color) the scenes dissolved to tinted stills; from "The Night of the Flying Pie Plate" on, however, the panels were home to Warhol-like serigraphs of the freeze-frames. The end credits were displayed over each episode's mosaic in every season but the last, when a standardized design was used. The pilot episode is the only episode in which the center panel of the Hero is replaced by a sketch of the final scene of an act — in the third act, he is replaced by the villainous General Cassinello (Nehemiah Persoff).
During the first season, the series title "The Wild Wild West" was set in the font P.T. Barnum. In subsequent seasons, the title appeared in a hand-drawn version of the font Dolphin (which resembles other fonts called Zebrawood, Circus, and Rodeo Clown). Robert Conrad's name was also set in this font. Ross Martin's name was set in the font Bracelet (which resembles Tuscan Ornate and Romantiques). All episode titles, writer and director credits, guest cast and crew credits were set in P.T. Barnum. During commercial breaks, the title "The Wild Wild West" also appeared in P.T. Barnum.
TV-movies Conrad and Martin reunited for two television movies, The Wild Wild West Revisited (aired May 9, 1979) and More Wild Wild West (aired October 7-8, 1980). "Revisited" introduced Paul Williams as Miguelito Loveless Jr., the son of the agents' arch-nemesis. Loveless planned to substitute clones for the crowned heads of Europe and the President of the United States. (This plot was borrowed from the second season episode "The Night of the Brain.") "More" was initially conceived as a rematch between the agents and Miguelito Jr., but Williams was unavailable for the film. His character was changed to Albert Paradine II and played by Jonathan Winters. Paradine planned world conquest using a formula for invisibility. (This recalls the first season episode "The Night of the Burning Diamond.") Both TV films were campier than the TV series, although Conrad and Martin played their roles straight.
Who's the Boss? was an American television sitcom starring Tony Danza, Judith Light, Alyssa Milano, Danny Pintauro, and Katherine Helmond. It was broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1984 to 1992.
Premise Widower Anthony Morton "Tony" Micelli (Danza) is a former second baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals who was forced to retire due to a shoulder injury and the up and coming career of Tommy Herr. He wanted to move out of Brooklyn to find a better environment for his daughter, Samantha (Alyssa Milano). He ended up taking a job in upscale Fairfield, Connecticut as a live-in housekeeper for divorced advertising executive Angela Bower (Judith Light). The Micellis moved into the Bower residence. Also starring were Danny Pintauro as Angela's son Jonathan and Katherine Helmond as Mona Robinson, her feisty, man-hungry mother.
The title of the show referred to the clear role reversal of the two lead actors, where a woman was the breadwinner, while a man stayed at home and took care of the house, thus the question of who the "boss" really was. It challenged media stereotypes of Italian-Americans as wholly ignorant of life outside of urban working-class neighborhoods.
The contrast between easy-going, spontaneous Tony and driven, self-controlled Angela resulted in their mutual attraction. While there was playful banter and many hints of attraction for much of the run, Tony and Angela did not at first consummate the relationship, and dated others. Angela had a steady man in Geoffrey Wells (Robin Thomas), while Tony had many girlfriends who came and went, including Kathleen Sawyer (Kate Vernon) in seasons six and seven. Finally at the start of the eighth season, Tony and Angela admitted their love for each other, and had a whirlwind romance until the end of the series which did not close with the widely expected marriage but on a more ambiguous note. This was due primarily to concerns by the network that a marriage, representing a definitive ending, could hurt syndication. Tony Danza, too, vehemently opposed the marriage, saying it would contradict the purpose of the show.
In addition, Tony provided a much-needed male role model for geeky Jonathan, while Angela (and even Mona) gave Samantha the woman's guidance she had been missing.
Keeping ties with Tony's and Samantha's Brooklyn roots, motherly former neighbor Mrs. Rossini (Rhoda Gemignani) turned up a few times each season, whether visited by the cast in New York or by way of her coming to Connecticut. One of her very important appearances was in the Christmas episode of season two, in which Tony's childhood apartment was up for rent, causing Tony, Mrs. Rossini, and some other relatives to retrieve furniture and Micelli family possessions. Tony's final time in the apartment brought back serious memories of his late father, and how they were angry at each other when he died. Tony confided in Angela about his regret over not making up with him, but it was Mrs. Rossini who livened spirits for the Christmas season. Danza said later that this episode was based on a real-life experience with his own father, who had died on bad terms with him while Danza was starring on Taxi.
Amid the surroundings of prosperity between Angela and Mona (who eventually opened up their own ad firm together in the third season), Tony decided to go back to school, enrolling in the same college daughter Samantha attended in 1988. Samantha's best friend Bonnie (Shana Lane-Block) was a recurring character during these seasons, while steady romance came into her life in the form of boyfriend Jesse Nash (Scott Bloom) during her senior year of high school and into college.
By the fall of 1990, with Samantha in the middle of college and Jonathan in high school, Who's the Boss?, like other series getting on in years, fell victim to the infusion of a new "cute child" to the cast. For the seventh season, producers added 5-year-old Billy (Jonathan Halyalkar), a kid from the Micellis' old Brooklyn neighborhood, who seemed to move into the household but actually frequently visited. Billy was a comic foil to Tony, but also attempted to get into the mix in other character's storylines. He only lasted that season however. In the E! True Hollywood Story about the series, Katherine Helmond remarked that Halyalkar was a gifted performer but had difficulty catching up to the pace of the acting and writing that had been set by the cast and crew for several seasons.
In the fall of 1991, after more or less seven years on its established Tuesday night slot, Who's the Boss? was moved to Saturday nights, along with fellow long-running sitcom Growing Pains. Originally suspected by the insiders that the move was due to the show's waning popularity on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (respectively), ABC attempted to diffuse this fact by adding another long-running show with somewhat higher ratings, Perfect Strangers, to the Saturday lineup in February 1992. All three shows, along with the new cartoon Capitol Critters, launched the new I Love Saturday Night lineup - an equivalent to the hit Friday TGIF lineup. While Perfect Strangers saw a record ratings drop due to the move, Who's the Boss? (as well as Growing Pains) had been falling lower than ever all season, which led to the ultimate decision to end the series - while "some people were still watching". The hour-long series finale aired Saturday April 25, 1992, along with the finales for Growing Pains and MacGyver, which only aired on that night for its final show, even though it still aired on Mondays for its last season. ps:there is a spanish version called quien es el jefe
Theme Song and Opening Sequence The show's theme song, "Brand New Life", was written by series creators and executive producers Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter, with music composed by Larry Carlton and Robert Kraft. There were three versions used throughout the series' run. The first version, used in the first two seasons, was performed by Tony Danza himself. The second version, which was used from 1986-1990, was performed by country music singer Steve Wariner. The third version was used for the final two seasons.
Four full versions of this song, as well as two short versions were used during the course of the series. The original version featured the opening verse, "There's more to life than what you're livin'", which was changed to "There's a time for love and a time for livin'" in the show's third season. The season three version also had the opening instrumental elongated and a slightly mellower music. A modified version was used during the show's seventh season and modified again for season eight. Various instrumental versions of this theme were used as a closing theme during the series.
The pilot episode's opening sequence featured the van (which supposedly belongs to Tony) driving from New York to the Bowers' house in Connecticut, with the cast and executive producer's names credited over it (the footage of the van driving to Connecticut was truncated to the very beginning of the opening for the beginning with episode two, limited to the first five seconds for the first two seasons and extended to the first twelve seconds afterwards with the remainder replaced with episode clips). During the first season, Alyssa Milano and Danny Pintauro were credited together (they were credited separately from season two onward).
Trivia
In early development, the series was titled You're the Boss, in reference to Angela's character employing Tony, and the highly unusual (at the time) gender role reversal. Eventually, before the fall 1984 premiere, the producers changed it to Who's the Boss?, an open ended title which hinted that any one of the leads (including Mona) could get their own way - or be the "boss". The series' pilot was shot in November 1983, a full 10 months before the show actually took to the air. ABC originally was planning to put it on mid-season in January 1984, but due to creative differences between producers and the network, the show was delayed until the next season. While the show was shelved for an extended amount of time in early 1984, Danza was arrested for fighting in a New York bar, after a fellow patron made a rude remark about a lady friend of his. A few months later, Who's the Boss? resumed taping. During his court date that July, Danza faced a choice of jail time or community service, as a result of battery and other charges. Danza opted for community service, which he was in the middle of serving when the series finally premiered in September 1984. Rotund comic James Coco was a frequent guest beginning in season two, as Tony's father in-law visiting from New York. People have credited his appearances on Who's the Boss? as a prime example of his comedic abilities on TV, despite the fact that he wasn't a regular and had never starred in a successful TV series of his own. When Coco died in February 1987, prior to the conclusion of season three, his character was written out as having died as well (with a funeral episode and tribute). Later in the show's run, it was reported that Danza starting exhibiting erratic behavior on the set. These stories ranged from Tony getting after the directors to arguments with the writers, forcing minor script revisions. While it was uncovered that only the writing became an issue for Danza, his frustrations to have the show be a "well-oiled machine" boiled over at the start of the 1989-90 season, where he staged a single-man walkout for two weeks until he calmed down. The remainder of the cast filmed scenes without Danza in the meantime. Upon his return, Danza offered an apology to everyone on the set, and resumed work. However, the crew then monitored Danza's mood, and a few weeks later made light of the whole incident by issuing shirts on set that said "I Survived Week Six". (according to the E! True Hollywood Story) Frank Sinatra made a guest appearance in a 1989 episode. The show debuted on the same day as NBC's "The Cosby Show". Family Guy episode "Love Thy Trophy" mentions the show when Peter wins the parade theme contest. He choses "That episode of Who's the Boss? where Tony sees Angela naked in the shower."
Versions in other countries Several versions of Who's the Boss? have been produced for foreign television markets. In 1990, The Upper Hand, aired nationally in the United Kingdom while the original version was screened regionally. A Spanish language version, produced in Mexico by TV Azteca and Sony Pictues Television International, debuted in 1998 under the title Una familia con Ángel starring Laura Luz and Daniel Martínez; it was broadcast in the U.S. on the Telemundo network.
Though the show had been broadcast in Germany in a dubbed version as 'Wer ist hier der Boss? since 1992 on RTL Television, a year later the channel produced 15 early episodes with a German cast. The Show was called Ein Job fürs Leben (A Life's Job). Tony was named Vito, an Italian guest-worker from Berlin-Neukölln and former striker of soccer club Hertha BSC Berlin. Angela Bower was named Barbara Hoffmann, their home was located in Hamburg's upscale suburb Othmarschen. Despite theses little changes, the original scripts were used for shooting.
In 2005, the Argentine network Telefé also made its own local version, called ¿Quién es el jefe? (a direct translation of the original American title) starring Nicolás Vázques, Gianella Neyra and Carmen Barbieri. In 2006, Colombian network Caracol TV did the same, producing ¿Quién manda a quién? (which was the title of the original show when dubbed in Spanish).
A Polish version I kto tu rządzi? debuted in 2007, starring Małgorzata Foremniak and Bogusław Linda. A Russian version - Kto v dome hoziain? (Who's the Boss in Home?) started on CTC - Moskva in 2005, starring Andrej Noskov, Anna Nevskaja and Darija Bondarenko.
Spin-offs Who's the Boss? spawned two short lived spin-offs. One was a show called Charmed Lives, about two women up for a job. Starring Fran Drescher and Donna Dixon, it only lasted three episodes and was immediately taken off the air. The second spin-off was Living Dolls. Premiering and ending in 1989, the show starred Leah Remini, Michael Learned, and Vivica Fox. The show featured Remini, who had appeared in two Who's the Boss? episodes as a friend of Samantha's, as a homeless model taken under the wing of an agent played by Learned. In those same Who's the Boss? episodes, Jonathan Ward played Learned's son Rick; in the Living Dolls series, David Moscow took over the role. The show lasted less than one season.
Syndication Who's the Boss? aired on TBS Superstation in the 1990s after it was canceled, and was also added to the ABC Family Channel line-up in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Nick at Nite broadcast the show between 2004 and 2006. The series is currently on ION Television as of Monday, July 9, 2007, airing Mon-Thurs at 9:00 & 9:30 p.m. ET .
There were three episodes of Who's the Boss? that did not air during the show's original run. The first one was "Charmed Lives" in season 2, which was the pilot for the short-lived series Charmed Lives. The second was season 3's "Mona," which was a pilot for a spin-off about Mona that never happened. The third one was "Life's a Ditch" in season 6, originally a Living Dolls episode. Comcast has partnered with Sony to bring shows like "Who's The Boss?" from the 50's to the 90's through their On Demand service called Tube Time.
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (retitled The Hardy Boys Mysteries for season three) is a television series which aired for three seasons on ABC. The series starred Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as amateur sleuth brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, respectively, and Pamela Sue Martin (later Janet Louise Johnson) as girl detective Nancy Drew.
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries was unusual in that it often dealt with the characters individually, in an almost analogical style. That is, some episodes featured only the Hardy Boys and others only Nancy Drew.
Story The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were both successful book publishing franchises, owned by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a publishing group which owned many successful children's book lines.
The Hardy Boys are brother amateur detectives. Frank is the elder of the two and Joe is a year younger. The two boys live in the fictional city of Bayport (on Barmet Bay) with their famous father, Fenton Hardy (Ed Gilbert), a private detective formerly with the New York Police Department.
In addition to the Hardy Boys, their stories feature two other characters with some regularity: Aunt Gertrude (Edith Atwater) and a platonic female friend of the boys, Callie Shaw (Lisa Eilbacher), who also does part-time work for their father, Fenton. Other characters which played a major part of the Hardy Boys books, such as Chet Morton (Gary Springer), appeared only briefly in the series.
Nancy Drew is the amateur sleuth - she prefers the term "part time investigator" - daughter of attorney Carson Drew. She lives with her father in the fictional River Heights which, by the nature of the cross-over element of the series, cannot be too distant from the Hardy Boys east coast United States home town of Bayport.
In addition to Nancy Drew and her father, Carson (William Schallert), her stories feature two other characters with some regularity: her close friend George (Georgia) Fayne (Jean Rasey and, later for two episodes, Susan Buckner) and Ned Nickerson (George O Hanlon Jr.) Another prominent character from the Nancy Drew books, Bess Marvin (Ruth Cox), made only two appearances.
In the novels on which the series was based, Nickerson is explicitly identified as Nancy's boyfriend; in the television series, their romance is more ambiguous. In the first series, Nickerson is a law student who does part-time work for Carson Drew.
In the second series, Nickerson is re-introduced - with no reference to his earlier appearances, and in a scene in which he is apparently introduced to Nancy Drew for the first time - as a young hotshot lawyer from the city District Attorney's office. In this second appearance he is played by Rick Springfield.
Production The series was produced by Glen A. Larson. The original music was composed by Stu Phillips.
The series was produced by Universal Studios, and the series used many of the Universal backlot locations as filming sites.
They include the two-part episode The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom, which is set on the studio lot, and numerous episodes which were filmed on parts of Colonial Street, the backlot street which was later used in the Tom Hanks film The Burbs and is used as Wisteria Lane in the hit TV series Desperate Housewives.
Episode #12 The Mystery of the Ghostwriter's Cruise is noteworthy because it contains a sequence in which a tidal wave appears to approach a cruise ship, a deliberate homage to The Poseidon Adventure, in which Martin also starred.
Second Season During the second season, only three episodes feature Drew alone; the remainder starred the Hardy Boys with Pamela Sue Martin, as Nancy Drew, credited as a guest star. Martin left the series during the second season, and was replaced, for two episodes near the end, by actress Janet Julian aka Janet Louise Johnson.
Both the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew featured in eight episodes, six of which were in the form of two-part episodes. Pamela Sue Martin played Nancy Drew in The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula and The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom which were both transmitted in two parts.
After Martin departed the series, the character of Nancy Drew made three more appearances, with the Hardy Boys, in the episodes Voodoo Doll, Mystery on the Avalanche Express and Arson and Old Lace. In those, she was played by Janet Julian.
Third Season In the third season Nancy Drew was dropped from the show completely, and it was renamed The Hardy Boys Mysteries.
A number of well known actors appeared in episodes of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, either as celebrity guest stars or before they achieved subsequent fame.
Celebrities who appeared in episodes included Ricky Nelson (The Flickering Torch Mystery), Bob Crane (A Haunting We Will Go), Lorne Greene and Paul Williams (The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula), Casey Kasem, Dennis Weaver, Jaclyn Smith and Robert Wagner (Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom), Tony Dow (The Creatures Who Came on Sunday), Maureen McCormick (Nancy Drew's Love Match), William Campbell and Missy Gold (Will The Real Santa ...?), Lloyd Bochner and Dorothy Malone (The House on Possessed Hill), Diana Muldaur (Sole Survivor), Ray Milland and Howard Duff (Voodoo Doll), Vic Damone, Fabian and Troy Donahue (Mystery on the Avalanche Express), Pernell Roberts and Joseph Cotton (Arson and Old Lace), Dana Andrews and Patrick Macnee (Assault on the Tower), John Colicos (Search for Atlantis), June Lockhart and Robert Loggia (Dangerous Waters),
Famous actors who appeared in the series earlier in their career included Jamie Lee Curtis, Robert Englund and A Martinez (The Mystery of the Fallen Angels), Rosalind Chao (The Mystery of the Jade Kwan Yin), Mark Harmon and Martin Kove (The Mystery of the Solid Gold Kicker), Anne Lockhart (The Mystery of the African Safari and The Last Kiss of Summer), Rick Springfield (Will The Real Santa ...?), Nicholas Hammond and John Karlen (The Lady on Thursday at Ten), Melanie Griffith (The House on Possessed Hill), Kim Cattrall and Linda Dano (Voodoo Doll), Valerie Bertinelli and Kim Lankford (Campus Terror), Ana Alicia (Life on the Line)
Bernie Taupin, the composer and musical partner of Elton John, appeared in the two part episode The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula, as a young British musician.
Darleen Carr, who guest starred in the episode Search for Atlantis, is the sister of Charmian Carr, who played Liesl von Trapp in the Robert Wise film adaptation of The Sound of Music.
Producer Glen A. Larson also produced the 1970s science fiction series Battlestar: Galactica. A number of actors who appeared in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries were also either cast members or guest stars of that series. They include Lorne Greene, Maren Jensen, Anne Lockhart, Rick Springfield, Ana Alicia, Patrick Macnee and John Colicos.
Emmy Nomination The series was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1977, in the category of "Special Classification of Outstanding Individual Achievement", recognizing the work of cinematographer Enzo Martinelli.
The Muppet Show was a television program featuring a cast of Muppets produced by Jim Henson and his team from 1976 to 1981. The show stars Kermit the Frog, who was also a regular on Sesame Street. Whereas Kermit was a happy, perky and somewhat avuncular character on Sesame Street, here he is trying to keep control of the varied, outrageous, kinetic Muppet characters (and his temper), as well as keep the human guest stars happy and secure. The television show depicted a vaudeville- or music hall-style song-and-dance variety show, as well as the backstage antics involved in putting the show on.
The show was known for outrageous, physical (slapstick), sometimes absurdist comedy, and particularly for using its puppet characters to create humorous parodies. Each show also featured a human star; after the show became popular, many celebrities were eager to perform with the Muppets on television and in film. The guests included Diana Ross, Harry Belafonte, Elton John, Christopher Reeve, Johnny Cash, Twiggy, Sandy Duncan, Julie Andrews, Joan Baez, Steve Martin, Florence Henderson, Paul Williams, Rich Little, characters from Star Wars, Mummenschanz, Ethel Merman, Paul Simon, John Denver, John Cleese, Judy Collins, Gene Kelly, Alice Cooper, and exactly one-hundred others.
Muppet performers over the course of the show include Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, Kathy Mullen, Eren Ozker, and John Lovelady. Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns were two of the show writers.
History
Since 1969, Sesame Street had given Jim Henson's creations exposure; however, Henson began to perceive that he was pigeonholed as a children's entertainer. He sought to create a program that could be enjoyed by young and old. Two specials were produced and aired that are considered pilots for The Muppet Show. Neither led to the sale of a prime-time network series. However, the prime-time access rule had just been enacted, which took the 7:30 to 8pm ET slot from the networks and turned it over to their affiliates. CBS suggested it would be interested in Henson's proposal as a syndicated series it could purchase for its owned-and-operated stations, to run one night a week in that time slot.
Lew Grade, head of the British commercial station ATV, offered a deal to Henson that would see his show produced at the ATV studios in Elstree, England. ATV would network the show to other ITV stations in the United Kingdom, and its syndication arm, ITC Entertainment, would sell the show in the United States and around the world. Henson put aside his misgivings about syndication and accepted.
At first, signing guests was a challenge and producers had to call on their personal contacts. The breakthrough was the appearance of the ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev. His appearance on such an unusual show generated such positive publicity that the series became one of the sought-after productions to appear in[citation needed]. The Muppet Show premiered in 1976 and finally, after five years and 120 episodes, it went off the air in 1981 because of Henson's desire to move on to other projects, such as The Muppet Movie (released in 1979) and his first fantasy film, The Dark Crystal (1982).
List of Muppet Show characters
The Muppet Show posterKermit the Frog, director and host of the Muppet Show. Performed by Jim Henson until his death in 1990. Miss Piggy, a glamorous diva pig in dual pursuit of stardom and Kermit. In the first season, her puppeteering duties were shared between Frank Oz and Richard Hunt. Starting with the second season, Oz took over the character full-time. Fozzie Bear, a questionably talented but hardworking stand-up comic bear, and Kermit's unofficial second-in-command. Performed by Frank Oz. Scooter, the gofer. His uncle owns the theatre. Performed by Richard Hunt. Gonzo, also known as The Great Gonzo or Gonzo the Great, stuntman, daredevil, performance artist and "The Muppet Show's Resident Weird Person". Performed by Dave Goelz. The Swedish Chef, a cook with weird culinary habits who speaks a Scandinavian-sounding double-talk called "mock Swedish". Performed by Jim Henson with the hands of Frank Oz. Rowlf the Dog, the show's resident wisecracking piano player. Performed by Jim Henson. Dr Bunsen Honeydew, Head of Muppet Labs, a scientist and inventor. Performed by Dave Goelz. Beaker, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's hapless guinea pig / assistant. Performed by Richard Hunt. Camilla, a chicken, Gonzo's true love. Usually performed by Jerry Nelson. Sam the (American Bald) Eagle, American superpatriot and self-appointed censor of the Muppet Show. Performed by Jim Henson with the hands of Frank Oz. Dr. Teeth, ultra-hip band leader, and keyboard player for Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem. Performed by Jim Henson. Sgt. Floyd Pepper, bass guitarist and all around hip person of Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem. Performed by Jerry Nelson. Janice, the Band's hippie-chick lead guitarist (and Floyd's main squeeze). Performed by Eren Ozker in the first season and Richard Hunt for the remainder of the run. Animal, the Band's savage, frenzied drummer. Performed by Frank Oz. Drumming performed by Ronnie Verrell. Zoot, the sleepy saxophone player in the Electric Mayhem and the Muppet Show's orchestra. Performed by Dave Goelz. Lips, trumpet player for the "Mayhem" added in the fifth season. Performed by Steve Whitmire. Lew Zealand, boomerang fish thrower and generally fish-obsessed performer. Performed by Jerry Nelson. Statler & Waldorf, two old men who occupy the box seat at every show and heckle the performances. Statler was performed by Richard Hunt, Waldorf by Jim Henson. Rizzo the Rat, a sarcastic inner-city rodent. A minor character in the fourth and fifth season. Performed by Steve Whitmire. Annie Sue, a young pig, Miss Piggy's innocent rival. Performed by Louise Gold. The Muppet Newsman. Was an energetic reporter that always had bad luck. Performed by Jim Henson. Louis Kazzager, the enthusiastic reporter for Muppet Sports. Performed by Jerry Nelson. Foo-Foo, Miss Piggy's dog. Usually performed by Steve Whitmire or a real dog. Sweetums, a 7-foot-tall monster. Performed by Richard Hunt. Thog, a 9 1/2-foot-tall furry, blue monster. Performed by Jerry Nelson. J.P. Grosse, Scooter's uncle who owns the theatre; a tough businessman. Performed by Jerry Nelson. Link Hogthrob, a hunky but dim-witted pig, star of "Pigs in Space", Captain of the USS Swinetrek. Also stars in "Bear On Patrol". Performed by Jim Henson. Dr. Julius Strangepork, the science officer in "Pigs in Space". Performed by Jerry Nelson. Beauregard, the dimwitted janitor and stagehand. Performed by Dave Goelz. Crazy Harry, a pyrotechnician and bomb expert who enjoys blowing things up far too much. Performed in the first season by John Lovelady, then taken over by Jerry Nelson. Robin, Kermit's small nephew. Performed by Jerry Nelson. Uncle Deadly, also called "the Phantom of the Muppet Show", a sinister character who lurks around the theatre and appears occasionally on the show. Performed by Jerry Nelson. The Flying Zucchini Brothers, a group of human cannonballs and acrobats. Performed by Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz and Richard Hunt. Pops, the elderly doorman. Performed by Jerry Nelson. Marvin Suggs, the sadistic, crazed and flamboyant Muppaphone man. Performed by Frank Oz. Brewster, is a wise-looking bearded fellow seen primarily on the first season of The Muppet Show and seen mostly in the audience during the rest of the seasons. George, the crotchety old janitor, seen primarily in the first season and performed by Frank Oz. Mildred Huxtetter, George's dancing partner, seen primarily in the first season. Usually performed by Frank Oz or Richard Hunt. Wayne and Wanda, a terrible singing duo plagued by bad luck, Wayne and Wanda are (in Sam's eyes) the only hope for sanity within the muppet show's performances. Although their attempts are numerous, they have never successfully completed one of their performances without something going wrong. Wayne and Wanda were preformed by Richard Hunt and Eren Ozker, although Kathy Mullen played Wanda in her one appearance in the fourth season. Hilda, the elderly wardrobe mistress. Performed by Eren Ozker. Disappeared after the first season. Nigel, the conductor of the Muppet Orchestra. Performed by either Jim Henson or John Lovelady. Mahna Mahna, the singer of the song by the same name, and the Snowths, the 2 pink creatures that sing Doo-doo-de-do-do!. Mahna Mahna was performed by Jim Henson, and the Snowths by Frank Oz. Lubbock Lou and his Jughuggers, the jugband. Includes Lubbock Lou, Slim Wilson, Gramps, Bubba, Zeke and Lou. Performed by Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, Richard Hunt, Jim Henson and Louise Gold respectively. Fleet Scribbler, the reporter for The Daily Scandal. He appeared in only a few episodes of the Muppet show. He was eventually written off. Performed by Jerry Nelson. Appeared in the second season. Alexander Beetle, is a red and blue beetle who sings "She Loves You" with the Bug Band in episode 407, he was played by Steve Whitmire. Chester Pugh is a ghost that haunts the Muppet Theater. Herbie the Octopus is the lead performer of Herbie the One Octopus Band a solo band that performs "When the Saints Go Marching In" The Gills Brothers are a group of singing fish.
Recurring skits At the Dance – The sketch was a regular during the first season but was used less frequently from the second season onward. Muppet characters circulated on a semi-formal dance floor offering rapid fire one-liner jokes and come-backs as the couples passed in front of the camera. Muppet Labs – Segments featuring the latest invention from Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, with his assistant, Beaker, getting the worst of its inevitable malfunction. The character of Beaker was introduced in the second season; during the first season Bunsen hosted Muppet Labs by himself, but the writers soon realized that another character was necessary to show Bunsen's failings. Muppet News Flash – A news announcer (a variation of the Guy Smiley puppet) gives a newsbrief only to have some disaster typically befall him (usually the same disaster he was just describing), or another strange scenario (such as the time that he ran on, stated "There is no news tonight.", and ran off). In the first season, the Muppet News Man read out news items that occasionally featured the guest star for that week playing a character that was somehow involved in the item. Muppet News Flashes often used absurdist humor: In one sketch, the announcer stated that the Atlantic Ocean had been kidnapped. Pigs In Space – Parody of science fiction shows like Star Trek, but also old '30s sci-fi serials. The spacecraft is called USS Swinetrek and the title voice-over is a parody of main Star Trek competitor Lost in Space. It featured Captain Link Hogthrob, Miss Piggy as first mate, and Dr. Julius Strangepork (the name a takeoff on "Dr. Strangelove"). Usually, the sketches would involve the long-suffering Piggy putting up with the wacko Strangepork and the braindead Link treating her as an inferior because she was a woman. Swedish Chef – Cooking show parody. It consists of the Swedish Chef, who speaks mock Swedish, semi-comprehensible gibberish which parodies the characteristic vowel sounds and intonation of Swedish. He attempts to cook a dish with great enthusiasm, until the punch line hits. A hallmark of these sketches was the improvisations between Jim Henson (who performed the Chef's head and voice) and Frank Oz (who was his hands). One would often make something up on the spot, making the other puppeteer comply with the action. Perhaps the best example is a sketch where Frank Oz repeatedly adds pepper to a sauce, leading to Jim Henson cracking up. Famous gags include "chickie in du baskie (two points!)", meatballs that bounce, chocolate "moose", and attempting to cook Kermit's nephew. Vend-a-face – A vending machine that offers unique face-changing services – usually agonizing contortions of the Muppets who feed the machine. It was originally intended to be a one-time sketch. However, because the Vend-a-face puppet was so costly to make, it was used multiple times to justify its creation. Veterinarian's Hospital – Parody of soap opera General Hospital and other medical dramas, consisting of Dr. Bob (Rowlf) cracking jokes in the operating room with Nurses Piggy and Janice. Each installment ends with Dr. Bob and his nurses looking around in puzzlement as a disembodied narrator tells viewers to tune in next time to the "continuing stooory". On a number of occasions, the "Veterinarian's Hospital" sketch would crossover with the cast or set of another, such as "At the Dance" or "Pigs in Space." The voice of the announcer was usually performed by John Lovelady in the first season, but Jerry Nelson originally performed the role in the Harvey Korman and Rita Moreno episodes (the first two episodes in recording order that had the sketch) before taking over the role permanently from the Phyllis Diller episode. In the introduction, Dr. Bob went from "a former orthopedic surgeon" to "a quack" who's "gone to the dogs." Nurse Janice's recurring tag line was "Fascinating, Dr. Bob". Wayne and Wanda – Usually introduced by Sam the Eagle, Wayne and Wanda – a slapstick tribute to Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald – are plagued by bad fortune. Every song attempted by this duo inevitably ends in disaster. It is considered an accomplishment for them to get to the chorus. They disappeared in later seasons. It was eventually revealed that Kermit had fired them, but forgot why he did and decided to rehire them. Unfortunately, seconds after they started to sing, Kermit remembered why he fired them and instantly fired them again and forced them off the stage. Bear on Patrol – Fozzie is an unlucky police officer and Link Hogthrob is his incompetent superior who always get into the silliest situations with the criminals brought in. The voice of the announcer was performed by Jerry Nelson. Fozzie's Act – Fozzie Bear gets on stage and performs his infamously bad jokes. Statler and Waldorf heckle him, in a perpetual rivalry. The sketches became slowly less frequent as Fozzie's character came into play and he became more prevalent in backstage scenarios.
List of guest stars
Harry Belafonte with The Muppets on The Muppet Show, performing one of the series' most celebrated numbers, "Turn The World Around."No guest star ever appeared twice on The Muppet Show, although John Denver appeared both on the show and in two specials (John Denver & the Muppets: A Christmas Together and John Denver & the Muppets: Rocky Mountain Holiday). Additionally, several guest stars from the show had cameos in one of the first three Muppet theatrical films.
One unusual guest star was one of the series writers, Chris Langham, who took the place for Richard Pryor when the star was unable to attend taping.
the muppets show intro
The Muppet Show - "In the Navy"
REM & Muppets - Furry happy monsters
Alice Cooper & The Muppets
Muppet Show - Swedish Chef - making chocolat moose
The Muppet Show - Swedish Chef Making Banana Split
Cagney & Lacey is an American television series that first aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982 to May 16, 1988. It is considered to be American television's first serious drama series with two female leads. A police procedural, the show starred Switch alumna Sharon Gless and veteran television actress Tyne Daly as New York City police detectives who led very different lives: Christine Cagney (Gless) was a single, career-minded woman, while Mary Beth Lacey (Daly) was a married working mother. The series was set in a fictionalized version of Manhattan's 14th Precinct (Midtown South), which in real life is located at 357 West 35th Street.
Al Waxman co-starred as Cagney and Lacey's supervisor, Lt. Bert Samuels. Dan Shor joined the cast from 1985 to 1986 as detective Jonah Newman. Dick O'Neill played a recurring role as Cagney's alcoholic father, Charlie Cagney, a former NYPD officer who regaled her with stories of the old days; Christine later fought alcoholism as well.
Original cast Loretta Swit played the role of Christine Cagney in the original television movie (1981), but she was forced to decline the role in the series when the producers of M*A*S*H (also airing on CBS) refused to let her out of her contract. The movie was then picked up as series, first airing with six episodes as a midseason replacement in the spring of 1982, with Meg Foster playing the role of Cagney. The show was then picked up for a regular season beginning with the 1982-83 season, but Foster was replaced by Sharon Gless because CBS deemed Foster too aggressive and too likely to be perceived as lesbian by the viewers.
CBS executives hoped that Sharon Gless would portray Christine Cagney as more conventionally "feminine" and attempted to pressure the producers to remake Christine into a more "high-class," snobbish woman from wealthy parents. Barney Rosenzweig and Barbara Corday stood their ground, refusing to change Christine Cagney from a tough, witty, working-class woman. Their stand proved wise, as the working class character's enduring popularity with millions of fans was a significant factor in the show's success.
Cancellation and return Following its first full season, the series was cancelled by CBS in 1983 due to unimpressive ratings, but was subsequently brought back to the network's schedule after fans of the show, organized by executive producer Barney Rosenzweig, staged a letter-writing campaign. TV Guide celebrated the show's return with the cover reading Welcome Back. The show finished in the top 10 for the 1983-84 season, and went on to earn 36 Emmy nominations and 14 wins throughout its run until 1988, including six nominations for stars Daly and Gless: four wins for Daly and two for Gless. The series itself won two consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Drama Series in 1985 and 1986.
The series also gained considerable popularity internationally. It was originally shown in the UK on BBC1 where it regularly made the top 20.
Controversial episodes The show also garnered controversy. In 1985 there was an episode about the bombing of an abortion clinic which several CBS affiliates refused to air. Perhaps the most shocking and controversial episode was in 1987, The City is Burning, based on the December 1986 racial incident in Queens' Howard Beach neighborhood. The explosive episode included racial slurs, such as "nigger," that were, and still are, taboo in primetime. Other storylines included the birth of Lacey's third child, Cagney's experience as a victim of date rape and AIDS in the school system.
Theme music The first-season main-titles are accompanied by the theme song "Ain't That the Way" by Michael Stull, sung by Marie Cain, and show Cagney and Lacey being promoted to plainclothes detectives and later disguised as prostitutes. This was replaced the following season by an instrumental theme composed by Bill Conti set to a collage of action and comical scenes featuring the characters from the series.
Baretta is a American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a recasting and reshaping of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma. When Musante left the series after a single season, the concept was retooled as Baretta, with Robert Blake in the title role.
Synopsis Detective Tony Baretta was a bachelor cop who lived in a run-down hotel with his pet cockatoo, Fred. Other characters were Baretta's supervisors Inspector Shiller (Dana Elcar) and Lieutenant Hal Brubaker (Edward Grover); Billy Truman (Tom Ewell), an older and sometimes drunk ex-cop who cheerfully ran the hotel where Tony Baretta resided; and Rooster (Michael D. Roberts), a streetwise pimp and Tony's favorite informant.
Tony Baretta's catchphrases included "You can take dat to the bank" and "That's the name of that tune."
The theme song, "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow", was written by Dave Grusin and M. Ames; initially an instrumental, lyrics were added in later seasons that were sung by Sammy Davis Jr.. Every episode of Baretta began with the song, which contained the motto, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time."
Robert Blake (born September 18, 1933) is an American actor most famous for starring in the U.S. television series Baretta.
Early years He was born Michael James Vincenzo Gubitosi in Nutley, New Jersey, the son of Giacomo Gubitosi (January 14, 1906–August 15, 1956) and Elizabeth Cafone (born December 28, 1910). His brother was James Gubitosi (October 26, 1930–January 30, 1995) and his sister Giovanna Gubitosi.
His father was born in Italy, arriving in the United States in 1907, and his mother was an Italian-American born in New Jersey. They married in 1929. In 1930, James worked as a die setter for a can manufacturer. Eventually, James and Elizabeth began a song-and-dance act. In 1936, the three children began performing, billed as "The Three Little Hillbillies." They moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1938, where the children began working as movie extras.
Film career
As a child actor Mickey Gubitosi's acting career began when he appeared as Toto in the MGM movie Bridal Suite (1939) starring Annabella and Robert Young. Gubitosi then began appearing in MGM's Our Gang short subjects under his real name, replacing Eugene "Porky" Lee. He appeared in 40 of the shorts between 1939 and 1944, eventually becoming the series' final lead character. James and Jovanni Gubitosi also made appearances in the series as extras.
During his early Our Gang period, Gubitosi's character, Mickey, was often called upon to cry, and the young actor has been noted by some film critics as having been unsubtle and unconvincing.[1] In 1942, he acquired the stage name Bobby Blake, and his character in the series was renamed "Mickey Blake". In 1944, MGM discontinued Our Gang, releasing the final short in the series, Dancing Romeo, on April 29.
To date, Gubitosi is one of the few living Our Gang actors from the original series. Other notable surviving members are Jackie Cooper, Dorothy DeBorba, Dickie Moore, Shirley Jean Rickert, Jean Darling, Jerry Tucker, and Jackie Lynn Taylor.
In 1944, Blake began playing an Indian boy, "Little Beaver," in the Red Ryder Western series at Republic Pictures, appearing in twenty-three of the movies until 1947. He also had roles in one of Laurel and Hardy's later films The Big Noise (1944), and the Warner Bros. movies Humoresque (1946), playing John Garfield's character as a child, and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), playing the Mexican boy who sells Humphrey Bogart a winning lottery ticket, getting a glass of water thrown in his face in the process.
According to Blake, he had an unhappy childhood with a miserable home life and was abused by his alcoholic father. When he entered public school at age ten, he could not understand why the other children were hostile to him. He had fights, which led to his expulsion. When he was fourteen, he ran away from home. The next few years were a reportedly difficult period in his life.
As an adult actor In 1950, he went into the army. When he returned to Southern California he entered Jeff Corey's acting class and began turning his life around, both personally and professionally. He matured and became a seasoned Hollywood actor, playing some choice dramatic roles in movies and television. In 1956, he was billed as Robert Blake for the first time and in 1959 turned down the role of Little Joe Cartwright in the television series Bonanza.
Blake performed in numerous theatrical motion pictures as an adult, including his starring role in The Purple Gang (1960), a gangster movie, and featured roles in such movies as Ensign Pulver (1964) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). In 1967, he starred in his acclaimed role of real-life murderer Perry Smith in In Cold Blood, which was directed by Richard Brooks, who also adapted the story for the screen from the Truman Capote non-fiction work. Blake also starred in the role of an Indian fugitive in Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969), a TV movie adaptation of Of Mice and Men (1981) and as a motorcycle highway patrolman in Electra Glide in Blue (1973). He played a small town stock car driver in search of a shot at the big time in Nascar in the film Corky made in 1972 by MGM. The film featured small scenes with real nascar drivers of the day such as Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough, Blake driving a customized Plymouth Barracuda across the country to meet up with a supposed contact at Talladega speedway. It was a gritty role with Blake acting an emotional rollercoaster, going back to shoot his old boss as his life disintegrates around him, his inability to "straighten up" for his wife leading to their estrangement and ultimately his downfall.
Blake is probably best known for his Emmy Award-winning role of Tony Baretta in the popular TV series Baretta (1975 to 1978), in which he played an undercover police detective who specialized in disguises. Trademarks of the show include his character's pet cockatoo, the proverbial sentence "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time," and a memorable theme song "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow" written by Dave Grusin and Morgan Ames and performed by Sammy Davis, Jr.
He continued to act through the 1980s and 1990s, mostly in television, including the role of Jimmy Hoffa in the miniseries Blood Feud (1983) and John List in the murder drama Judgment Day: The John List Story (1993), for which he received another Emmy. He had character parts in the theatrical movies Money Train (1995) and Lost Highway (1997). Blake also starred in another television series called Hell Town in which he played a priest working in a tough neighbourhood.
Personal life He and actress Sondra Kerr were married in 1962 and divorced in 1983. They had two children, actor Noah Blake (born 1965) and Delinah Blake (born 1966).
Bonnie Lee Bakley In 1999, Blake met Bonnie Lee Bakley, formerly of 6 Kossuth Street in Wharton, NJ, reportedly a woman with a history of exploiting older men for money, especially celebrities. She was seeing Christian Brando, son of Marlon Brando, during her relationship with Blake. Bakley became pregnant and told both Brando and Blake that they were the father. Initially, Bakley named the baby "Christian Shannon Brando" and stated Brando was the father of her child. Bakley wrote letters describing her dubious motives to Blake. Robert Blake ordered her to take a DNA test to prove the paternity. Blake and Bakley married November 19, 2000 after DNA tests proved that he was in fact the biological father of her child, renamed Rose. It was his second marriage, her tenth.
Although they were married, it was unconventional. Bakley lived in a small guest house behind her husband's house in the Studio City area of the San Fernando Valley.
On May 4, 2001, Blake took Bakley to an Italian dinner at Vitello's Restaurant on Tujunga Avenue in Studio City. Afterward, Bakley was murdered by a gunshot to the head while sitting in the car, which was parked on a side street around the corner from the restaurant. Blake told the police that he had gone back to the restaurant to get a gun he left at the table and was there when the shooting occurred. When questioned later, no other diners or employees recalled Blake returning to the restaurant.
Arrest and trial for murder He was arrested on April 18, 2002, and charged in connection with the murder of his wife. His longtime bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, was also arrested and charged with conspiracy in connection with the murder. The arrest came almost one year after the murder on May 4, 2001 in Studio City, California. The final break in the case, which gave the LAPD the confidence to arrest Blake, came when a retired stuntman, Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton, agreed to testify against Blake. Hambleton alleged that Blake tried to hire him to kill Bonnie Lee Bakley. Another associate of Hambleton's, retired stuntman Gary McLarty, came forth with a similar story.
According to author Miles Corwin, Hambleton agreed to testify against Blake only after being told he would be subject to a Grand Jury subpoena and a pending misdemeanor charge. Hambleton's motives to testify against Blake were successfully called into question by Blake's defense team during the criminal trial.
On April 22, Blake was charged with one count of murder with special circumstances, an offense eligible for the death penalty. He was also charged with two counts of solicitation of murder and one count of murder conspiracy. Blake pled not guilty to all charges. Caldwell was charged with a single count of murder conspiracy and also pled not guilty.
On April 25, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office announced they would not seek the death penalty against Blake should he be convicted, but prosecutors would seek a sentence of life in prison without parole.
After Blake posted $1 million bail, Caldwell was released on April 27. But a judge denied bail for Blake on May 1. On March 13, 2003, after almost a year in jail, Blake was granted bail, which was set at $1.5 million, and allowed to go free to await trial.
Blake's story inspired an episode of the TV crime show Law & Order, titled Formerly Famous. It aired on NBC on November 7, 2001.
Acquittal On March 16, 2005, Blake was found not guilty of the murder of Bonnie Lee Bakley, and of one of the two counts of soliciting a former stuntman to murder her. The other count of solicitation was dropped after it was revealed that the jury was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of an acquittal. Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, commenting on this ruling, called Blake a "miserable human being" and the jurors "incredibly stupid." Blake's defense team and members of the jury responded that the prosecution had failed to prove its case. Trial analysts also agreed with the jury's verdict.
Civil case Bakley's four children filed a civil suit against Blake asserting that he was responsible for their mother's death. On November 18, 2005, the jury found Blake liable for the wrongful death of his wife and ordered him to pay $30 million. On February 3, 2006, Blake filed for bankruptcy. Expressing disbelief that Blake was found liable by the jury in the civil trial, M. Gerald Schwartzbach (Blake's attorney in the criminal trial) vowed to appeal the jury verdict.
Civil trial verdict appeal According to the Associated Press, M. Gerald Schwartzbach filed the appeal brief on February 28, 2007. It was also reported in the AP article that an LAPD Internal Affairs investigation has been opened regarding the lead detective in the original murder case, Detective Ron Ito. The complaint was filed by M. Gerald Schwartzbach and civil trial witness Brian Allan Fiebelkorn. The complaint alleges that the detective failed to investigate leads that persons other than Robert Blake could have been responsible for the murder of Bonnie Lee Bakley. Fiebelkorn testified that associates of Christian Brando (originally claimed to have been the father of Bonnie Lee Bakley's daughter) may have been responsible for the murder of Ms. Bakley.[13] The defense theory of who may have been involved in the conspiracy to kill Bonnie Lee Bakley was laid out in a defense motion filed during the criminal trial proceedings
Little House on the Prairie was an American one-hour dramatic television program that aired on the NBC network from September 11, 1974, to March 21, 1983, bumping the long-running Adam-12 series to Tuesday nights. During the 1982-83 television season, with the departure of Michael Landon, the series was broadcast with the new title Little House: A New Beginning. A miniseries called The Little House Years was aired in 1979.
The show was a loose adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s best-selling series of Little House on the Prairie books.
The series was produced in-house by NBC. As of 2007, current corporate sibling Universal Media Studios owns the underlying rights; however, it is distributed in syndication in the United States by CBS Television Distribution, the syndication arm of CBS Paramount Television (holders of the library of Worldvision Enterprises, the original syndicated distributors).
Michael Landon as Charles Phillip Ingalls - A Farmer near Walnut Grove and father of Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Grace (1974-1982) Karen Grassle as Caroline Lake Quiner Ingalls - Charles' wife (1974-1982) Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary Amelia Ingalls - Charles' & Caroline's older daughter (1974-1981) Melissa Gilbert as Laura Elizabeth Ingalls - Charles' & Caroline's middle daughter Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush (who were identical twins) as Caroline Celestia "Carrie" Ingalls - Charles' & Caroline's younger daughter (1974-1982) Matthew Laborteaux as Albert Quinn Ingalls - Charles' & Caroline's adopted son (1978-1983) Richard Bull as Nelson "Nels" Oleson Katherine MacGregor as Harriet Oleson Alison Arngrim as Nellie Oleson (1974-1981) Jonathan Gilbert as Willie Oleson Kevin Hagen as Dr. Hiram Baker Dabbs Greer as Reverend Robert Alden Victor French as Isaiah Edwards (1974-1977, 1979, 1981-1983) Dean Butler as Almanzo James Wilder (1979-1983) Merlin Olsen as Jonathan Garvey (1977-1981) Linwood Boomer as Adam Kendall (1978-1981) Wendi and Brenda Turnbaugh (who were identical twins) as Grace Pearl Ingalls (1977-1982)
Recurring Ruth Foster as Mrs Melinda Foster Wendi and Brenda Turnbaugh as Grace Ingalls (1978-1982) Charlotte Stewart as Eva Beadle-Simms (1974-1978) Patrick Laborteaux as Andrew "Andy" Garvey (1977-1981) Karl Swenson as Lars Hanson (1974-1978) James Jeter as Hans Dofler (1974-1975, 1979-1980) Queenie Smith as Mrs. Whipple Ketty Lester as Hester-Sue Terhune (1978-1983) Allison Balson as Nancy Oleson (1981-1983) Hersha Parady as Alice Garvey (1977-1980) Bonnie Bartlett as Grace Snider Edwards (1974-1977, 1979) Jason Bateman as James Cooper/Ingalls (1981-1982) Moses Gunn as Joe Kagan (1977-1981) Missy Francis as Cassandra Cooper/Ingalls (1981-1982) Stan Ivar as John Carter (1982-1983) Shannen Doherty as Jenny Wilder (1982-1983) Lindsay Kennedy as Jeb Carter (1982-1983) David Friedman as Jason Carter (1982-1983) Kyle Richards as Alicia Sanderson/Edwards (1975-1977, 1979, 1982) Brian Part as Carl Sanderson/Edwards (1975-1977) Radames Pera as John Sanderson/Edwards, Jr. (1975-1977) Leslie Landon as Etta Plum (1982-1983) Michelle Downey as Susan "Sue" Goodspeed (1978-1981) Jennifer and Michele Steffin as Rose Wilder (1982-1983) Lucy Lee Flippin as Eliza Jane Wilder (1979-1982) Pamela Roylance as Sarah Reed Carter (1982-1983) Steve Tracy as Percival Dalton/Isaac Cohen (1980-1981)
Detail
Carrie, Mary, and Laura Ingalls frolic down a hill, as shown in the opening credits of the series.Although it differed from the original books, and many new characters and situations were added, this television series was one of the few long-running successful dramatic family shows (and it is still in syndication). Although predominantly a drama, the program did have some comedic moments, thanks to supporting cast members such as Mr. Edwards (played by Victor French) and the Oleson family: Nels Oleson (Richard Bull), Harriet Oleson (Katherine MacGregor), Willie Oleson (Jonathan Gilbert), and Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim).
The show's central characters are Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon), farmer and patriarch, with his wife, Caroline (Karen Grassle), and three daughters, Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson), Laura (Melissa Gilbert), and Carrie (Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush). The Ingalls family also adopts 10-year-old Albert Quinn (Matthew Laborteaux), whom the family meets when they move (briefly) to Winoka, Dakota Territory in a series of 1978 episodes. Later the Ingalls family adopts more children, James (Jason Bateman) and Cassandra Cooper (Missy Francis), a brother and sister who are orphaned after their parents are killed in a wagon accident.
Michael Landon as Charles Ingalls, Lindsay or Sidney Greenbush as Carrie Ingalls, Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls, Karen Grassle as Caroline Ingalls, and Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary Ingalls,in a promotional photo from the first season.Other essential characters included the friendly Nels Oleson, proprietor of the town's general store, Oleson's Mercantile; his malicious, gossipping wife, Harriet; and their two spoiled children, Nellie and Willie; and later, their adopted child, Nancy (Allison Balson). Also appearing in the series are Merlin Olsen (as Jonathan Garvey), Dabbs Greer (as Reverend Robert Alden), Karl Swenson (as Lars Hanson, the town's founder and proprietor of the town's mill), and Kevin Hagen (as Dr. Hiram Baker, the town's doctor). Malcolm in the Middle creator Linwood Boomer appears as Mary Ingalls's teacher-turned-husband, Adam Kendall, whom she meets at the school for the blind in the 1978-1979 season. In 1979, Dean Butler joined the cast as Almanzo Wilder, and he and Laura are married in the 1980-1981 season premiere.
Michael Landon directed the largest number of episodes (87); producer William F. Claxton handled the majority of the remaining shows (68). Co-star Victor French helmed 19 episodes.
The series theme song was titled The Little House and was written and conducted by David Rose.
As with most TV series set in a distant time or place, the series includes occasional historical inaccuracies. Little House on the Prairie was largely filmed on Big Sky Ranch at Simi Valley, California. Camera vistas sometimes pick up the rugged terrain, far too mountainous for Minnesota, and the Californian chaparral vegetation. In one particular episode Laura runs away and climbs up a mountain. However, there are no mountains on the prairie. Nevertheless, in most scenes the oak savanna is considered to be representative of the real Walnut Grove. Dr. Baker's telephone seems far ahead of its time, since the telephone was newly invented and existed only in large cities in the 1880s.
The most successful western-dramatic series ended in 1983, due to low ratings (after Landon's decision of leaving the show), but this show set the tone for one other series that is similar to Little House: Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman. In addition, the show is immensely-popular in reruns in syndication, Hallmark Channel and on TV Land.
Guest Stars During its nine season run, many actors made guest appearances, including both well-known actors and/or unfamiliar actors who went on to become well-known stars. Among those appearing in Little House episodes were: Willie Aames, E.J. Andre, Anne Archer, Lew Ayres, Hermione Baddeley, Olivia Barash, Don 'Red' Barry, Billy Barty, Richard Basehart, Tony Becker, Ralph Bellamy, Ken Berry, Peter Billingsley, Dirk Blocker, Ray Bolger, Ernest Borgnine, Todd Bridges, Walter Brooke, Red Buttons, Leon Charles, Don Collier, Nicolas Coster, James Cromwell, Shannen Doherty, Ike Eisenmann, Lou Fant, Gil Gerard, Ted Gehring, Louis Gossett Jr., Nancy Lee Grahn, Mariette Hartley, Arthur Hill, John Hillerman, Robert Hoffman, Beth Howland, John Ireland, Richard Jaeckel, Lance Kerwin, Tom Lester, Chuck McCann, Richard Mulligan, Jimmy McNichol, Patricia Neal, Sean Penn, John Bennett Perry, Carl Pitti, Eddie Quillan, Kim Richards, Tracie Savage, William Schallert, Eric Shea, James B. Sikking, Madeleine Stowe, Dub Taylor, Forrest Tucker, Mitch Vogel, Burl Ives, among many others. Colonel Sanders made a cameo apparance. Country music legend Johnny Cash also made a cameo appearance as an ex-convict alongside his real-life wife June Carter Cash.
Anachronisms Throughout the series' run there were several anachronisms, where elements were used that post-date the series 1870s setting.
In the episode, "The Collection" a conman played by Johnny Cash poses as a minister with plans to take a collection for a neighboring community ravaged by a prairie fire before being touched by the townsfolk's generosity, and having a change of heart. After giving the funds to Rev. Alden, the congregation sings the hymn "In the Garden", which was not published until 1912. In the second part of the episode of "See the Light," Adam falls ill before taking his entrance exam to law school. On the train ride, Charles offers Mary half of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich mentioning she liked them in her childhood. However, peanut butter was little known until the 1904 Saint Louis World Fair. In the eighth-season episode "Wave of the Future", a character modeled on Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders shows up saying he was going to open a dining establishment. In reality, Sanders had not even been born at that time. The character was billed only as "Bearded Man" for legal reasons and was played by look-a-like John A. Roberts. In several later episodes, Melissa Gilbert's character is a married woman who teaches school. Married women were not allowed at this time to teach school. In the same vein, Miss Beadle continues to teach the children of Walnut Grove even after marrying Mr. Sims, continues to teach during her pregnancy, and goes into labor in the classroom in the episodes, "Here Come The Brides" and "A Most Precious Gift". All of these would have been unthinkable in the 1870s.
Continuity Issues Longtime viewers of the series (which repeats every 3 months on The Hallmark Channel) may notice several continuity issues throughout the series's run:
Several actors played more than one character on the show at various times. Kyle Richards played Alicia Sanderson in seasons 2 & 3, but also plays the daughter of Brett Harper in "Somone Please Love Me" in season 5. Richards also reprises the role of Alicia in "A Promise to Keep" in Season 8. Hersha Parady portrayed Charles's sister-in-law in "Journey in the Spring" before she played Alice Garvey in seasons 4, 5, and 6. Billy Barty played a circus clown in "Annabelle" and "Little Lou". Perhaps the most reused actor in the whole series was E.J. Andre, who played at least 4 characters during the show's run. His most prominent role was that of Uncle Jed in two episodes in Season 8. There are also numerous characters whom the viewer was lead to believe had either been involved in the Ingalls lives for quite sometime, or were prominent citizens in Walnut Grove, but who were never mentioned again with no explanation after their episode. Some of these character emerged on the scene with no backstory. These include the Widow Andrews in "For My Lady", Kezia Horn (of two episodes), Ruthy (from "The Last Summer") and numerous children at the school. The eventual demise of Albert Ingalls is called into question by two episodes. In Season 9, in the epilogue to "Home Again", we hear Laura in a voice over stating that Albert returns to Walnut Grove as Dr. Albert Ingalls in his adult years. However, in the movie "Look Back to Yesterday", we're lead to believe Albert dies from a blood disorder. There are also two versions of Caroline Ingalls's maiden name used in the series. In episodes "Journey in the Spring", "I Remember, I Remember" and "Author, Author", her maiden name is referred to as being "Holbrook". It isn't until the episode "Whatever Happened to the Class of '56" (from Season 6) we hear Caroline's actual maiden name, Quiner. Of course, anyone with a casual knowledge of the book will note that Mary never married after going blind (she lived with Carrie's family until her death) and there was no Albert Ingalls. The marital status of Rev. Alden is also very ambiguous. He marries a local spinster in "The Preacher Takes a Wife", but she's never mentioned again. When Reverend Alden shares details of his alcoholism with Mr. Edwards in Season 8, he mentions that his first wife left him because of his drinking.
little house on the prairie
Little House on the Prairie - Country Girls
Little House on the Prairie - Outtakes
Little House on the Prairie - Founder's Day Caroline
