Kentucky Jones
Encyclopedia
Kentucky Jones is a half-hour comedy
/drama
starring Dennis Weaver
as Kenneth Yarborough "K.Y. or Kentucky" Jones, D.V.M., a recently widow
ed former horse
trainer and active rancher, who becomes the guardian of Dwight Eisenhower "Ike" "Wong, a 10-year-old Chinese
orphan
, played by Ricky Der. Harry Morgan
, previously of the CBS sitcoms December Bride
and Pete and Gladys
, was featured in the series as Seldom Jackson, a former jockey
who assists Dr. Jones. Cherylene Lee appears as Annie Ng, Ike's friend. Arthur Wong portrays Mr. Ng, Annie's father. Keye Luke (1904-1991) stars as Mr. Wong, a friend of Dr. Jones. Nancy Rennick (1932-2006) appears as Miss Throncroft, a social worker. Kentucky Jones, which ran on NBC
from September 19, 1964, to September 11, 1965, was the first of Weaver's four series, the most successful having been McCloud, since he left the role of the marshal's helper Chester Goode on CBS's western
classic Gunsmoke
, starring James Arness
.
Richard Bull
, who later portrayed the henpecked storekeeper Nels Oleson on NBC's Little House on the Prairie
, appeared twice on Kentucky Jones as Harold Erkel in episodes entitled "The Victim" and "The Return of Wong Lee" (also with Malcolm Atterbury
).
Other selected episodes and guest stars include: "Hello Ike", the series premiere, with Diane Brewster
and Marlyn Mason
as Doris Caine), "Spare the Rod" (Paul Fix
as Judge Perkins), "Wildcat Soup" (Tyler McVey
), "Ike's Song" (Pat Harrington, Jr.
), "The Big Shot" (Harry Townes
), "The Music Kids Make" (Philip Abbott
and Robby Weaver (born 1953), Dennis Weaver's son), "The Big Speech" (Charles Lane
), "Feminine Intrusion" (Spring Byington
, of December Bride and Laramie
, as Mrs. Jolly, hired by Dr. Jones to cook a meal as payment of a debt), "Most Precious Gold" (Strother Martin
; episode focuses on a camping trip), and "Kentucky's Vacation" (Yvonne Craig
), the series finale.
A Buzz Kulik
Production in association with NBC
, Kentucky Jones was filmed at Desilu Studios in Culver City
, California
. The series first aired on Saturdays at 8:30 Eastern from September 19 to December 27. It switched to 7 p.m. on January 2 for the remainder of its run through September 11, 1965. Rebroadcasts began on April 17. In the 8:30 slot, the program faced competition from the first season of the CBS sitcom Gilligan's Island
, with Alan Hale, Jr.
, and Bob Denver
, and the first half of ABC's The Lawrence Welk Show
. In the move to a half-hour earlier, having swapped time slots with The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo
, CBS offered The Jackie Gleason Show
, and ABC aired the science fiction
series, The Outer Limits
. In the second time slot, Kentucky Jones followed the NBC adventure
series Flipper
starring Brian Kelly
.
After Kentucky Jones, young Der (born ca. 1954) acted only one more time, as Mickey in a 1965 episode "So Long, Patrick Henry" of NBC's I Spy starring Bill Cosby
and Robert Culp
. In January 1967, Harry Morgan advanced to Jack Webb
's second version of Dragnet in the role of Officer Bill Gannon, and later, on M*A*S*H as Col. Sherman T. Potter. In September of that year, Weaver starred with child actor Clint Howard
in the CBS family drama Gentle Ben
.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
/drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
starring Dennis Weaver
Dennis Weaver
William Dennis Weaver was an American actor, best known for his work in television, including roles on Gunsmoke, as Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud, and the 1971 TV movie Duel....
as Kenneth Yarborough "K.Y. or Kentucky" Jones, D.V.M., a recently widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
ed former horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
trainer and active rancher, who becomes the guardian of Dwight Eisenhower "Ike" "Wong, a 10-year-old Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
, played by Ricky Der. Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...
, previously of the CBS sitcoms December Bride
December Bride
December Bride is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959, adapted from the original CBS radio network series that aired from June 1952 through September 1953.-Overview:...
and Pete and Gladys
Pete and Gladys
Pete and Gladys is an American situation comedy broadcast by CBS on Monday night at 8:00pm Eastern and Pacific time for two seasons, beginning on September 19, 1960...
, was featured in the series as Seldom Jackson, a former jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
who assists Dr. Jones. Cherylene Lee appears as Annie Ng, Ike's friend. Arthur Wong portrays Mr. Ng, Annie's father. Keye Luke (1904-1991) stars as Mr. Wong, a friend of Dr. Jones. Nancy Rennick (1932-2006) appears as Miss Throncroft, a social worker. Kentucky Jones, which ran on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from September 19, 1964, to September 11, 1965, was the first of Weaver's four series, the most successful having been McCloud, since he left the role of the marshal's helper Chester Goode on CBS's western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
classic Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
, starring James Arness
James Arness
James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
.
Richard Bull
Richard Bull (actor)
Richard Bull is an American film actor, stage actor and television actor.He is best known for his performance as Nels Oleson, the kindly proprietor of Oleson's Mercantile and the long suffering husband of his wife Harriet on the NBC TV series Little House on the Prairie which aired from 1974 to...
, who later portrayed the henpecked storekeeper Nels Oleson on NBC's Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
, appeared twice on Kentucky Jones as Harold Erkel in episodes entitled "The Victim" and "The Return of Wong Lee" (also with Malcolm Atterbury
Malcolm Atterbury
Malcolm Atterbury was a stage and vaudeville actor who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is probably most well known as Bixby in Wagon Train and Lee Reinhard in Dragnet...
).
Other selected episodes and guest stars include: "Hello Ike", the series premiere, with Diane Brewster
Diane Brewster
Diane Brewster was an American television actress most noted for playing three distinctively different roles in US TV series of the 1950s and 60s: confidence trickster Samantha Crawford in Maverick; pretty young second-grade teacher Miss Canfield in Leave It to Beaver; and doomed wife Helen...
and Marlyn Mason
Marlyn Mason
Marlyn Mason is an American actress.Her acting credits include roles in My Three Sons, Burke's Law, Kentucky Jones, Bonanza, Ben Casey, Dr...
as Doris Caine), "Spare the Rod" (Paul Fix
Paul Fix
Paul Fix was an American film and television character actor, best known for his work in westerns. Fix appeared in more than a hundred movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career spanning from 1925 to 1981...
as Judge Perkins), "Wildcat Soup" (Tyler McVey
Tyler McVey
Tyler McVey was an American character actor.-Early life and career:McVey was born in Bay City on Saginaw Bay in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. His first screen role, uncredited, came at the age of 39 in 1951, when he portrayed Brady in the The Day the Earth Stood Still...
), "Ike's Song" (Pat Harrington, Jr.
Pat Harrington, Jr.
Pat Harrington, Jr., is an American voice, stage, and television actor most popularly known for his role as building superintendent "Schneider" on the CBS sitcom One Day At A Time. He is the son of Pat Harrington, Sr.- Biography :...
), "The Big Shot" (Harry Townes
Harry Townes
Harry Rhett Townes was an American television and movie actor.-Early life:Townes was born in Huntsville, the seat of Madison County in northern Alabama...
), "The Music Kids Make" (Philip Abbott
Philip Abbott
Philip Abbott was an American character actor and occasional voice actor.Abbott was a secondary lead in several films of the 1950s and 1960s. Miracle of the White Stallions...
and Robby Weaver (born 1953), Dennis Weaver's son), "The Big Speech" (Charles Lane
Charles Lane (actor)
Charles Gerstle Levison , better known as Charles Lane, was an American character actor seen in many movies and TV shows, and at the time of his death may have been the oldest living professional American actor. Lane appeared in many Frank Capra films, including You Can't Take It With You , Mr...
), "Feminine Intrusion" (Spring Byington
Spring Byington
Spring Byington was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a key MGM contract player appearing in films from the 1930s through the 1960s.-Early life:Byington was born Spring Dell Byington in Colorado Springs,...
, of December Bride and Laramie
Laramie (TV series)
Laramie is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1959 to 1963. Laramie was a Revue Studios production which originally starred John Smith as Slim Sherman, Robert Fuller as Jess Harper, Hoagy Carmichael as Jonesy and Robert Crawford, Jr...
, as Mrs. Jolly, hired by Dr. Jones to cook a meal as payment of a debt), "Most Precious Gold" (Strother Martin
Strother Martin
Strother Martin was an American actor in numerous films and television programs. Martin is perhaps best known as the prison "captain" in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, where he uttered the line, "What we've got here is...failure to communicate."-Early life:Strother Martin Jr. was born in Kokomo,...
; episode focuses on a camping trip), and "Kentucky's Vacation" (Yvonne Craig
Yvonne Craig
Yvonne Joyce Craig is an American actress best known for her role as Batgirl from the 1960s TV series Batman, and as the Orion Marta in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Whom Gods Destroy”.-Early life and career:...
), the series finale.
A Buzz Kulik
Buzz Kulik
Buzz Kulik was an American film director and producer. He directed 72 films and television shows, including several episodes of The Twilight Zone.-Selected filmography:* The Explosive Generation...
Production in association with NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, Kentucky Jones was filmed at Desilu Studios in Culver City
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The series first aired on Saturdays at 8:30 Eastern from September 19 to December 27. It switched to 7 p.m. on January 2 for the remainder of its run through September 11, 1965. Rebroadcasts began on April 17. In the 8:30 slot, the program faced competition from the first season of the CBS sitcom Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
, with Alan Hale, Jr.
Alan Hale, Jr.
Alan Hale, Jr. was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as Skipper on the popular sitcom Gilligan's Island. Hale was the lookalike son of popular supporting film actor Alan Hale, Sr....
, and Bob Denver
Bob Denver
Robert Osbourne "Bob" Denver was an American comedic actor known for his roles as Gilligan on the television series Gilligan's Island and the beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 TV series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.-Early life:Denver was born in New Rochelle, New York, and raised in...
, and the first half of ABC's The Lawrence Welk Show
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...
. In the move to a half-hour earlier, having swapped time slots with The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo
The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo
The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo is an animated television series, produced by United Productions of America, which aired for one season...
, CBS offered The Jackie Gleason Show
The Jackie Gleason Show
The Jackie Gleason Show is the name of a series of popular American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970.-Cavalcade of Stars:...
, and ABC aired the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series, The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
. In the second time slot, Kentucky Jones followed the NBC adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
series Flipper
Flipper (1964 TV series)
Flipper, from Ivan Tors Films in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, is an American television program first broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the companion animal of Porter Ricks, Chief Warden at fictional Coral Key Park...
starring Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly (actor)
Brian Kelly was an American actor best known for his role as Porter Ricks, the widowed father of two sons on the NBC television series Flipper, and as Scott Ross in the ABC advernture series Straightaway, with co-star John Ashley.-Early years:Born in Detroit, Michigan, Kelly was the son of former...
.
After Kentucky Jones, young Der (born ca. 1954) acted only one more time, as Mickey in a 1965 episode "So Long, Patrick Henry" of NBC's I Spy starring Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
and Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
. In January 1967, Harry Morgan advanced to Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
's second version of Dragnet in the role of Officer Bill Gannon, and later, on M*A*S*H as Col. Sherman T. Potter. In September of that year, Weaver starred with child actor Clint Howard
Clint Howard
Clinton "Clint" Howard is an American film and television actor. He is a character actor with numerous brief appearances on television and films. He has played many bit parts in movies directed by his brother, actor-turned-director Ron Howard. He is also the uncle of actress Bryce Dallas Howard...
in the CBS family drama Gentle Ben
Gentle Ben
Gentle Ben is a children's novel by author Walt Morey, first published in 1965. The book concerns the friendship between the title character, a bear, and a young boy named Mark...
.