Route 66 is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
TV series in which two young men traveled across America. The show ran weekly on
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
from 1960 to 1964. It starred
Martin MilnerMartin Sam Milner is an American actor best known for his performances in two popular television series, Adam-12 and Route 66....
as
Tod StilesTod Stiles was a fictional character portrayed by actor Martin Milner on the 1960’s American prime-time dramatic television series Route 66. Tod was one of three main regular characters on the program, and the only one to appear in all 116 episodes of the show's four seasons.-Character history:Tod...
and, for two and a half seasons,
George MaharisGeorge Maharis is an American actor who portrayed Buz Murdock in the first three seasons of the TV series Route 66...
as
Buz MurdockBuz Murdock was a fictional character portrayed by actor George Maharis on the 1960’s American prime-time dramatic television series Route 66. Buz was one of three main regular characters on the program, and his tenure lasted for two and a half of the program’s four seasons. It ended with Maharis’...
. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod was shown traveling on his own. Tod met
Lincoln CaseLincoln Case was a fictional character portrayed by actor Glenn Corbett on the 1960s American prime-time drama Route 66. Linc was one of three main regular characters on the program. His tenure began midway through the show's third season, when he was written in as a replacement for the departed...
, played by
Glenn CorbettGlenn Corbett was an American actor best known for his role on CBS's adventure drama Route 66.-Acting career:...
, late in the third season, and traveled with him until the end of the fourth and final season. The series currently airs on Me-TV,
My Family TVMy Family TV is a United States general entertainment television network jointly owned by ValCom and Luken Communications, and based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.-History:...
and
RTVThe Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...
.
The series is best remembered for its
CorvetteThe Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors that has been produced in six generations. The first model, a convertible, was designed by Harley Earl and introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after...
convertible and its instrumental theme song (composed and performed by
Nelson RiddleNelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
), which became a major pop hit.
Format and characters
Route 66 was a hybrid between episodic television drama, which has continuing characters and situations, and the anthology format (e.g.,
The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
), in which each week's show has a completely different cast and story.
Route 66 had just three continuing characters, no more than two of whom appeared in the same episode. Like Richard Kimble from
The FugitiveThe Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
, the wanderers would move from place to place and get caught up in the struggles of the people there. Unlike Kimble, nothing was forcing them to stay on the move except their own sense of adventure, thus making it thematically closer to
Run for Your LifeRun for Your Life is an American television drama series starring Ben Gazzara as a man with only a short time to live. It ran on NBC from 1965 to 1968. The series was created by Roy Huggins, who had previously explored the "man on the move" concept with The Fugitive.-Synopsis:Gazzara plays lawyer...
,
MaverickMaverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
,
Movin' OnMovin' On is an American drama series that ran for two seasons , between 1974 and 1976. It originally appeared on the NBC television network...
, and
Then Came BronsonThen Came Bronson is a short-lived adventure/drama television series that aired on NBC from 1969 to 1970, and was produced by MGM Television. The series, created by Denne Bart Petitclerc, began with a movie pilot on Monday, March 24, 1969. The series was greenlit for one year and began its first...
.
This semi-anthology concept, where the drama is centered on the guest stars rather than the regular cast, was carried over from series creator
Stirling SilliphantStirling Dale Silliphant was an American screenwriter and producer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, moved to Glendale, California as a child, graduated from Hoover High School, and was educated at the University of Southern California...
's previous drama
Naked CityNaked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic "semi-documentary" format....
(1958–1963). Both shows were recognized for their literate scripts and rich characterizations. The open-ended format, featuring two roaming observers/facilitators, gave Silliphant and the other writers an almost unlimited landscape for presenting a wide variety of dramatic (or comedic) story lines. Virtually any tale could be adapted to the series. The two regulars merely had to be worked in and the setting tailored to fit the location. The two men take odd jobs along their journey, like toiling in a
CaliforniaCalifornia 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...
vineyard or manning a
MaineMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
lobster boat, bringing them in contact with dysfunctional families or troubled individuals in need of help.
Tod and Buz (and later, Linc) symbolized restless youth searching for meaning in the early 1960s, but they were essentially non-characters. We learn almost nothing about them over the course of the series. All we are told is that, after the death of his father, Tod Stiles inherits a new Corvette and decides to drive across America with his friend Buz. Tod, portrayed by clean-cut Martin Milner, is the epitome of the decent, honest, all-American type. He is the moral anchor of the series. By contrast, the working-class Buz (George Maharis) is looser, hipper, more
Beat GenerationThe Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
in attitude. There were subtle indications the Buz character was intended to loosely embody
Jack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
in appearance and attitudes.
Towards the end of the second season, Maharis was absent for several episodes, due to a bout of infectious hepatitis. He returned for the start of third season, but was again absent for number of episodes before leaving the show entirely mid-way through season three. Consequently, in numerous episodes in late season two and early season three, Tod travels solo, while Buz is said to be in the hospital with an unspecified ailment. Tod is often seen writing to Buz in these episodes, or having a one-sided phone conversation with him. In total, Tod appears solo in 13 episodes during seasons two and three.
Buz made his final appearance in a January 1963 episode, and was then written out of the show without a definitive explanation. Then, after five consecutive solo Tod stories, Tod gained a new traveling companion named Lincoln Case (Glenn Corbett) in March 1963. Case is a darker character than Buz Murdock, an
armyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
veteran haunted by his past. He's also more introspective than Buz with a sometimes explosive temper, but he is nonetheless a reliable companion as the duo continues their travels.
The series concluded in Tampa with the two-part episode "Where There's a Will, There's a Way," in which Tod Stiles got married, and Linc announced his intention to return home to his family in Texas, after a long period of estrangement. This made the series one of the earlier prime-time television dramas to have a planned series finale resolving the fate of its main characters.
The show was filmed and presented in black and white throughout its run.
Locations
U.S. Route 66U.S. Route 66 was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year...
is well-remembered for its cinematography and location filming. Writer-producer Stirling Silliphant traveled the country with a location manager (Sam Manners), scouting a wide range of locales and writing scripts to match the settings. The actors and film crew would arrive a few months later. Memorable locations include a logging camp, shrimp boats, an offshore oil rig, and
Glen Canyon DamGlen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona in the United States, just north of Page. The dam was built to provide hydroelectricity and flow regulation from the upper Colorado River Basin to the lower. Its reservoir is called Lake Powell, and is the second...
, the latter while still under construction.
The show actually had very little real connection with the
U.S. HighwayThe system of United States Numbered Highways is an integrated system of roads and highways in the United States numbered within a nationwide grid...
providing its name. Most of the locations visited throughout the series were far afield from the territory covered by "The Mother Road", which only wound through a total of eight states. The series, meanwhile, took place throughout the lower 48 American states, and two episodes were actually filmed and took place in Canada.
U.S. Route 66U.S. Route 66 was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year...
the highway was briefly referred to in just three early episodes of the series ("Black November," "Play It Glissando," and "An Absence of Tears") and is shown only rarely, as in the early first season episode "The Strengthening Angels".
Route 66 is one of very few series in the history of television to be filmed entirely on the road. This was done at a time when the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was much less homogeneous than it is now. People, their accents, livelihoods, ethnic backgrounds and attitudes varied widely from one location to the next. Scripted characters reflected a far less mobile, provincial society, in which people were more apt to spend their entire lives in one small part of the country. Obviously there were no regional barrier breakers like today's Internet, satellite/cable TV or national radio talk. Similarly, the places themselves were very different from one another visually, environmentally, architecturally, in goods and services available, etc. Stars Martin Milner and George Maharis both mentioned this in 1980s interviews. "Now you can go wherever you want," Maharis added by way of contrast, "and it's a
Denny'sDenny's is a full-service coffee shop/family restaurant chain. It operates over 1,500 restaurants in the United States , Canada, Curaçao, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan , Mexico, New Zealand, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.Denny's is known for always being...
."
Guest stars
The roster of guest stars on
Route 66 includes quite a few actors who later went on to fame and fortune, as well as major stars on the downward side of their careers. One of the most historically significant episodes of the series in this respect was "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing." It featured
Lon Chaney, Jr.Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...
,
Peter LorrePeter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
and
Boris KarloffWilliam Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
as themselves, with Karloff donning his famous Frankenstein monster make-up for the first time in 25 years and Chaney reprising his role as the Wolfman. The show was filmed at the O'Hare Inn, near O'Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois. Dutch singer Ronnie Tober had a small guest role with Sharon Russo, Junior Miss America.
Other notable guest stars from the series included
James BrownJames E. Brown was an American film and TV actor best known for his role as Lieutenant Ripley "Rip" Masters in all 166 episodes of the 1954-1959 ABC Western television series, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin....
(of Leonard's previous show, "Rin Tin Tin," multiple times and the actual
Rin Tin TinRin Tin Tin was the name given to a dog adopted from a WWI battlefield that went on to star in twenty-three Hollywood films. The name was subsequently given to several related German Shepherd dogs featured in fictional stories on film, radio and television.-Origins:The first of the line Rin Tin...
dog once with a guest starring credit as a guide dog in "Absence of Tears"), James Caan,
Robert DuvallRobert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
,
George KennedyGeorge Harris Kennedy, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke , airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s and...
,
Joey HeathertonJoey Heatherton is an American actress, dancer, and singer.-Early life:Christened Davenie Johanna Heatherton and nicknamed "Joey," she was raised in Rockville Centre, New York, a suburb of New York City. There she attended St. Agnes Cathedral School, a Catholic grade and high school...
,
Ben JohnsonBen "Son" Johnson, Jr. was an American motion picture actor who was mainly cast in Westerns. He was also a rodeo cowboy, stuntman, and rancher.-Personal life:...
, E.G. Marshall,
Walter MatthauWalter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
,
David JanssenDavid Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive , the starring role in the 1950s hit detective series Richard Diamond, Private Detective , and as Harry Orwell on Harry O.In 1996 TV Guide...
,
Buster KeatonJoseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
,
Ed AsnerEdward Asner , commonly known as Ed Asner, is an American film, television, stage, and voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant...
,
Lee MarvinLee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
,
Michael RennieMichael Rennie was an English film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the 1951 classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. However, he appeared in over 50 other films since 1936, many with Jean Simmons and other...
,
Tina LouiseTina Louise is an American actress, singer, and author. She is best known for her role as the "movie star" Ginger Grant on the television situation comedy Gilligan's Island .-Early life:...
,
Darren McGavinDarren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
,
Jack LordJohn Joseph Patrick Ryan , best known by his stage name Jack Lord, was an American television, film, and Broadway actor. He was known for his starring role as Steve McGarrett in the American television program Hawaii Five-O from 1968 to 1980. Lord appeared in feature films earlier in his career,...
,
Suzanne PleshetteSuzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
,
Anne FrancisAnne Lloyd Francis was an American actress, best known for her role in the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet , and as the female private detective in the television series Honey West . She won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy award for her role in Honey West...
,
Tuesday WeldTuesday Weld is an American actress.Weld began her acting career as a child, and progressed to more mature roles during the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960...
,
Susan OliverSusan Oliver was an American actress, television director and aviator.-Early life and family:Susan Oliver was born Charlotte Gercke, the daughter of journalist George Gercke and astrology practitioner Ruth Hale Oliver, in New York City in 1932. Her parents divorced when she was still a child...
,
Robert RedfordCharles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
,
Martin SheenRamón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
,
Rod SteigerRodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger was an Academy Award-winning American actor known for his performances in such films as On the Waterfront, The Big Knife, Oklahoma!, The Harder They Fall, Across the Bridge, The Pawnbroker, Doctor Zhivago, In the Heat of the Night, and Waterloo as well as the...
, and
Joan TompkinsJoan Tompkins, legally known as Joan Swenson was an American actress of television, film, radio, and stage, who co-founded with her husband, Karl Swenson, an acting company in Beverly Hills, California...
.
Julie NewmarJulie Newmar is an American actress, dancer and singer. Her most famous role is Catwoman in the Batman television series.-Early life:...
is especially memorable as a motorcycle-riding free-spirit—a role she reprised in a later episode.
William ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
and
DeForest KelleyJackson DeForest Kelley was an American actor known for his iconic roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the USS Enterprise in the television and film series Star Trek.-Early life:...
also guest starred, in separate episodes. Lee Marvin and DeForest Kelley were among the many actors and actresses to appear in more than one role over the course of the series. Two others were
Logan RamseyLogan Carlisle Ramsey, Jr. was an American character actor of television and film for nearly 50 years. Largely a TV actor, he appeared on, among others: The Edge of Night, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Hawaii Five-O, M*A*S*H, Charlie's Angels, Mork and Mindy, Knight Rider and Night...
and
Bruce GloverBruce Herbert Glover is an American character actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of homosexual assassin Mr. Wint in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever. He is also the father of actor Crispin Glover.-Life and career:...
, who both later appeared in the three theatrical movies about
Buford PusserBuford Hayse Pusser was the Sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee , from 1964 to 1970. Pusser is known for his virtual one-man war on moonshining, prostitution, gambling, and other vices on the Mississippi-Tennessee state-line. His story has directly inspired several books, songs, movies and at...
,
Walking TallWalking Tall is a 1973 semi-biopic of Sheriff Buford Pusser, a former professional wrestler-turned-lawman in McNairy County, Tennessee. It starred Joe Don Baker as Pusser...
,
Walking Tall, Part 2, and
Final Chapter, Walking Tall.
Burt ReynoldsBurton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
,
Gene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
, among others, appeared in small bit-parts.
In a 1986 interview, Martin Milner reported that Lee Marvin credited him with helping his career by breaking Marvin's nose "just enough" to improve his look. This happened in
Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, during a scripted fistfight for "Mon Petit Chou," the second of two episodes in which Marvin appeared.
Two late third-season episodes, which aired one week apart, each featured a guest star in a bit part playing a character with a profession with which they would later become associated as stars of their own respective mega-hit television series. In "Shadows of an Afternoon,"
Michael ConradMichael Conrad was an American television actor.-Career:Conrad had a long acting career in television from the 1950s to the 1980s...
can be seen as a uniformed policeman, many years before he became famous in his regular role as Police Sgt. Phil Esterhaus on
Hill Street BluesHill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
. And in "Soda Pop and Paper Flags,"
Alan AldaAlphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
guested as a surgeon, a precursor to his career-defining role as Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce on M*A*S*H. Also in the first season episode
The Strengthening Angels that aired November 4, 1960
Hal SmithHarold John "Hal" Smith was an American character actor and voice actor. Smith is best known as Otis Campbell, the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show, and was the voice of many characters on various animated cartoon shorts...
, who played town drunk Otis Campbell in
The Andy Griffith ShowThe Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
, also plays a drunk named Howard and is listed in the credits as "Drunk".
A 4th season episode, "Is It True There Are Poxies at the Bottom of Landfair Lake?", featured guest stars
Geoffrey HorneGeoffrey Horne is an actor, director, and acting coach at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. His screen credits include The Bridge on the River Kwai, Bonjour Tristesse, The Strange One, Two People, The Twilight Zone episode 'The Gift' in 1962, and as Wade Norton in "The Guests" episode...
and
Collin WilcoxCollin Wilcox was an American actress in film, on stage and television. She was also credited as Collin Wilcox-Horne or Collin Wilcox-Paxton....
. In the episode's storyline, Wilcox's character pretended to get married to Horne's, although it turned out to be a practical joke. A few years after appearing in this episode, Horne and Wilcox would in real life be briefly married to each other.
A noteworthy
in-jokeAn in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
occurs during the 4th season episode "Where Are the Sounds of Celli Brahams?" In this segment,
Horace McMahonHorace McMahon was an American actor.- Biography :In his early career he mostly played thugs or jailbirds, but in 1949 he starred in his most acclaimed role, as Lieutenant Monaghan in the drama play Detective Story and in 1951 he reprised his character in Paramount Pictures' film version Detective...
guests as a
Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, festival promoter. At one point, his character confesses to Linc his failed ambition to be a policeman. Linc remarks that he looks like a policeman Linc once knew in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. McMahon had starred as Lt. Mike Parker on the New York-based police drama
Naked CityNaked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic "semi-documentary" format....
from 1958–63, another television series overseen by the creative team of
Stirling SilliphantStirling Dale Silliphant was an American screenwriter and producer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, moved to Glendale, California as a child, graduated from Hoover High School, and was educated at the University of Southern California...
and Herbert B. Leonard.
Production notes
- The original working title of the series was The Searchers, according to George Maharis. That title was also the title of the 1956 film The Searchers
The Searchers is a 1956 American Western film directed by John Ford, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May, and set during the Texas–Indian Wars...
directed by John Ford and starring John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, so the series was renamed.
- The episode "I'm Here to Kill a King," which was originally scheduled to air on November 29, 1963, was removed from the schedule because of President John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's assassination one week earlier. It was (according to TV schedule listings published at the time) not aired until the series went into syndication. This episode, and "A Long Way from St. Louie," are the only ones filmed outside the United States. Both were filmed in CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the latter in TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
- Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
wrote and directed an episode of season 2, "Mon Petit Chou," in 1961.
Scripts
Route 66 was officially created by producer Herbert B. Leonard and writer
Stirling SilliphantStirling Dale Silliphant was an American screenwriter and producer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, moved to Glendale, California as a child, graduated from Hoover High School, and was educated at the University of Southern California...
, though Silliphant wrote the majority of the episodes (including the pilot) while Leonard did not write at all. It was notable for its dark storylines and exceptional realism. Tod and Buz would frequently become involved with individuals whose almost
nihilisticNihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
worldview made for occasionally frightening television. Some 50 years after its premiere,
Route 66 is still one of the few television series to offer such a range of socially-conscious stories, including mercy killing, the threat of nuclear annihilation, terrorism, runaways and orphans. Other episodes dealt with the mentally ill, drug addiction or gang violence. However, some stories were congenially lighthearted, such as a memorable episode featuring
Richard BasehartJohn Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
as a folklorist trying to record the local music of an isolated Appalachian community, and a Halloween episode called "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing".
Even more unusual is the way it served up a kind of soaring dialog that has been referred to as "Shakespearean" and free-verse poetry. For instance, the boys encounter a Nazi hunter named Bartlett on the offshore oil drilling rig where they work. Bartlett describes the horrors of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Holocaust thus: "Tod, I hope you live a long life and never know the blistering forces that sear and destroy, turn men into enemies and sweep past the last frontiers of compassion" and "once you've seen that dark, unceasing tide of faces... of the victims...the last spark of dignity so obliterated that not one face is lifted to heaven, not one voice is raised in protest even as they died..." (from episode #4, "The Man on the Monkey Board").
The quirky, textured writing extended even to episode titles, which included such oddities as "How Much a Pound is Albatross?" and "Ever Ride the Waves in Oklahoma?" the latter causing a sensation as a 'surfing story' where Buz oddly berates a surf bum for existing without purpose. Other storylines were patently absurd, such as "Fifty Miles From Home" where Linc Case is set upon by several men who want to beat him up because he was deliberately and publicly avoiding a woman who has been following him across the country like some lovesick groupie (played by the beautiful Susan Oliver no less!). When Linc uses his martial arts expertise to handily trounce the entire mob who had ganged up on him, Tod becomes (believe it or not) so incensed at Linc's act of self-defense that he actually goes out of his way to "teach Linc a lesson" by later somehow managing to beat Linc in a fistfight! Other episode titles were drawn from a wide range of literary sources, such as Shakespeare ("A Lance of Straw", "Hell is Empty, All the Devils are Here") or Alfred Tennyson ("A Fury Slinging Flame").
Many of the stories were character studies, like the above-mentioned one featuring Richard Basehart as a man who uses people then tosses them away, as if they are plastic spoons. The episode titled "You Can't Pick Cotton in Tahiti" refers to small-town America as both a far-away, exotic
TahitiTahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
and the "real America" compared to "phony-baloney" Hollywood, and still offers food for thought. Many episodes offer moving soliloquies, into which future Academy-Award-winning writer Stirling Silliphant (
In the Heat of the Night) poured his deepest thoughts.
Despite all the adventure, travelogue, drama and poetry, the real subject of the series was the human condition, with Tod and Buz often cast as a kind of roving
Greek chorusA Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
, observers and mentors to broken-down prizefighters and rodeo clowns, sadists and iron-willed matrons, surfers and heiresses, runaway kids and people from all walks of life, forced by circumstances to confront their demons.
One hallmark of the show was the way it introduced viewers, however briefly, to new
ways of life and new cultures. For instance, we get a glimpse of a shrimper's life in episode 2 of season 1, "A Lance of Straw," and a look at
Cleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
's
PolishPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
community in episode 35, "First Class Mouliak". Here the young are pushed by their parents into careers and even marriages they may not want, in an effort to hold community and family together, albeit at the expense of the happiness and well-being of the kids. This story featured Robert Redford,
Martin BalsamMartin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
,
Nehemiah PersoffNehemiah Persoff is an American film and television character actor. He was born in Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate.Born in what is now part of Israel, Persoff emigrated with his family to the United States in 1929...
and Nancy Malone as guest stars.
One of the legacies
Route 66 left behind is a dramatic and photographic portrait of early-1960s America as a less crowded and less complicated era — if not a less violent one — in which altruism and optimism still had a place. That place was filled by two young men who seemed to represent the best in us, the willingness to stand up for the weak, and who espoused old-fashioned values like honesty and the physical courage necessary to fight in their own and others' defense. In their role of wanderers, they appeared to be peaceful rebels who seemed to reject, at least for a time, material possessions and the American dream of owning a home. The boys were
de facto orphans adrift in American society; as such, they embodied facets of
Jack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
's
Beat GenerationThe Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
, a little bit of
Marlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
's wild side from
The Wild OneThe Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. It is famed for Marlon Brando's iconic portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Strabler.-Basis:...
,
James DeanJames Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
's inability to settle down and fit in from
Rebel Without a CauseRebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments...
, and the wanderlust of the above-mentioned Jim Bronson, the traveling writer and loner who toured the USA on a motorcycle in the 1969-1970 series
Then Came BronsonThen Came Bronson is a short-lived adventure/drama television series that aired on NBC from 1969 to 1970, and was produced by MGM Television. The series, created by Denne Bart Petitclerc, began with a movie pilot on Monday, March 24, 1969. The series was greenlit for one year and began its first...
. The use of the Corvette on
Route 66, not only as the boys' transportation but as their marquee and symbol of their wandering spirit, created a link between America's Sports Car and America's highways that endures to this day.
Theme song
Nelson RiddleNelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
was commissioned to write the instrumental theme when CBS decided to have a new song, rather than pay royalties for the
Bobby TroupRobert William "Bobby" Troup Jr. was an American actor, jazz pianist and songwriter. He is best known for writing the popular standard " Route 66", and for his role as Dr...
song "
(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" Route 66", often rendered simply as "Route 66", is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including Chuck Berry in 1961, The Rolling...
". Riddle's theme, however, offers an unmistakable homage to the latter's piano solo (as originally recorded by
Nat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
) throughout the number. Riddle's
Route 66 instrumental was one of the first television themes to make Billboard Magazine's Top 30, following Henry Mancini's
"Mr. Lucky Theme" in 1960. The song earned two Grammy nominations in 1962.
Car
George Maharis reported in a 1986
Nick at NiteNick at Nite is the nighttime Cable network that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon on Sundays from 8.p.m.-7.am., Monday through Fridays from 9 p.m.-7 a.m. and Saturdays from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. . Though it shares channel space with Nickelodeon, A.C. Nielsen Co...
interview that people often ask him about "the red Corvette." According to Maharis, the Corvette was never red. (The misconception may partially stem from the box illustration on the official board game, released by Transogram in 1962, which showed Tod and Buz in a red-colored model.) It was light blue the first season (in which a 1960 Corvette appeared in the pilot episode, and a '61 Corvette was used in all subsequent first-season episodes), and Fawn Beige for the second season (on a '62) and Saddle Tan (on '63 and '64 Corvette Sting Rays) for the third and fourth seasons. Those colors were chosen to photograph well in black and white, but the show's cinematographer complained that the powder blue car reflected too much light. The Corvette was replaced with a newer model annually by series' sponsor
ChevroletChevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
but the show itself never mentioned or explained the technicality, though the series' travels apparently took them through St. Louis, (where Corvettes were assembled then). The model update made a particular splash in the third season, when the new Corvette Sting Ray introduced the then-revolutionary design change of headlights that rotated into the hoodline when not in use. Virtually every car and truck driven by each episode's characters, and used in street scenes, were different variations of Chevrolets. Also, as part of their deal with the producers, Chevrolet supplied the trucks that moved the show's company across the country--and a Corvair Greenbrier van for Marty Milner and his family.
Awards and nominations
- In 1962, guest star Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters was an American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.Her best-known recordings includes, "Dinah", "Birmingham Bertha",...
was nominated for an Emmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in the category "Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Series" for her performance in the episode "Good Night, Sweet Blues". It was the first-ever Emmy nomination for an African-American actress.
- Also in 1962, George Maharis was nominated for "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series" (Best Actor) for his role as Buz.
- In 1963, the Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
presented writer Larry Marcus with the "Best Episodic Drama" award for his screenplay for the episode "Man Out of Time".
First season (1960-1961)
| Ep. # | Title | Airdate | Writer | Overview |
| 1 |
"Black November" |
October 7, 1960 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Car trouble strands Tod and Buz in an isolated but hostile MississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
lumber town named for and dominated by its unscrupulous ruler (Everett SloaneEverett Sloane was an American stage, film and television actor, songwriter, and theatre director.-Early life:...
) and haunted by a secret. |
| 2 |
"A Lance of Straw" |
October 14, 1960 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz crew a Grand Isle, Louisiana Grand Isle is a town in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, located on a barrier island of the same name in the Gulf of Mexico. The island is at the mouth of Barataria Bay where it meets the gulf. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,541; during summers, the population sometimes increases to...
shrimp trawler while its fiercely independent captain (Janice Rule-Early life and career:Born in Norwood, Ohio, her career included stage, screen and television work. Rule studied ballet and began dancing in Chicago nightclubs in her teens. She soon attracted attention in Hollywood and made her film debut in 1951...
) deals with a hurricaneA tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
and a jealous boyfriend (Nico MinardosNico Minardos , was a Greek-American actor.-Life and works:...
). |
| 3 |
"The Swan Bed" |
October 21, 1960 |
Stirling Silliphant |
A young woman (Zina Bethune Zina Bethune is an American actress, dancer and choreographer.Bethune started formal ballet training at age 6 at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet. By age 14 she was dancing with the New York City Ballet...
) living with her embittered mother (Betty FieldBetty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
) inadvertently interferes with a bird smugglingSmuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
ring at the center of a psittacosisIn medicine , psittacosis — also known as parrot disease, parrot fever, and ornithosis — is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by a bacterium called Chlamydophila psittaci and contracted from parrots, such as macaws, cockatiels and budgerigars, and pigeons, sparrows, ducks, hens, gulls and many...
outbreakOutbreak is a term used in epidemiology to describe an occurrence of disease greater than would otherwise be expected at a particular time and place. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire continent. Two linked cases of a rare infectious...
in New Orleans. |
| 4 |
"The Man on the Monkey Board" |
October 28, 1960 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod assists an undercover Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
Nazi hunterA Nazi-hunter is a private individual who tracks down and gathers information on alleged former Nazis, SS members and Nazi collaborators involved in the Holocaust, typically for use at trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity...
(Lew AyresLew Ayres was an American actor, best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front and for playing Dr...
) while working with Buz on an oil platformAn oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
off the coast of Venice, LouisianaVenice is an unincorporated community in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is 130 km south of New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi River at . It is the last community down the Mississippi accessible by automobile, and is the southern terminus of the Great River Road...
. |
| 5 |
"The Strengthening Angels" |
November 4, 1960 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Buz attempts to prove to a small-town sheriff (John LarchJohn Larch was an American film and television actor.After his lead role in the radio serial Captain Starr of Space , John Larch entered films in 1954. He usually appeared in westerns and action films, including Miracle of the White Stallions as General George S. Patton Jr...
) that the killing of the latter's younger brother by a single motherSingle parent is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver...
(Suzanne PleshetteSuzanne Pleshette was an American actress, on stage, screen and television.After beginning her career in theatre, she began appearing in films in the early 1960s, such as Rome Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...
) was in self-defense. |
| 6 |
"Ten Drops of Water" |
November 11, 1960 |
Howard Rodman |
Three 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...
ed ranchA ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
ers (Burt BrinckerhoffBurt Brinckerhoff , is an American actor, director, and producer best known for directing the WB television series 7th Heaven from 1996 to 2002; some older works credit him as Burt Brinkerhoff.-Biography:Burt Brinckerhoff was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1936 to J...
, Deborah WalleyDeborah Walley was an American actress.-Biographical Information:Deborah Walley was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Ice Capades skating stars and choreographers Nathan and Edith Walley. She attended Central High School in Bridgeport. At fourteen she was playing summer-stock theatre. She...
and Tony Haig) stubbornly fight a losing battle against chronic droughtA drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
conditions near Kanab, UtahKanab is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, United States. The area was first settled in 1864 and the town was founded in 1870 when ten Mormon families moved into the area. The population was 3,564 at the 2000 census...
. |
| 7 |
"Three Sides" |
November 18, 1960 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz help a Grants Pass, Oregon -Rogue River:The Rogue River runs through Grants Pass.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 23,003 people, 9,376 households, and 5,925 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 9,885 housing units at an average density of 1,303.3 per square mile . By 2008,...
hopsHops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...
farmer (E. G. MarshallE. G. Marshall was an American actor, best known for his television roles as the lawyer Lawrence Preston on The Defenders in the 1960s, and as neurosurgeon David Craig on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the 1970s...
) reluctant to instill discipline in his spoiled son and daughter (Stephen Bolster and Joey HeathertonJoey Heatherton is an American actress, dancer, and singer.-Early life:Christened Davenie Johanna Heatherton and nicknamed "Joey," she was raised in Rockville Centre, New York, a suburb of New York City. There she attended St. Agnes Cathedral School, a Catholic grade and high school...
). |
| 8 |
"Legacy for Lucia" |
November 25, 1960 |
Stirling Silliphant, Melvin Levy |
To finance a new Virgin MaryMary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
statueA statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
for her church in PalagoniaPalagonia is a comune in the Province of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about 150 km southeast of Palermo and about 35 km southwest of Catania...
, a SicilianSicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
woman (Arline SaxArlene Martel is an American actress and acting coach. Prior to 1964, she was frequently billed as Arline Sax, Arlene Sax, or sometimes as Tasha Martel....
) tries to sell OregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
land "bequeathed" to her by an AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soldierA soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
during World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. |
| 9 |
"Layout at Glen Canyon" |
December 2, 1960 |
Stirling Silliphant |
While Tod and Buz act as bodyguards to four model A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
s, marital problems between the young women's chaperone (Bethel LeslieBethel Leslie was an American theatre, film, and television actress and a screenwriter.Born in New York City, Leslie was discovered by George Abbott, who cast her in the play Snafu in 1944...
) and a foremanA construction foreman is the worker or tradesman who is in charge of a construction crew. While traditionally this role has been assumed by a senior male worker, the title in the modern sense is gender non-specific in intent...
(Charles McGrawCharles Butters , best known by his stage name Charles McGraw, was an American actor, who made his first film in 1942, albeit in a small, uncredited role. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa.-Career:...
) are revealed during a fashionFashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
shoot at the Glen Canyon DamGlen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona in the United States, just north of Page. The dam was built to provide hydroelectricity and flow regulation from the upper Colorado River Basin to the lower. Its reservoir is called Lake Powell, and is the second...
construction site. |
| 10 |
"The Beryllium Eater" |
December 9, 1960 |
Richard Collins |
Tod and Buz help an old prospector (Edgar BuchananEdgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s...
) stake his claim after he finds beryllium ore. |
| 11 |
"A Fury Slinging Flame" |
December 30, 1960 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz meet a scientist (Leslie NielsenLeslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
) who intends to hide in Carlsbad Caverns with friends until an expected nuclear holocaustNuclear holocaust refers to the possibility of the near complete annihilation of human civilization by nuclear warfare. Under such a scenario, all or most of the Earth is made uninhabitable by nuclear weapons in future world wars....
is over. |
| 12 |
"Sheba" |
January 6, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz work for a cotton company and battle cowboy Woody Biggs (Lee MarvinLee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
), who is not done with the woman he sent to prison. |
| 13 |
"The Quick and the Dead" |
January 13, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant, Charles Beaumont and Jerry Sohl |
Tod becomes a race car driver as he and Buz get involved in a family controversy over whether an aging driver should retire. |
| 14 |
"Play It Glissando" |
January 20, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz try to protect a woman from her jazz musician husband. |
| 15 |
"The Clover Throne" |
January 27, 1961 |
Herman Meadow |
Tod and Buz work for a date farmer (Jack Warden Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
) who fights the highway department while he "waits out" his sexy ward, hoping she will marry him. |
| 16 |
"Fly Away Home (Part 1)" |
February 10, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod becomes a crop duster for a struggling company. |
| 17 |
"Fly Away Home (Part 2)" |
February 17, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz get involved in a quandary over an extra-dangerous crop dusting contract. |
| 18 |
"Sleep on Four Pillows" |
February 24, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz meet a teenage girl who claims to be on the run from gangsters – but her family thinks she has been kidnapped. |
| 19 |
"An Absence of Tears" |
March 3, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz try to protect a blind widow from her husband’s murderers. |
| 20 |
"Like a Motherless Child" |
March 17, 1961 |
Howard Rodman, Betty Andrews |
Buz and Tod split up over whether to return a runaway boy to an orphanage. |
| 21 |
"Effigy in Snow" |
March 24, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz try to stop a murderer who has left his latest victim in the snow at Squaw Valley. |
| 22 |
"Eleven, the Hard Way" |
April 7, 1961 |
George Clayton Johnson |
Tod and Buz meet a gambler (Walter MatthauWalter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
), whom the people of Broken Knee have asked to save their town. |
| 23 |
"Most Vanquished, Most Victorious" |
April 14, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
At the request of his aunt, Tod traces the life of his saintly cousin through the Los Angeles slums. |
| 24 |
"Don't Count Stars" |
April 28, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz get involved in a custody case over a 9-year-old heiress and her drunken, gambling "uncle." |
| 25 |
"The Newborn" |
May 5, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant, Herb Purdum |
Tod and Buz protect a Native American girl and her newborn from their employer, who rules the land like a feudal baron. (Robert Duvall as a nasty ranchhand) |
| 26 |
"A Skill for Hunting" |
May 12, 1961 |
Jack Turley, Martin Gelman |
Tod and Buz are framed as poachers after Tod interferes with a real poacher’s hunting. |
| 27 |
"Trap at Cordova" |
May 26, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant, Joseph Vogel |
Tod and Buz are coerced into teaching school children in rural New Mexico. |
| 28 |
"The Opponent" |
June 2, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant, Leonard Freeman |
Buz visits and inspires his boyhood hero, a former boxing great (Darren McGavinDarren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
) who is now on the skids. |
| 29 |
"Welcome to Amity" |
June 9, 1961 |
Will Lorin |
Tod and Buz meet a woman (Susan Oliver Susan Oliver was an American actress, television director and aviator.-Early life and family:Susan Oliver was born Charlotte Gercke, the daughter of journalist George Gercke and astrology practitioner Ruth Hale Oliver, in New York City in 1932. Her parents divorced when she was still a child...
), who wants to bury her mother in a nearby cemetery. The people of Amity want to stop her. |
| 30 |
"Incident on a Bridge" |
June 16, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz board in a home with an abused, mute girl and her two jealous - and violent - suitors. (Nehemiah Persoff as the 'gorilla' man) |
Second season (1961-1962)
| Ep. # | Title | Airdate | Writer | Overview |
| 31 |
"A Month of Sundays" |
September 22, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Buz falls for starlet Arlene Sims (Anne FrancisAnne Lloyd Francis was an American actress, best known for her role in the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet , and as the female private detective in the television series Honey West . She won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy award for her role in Honey West...
), unaware that she has a terminal illness. |
| 32 |
"Blue Murder" |
September 29, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant, Wilbur Daniel Steele |
Tod and Buz attempt to recapture a wild horse that apparently killed its new owner. |
| 33 |
"Good Night, Sweet Blues" |
October 6, 1961 |
Will Lorin, Leonard Freeman |
A dying jazz singer (Ethel Waters Ethel Waters was an American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.Her best-known recordings includes, "Dinah", "Birmingham Bertha",...
) enlists Tod and Buz to search out and reunite her old combo. |
| 34 |
"Birdcage on My Foot" |
October 13, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant, Elliot Silverstein |
Tod and Buz try to help a heroin junkie (Robert DuvallRobert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
) kick the habit. |
| 35 |
"First Class Mouliak" |
October 20, 1961 |
John Vlahos |
When a young woman is found dead, the chief suspect (Robert RedfordCharles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
) is the son of Tod and Buz's employer (Nehemiah PersoffNehemiah Persoff is an American film and television character actor. He was born in Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate.Born in what is now part of Israel, Persoff emigrated with his family to the United States in 1929...
). |
| 36 |
"Once to Every Man" |
October 27, 1961 |
Frank L. Moss |
Tod seems ready to finally settle down and tie the knot with the daughter of a Gloucester, Massachusetts shipyard owner (Janice Rule-Early life and career:Born in Norwood, Ohio, her career included stage, screen and television work. Rule studied ballet and began dancing in Chicago nightclubs in her teens. She soon attracted attention in Hollywood and made her film debut in 1951...
). |
| 37 |
"The Mud Nest" |
November 10, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant, Leonard Freeman |
An encounter with a rural MarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
family bearing a striking resemblance to him leads Buz to BaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
where, with the help of a policeThe police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
detectiveA detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
(Edward Asner), he searches for the woman who might be his mother (Betty FieldBetty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
). |
| 38 |
"A Bridge Across Five Days" |
November 17, 1961 |
Howard Rodman |
While working at a shipyard, Tod and Buz try to help a woman (Nina Foch Nina Foch was a Dutch-born American actress and leading lady in many 1940s and 1950s films.- Personal life :...
) recently released from Spring Grove State HospitalSpring Grove Hospital Center, formerly known as Spring Grove State Hospital, is a psychiatric hospital located in the Baltimore, Maryland suburb of Catonsville....
readjust to normal life. |
| 39 |
"Mon Petit Chou" |
November 24, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod becomes enamored of a lounge singer, but finds an obstacle in her intensely jealous manager (Lee MarvinLee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
). |
| 40 |
"Some of the People, Some of the Time" |
December 1, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz work for a fraudulent beauty contest promoter (Keenan WynnKeenan Wynn was an American character actor. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade, and though he rarely had a lead role, he got prominent billing in most of his film and TV parts....
) and become hucksters in the process. |
| 41 |
"The Thin White Line" |
December 8, 1961 |
Teleplay by Leonard Freeman,
Story by Jordan Brotman, Bill Stine |
Tod goes on a one-man rampage through Philadelphia after inadvertently drinking a beer spiked with a powerful hallucinogenic drug. |
| 42 |
"And the Cat Jumped Over the Moon" |
December 15, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant, Frank L. Moss |
A social worker (Milt Kamen Milton Kaminsky , better known as Milt Kamen, was an American stand-up comic and actor with numerous television credits.Born in Hurleyville, New York, Kamen began his career as a regular on Caesar's Hour in 1954...
) who is a former mentor of Buz is killed playing a dare game with gang leader Packy (Martin SheenRamón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
). |
| 43 |
"Burning for Burning" |
December 29, 1961 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz work for a wealthy family with a dead son. When their daughter-in-law pays a visit with their grandchild, the family treats her with open hostility. |
| 44 |
"To Walk with the Serpent" |
January 5, 1962 |
Will Lorin |
The F.B.I. wants Tod and Buz to infiltrate a Neo-Nazi group that is planning terrorism. |
| 45 |
"A Long Piece of Mischief" |
January 19, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant, Richard Shapiro and Esther Mayesh |
A rodeo clown nurses a love for a trick rider while fending off sadistic cowboys. |
| 46 |
"1800 Days to Justice" |
January 26, 1962 |
Jo Pagano |
An ex-con (John EricsonJohn Ericson is a German-American actor and film and television star....
) who was framed takes over a small Texas town and holds a kangaroo court to pass judgment on the real culprit (DeForest Kelly). |
| 47 |
"A City of Wheels" |
February 2, 1962 |
Frank Chase |
Working in a veterans hospital brings Tod and Buz into the life of an embittered invalid (Steven HillSteven Hill is an American film and television actor. His two better-known roles are District Attorney Adam Schiff on the NBC TV drama series Law & Order, whom he portrayed for ten seasons , and Dan Briggs, the original team leader of the Impossible Missions Force on CBS's television series...
). |
| 48 |
"How Much a Pound Is Albatross?" |
February 9, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Free-spirited motorcycle rider Vicki Russell (Julie NewmarJulie Newmar is an American actress, dancer and singer. Her most famous role is Catwoman in the Batman television series.-Early life:...
) arrives in Tucson and turns it - and the lives of Tod and Buz - upside down. |
| 49 |
"Aren't You Surprised to See Me?" |
February 16, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
A religious fanatic (David WayneDavid Wayne was an American actor with a career spanning nearly 50 years.-Early life and career:...
) with a biological weapon kidnaps Buz and threatens to kill him - unless the entire city of Dallas abstains from sin for 24 hours. |
| 50 |
"You Never Had It So Good" |
February 23, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant, Frank L. Moss |
As part of a power play, a female executive promotes day-laborer Buz to a high administrative position. |
| 51 |
"Shoulder the Sky, My Lad" |
March 2, 1962 |
Mort Thaw |
Tod and Buz come to the aid of a young Jewish boy, who has a crisis of faith after his father is killed in a mugging. |
| 52 |
"Blues for the Left Foot" |
March 9, 1962 |
Leonard Freeman |
Tod helps a dancer - his first love - get a tryout with a major television network. |
| 53 |
"Go Read the River" |
March 16, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod finds that his new employer, a designer of speedboat engines, is an exceptionally driven and desolate man. |
| 54 |
"Even Stones Have Eyes" |
March 30, 1962 |
Barry Trivers |
Buz contemplates taking his own life after a construction accident leaves him without his sight. |
| 55 |
"Love is a Skinny Kid" |
April 6, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
A young woman (Tuesday Weld Tuesday Weld is an American actress.Weld began her acting career as a child, and progressed to more mature roles during the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960...
) stirs up a small Texas community by arriving in town wearing a frightful mask, which she refuses to remove. |
| 56 |
"Kiss the Maiden, All Forlorn" |
April 13, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
An international fugitive (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr. KBE was an American actor and a highly decorated naval officer of World War II.-Early life:...
) risks recapture by returning to the U.S. to visit his daughter. |
| 57 |
"Two on the House" |
April 20, 1962 |
Gilbert Ralston |
A young boy pretends to be the target of kidnappers in order to get attention from his business-obsessed father. |
| 58 |
"There I Am - There I Always Am" |
May 4, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Buz attempts to rescue a young woman who gets her foot stuck in the rocks of a Southern California beach, with the high tide coming in. |
| 59 |
"Between Hello and Goodbye" |
May 11, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod becomes involved with a reckless blonde and her reserved brunette sister. |
| 60 |
"A Feat of Strength" |
May 18, 1962 |
Howard Rodman, Joseph Petracca and Everett De Baun |
Tod helps introduce a legitimate Hungarian wrestler (Jack Warden Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
) to the American version of the sport. |
| 61 |
"Hell is Empty, All the Devils Are Here" |
May 25, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod's employer (Peter GravesPeter Aurness , known professionally as Peter Graves, was an American film and television actor. He was best known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973...
) is an animal trainer plotting revenge against the man he believes responsible for his wife's death. |
| 62 |
"From an Enchantress Fleeing" |
June 1, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant, Abram S. Ginnes |
Tod goes in search of a henpecked runaway husband. |
Third season (1962-1963)
| Ep. # | Title | Airdate | Writer | Overview |
| 63 |
"One Tiger to a Hill" |
September 21, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz cross paths with an Oregon fisherman (David Janssen David Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive , the starring role in the 1950s hit detective series Richard Diamond, Private Detective , and as Harry Orwell on Harry O.In 1996 TV Guide...
) whose war experiences have turned him into a bitter, vicious misanthrope. |
| 64 |
"Journey to Ninevah" |
September 28, 1962 |
William R. Cox |
Tod and Buz suffer a series of odd misfortunes after they give a ride to a local jinx (Buster KeatonJoseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
). |
| 65 |
"Man Out of Time" |
October 5, 1962 |
Larry Marcus |
Tod's cab fare is a former prohibition-era gangster who believes someone from his past wants to kill him. |
| 66 |
"Ever Ride the Waves in Oklahoma?" |
October 12, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant, Borden Chase and Frank Chase |
At California's famous Huntington Beach, Buz challenges the local surfing champ to avenge the death of a former challenger. |
| 67 |
"Voice at the End of the Line" |
October 19, 1962 |
Larry Marcus |
A co-worker of Buz carries on a telephone romance with a woman he has never seen. |
| 68 |
"Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing" |
October 26, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Old-time horror-movie icons Lon Chaney, Jr.Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...
, Boris KarloffWilliam Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, and Peter LorrePeter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
reunite at a Chicago hotel to plan a horror TV show for a new generation. |
| 69 |
"Across Walnuts and Wine" |
November 2, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz board at an Oregon house with a strangely dysfunctional family. |
| 70 |
"Welcome to the Wedding" |
November 9, 1962 |
Howard Rodman |
A cold-blooded killer (Rod SteigerRodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger was an Academy Award-winning American actor known for his performances in such films as On the Waterfront, The Big Knife, Oklahoma!, The Harder They Fall, Across the Bridge, The Pawnbroker, Doctor Zhivago, In the Heat of the Night, and Waterloo as well as the...
) escapes from police custody and takes Tod captive. |
| 71 |
"Every Father's Daughter" (a.k.a. "Every Father's Daughter Must Weave Her Own") |
November 16, 1962 |
Anthony Lawrence |
Buz's employer tries to set him up with his troubled daughter. |
| 72 |
"Poor Little Kangaroo Rat" |
November 23, 1962 |
Les Pine |
Tod and Buz work for a shark-hunting scientist (Leslie NielsenLeslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
) who is so obsessed with his cholesterol research he ignores his own family. |
| 73 |
"Hey Moth, Come Eat the Flame" |
November 30, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Buz try to help a young boy cope with his father's alcoholism. |
| 74 |
"Only by Cunning Glimpses" |
December 7, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant, Preston Wood |
A traveling medium displays an uncanny ability to predict the future, and her next prediction is for Buz's death! |
| 75 |
"Where is Chick Lorimer? Where Has She Gone?" |
December 14, 1962 |
Larry Marcus, Bert Lambert |
Tod unwittingly helps a young woman (Vera Miles Vera Miles is an American film actress who gained popularity for starring in films such as The Searchers, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Psycho and Psycho II.-Early life:...
) escape from her bail bondsman. |
| 76 |
"Give the Old Cat a Tender Mouse" |
December 21, 1962 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod once again encounters Vicki Russell (Julie NewmarJulie Newmar is an American actress, dancer and singer. Her most famous role is Catwoman in the Batman television series.-Early life:...
) in Tennessee, where she is being courted by a cotton baron. |
| 77 |
"A Bunch of Lonely Pagliaccis" |
January 4, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod's idyllic new existence working for a prize-winning, William Faulkner-ish novelist in rural Mississippi is shattered by murder. |
| 78 |
"You Can't Pick Cotton in Tahiti" |
January 11, 1963 |
Shimon Wincelberg |
A runaway groom (Richard BasehartJohn Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
) in a tiny Tennessee community pretends to study local folk songs as he uses the town, its people and Tod for his own ends. |
| 79 |
"A Gift for a Warrior" |
January 18, 1963 |
Larry Marcus and Harlan Ellison |
Tod and Buz try to help a German youth find his American father, unaware that the youth plans to kill the man. (Maharis' Final Appearance). |
| 80 |
"Suppose I Said I Was the Queen of Spain" |
February 8, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant, Jerome B. Thomas |
Tod becomes romantically involved with a woman (Lois NettletonLois June Nettleton was an American actress of film, stage, and television. She was Miss Chicago of 1948 as well as a semifinalist at that year's Miss America Pageant.-Early years:...
) who gives the term "role playing" a whole new meaning. |
| 81 |
"Somehow It Gets to Be Tomorrow" |
February 15, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod tries to help a pair of runaway orphans. |
| 82 |
"Shall Forfeit His Dog and Ten Shillings to the King" |
February 22, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod joins a posse hunting a pair of killers near Arizona's Superstition Mountain. |
| 83 |
"In the Closing of a Trunk" |
March 8, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
A woman returning from a long prison stay believes Tod to be her son. |
| 84 |
"The Cage Around Maria" |
March 15, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod comes to the rescue of a young woman who jumps into the bear pit of the Houston zoo. |
| 85 |
"Fifty Miles from Home" |
March 22, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod meets his new traveling partner, one Lincoln Case Lincoln Case was a fictional character portrayed by actor Glenn Corbett on the 1960s American prime-time drama Route 66. Linc was one of three main regular characters on the program. His tenure began midway through the show's third season, when he was written in as a replacement for the departed...
(Glenn CorbettGlenn Corbett was an American actor best known for his role on CBS's adventure drama Route 66.-Acting career:...
) - Army Ranger and war hero, just returned from Vietnam. |
| 86 |
"Narcissus on an Old Red Fire Engine" |
March 29, 1963 |
Joel Carpenter |
Linc becomes involved with a troubled, self-obsessed young Galveston debutante. |
| 87 |
"The Cruelest Sea of All" |
April 5, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod works at Florida's famous Weeki Wachee aquatic park when he meets a young woman (Diane Baker Diane Carol Baker is an American actress who has appeared in motion pictures and on television since 1959.-Early life:...
) who may be a real mermaid. |
| 88 |
"Peace, Pity, Pardon" |
April 12, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
In Tampa, Tod and Linc aid Jai-Lai players in a dangerous attempt to smuggle a little girl out of Cuba. |
| 89 |
"What a Shining Young Man Was Our Gallant Lieutenant" |
April 26, 1963 |
Howard Rodman |
After the guys are shortchanged on the docks in Tampa, Linc pays a visit to his former commanding officer (Dick YorkRichard Allen "Dick" York was an American actor. He is best remembered for his role as the first Darrin Stephens on the ABC television fantasy sitcom Bewitched...
) only to find that head wounds suffered in combat have regressed him back into an 8-year-old boy. |
| 90 |
"But What Do You Do In March?" |
May 3, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Linc race speedboats as they get caught up in the rivalry between two spoiled heiresses. Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
and Carmen LombardoCarmen Lombardo was the younger brother of bandleader Guy Lombardo. He was a vocalist and composer whose compositions included the 1928 classic "Sweethearts on Parade", which was number one for three weeks in 1929 on the U.S...
portray themselves. |
| 91 |
"Who Will Cheer My Bonnie Bride?" |
May 10, 1963 |
Shimon Wincelberg |
Linc is shanghaied by holdup men who are on their way to a wedding. |
| 92 |
"Shadows of an Afternoon" |
May 17, 1963 |
Leonard Freeman, Alvin Sargent and Eric Scott |
Linc is jailed after an old woman accuses him of cruelly injuring a dog. |
| 93 |
"Soda Pop and Paper Flags" |
May 31, 1963 |
John McGreevey |
A hobo befriended by Tod and Linc is suspected of bringing a rare and deadly virus into a Missouri town. An early appearance of Alan Alda as a town doctor. |
Fourth season (1963-1964)
| Ep. # | Title | Airdate | Writer | Overview |
| 94 |
"Two Strangers and an Old Enemy" |
September 27, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Linc search for a missing war hero (Jack Warden Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
) in the Everglades. |
| 95 |
"Same Picture, Different Frame" |
October 4, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
A matron (Joan CrawfordJoan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
) fears her ex-husband means to kill her. |
| 96 |
"Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are" |
October 11, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Linc falls for the capricious daughter of a sawmill owner. |
| 97 |
"Where Are the Sounds of Celli Brahams?" |
October 18, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod gets a job working with a female acoustical engineer and finds her difficult to keep up with. |
| 98 |
"Build Your Houses With Their Backs to the Sea" |
October 25, 1963 |
Frank L. Pierson |
Tod and Linc observe the grim conflict between a Maine lobster fisherman and his prodigal son (William ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
). |
| 99 |
"And Make Thunder His Tribute" |
November 1, 1963 |
Lewis John Carlino Lewis John Carlino is best known as the director of The Great Santini starring Robert Duvall, Blythe Danner and Michael O'Keefe. He has worked as a director and screenwriter on a number of movies during a career which has spanned five decades and includes such works as The Fox, The Brotherhood,I...
|
Tod and Linc go to work for a raspberry farmer and find themselves in yet another father-son conflict. |
| 100 |
"The Stone Guest" |
November 8, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
A cave-in at a Colorado mine traps the town ne'er-do-well underground with a spinster, while Mozart's Don Giovanni Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
plays in the town and parallels the mine tragedy. |
| 101 |
"I Wouldn't Start From Here" |
November 15, 1963 |
Ernest Kinoy -Early life:Kinoy was born in New York City on April 1, 1925; his father and mother were both high-school teachers. His older brother Arthur Kinoy later became a leading constitutional lawyer. Kinoy attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and later Columbia University, although his studies...
|
Tod and Linc help an old Vermont farmer try to stave off bankruptcy. |
| 102 |
"I'm Here to Kill a King" |
Originally intended for November 29, 1963, canceled by CBS because of the John F. Kennedy assassination John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
and unaired during the series' original run. |
Stirling Silliphant |
Coincidence brings Tod together with a political assassin (also played by Martin Milner Martin Sam Milner is an American actor best known for his performances in two popular television series, Adam-12 and Route 66....
) who is his identical double. |
| 103 |
"A Cage in Search of a Bird" |
November 29, 1963 (pre-empted from November 22, 1963 due to John F. Kennedy assassination coverage) |
Stirling Silliphant |
A moll (Stefanie Powers Stefanie Powers is an American actress best known for her role as Jennifer Hart in the 1980s television series Hart to Hart.-Early life:...
) steals six hundred dollars from her boyfriend's poker game and then hides the money in the hubcap of Tod and Linc's car. |
| 104 |
"A Long Way From St. Louie" |
December 6, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Linc takes it upon himself to help out a quintet of girl musicians (two were played by Lynda Day For other entertainers with similar names, see Linda George .Lynda Day George is an American television and film actress whose career spanned three decades from the 1960s to the 1980s...
and Jessica WalterJessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development...
) stranded in Toronto, Canada. |
| 105 |
"Come Home, Greta Inger Gruenshaffen" |
December 13, 1963 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Linc vie for the affections of a German physical culturalist who is on a sabbatical. |
| 106 |
"93 Percent in Smiling" |
December 20, 1963 |
Alvin Sargent |
Tired of their parents' bickering, two young children kidnap their baby brother and set up their own "family." |
| 107 |
"Child of a Night" |
January 3, 1964 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Tod and Linc try to fulfill a dying man's wish to find the child he never knew and give her his life's savings. |
| 108 |
"Is it True There Are Poxies at the Bottom of Landfair Lake?" |
January 10, 1964 |
Alvin Sargent |
A young man in rural Georgia seeks to publicly humiliate a woman who was the instrument of a cruel practical joke perpetrated on him in the Army. |
| 109 |
"Like This It Means Father --- Like This - Bitter --- Like This - Tiger" |
January 17, 1964 |
Stirling Silliphant |
Linc runs into a former member of his Vietnam outfit - the man who got his men killed in combat. |
| 110 |
"Kiss the Monster, Make Him Sleep" |
January 24, 1964 (originally scheduled for November 22, 1963, it was postponed due to coverage of the John F. Kennedy assassination John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
earlier that day) |
Stanley R. Greenberg |
Linc has a full plate as he carries on a relationship with a troubled young woman while reconciling with his mother and estranged father. |
| 111 |
"Cries of Persons Close to One" |
January 31, 1964 |
William Kelley and Howard Rodman |
Linc must take the place of an alcoholic boxer who is unable to participate in a fight. |
| 112 |
"Who in His Right Mind Needs a Nice Girl?" |
February 7, 1964 |
Joel Carpenter |
A shy and naive young librarian becomes infatuated with a dashing stranger, unaware he is a murderer being sought by the police. |
| 113 |
"This is Going to Hurt Me More Than It Hurts You" |
February 14, 1964 |
Stirling Silliphant |
A former classmate of Tod's (Soupy Sales Soupy Sales was an American comedian, actor, radio-TV personality and host, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television show, Lunch with Soupy Sales; a series of comedy sketches frequently ending with Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his...
), who is now a millionaire, wants Tod and his "manservant" Linc to take his place. |
| 114 |
"Follow the White Dove With the Broken Wing" |
February 21, 1964 |
Alvin Sargent |
After accidentally killing a policeman, a troubled teenager takes Tod and Linc hostage. |
| 115 |
"Where There's a Will, There's a Way" (Part One) |
March 6, 1964 |
Stirling Silliphant |
The bizarre terms of a tycoon's will mandate that Tod marry his daughter (Barbara EdenBarbara Eden is an American film and television actress and singer who is best known for her starring role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early years:...
). Filmed in Tampa. |
| 116 |
"Where There's a Will, There's a Way" (Part Two) |
March 13, 1964 |
Stirling Silliphant |
After surviving an attempt on his life by inheritance-seekers, Tod plans a Monte Cristo-esque revenge. Filmed in Tampa. |
DVD releases
Roxbury Entertainment has released the first three seasons of
Route 66 on DVD in Region 1. Season 3 was originally released in two volume sets in 2009 but was re-released as a complete season set on January 12, 2010. As of November 2011, these releases are now out of print as Roxbury Entertainment no longer possesses the rights to the series.
On November 7, 2011,
Shout! FactoryShout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
announced that they had acquired the exclusive rights to the series including the home entertainment rights. They plan on releasing the series through multiple platforms including DVD releases.
| Title |
Ep # |
Release Date |
| Complete First Season |
30 |
August 5, 2008 |
| Complete Second Season |
32 |
October 21, 2008 |
| Season Three, Volume One |
16 |
July 21, 2009 |
| Season Three, Volume Two |
15 |
October 20, 2009 |
| Complete Third Season |
31 |
January 12, 2010 |
Cultural impact
- The series was lampooned in the April 1962 issue of Mad
Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
magazine. The parody, entitled "Route 67," followed the publication's established practice of irreverently satirizing current popular programs and motion pictures in comic stripA comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
format. The send-up features an appearance by the character Mary WorthMary Worth is a newspaper comic strip, which has had a seven-decade run since it began in 1938 under the title Mary Worth's Family. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, this pioneering soap opera-style strip had an influence on several realistically drawn continuity strips that followed.Mary...
, who chides the boys for trying to usurp her role as the nation's chief do-gooder.
- According to biographer Dennis McNally (Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, The Beat Generation, and America), Jack Kerouac tried to sue the show's producer Stirling Silliphant, claiming that it plagiarized his novel On the Road, which also featured two buddies traveling America's byways in search of adventure. McNally said Kerouac was "appalled by the show's violence," but the lawyers he contacted convinced him that he could never win a lawsuit. (page 272, Desolate Angel, McNally)
- Route 66 was featured on the cover of TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
four times.
- In a 1963 episode of the popular situation comedy Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...
, the character Eddie HaskellEdward Clark "Eddie" Haskell is a fictional character on the Leave It to Beaver television situation comedy, which ran on CBS from October 4, 1957 to 1958 and then on ABC from 1958 to June 20, 1963...
obtains a summer job on an Alaskan fishing boat and likens himself to "the guys on Route 66." Beaver was at the time airing on the rival ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
network.
- In a 1977 episode of SCTV
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
a space age satire of the show called Galaxy 66 stars Joe FlahertyJoe Flaherty is an American-Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV, from 1976 to 1984, and as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks...
and Dave ThomasDavid "Dave" Thomas is a Canadian comedian and actor. He was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, but moved to Durham, North Carolina where his father, John E. Thomas, attended Duke University and earned a PhD in Philosophy. Thomas attended George Watts and Moorehead elementary schools...
as Micron and Antar, two guys who prowl the galaxies looking for adventure, and find it when a mutantThe Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
thug (John CandyJohn Franklin Candy was a Canadian actor and comedian. He rose to fame as a member of the Toronto branch of The Second City and its related Second City Television series, and through his appearances in comedy films such as Stripes, Splash, Cool Runnings, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, and Uncle...
) accosts a human girl (Catherine O'HaraCatherine Anne O'Hara is a Canadian-American actress and comedienne. She is well known for her comedy work on SCTV, and her roles in the films After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and also in the mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest...
), whom they rescue. Later on in the show, they are seen at the end of another skit tying pyramids to their heads to keep from being hit by meteoroids.
- In the Alien Nation
Alien Nation may refer to:* Alien Nation , the 1988 motion picture, and several spin-off properties:** Alien Nation , the 1989–1990 television series, and five made-for-TV movies that continue its story:...
episode "Gimmee, Gimmee," Albert gives Matt a vintage Corvette, whereupon the series theme by Nelson RiddleNelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
is heard.
- Actor Martin Milner toured the real Route 66 for the 2002 video production Route 66: Return to the Road with Martin Milner.
Sequel
In 1993,
Route 66 was resurrected, albeit briefly. The "sequel" series followed the adventures of two friends, Nick Lewis (played by James Wilder) and Arthur Clark (
Dan CorteseDaniel James "Dan" Cortese ; born September 14, 1967) is an American actor, director and spokesperson. He is known for his roles as Perry Rollins on Veronica's Closet and as Vic Meladeo on What I Like About You.-Early life:...
), one of whom (Lewis) had inherited a classic Corvette from his father, Buz Murdock. The new series lasted just four episodes on
NBCThe 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...
before being canceled.
Further reading
- Rosin, James. Route 66: The Television Series 1960-1964. The Autumn Road Company, Philadelphia. ISBN 0-9728684-2-9, ISBN 13: 978-0-9728684-2-6
External links