The Tab Hunter Show
Encyclopedia
The Tab Hunter Show is a 32-episode situation comedy
starring former teen idol
Tab Hunter
. The series ran new episodes on NBC
from September 18, 1960, to April 30, 1961; rebroadcasts then aired from May until September 18.
whose strip, "Bachelor at Large", profiles his amorous adventures around Malibu Beach, California
. The program also starred Jerome Cowan
as Hunter's boss; John Larsen, the owner of Comics, Inc.; Richard Erdman
as his best friend, the rich playboy Peter Fairfield, III; and character actress
Reta Shaw
as Hunter's housekeeper
, Thelma, who disapproved of his life-style.
The Tab Hunter Show was scheduled at 8:30 Eastern on Sundays, under the sponsorship of Lorillard Tobacco
(Newport cigarettes) and General Time's Westclox
division, and featured a selection of guest stars. All the episodes had the same theme and similar plots. The show failed to compete effectively with CBS's The Ed Sullivan Show
variety program and the western
series Lawman
starring John Russell
and Peter Brown
. The Tab Hunter Show followed National Velvet, based on a successful film
of the same name on the Sunday evening schedule. It preceded The Dinah Shore Show
. In 1961-1962, the entire NBC Sunday schedule was revised, with National Velvet moved to Mondays, Bonanza
shifted to the Dinah Shore
slot, and The Tab Hunter Show was cancelled.
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
starring former teen idol
Teen idol
A teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or pop singers, but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors...
Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major films.-Background:...
. The series ran new episodes on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from September 18, 1960, to April 30, 1961; rebroadcasts then aired from May until September 18.
Synopsis
Hunter stars as Paul Morgan, a 29-year-old cartoonistCartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
whose strip, "Bachelor at Large", profiles his amorous adventures around Malibu Beach, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The program also starred Jerome Cowan
Jerome Cowan
Jerome Palmer Cowan was an American film and television actor. At eighteen he joined a travelling stock company, shortly afterwards enlisting in the navy in World War I. After the war he returned to the stage and became a vaudeville headliner, then gained success on the New York stage...
as Hunter's boss; John Larsen, the owner of Comics, Inc.; Richard Erdman
Richard Erdman
Richard Erdman is an American film and television actor and director.-Notable roles:...
as his best friend, the rich playboy Peter Fairfield, III; and character actress
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
Reta Shaw
Reta Shaw
Reta Shaw was an American character actress known for playing authoritative women, housekeepers, and domineering wives, especially on television...
as Hunter's housekeeper
Housekeeper (servant)
A housekeeper is an individual responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the interior of a residence, including direction of subordinate maids...
, Thelma, who disapproved of his life-style.
The Tab Hunter Show was scheduled at 8:30 Eastern on Sundays, under the sponsorship of Lorillard Tobacco
Lorillard Tobacco Company
Lorillard Tobacco Company is an American tobacco company marketing cigarettes under the brand names Newport, Maverick, Old Gold, Kent, True, Satin, and Max. Lorillard is a member of the National Black Chamber of Commerce.- History :...
(Newport cigarettes) and General Time's Westclox
Westclox
Westclox was a former manufacturer and is a current brand of clocks and alarm clocks.-Early history as United Clock Company:Charles Stahlberg and others from Waterbury, Connecticut originally formed as "United Clock Company" on December 5, 1885 in Peru, Illinois, intending to manufacture clocks...
division, and featured a selection of guest stars. All the episodes had the same theme and similar plots. The show failed to compete effectively with CBS's The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
variety program and the western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series Lawman
Lawman (tv series)
Lawman is an American Western television series originally telecast from 1958 to 1962 starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop and featuring Peter Brown as Deputy Marshal Johnny McKay on the ABC Television Network. The series was set in Laramie, Wyoming during the mid to late 1870s. Warner Bros....
starring John Russell
John Russell (actor)
John Lawrence Russell was an American actor, and World War II veteran, most noted for playing Marshal Dan Troop in the successful ABC western television series Lawman from 1958 to 1962....
and Peter Brown
Peter Brown (actor)
Peter Brown is an American television actor known for his role as Deputy Johnny McKay opposite John Russell in the 1958 Warner Bros. western series Lawman.-Early life:...
. The Tab Hunter Show followed National Velvet, based on a successful film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
of the same name on the Sunday evening schedule. It preceded The Dinah Shore Show
The Dinah Shore Show
The Dinah Shore Show is an American variety show which was broadcast by NBC from November 1951 to January 1956, sponsored by General Motors' Chevrolet division...
. In 1961-1962, the entire NBC Sunday schedule was revised, with National Velvet moved to Mondays, Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
shifted to the Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
slot, and The Tab Hunter Show was cancelled.
Cast
- Tab Hunter as Paul Morgan
- Jerome Cowan as John Larson
- Richard Erdman as Peter Fairchild III
- Reta Shaw as Thelma
Notable guest stars
- Jack AlbertsonJack AlbertsonJack Albertson was an American character actor dating to vaudeville. A comedian, dancer, singer, and musician, Albertson is perhaps best known for his roles as Manny Rosen in The Poseidon Adventure , Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Amos Slade in the 1981 animated film The Fox...
- Raymond BaileyRaymond BaileyRaymond Thomas Bailey was an American actor on the Broadway stage, movies, and television. He is best known for his role as wealthy banker, Milburn Drysdale, in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies....
- Jackie CooganJackie CooganJohn Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...
- Linda CristalLinda CristalLinda Cristal is an Argentine actress. She is currently retired....
- Norman FellNorman FellNorman Fell , born Norman Noah Feld, was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.-Early life:...
- Joe FlynnJoe Flynn (US actor)Joseph A. Flynn was an American character actor. He was best known for his role in the 1960s ABC television situation comedy, McHale's Navy. He was also a frequent guest star on 1960s TV shows such as Batman and appeared in several Walt Disney film comedies...
- Flip MarkFlip MarkFlip Mark is an American former child actor, active primarily from 1959-1969....
- John McGiverJohn McGiverJohn Irwin McGiver was a character actor who made more than a hundred appearances in television and motion pictures over a two-decade span from 1955 to 1975....
- Sid MeltonSid MeltonSid Melton was an American actor known for his roles as incompetent carpenter Alf Monroe in the CBS sitcom Green Acres and as Uncle Charlie Halper, proprietor of the Copa Club, in Make Room for Daddy and its spin-offs.Born as Sidney Meltzer in Brooklyn, New York, he was the brother of screenwriter...
- Dean MillerDean Miller (broadcaster)Dean Miller, born Dean C. Stuhlmueller , was an American actor and broadcaster, perhaps best known for his role as the son-in-law in the CBS sitcom December Bride...
- Mary Tyler MooreMary Tyler MooreMary Tyler Moore is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms. Moore is best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and for her earlier role as...
- Elizabeth MontgomeryElizabeth MontgomeryElizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, as Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and as Lizzie Borden in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.-Early life:Born in Los...
- J. Pat O'MalleyJ. Pat O'MalleyJames Patrick O'Malley was an English singer and character actor, who appeared in many American films and television programs during the 1940s–1970s, using the stage name J. Pat O'Malley...
- Doris PackerDoris PackerDoris Packer was an American actress, possibly best known as Mrs. Cornelia Rayburn, Theodore Cleaver's principal in Leave It to Beaver....
- Gena RowlandsGena RowlandsGena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
- Nita TalbotNita TalbotNita Talbot is an American actress. Talbot was a leading lady who spent the first decade or so of her career playing "slick chicks" and sharp-witted career girls, but is perhaps best known for her role as Marya, the White Russian spy in the 1960s sitcom, Hogan's Heroes, as well as Sheila Fine in...
- Nancy WalkerNancy WalkerNancy Walker was an American actress and comedienne of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director...
- Tuesday WeldTuesday 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...
Episode list
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | "One Blonde Too Many" | September 18, 1960 |
| 1-2 | "For Money or Love" | September 25, 1960 |
| 1-3 | "My Brother, The Hero" | October 2, 1960 |
| 1-4 | "Be My Guest" | October 9, 1960 |
| 1-5 | "Operation Iceberg" | October 16, 1960 |
| 1-6 | "The Matchmaker" | October 23, 1960 |
| 1-7 | "I Love a Marine" | October 30, 1960 |
| 1-8 | "Double Trouble" | November 6, 1960 |
| 1-9 | "The Doll in the Bathing Suit" | November 13, 1960 |
| 1-10 | "Hot and Cold" | November 20, 1960 |
| 1-11 | "My Darling Teacher" | November 27, 1960 |
| 1-12 | "One Night in Paris" | December 4, 1960 |
| 1-13 | "Devil to Pay" | December 11, 1960 |
| 1-14 | "How to Lose a Girl" | December 18, 1960 |
| 1-15 | "Happily Unmarried" | December 25, 1960 |
| 1-16 | "Portia Go Home" | January 1, 1961 |
| 1-17 | "Turnabout" | January 8, 1961 |
| 1-18 | "Weekend on Ice" | January 15, 1961 |
| 1-19 | "Girl Overboard" | January 22, 1961 |
| 1-20 | "The Art Patron" | January 29, 1961 |
| 1-21 | "The Golden Arrow" | February 5, 1961 |
| 1-22 | "Galatea" | February 12, 1961 |
| 1-23 | "Me and My Shadow" | February 19, 1961 |
| 1-24 | "The Movie Set" | February 26, 1961 |
| 1-25 | "Sultan for a Day" | March 5, 1961 |
| 1-26 | "Holiday In Spain" | March 12, 1961 |
| 1-27 | "Italian Riviera" | March 19, 1961 |
| 1-28 | "Crazy Over Horses" | March 26, 1961 |
| 1-29 | "Dream Boy" | April 9, 1961 |
| 1-30 | "Personal Appearance" | April 16, 1961 |
| 1-31 | "Those Happy College Days" | April 23, 1961 |
| 1-32 | "The Invitation" | April 30, 1961 |