I would love to watch that episode of the Richard Boone show, I noticed Warren Stevens and Lloyd Bochner 2 really great tv actors were standing on stage.
@jjj1951 Profiles in Courage episodes were later shown as educational films. One in particular had Carroll O'Connor (later Archie Bunker of All in the Family) as President Grover Cleveland and Barbara Feldon (later Agent 99 of Get Smart) as his young wife, I think the niece of a campaign aide.
No matter how obscure those shows were, the people who created those opening titles put a lot of work and love into them. With very few exceptions, you won't find such things on network TV anymore. (Kudos to the folks who gave us the beautiful Follow the Sun, the jazzy and gritty East Side West Side, and numerous westerns seen here. I wish my dad was alive to see and remember them.)
I was out of the country for a few years around that time and didn't have American or any TV for that matter for about 3 years. I remember "The Detectives", Dick Powell Theater, The Defenders, Dante,Hong Kong with Rod Taylor though.
I liked the very brief strain of "Thanks for the Memories" as Bob Hope is introduced in the Chysler Theatre clip. I think I recongnize half of the Richard Boone troupe as being regulars of Quinn Martin shows a decade later. Is that Harry (MASH/Dragnet) Morgan at 5:12? Looking at "Mr Novak" I guess its a law that every show based in a school (Welcome Back Kotter/Room 222/Mr Peepers) must use a font that looks like chalkboard writing :)
You can't assume they weren't very good. it would depend on what other shows they were opposite. Obviously if you were up against Andy Griffith in the early 60's, you weren't going very far. That's just one example. On the other hand..they could have been junk. this is excellent. I just subscribed.
@garymichael1950 You are very right about that. You were definitely toast if you went up against Bonanza on Sunday night in that era. I've read about some drama shows that went down in that spot despite having some good material. By the late 60s the Smothers Brothers cut into Bonanza when people got tired of the worn plots. How many times can Hoss be accused of murder or Little Joe fall in love with a woman only to see her die before the wedding?
Thank you for posting these, but wouldn't you agree that the theme songs are obscure because the shows they were attached to were not very good and therefore not memorable?
Obscure is right! I'm 59 & I can only remember a few of these! Great to se some of the old time movie stars who ventured into TV and some of new tv actors who went on to have their own hit series... such as Chuck Connors. thanks for uploading this.
Does anyone remember the TV series "The Flying Doctor" (the original black and white series about 1961) and also the series "Whiplash" (about 1961? They were aired here in Edmonton,Alberta,Canada but they were probably made in Australia.
(part 4) SLATTERY'S PEOPLE...I though the opening included the statement by Richard Crenna "Democracy is a very bad form of government, but I ask you never to forget it...the others are so much worse" HONG KONG--why did Rod Taylor decide to do a series, after making a splash on the big screen with THE TIME MACHINE? Thank you again for your patience.
THE LIEUTENANT--I saw this episode on TNT years ago. In a supporting role, Leonard Nimoy played a movie director who wanted to film the heroic war story of Andrew Duggan's character...who was hiding a painful secret. STAGECOACH WEST--fans of BEVERLY HILLS 90210 (the original) will be shocked to learn Wayne Rogers' character was named....Luke Perry.
BOB HOPE PRESENTS THE CHRYSLER THEATER--I did not know Herschel Bernardi did the opening narration....and you may not know Rod Serling won an Emmy (his sixth) for the script. Love your teaming of STONEY BURKE and WIDE COUNTRY--two networks put on shows about contemporary rodeo cowboys in the same season?! They were even going after the same prize--the Gold Buckle for the champion. (part 3)
This is going to be a multi-parter, I have so much to say...CAIN'S HUNDRED, as in what Boris Badenov and Natasha couldn't even make, much less the 10 Most Wanted. BUS STOP---you got the opening with Fabian as a guest star....playing a psychotic killer. That episode was singled out by both the FCC and Congress as being particularly distasteful. NATIONAL VELVET...I don't know how they got two seasons out of a self-contained movie--she certainly didn't run the Grand National every week (part 2)
However one exception to my comment might be 'Hollywood And The Stars' which I did see later in syndication.
I guess NBC later showed some of the 'Bob Hope Presents' episodes in different formats. However I never it saw in actual syndication later - unlike 'Kraft Suspense Theater' which I dimly recall seeing after it's network run.
@MrPeterbs Episodes were syndicated under the titles SUSPENSE THEATER, and CRISIS (which had dramatic episodes of CHRYSLER THEATER mixed in). CHRYSLER THEATER shows were also put into syndication as UNIVERSAL STAR TIME. They also aired as summer replacements on NBC prime time in 1971 and 1972, under the titles NBC ACTION PLAYHOUSE/NBC ADVENTURE THEATER/NBC COMEDY THEATER, introduced by hosts of the network's daytime game shows. Fascinating side story in part 2.
@tomservo56954 Thanks- you are a fount of info. Yes I think I recall seeing 'Crisis' in syndication. I believe the wild music theme was by John (Johnny) Williams. I also recall seeing 'National Velvet' (given my sister loved horses) during it's network run though was pretty young. And wow- I recall 'Stoney Burke' as being on the list of 'immoral' shows given out by the Catholic Church. How many people recall that? :-)
@MrPeterbs KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATER was produced by Roncom Productions...standing for Ronald Como, son of Perry. Perry had signed a four year deal with the network and the cheese maker, paying him $100,000 a week--while he did only one variety show a month. He explained that his fans would loyally watch whatever program was in the time slot during the other weeks of the month...and they did. Roncom also produced RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, which was developed from an episode of the Kraft show.
These shows are considered obscure because they were only on the air for a short time- maybe a season at the most. Therefore , they weren't considered to be attractive as syndication material.
@jeprice08 I had heard so much about that show, and thanks to the late, great Trio cable network (Pop.Culture,TV.) I got to see it. And the writer listed in the opening, Millard Lampell--he knew Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, performing with them in a pre-World War II topical/protest musical group called the Almanac Singers.
Re.: The very last clip at 14:25 in the sequence ("The New Breed") -- you almost wonder now if this might have been one of the things that inspired the later "Police Squad" series, seeing that Leslie Neilson starred in both...
The best ones are. East Side /West Side w/ George C.Scott, National Velvet, The Richard Boone Show, Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theater, Empire w/ Ryan O'Neal, Stoney Burke w/ Jack Lord, Hollywood & The Stars, Mr. Novak, The Defenders W/ Robert Reed, & Arrest & Trial the 1963 show not that L&O spinoff. Very nostalgic.
@RwDt09 Some of these shows were very interesting -- they were launched during the years following Newton Minnow's famous "vast wasteland" speech and were intended to be highbrow dramas. The Richard Boone show was one -- it was an ensemble troupe of dramatic actors that portrayed an entirely new drama each week. Another program on this list, "Arrest and Trial" is the original "Law and Order" -- 90 minutes long.
@scottadler arrest and trial didnt make it because the stars were a cop and a defence attorney one or the other would look bad depending on who lost in court
@spacepatrolman Arrest and Trial didn't make it because the show was either 90 or 120 minutes long. Audiences simply didn't want to make that kind of time commitment to anything less than a feature movie.
@chowpuppy wagon train was 90 minutes long it lasted a long time when gene roddenberry promoted star trek he said it was wagon train to the stars [ maybe they should have used john macentire as an asrteroid prospector arrest and trial was too esoteric for the public
@scottadler The closing theme to 77 Sunset Strip is available on the CD Televisions Greatest Hits, through TeeVee Tunes. It is a REAL treasure trove. a few are reproductions, but recreated from original arrangements. Most are originals. There are 65 tracks. There is also a 2nd volume.
I am just old enough to remember about half of those shows. (even though all of them premiered in my lifetime).
Some of them were excellent TV.
A lot of them didn't make it past 1 season simply because there were only 3 channels (3 Networks - ABC, CBS and NBC) back in that era and the competition for Prime Time was fierce.
If anything aired at the same time as What's My Line or one of the major popular shows it was doomed.
Thanks for posting these. I've heard of all these shows but haven't seen episodes of any of them in reruns, or here on YouTube. And I don't think any of these are out on DVD either, though I hope that will change. BTW, was "Empire" in color on every episode? If so Harry Castleman and Wally Podrazik made a mistake in their 1989 book, where they said it was B&W.
The Empire clip is from episode 11, so it would seem the series was shot in color. Most of the clips are from Youtube and uploads on other sites. You can view entire episodes of some of the shows in the video on Youtube, i.e. The Lieutenant, or other on other sites - a Google video search will find some outside of Youtube. The trick is to be precise in your search, i.e. The Lieutenant, Gary Lockwood, NBC, 1963, and chances are you just might get what you're looking for.
@RwDt09 No hong kong in youtube but pictures in rod taylors website he plays a news correspondent that doubles as a detective when the cops bungle the case a soundtrack record with a beautiful cover was issued tv soundtracks are rare only other one in this video was profiles in courage
@vinylsingleman I think it may have been both. EMPIRE ran on NBC in the 1962-63 season, and considered important enough to get the Living Color treatment. Jim Redigo (Richard Egan) was foreman of the ranch owned by Anne Seymour's character (Terry Moore and Ryan O'Neal were her children). It got steamroller in the ratings by RED SKELTON., but NBC thought there was something to be salvaged....see part 2
@vinylsingleman Part 2. For the 1963-64 season, the show was converted into REDIGO. Jim Redigo was now running his own ranch, with a new supporting cast and a 30-minute length, to EMPIRE's hour. That version literally didn't make it to 1964, its final episode airing New Year's Eve--last in the time slot behind SKELTON and McHALE'S NAVY. But the story takes yet another turn...see Part 3
@vinylsingleman The production company apparently convinced ABC to pick up EMPIRE for another shot--it aired from March to September 1964, as replacement for THE TRAVELS OF JAMIE McPHEETERS. My source book claims these were new episodes with the original cast and format, so it's likely these ones would have been filmed in black and white, as ABC at the time aired few color shows. Thus, even if they were rebroadcasts of the NBC run, they would not have been broadcast in color...see Part 4
@GOOSEYGOOSE9 Follow the sun was free lance writers Cains 100 was a posecutor that wants to nail the top 100 criminals East side west side was about a social worker
Check out the 5:08 mark. The actor in the foreground that turns to face the camera is Robert "Baretta" Blake.
mocharger06 1 month ago
I remember most of these. Great memories.
theJetta1995 1 month ago
I would love to watch that episode of the Richard Boone show, I noticed Warren Stevens and Lloyd Bochner 2 really great tv actors were standing on stage.
whiskeyify 1 month ago
to this day i remember the theme of the great adventure! would have never guessed richard rodgers was the composer!
leonarddaccardi 1 month ago
Yep. That's Harry Morgan.
Categorycinque 1 month ago
At 05:12 (during the Richard Boone Show open), is that Harry Morgan?
dadoctah 2 months ago
The Great Adventure and Profiles in Courage were good shows in that they also taught Americans about their history.
jjj1951 2 months ago
@jjj1951 Profiles in Courage episodes were later shown as educational films. One in particular had Carroll O'Connor (later Archie Bunker of All in the Family) as President Grover Cleveland and Barbara Feldon (later Agent 99 of Get Smart) as his young wife, I think the niece of a campaign aide.
CarolinaNIM 1 month ago
No matter how obscure those shows were, the people who created those opening titles put a lot of work and love into them. With very few exceptions, you won't find such things on network TV anymore. (Kudos to the folks who gave us the beautiful Follow the Sun, the jazzy and gritty East Side West Side, and numerous westerns seen here. I wish my dad was alive to see and remember them.)
markojameow 2 months ago
When you write ''obscure'' you're not kidding! I forgot so many of these and wish I could see a few episodes of these gems again.
:)
1400deadwood 2 months ago
I was out of the country for a few years around that time and didn't have American or any TV for that matter for about 3 years. I remember "The Detectives", Dick Powell Theater, The Defenders, Dante,Hong Kong with Rod Taylor though.
Geraldolini 3 months ago
I liked the very brief strain of "Thanks for the Memories" as Bob Hope is introduced in the Chysler Theatre clip. I think I recongnize half of the Richard Boone troupe as being regulars of Quinn Martin shows a decade later. Is that Harry (MASH/Dragnet) Morgan at 5:12? Looking at "Mr Novak" I guess its a law that every show based in a school (Welcome Back Kotter/Room 222/Mr Peepers) must use a font that looks like chalkboard writing :)
garrisonskunk 3 months ago
You can't assume they weren't very good. it would depend on what other shows they were opposite. Obviously if you were up against Andy Griffith in the early 60's, you weren't going very far. That's just one example. On the other hand..they could have been junk. this is excellent. I just subscribed.
garymichael1950 3 months ago
@garymichael1950 You are very right about that. You were definitely toast if you went up against Bonanza on Sunday night in that era. I've read about some drama shows that went down in that spot despite having some good material. By the late 60s the Smothers Brothers cut into Bonanza when people got tired of the worn plots. How many times can Hoss be accused of murder or Little Joe fall in love with a woman only to see her die before the wedding?
CarolinaNIM 1 month ago
Thank you for posting these, but wouldn't you agree that the theme songs are obscure because the shows they were attached to were not very good and therefore not memorable?
paktype 3 months ago
Obscure is right! I'm 59 & I can only remember a few of these! Great to se some of the old time movie stars who ventured into TV and some of new tv actors who went on to have their own hit series... such as Chuck Connors. thanks for uploading this.
mrwolfhound 3 months ago
Bring me back to that time. PLEASE.
pineridge221 3 months ago 2
Does anyone remember the TV series "The Flying Doctor" (the original black and white series about 1961) and also the series "Whiplash" (about 1961? They were aired here in Edmonton,Alberta,Canada but they were probably made in Australia.
BBINGHAM032352 3 months ago
I remember "The Dick Powell Theatre"
johnhrobiii 3 months ago
The TV themes were better than the shows themselves!
bingobongo445 4 months ago
Anyone remember what the Beeb used for The Railway Children opening and closing titles?
mozzo903 4 months ago
wow, you got some cool stuff here dude! your vids are great
wrathallll 4 months ago
And I just remembered...the episode of THE NEW BREED reunites Leslie Nielsen with his FORBIDDEN PLANET co-star Anne Francis.
tomservo56954 4 months ago
My favorite was The Great Adventure 9:13.
beerborn 4 months ago
Holy Smokes, I haven't seen some of these episodes since I was a kid. Never remember them unit I saw some of the intro clips. Thanks
beerborn 4 months ago
(part 4) SLATTERY'S PEOPLE...I though the opening included the statement by Richard Crenna "Democracy is a very bad form of government, but I ask you never to forget it...the others are so much worse" HONG KONG--why did Rod Taylor decide to do a series, after making a splash on the big screen with THE TIME MACHINE? Thank you again for your patience.
tomservo56954 4 months ago
THE LIEUTENANT--I saw this episode on TNT years ago. In a supporting role, Leonard Nimoy played a movie director who wanted to film the heroic war story of Andrew Duggan's character...who was hiding a painful secret. STAGECOACH WEST--fans of BEVERLY HILLS 90210 (the original) will be shocked to learn Wayne Rogers' character was named....Luke Perry.
(part 4)
tomservo56954 4 months ago
BOB HOPE PRESENTS THE CHRYSLER THEATER--I did not know Herschel Bernardi did the opening narration....and you may not know Rod Serling won an Emmy (his sixth) for the script. Love your teaming of STONEY BURKE and WIDE COUNTRY--two networks put on shows about contemporary rodeo cowboys in the same season?! They were even going after the same prize--the Gold Buckle for the champion. (part 3)
tomservo56954 4 months ago
This is going to be a multi-parter, I have so much to say...CAIN'S HUNDRED, as in what Boris Badenov and Natasha couldn't even make, much less the 10 Most Wanted. BUS STOP---you got the opening with Fabian as a guest star....playing a psychotic killer. That episode was singled out by both the FCC and Congress as being particularly distasteful. NATIONAL VELVET...I don't know how they got two seasons out of a self-contained movie--she certainly didn't run the Grand National every week (part 2)
tomservo56954 4 months ago
However one exception to my comment might be 'Hollywood And The Stars' which I did see later in syndication.
I guess NBC later showed some of the 'Bob Hope Presents' episodes in different formats. However I never it saw in actual syndication later - unlike 'Kraft Suspense Theater' which I dimly recall seeing after it's network run.
MrPeterbs 5 months ago
@MrPeterbs Episodes were syndicated under the titles SUSPENSE THEATER, and CRISIS (which had dramatic episodes of CHRYSLER THEATER mixed in). CHRYSLER THEATER shows were also put into syndication as UNIVERSAL STAR TIME. They also aired as summer replacements on NBC prime time in 1971 and 1972, under the titles NBC ACTION PLAYHOUSE/NBC ADVENTURE THEATER/NBC COMEDY THEATER, introduced by hosts of the network's daytime game shows. Fascinating side story in part 2.
tomservo56954 4 months ago
@tomservo56954 Thanks- you are a fount of info. Yes I think I recall seeing 'Crisis' in syndication. I believe the wild music theme was by John (Johnny) Williams. I also recall seeing 'National Velvet' (given my sister loved horses) during it's network run though was pretty young. And wow- I recall 'Stoney Burke' as being on the list of 'immoral' shows given out by the Catholic Church. How many people recall that? :-)
MrPeterbs 4 months ago
@MrPeterbs KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATER was produced by Roncom Productions...standing for Ronald Como, son of Perry. Perry had signed a four year deal with the network and the cheese maker, paying him $100,000 a week--while he did only one variety show a month. He explained that his fans would loyally watch whatever program was in the time slot during the other weeks of the month...and they did. Roncom also produced RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, which was developed from an episode of the Kraft show.
tomservo56954 4 months ago
These shows are considered obscure because they were only on the air for a short time- maybe a season at the most. Therefore , they weren't considered to be attractive as syndication material.
MrPeterbs 5 months ago
The rousing theme for "The Great Adventure" -- my favorite show by far at the time -- was composed by Richard Rodgers.
oldroar1 5 months ago
2:06 - 2:22 I love that theme song! It's like East Side, West Side, it's powerful!
jeprice08 5 months ago
@jeprice08 I had heard so much about that show, and thanks to the late, great Trio cable network (Pop.Culture,TV.) I got to see it. And the writer listed in the opening, Millard Lampell--he knew Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, performing with them in a pre-World War II topical/protest musical group called the Almanac Singers.
tomservo56954 4 months ago
@tomservo56954 Well, I heard about that show from an A&E biography of Adam West (Batman).
jeprice08 4 months ago
Very amusing. Brings back seventh grade in all its horror ...
naizret 6 months ago
The Theme from The Defenders is great, especially ending credits.
TheParodyMeister 6 months ago
Re.: The very last clip at 14:25 in the sequence ("The New Breed") -- you almost wonder now if this might have been one of the things that inspired the later "Police Squad" series, seeing that Leslie Neilson starred in both...
WitzlawTN 6 months ago
The best ones are. East Side /West Side w/ George C.Scott, National Velvet, The Richard Boone Show, Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theater, Empire w/ Ryan O'Neal, Stoney Burke w/ Jack Lord, Hollywood & The Stars, Mr. Novak, The Defenders W/ Robert Reed, & Arrest & Trial the 1963 show not that L&O spinoff. Very nostalgic.
yogafan6500 9 months ago
Excellent collection. Do you have the closing theme to "77 Sunset Strip"? The one with all the lyrics?
scottadler 9 months ago
@scottadler
No. Guess I'll have to look for it.
RwDt09 9 months ago
@RwDt09 Some of these shows were very interesting -- they were launched during the years following Newton Minnow's famous "vast wasteland" speech and were intended to be highbrow dramas. The Richard Boone show was one -- it was an ensemble troupe of dramatic actors that portrayed an entirely new drama each week. Another program on this list, "Arrest and Trial" is the original "Law and Order" -- 90 minutes long.
scottadler 9 months ago
@scottadler arrest and trial didnt make it because the stars were a cop and a defence attorney one or the other would look bad depending on who lost in court
spacepatrolman 8 months ago
@spacepatrolman Compounded by the fact Chuck Connors co-owned the show.
tomservo56954 4 months ago
@spacepatrolman Arrest and Trial didn't make it because the show was either 90 or 120 minutes long. Audiences simply didn't want to make that kind of time commitment to anything less than a feature movie.
chowpuppy 2 months ago
@chowpuppy wagon train was 90 minutes long it lasted a long time when gene roddenberry promoted star trek he said it was wagon train to the stars [ maybe they should have used john macentire as an asrteroid prospector arrest and trial was too esoteric for the public
spacepatrolman 2 months ago
@scottadler The closing theme to 77 Sunset Strip is available on the CD Televisions Greatest Hits, through TeeVee Tunes. It is a REAL treasure trove. a few are reproductions, but recreated from original arrangements. Most are originals. There are 65 tracks. There is also a 2nd volume.
1Cycat 3 months ago
I am just old enough to remember about half of those shows. (even though all of them premiered in my lifetime).
Some of them were excellent TV.
A lot of them didn't make it past 1 season simply because there were only 3 channels (3 Networks - ABC, CBS and NBC) back in that era and the competition for Prime Time was fierce.
If anything aired at the same time as What's My Line or one of the major popular shows it was doomed.
Lot of good shows were lost.
hammerogod 9 months ago
Those are rare title sequences, indeed! Thanks ever so much for keeping the memories of old TV alive & well.
TimelordR 9 months ago
Interesting collection of rare TV themes.
yogafan6500 9 months ago
These are so cool...any chance of getting more obscure show openings?
recordman64 9 months ago
@recordman64
Just check my Youtube page for others I've uploaded. Simply click on my name above the screen.
RwDt09 9 months ago
Thanks for posting these. I've heard of all these shows but haven't seen episodes of any of them in reruns, or here on YouTube. And I don't think any of these are out on DVD either, though I hope that will change. BTW, was "Empire" in color on every episode? If so Harry Castleman and Wally Podrazik made a mistake in their 1989 book, where they said it was B&W.
vinylsingleman 9 months ago
@vinylsingleman
The Empire clip is from episode 11, so it would seem the series was shot in color. Most of the clips are from Youtube and uploads on other sites. You can view entire episodes of some of the shows in the video on Youtube, i.e. The Lieutenant, or other on other sites - a Google video search will find some outside of Youtube. The trick is to be precise in your search, i.e. The Lieutenant, Gary Lockwood, NBC, 1963, and chances are you just might get what you're looking for.
RwDt09 9 months ago
@RwDt09 No hong kong in youtube but pictures in rod taylors website he plays a news correspondent that doubles as a detective when the cops bungle the case a soundtrack record with a beautiful cover was issued tv soundtracks are rare only other one in this video was profiles in courage
spacepatrolman 8 months ago
@vinylsingleman I think it may have been both. EMPIRE ran on NBC in the 1962-63 season, and considered important enough to get the Living Color treatment. Jim Redigo (Richard Egan) was foreman of the ranch owned by Anne Seymour's character (Terry Moore and Ryan O'Neal were her children). It got steamroller in the ratings by RED SKELTON., but NBC thought there was something to be salvaged....see part 2
tomservo56954 4 months ago
@vinylsingleman Part 2. For the 1963-64 season, the show was converted into REDIGO. Jim Redigo was now running his own ranch, with a new supporting cast and a 30-minute length, to EMPIRE's hour. That version literally didn't make it to 1964, its final episode airing New Year's Eve--last in the time slot behind SKELTON and McHALE'S NAVY. But the story takes yet another turn...see Part 3
tomservo56954 4 months ago
@vinylsingleman The production company apparently convinced ABC to pick up EMPIRE for another shot--it aired from March to September 1964, as replacement for THE TRAVELS OF JAMIE McPHEETERS. My source book claims these were new episodes with the original cast and format, so it's likely these ones would have been filmed in black and white, as ABC at the time aired few color shows. Thus, even if they were rebroadcasts of the NBC run, they would not have been broadcast in color...see Part 4
tomservo56954 4 months ago
@vinylsingleman That may have been where confusion could have lied for Castleman and Podrazik.
tomservo56954 4 months ago
Westrex Recording System Used In Hollywood And The Stars.
GOOSEYGOOSE9 9 months ago 5
great video. only knew one of them here in the uk, the defenders. new all the stars. nice to see how some of them got their start
turnermedman1231 9 months ago
How Many Forgotten Themes Were There.
GOOSEYGOOSE9 9 months ago 5
@GOOSEYGOOSE9 Follow the sun was free lance writers Cains 100 was a posecutor that wants to nail the top 100 criminals East side west side was about a social worker
spacepatrolman 8 months ago
@spacepatrolman the detectives was a right wing pro police brutality cop show starring the big commie snitch robert taylor
spacepatrolman 8 months ago