The Official 60's Site-Television in the 60s
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip premiered on ABC October 10, 1958 and ended its run February 26, 1964 with 206 episodes being produced.  The investigators of Stuart Bailey, p[layed by Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Jeff Spencer played by Roger Smith, operated out of very elaborate offices at 77 Sunset Strip, Hollywood California. Stuart Bailey was a very cultered OSS officer who was an expert in foreign languages.  Jeff Spencer was a former government uncover agent with a degree in law. Bailey and Spencer were both Judo experts.  Their cases took them to glamourous places all ove the world.   At Dino's, a posh restaurant, worked a parking attendant named Kookie,played by Edd Byrnes, who was a private detective wannabe. In the cast also was Suzanne, the French switchboard operator.
American Bandstand
American Bandstand began as a local program on WFIL-TV (now WPVI), Channel 6 in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952. Then it was hosted by Bob Horn and was called Bob Horn's Bandstand.On July 9 of 1956 the show got a new host, a clean-cut 26 year old named Dick Clark. When ABC picked the show up, it was renamed American Bandstand, airing it's first national show on August 5, 1957. The show was moved to Los Angeles in 1964. From 1963 to 1987 Bandstand was on only once a week, on Saturday
Andy's Gang
Andy's Gang was a children's television program that ran on NBC from August 20, 1955, to December 31, 1960. It was hosted by actor Andy Devine and was the successor to the radio and television programs Smilin' Ed McConnell and his Buster Brown Gang, later shortened to Smilin' Ed McConnell and his Gang.
Batman
Batman is a 1960s American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name, which stars Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin, two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network for two and a half seasons from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968.
Bewitched
Bewitched revolves around Darrin Stevens, first played by Dick York and later by Dick Sargent,  an advertising executive and his beautiful wife, Samantha, played by beautiful Elizabeth Montgomery,  who happens to be a witch.  They live at 1164 Morning Glory Circle in Westport Connecticut. Darrin works for the Manhattan firm of McMann and Tate.  Most Bewitched episodes deals with him hiding the fact his wife is a witch and of course her powers she possesses.
Bonanza
Bonanza was the first color western and one of the longest running TV shows.  It first aired in 1959 on NBC and there were 430 sixty minute episodes produced.  The series followed the adventures of the Cartwright clan who owned a 1000 square mile timber range known as The Ponderosa just outside Virginia City. Head of the Cartwright family was Ben Cartwright played by Lorne Greene, who was a widower. Michael Landon played the youngest son Little Joe with Dan Blocker the middle son Eric "Hoss" Cartwright and Pernell Roberts as the oldest son Adam Cartwright.  All three sons had different mothers and all being deceased.
Burke's Law
Burke's Law is a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II.
Candid Camera
Candid Camera was a hidden camera television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947. After a series of theatrical film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone, Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948.
Cheyenne
Cheyenne Bodie played by Clint walker  was a large man, 6'6" tall) a former army scout,  who wandered the west and tried to avoid trouble at all cost but with little success. In the first season he had a sidekick named Smitty played by L.Q. Jones but was dropped in the second season.
Combat
Combat! is an American television program that aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. Combat! presented an unvarnished view of men in armed conflict. This was not a series that glorified war, but a tribute to the civilian soldier, the average G.I. who fought (and died) on the front lines of Europe.
Dragnet
Dragnet was perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural drama in media history. The series gave millions of audience members a feel for the boredom and drudgery, as well as the danger and heroism, of real-life police work. Dragnet earned praise for improving the public opinion of police officers.
Dr. Kildaire
Dr. Kildare is an NBC medical drama television series which ran from September 27, 1961 until April 5, 1966 encompassing a total of 190 episodes. The show, which premiered at the same time as an ABC medical drama, Ben Casey, quickly achieved success and helped spark a number of new shows dealing with the medical field.
F Troop
F Troop is a satirical American television sitcom that originally aired for two seasons on ABC-TV. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965 and concluded its run on April 6, 1967 with a total of 65 episodes. The first season of 34 episodes was filmed in black-and-white, but the show switched to color for its second season.
Flipper
The television show Flipper is an adaptation of the 1963 film Flipper starring Chuck Connors and Luke Halpin as Porter and Sandy Ricks, and its 1964 sequel, Flipper's New Adventure, where Brian Kelly took over the role of Porter. In adapting the films to a television series, the producers made Porter a single parent and gave him a second son named Bud, played by Tommy Norden.
Get Smart
Get Smart! is an American television comedy series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show starred Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, Barbara Feldon as Agent 99, and Edward Platt as the Chief of CONTROL, a secret American government counter-espionage agency.
Gilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island is an American television situation comedy created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The series featured Bob Denver, Alan Hale, Jr., Jim Backus, and Tina Louise, and aired for three seasons on the CBS network, from September 26, 1964, to September 4, 1967.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
The Gomer Pyle series was a spinoff from The Andy Griffith Show. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., premiered on CBS on September 25, 1964 and exited September 19, 1969 after completing 150 episodes. Gomer Pyle started on The Andy Griffith Show during the third season as the dimwitted mechanic.  His ignorance but honesty really was annoyance to Andy and Deputy Barney Fife. After the first season, Jim Nabors (Gomer) was offered a series of his own.  The spinoff began as an episode on The Andy Griffith Show where Gomer enlists into the Marines. Private Pyle is stationed at Camp Henderson, California assigned to tough as nails Sergeant Carter's platoon. Sergeant Carter played by Frank Sutton can handle anything except Private Pyle's back woods  naivete and slow learning ability.  This combination made this show hit.
Green Acres
CBS produced 170 episodes of Green Acres and it appeared on television from September 1965 till September 1971. Green acres was a spinoff of Petticoat Junction.   Attorney Oliver Wendall played by Eddie Albert, an attorney, wanting to be a farmer all his life buys The Haney 160 acre farm sight unseen near Hooterville. His wife Lisa, starrin Eva Gabor, objects leaving New York's  luxury to live in the country. She eventually gives in and moves to the broken down shack which is unfurnished and missing the luxuries they are so accustomed.  The show is built around them adjusting not only to the new style of living but to the towns people with their backwards living.
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke, the televsion western series, originally started on radio in 1952 with William Conrad the voice of Matt Dillon. When it was decided to move to television John Wayne was asked to be Marshall Matt Dillon but he turned it down because he didn't want the rigors of doing a weekly television show.  John Wayne recommended James Arness, a relatively new actor. John Wayne introduced the first episode when it aired on CBS in 1955. There was a total of 233 thirty minute episodes and 402 sixty minute episodes produced. It is still the longest running western ever produced.
Have Gun Will Travel
Richard Boone stars as the black clad  good guy Paladin,  a modern day detective working in the old west.  In this 60s television western he lived in San Francisco and his services did not come cheap.  His standard fee was $1000.  He was a West Point graduate and could recite Shakespeare as well as use his colt single action revolver. If you remember he had a calling card he handed out during each episode.
Hootenanny
Hootenanny was a musical variety television show broadcast in the United States on ABC from April 1963 to September 1964. Although both popular and influential, the program is primarily remembered today for the controversy created when the producers blacklisted certain folk music acts, which then led to a boycott by others.
Hullabaloo
'Hullabaloo' was a lot like 'Shindig', and lasted only a year and a half as well, debuting in January of 1965, and continuing until the Fall of 1966.   First broadcast as a half hour series, then as an hour show in the spring, then switching back again to a half hour in the fall of 1965, 'Hullabaloo' featured the Hullabaloo Dancers, The Peter Matz Orchestra ('The Carol Burnett Show' band), and (on the first few hour shows) Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, introducing new British acts in black and white segments (the rest of the show was in color). Instead of just one host, different guest-hosts were recruited each week for this NBC show.
I Dream of Jeannie
Dream of Jeannie appeared on NBC for five years beginning September 1965 and ending after 139 episodes on September 1, 1970.  The beautiful Jeannie played by Barbara Eden, was born in Bagdad 64 BC. When she reached the age of marriage her hand was sought by the most powerful and feared genie of all time, the Blue Djin. When she denied him her hand, he turned her into a genie and placed her in a bottle and sentenced her to a deserted island to be all alone for the rest of her life. Centuries pass and she is not affected by time.  In 1965 astronaut Captain Tony Nelson played by Larry Hagman, crash lands on the deserted island and while looking for something to send a SOS signal he finds the bottle. When he opens it pink smoke appears and a beautiful harem girl, appears.
I've Got A Secret
I've Got a Secret is a weekly panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?.
Laramie
Laramie is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1959 to 1963. Laramie was a Revue Studios production which originally starred John Smith as Slim Sherman, Robert Fuller as Jess Harper, Hoagy Carmichael as Jonesy and Robert Crawford, Jr. as Andy Sherman.
Leave It To Beaver
Leave it to Beaver aired on CBS and ABC for 234 episodes from October 1957 to September 1963.  The family of the Cleavers lived in Mayfield at 211 Pine Street.  Ward, Hugh Beaumont,  the father was an accountant and his wife June Cleaver starring Barbara Billingsley was the typical housewife during that period. The shows follows the story of the two sons Beaver starring Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow as Wally. The Cleavers was the typical middle class family found always in these type of programs. Together with the growing up and the problems they presented during the episodes with their friends included brought delightment and a moral to the story.
Man From U.N.C.L.E.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. It follows the exploits of two secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a fictitious secret international espionage and law-enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E., whose letters stand for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.
Mannix
Mannix began its appearance on televison September 7, 1967 and remained at CBS until August 24, 1975 with 154 episodes being filmed.  During the first season Joe Mannix played by Mike Connors, worked as a detective for Intertect, a computerized private detective agency.  Stories follow the format of Mannix being a loner who constantly goes against the rules and regulations of the detective organization.
McHale's Navy
McHale's Navy is an American television sitcom series which ran for 138 half-hour episodes from October 11, 1962 to August 31, 1966 on the ABC network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated in a one-hour drama called Seven Against the Sea, broadcast on April 3, 1962.
Mission Impossible
Mission Impossible invaded CBS on September 17, 1966 and ended its run in September 1973 after 171 episodes. The cases of Impossible Mission Force, which was a top secret government organization that was trained to handle dangerous and highly sensitive international assignments, was depicted week after week on these 60 minute episode. Peter Graves, Greg Morris,
Mod Squad
The Mod Squad is an American crime drama series that ran on ABC from September 24, 1968 to August 23, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III as Lincoln "Linc" Hayes, and Tige Andrews as Captain Adam Greer. The executive producers of the series were Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas.
My Favorite Martian
My Favorite Martian is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963 to May 1, 1966 for 107 episodes (75 in black and white 1963–1965, 32 color 1965–1966). The show starred Ray Walston as Uncle Martin (the Martian) and Bill Bixby as Tim O'Hara.
Mr. Ed
Settling into their first home, newlyweds Wilbur Post, an architect, and his wife Carol, discover a horse in the barn. Meeting Roger Addison, a neighbor, they discover that the horse is theirs, left to them by the previous owner. Unable to part with the animal, Wilber persuades Carol to let him keep it. Shortly after, while brushing the horse (named Mr. Ed), Wilbur discovers that he possesses the ability to talk, and because Wilbur is the only person he likes well enough to talk to, he will speak only to him. Stories depict the misadventures that befall Wilbur as he struggles to conceal the fact that he owns a talking horse.
My Three Sons
My Three Sons storylines centred on the family's adventures in suburbia, and was perhaps the hybrid of what was to become the era of the Dom-Com (Domestic Sitcom). Steve Douglas also spent a good deal of time fending off attractive women who wanted to marry him and take over that loveable ready made family.
Perry Mason
Perry Mason starring Raymond Burr as Perry Mason, produced over 271 episodes for CBS. It started its run September 21, 1957 and ended September 4, 1966.  For nine seasons the famous defense attorney solved murder cases in the courtroom. Assisting him in solving those complexed puzzles was his personal investigator, Paul Drake and his secretary Della Street.  Perry seemed to put together the facts at the very last minute to solve those puzzling cases. His adversary was District Attorney Hamilton Burger, whom he would outshine each and every week. The outcome each episode was certainly predictable but nonetheless entertaining. Mason never lost a case which made DA Burger that more determined to beat Perry one time
Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction was a spinoff from The Beverly Hillbillies.  The story takes place in a small town of Hooterville. Kate Bradley was the widowed owner of the only bed and breakfast type of establishment in the entire town.  She had three beautiful daughters, Billy Jo,  Betty Jo, Bobby Jo, who helped her run the rural Shady Rest Hotel.
Shindig
Shindig, hosted by LA disc jockey Jimmy O'Neill, was broadcast live on ABC September 16, 1964, with house band the Shin-diggers (later the Shindogs) and the Shindigger dancers (the reason anyone over twenty-five might be watching the show). Most of the 'Shindig' shows were broadcast in glorious black and white.  'Shindig' started out life as a half-hour variety show, but by January of 1965 it was expanded to a full hour. If you were watching back then you would have seen Darlene Love, Jean King and The Blossoms, Bobby Sherman, Fats Domino, (even Orson Welles), The Righteous Brothers and others performing while the Shindigger dancers did their groovy thing. In the Fall of 1965, the show was split into two half-hour shows, broadcasting on Thursday and Saturday nights. On the Fall 1965 premiere show, broadcast from London (this would continue periodically), guests included The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds and The Everly Brothers. The Who and every other British invasion band played on 'Shindig', and the show spawned a plethora of imitators, including a hoarde of local music shows
Star Trek
Star Trek started its journey on television with NBC on September 8, 1966 and completed its final journey on April 4, 1969 after 78 episodes. The series Star Trek was set in the 23rd Century on Starship Enterprise commanded by Captain James Kirk played by William Shatner.  Its mission was to explore unknown and new planets and to deliver supplies from Earth to other colonies in space. Continuing conflicts with Klingons and Romulans provided recurring conflicts as well as other discovered life fo
Sugarfoot
The Sugarfoot, Tom Brewster grew up in the East and came west studying law by correspondence course hoping to become a lawyer. He being naive and being a sarsparilla drinker caused him to get into many predicaments. Will Hutchins was casted as Tom "Sugarfoot" Brewster and Jack Elam was "Toothy" Thompson in this classic yet short lived 60s televison western
Surfside 6
Surfside 6 is an ABC television series (1960–1962) about a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat, featuring Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield, II, Van Williams as Kenny Madison (a character recycled from Bourbon Street Beat, a similar series that had appeared in the same time slot the season before), and Lee Patterson as Dave Thorne.
The Addams Family
The Addams Family series was the story of an eccentric family that lived on North Cemetery Ridge.  The series aired on ABC as a 30 minute comedy from September 1964 to September 1966. In all there were 64 episodes produced. Morticia was the beautiful wife of the house.  Her husband Gomez had very strange looking eyes and was a destructive person in nature as was Uncle Fester.  Lurch was a 7 foot human looking monster who really only said two words "You rang?" or just mumbled.  The children consisted of Pugsley and his sister Wednesday who both at ghoulish attributes as well. Grandma was a witch. They lived in an old castle looking house filled with odd objects including a dismembered hand named "Thing"  which kept popping out of a black box.
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show was one of the top rated shows of all times.  It appeared on CBS from October 1960 to September 1968 for a total of 249 episodes. Andy Taylor was the sheriff in the small town of Mayberry where he raised his small son Opie played by Ronnie Howard with the help of his Aunt Bea.  Most of his time was spent raising his son Opie and with his deputy Barney Fife played by Don Knotts keeping the peace in an uneventful and crime free town.  The town had its share of characters like Floyd the Barber who was taken in by the world around him and Gomer Pyle, the gas station attendant,  at Wally's Service Station.
The Andy Williams Show
The Andy Williams premiered on NBC in 1962 and exited July 17, 1971. The velvet voice of Andy Williams one of the most popular singers during the 60s, appeared in many variety shows on television.  He first did special variety shows for ABC and CBS in 1958 and 1959 and got his own show in 1962.  Always big-name stars appeared on his show as well as the regular cast.  The Osmond brothers were discovered by Andy Williams and first appeared on his show December 20, 1962.
The Carol Burnett Show
Carol Burnett and her TV warriors entertained us with song, dance and comedy for over ten years. The Carol Burnett Show was one of television's most successful variety shows of all time. Jim Nabors was considered her good luck charm as he appeared on the first show.  The show raked in the Emmy Awards. The CBS variety show began on September 11, 1967 and ended its successful run on March 29, 1978. Among Carol Burnett's comic characterizations were Mr. Tudball and Mrs. Wiggins with Tim Conway, Eunice and Ed with Harvey Korman, Eunice and Ed were always at odds with Eunice's mother played by Vicki Lawrence. "As The Stomach Turns" was a continuing soap-opera saga.
The Defenders
The Defenders is an American courtroom drama series that ran on CBS from 1961–1965. It starred E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son defense attorneys who specialized in legally complex cases, with defendants such as neo-Nazis, conscientious objectors, civil rights demonstrators, a schoolteacher fired for being an atheist, an author accused of pornography, and a physician charged in a mercy killing.
The Donna Reed Show
The Donna Reed Show was an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the upper middle class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz appears as her pediatrician husband Alex, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children Mary and Jeff. The show originally aired on ABC at 10 pm from September 24, 1958 to March 19, 1966.
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom which initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 until June 1, 1966. There were 158 episodes plus one reunion telecast.  The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore.
The Ed Sullivan Show
Ed Sullivan started in 1948 and left the air in 1971. Our family would sit down to watch the Ed Sullivan Show on CBS every Sunday night. He was a newspaper columnist who's peculiar diction and weird gesture were made fun of by all even comedians that appeared on his show. There were all kind of acts world wide from opera to rock singers to the unusual. Even circus acts found their way on the Sullivan Show. Because of the variety of acts, The Ed Sullivan Show was the longest running variety show in TV history, surely never to be surpassed. He offered top acts such as Elvis Presley, The Animals, and The Beatles. The show was originally titled "The Toast of the Town" but in the beginning of the 1955 season the name
The Everglades
The Everglades is an American crime-adventure television series that aired in first-run syndication for one season from 1961–62 and in reruns. Ron Hayes starred as Constable Lincoln Vail, a law enforcement officer of the fictional Everglades County Patrol who traveled the Florida Everglades in an airboat, which was often the star of the show.
The Fugitive
The Fugitive as a very successful series that aired on ABC from September 1963 to August 1967 with 120 episodes being produced.  Dr. Richard Kimble played by David Janssen is accused, tried, and convicted of the murder of his wife, which he did not commit. While being transported by Lt. Phillip Gerard,  played by Barry Morse,by train to be executed for the crime, the train derails and Kimble excapes. During the four years the series aired Kimble searched the entire country looking for the one-armed man he saw kill his wife. Kimble assumed different identies and worked odd jobs and was nearly caught numerous times as he continued his relentless search for the killer.
The Munsters
The Munsters aired on CBS from September 1964 to September 1966 with 70 episodes being produced. The creepy family lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane where the house was infested with spider webs. Herman looked like the Frankenstein monster and worked at a funeral parlor. Others in the family included Lily Munster who was a female vampire, their son, Edward Wolfgang Munster, a werewolf, Lily's father Grandpa, Count Dracula, a 378 year old mad scientist, who's inventions keep backfiring and causing mayhem.  The black sheep of the family is niece Marilyn, who is not only normal but beautiful and is a college student.  Occasionally the family pet Spot makes an appearance. He is nothing more than a "fire breathing dinosaur.
The Patty Duke Show
The Patty Duke Show is an American sitcom which ran on ABC from September 18, 1963, until May 4, 1966, with reruns airing through August 31, 1966. The show was created as a vehicle for rising star Patty Duke, who had recently won an Academy Award for The Miracle Worker (1962). A total of 104 episodes were produced, most written by Sidney Sheldon.
The Rat Patrol
The Rat Patrol is an American television program that aired on ABC during the 1966–1968 seasons. The show follows the exploits of four (three American and one British) Allied soldiers who are part of a long-range desert patrol group in the North African campaign during World War II. Their mission: "to attack, harass and wreak havoc on Field Marshal Rommel's vaunted Afrika Korps".
The Real McCoys
The Real McCoys starring Walter Brennan and Richard Crenna was a happy care free West Virginia Mountain  family that pulls up its roots and moves to California.  It first aired on ABC October 23, 1957 and later moved to CBS. A total of 224 episodes were made of this 30 minute situation comedy.
The Red Skelton Show
Red Skelton started in radio during the 40s and was one of the brightest new stars to come along.  Red was a visual comedian, so unlike many of his counterparts, he made an easy transition to TV. He arrived on TV in 1951 and remained at the top for 20 years. The Red Skelton Show was a classic TV event.  Most of his characters were developed on radio and worked so well and he continued to develop them on television. Some of his well known characters were; The Mean Widdle Kid, Clem Kadiddlehopper, Sheriff Deadeye, Cauliflower McPugg, San Fernando Red, the con man; the henpecked husband George Appleby,Willie Lump-Lump, the drunk, Ludwick von Humperdoo, the scientist and Bolivar Shagnasty. Freddie the Freeloader was a hobo that did not speak and was added for television. His character was pantomined and Red Skelton was the best artist of pantomine that TV has ever known.
The Rifleman
The 60s televsion western, The Rifleman aired 169 thirty minute episodes on ABC from 1958 to 1963. The story evolved around a rancher Lucas McCain (Chuck Conners) and son Mark (Johnny Crawford) who he raised alone on his ranch near North Folk, New Mexico.  McCain's Winchester rifle was modified where he could fire a round in 3/10 of a second. His skill with his rifle helped the sheriff maintain law and order in the town.
The Twilight Zone
Twilight Zone was one of the most popular sci-fi shows on TV. It appeared on CBS from October 1959 to June 1964. So many well-known actors appeared on Twilight Zone, too numerous to mention. The stories not the acting is what made it a hit.  The opening dialogue by Rod Serling set the stage for that evening's show.
The Untouchables
The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a special team of agents handpicked for their courage and incorruptibility, nicknamed the Untouchables.
Wagon Train
Each week Wagon Train starring Ward Bond first as the Wagonmaster and later, John McIntire ,told the stories of pioneering familes moving west from the east to start a new life soon after the Civil War. Some of these stories had heart warming and happy endings while some did not. This approach made this weekly western series a hit. Due to the popularity of the show and a new storyline each week it was not too difficult for the scriptwriters to have larger than average talent appear on the show.  The budget was larger than the normal one hour show that was being produced for TV. Its popularity continued even though there were several cast changes.