Riverboat (TV series)

Riverboat

Broadcaster Hugh Downs (left) and Darren McGavin in the Riverboat episode, "Night of the Faceless Men" (1960)
Starring Darren McGavin
Burt Reynolds
Noah Beery, Jr.
Composer(s) Elmer Bernstein (season one)
Gerald Fried
Fred Steiner
Alexander Courage
Al Woodbury
Leo Shuken
Jack Hayes
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 44
Production
Running time 60 minutes
Production company(s) Meladare Co. Productions
Revue Studios
Distributor Universal Television
NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network NBC
Picture format Black and white (1959–1961)
Original release September 13, 1959 – January 2, 1961

Riverboat is an American western television series produced by Revue Studios and was broadcast on the NBC television network from 1959 to 1961 It starred Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds.

Plot

In the series, Captain Grey Holden and his crew navigate the vessel called the Enterprise principally, along the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio rivers. Some episodes are set in the eastern end of the American West or in the Midwest. Holden and his men encounter interest characters along the way, including U.S. President Zachary Taylor, General Winfield Scott and a pre-presidential Abraham Lincoln. One episode focuses indirectly on the Texan Revolution of 1836. Unlike most westerns, which are set after the American Civil War, the story's time frame of precedes the sectional conflict, the 1830s and the 1840s. The series ended on the NBC mid-season schedule in January 1961 by a drama about the sectional conflict, The Americans.

Cast

Dan Duryea played Captain Brad Turner in the first two episodes, before Darren McGavin replaced him for forty episodes. Burt Reynolds in his television debut role played Ben Frazer in twenty episodes, before reporting disputes with McGavin and being replaced by Noah Beery, Jr. who played Bill Blake.[1]

Dick Wessel, as chief stoker Carney Kohler, was cast in forty one episodes, Jack Lambert was cast in twenty three episodes as first mate Joshua MacGregor (having played a different character, Tony Walchek, earlier in the series), John Mitchum co-starred in ten episodes as Pickalong, the ship's cook, Michael McGreevey was cast in seventeen episodes as cabin boy Chip Kessler and William D. Gordon played first mate Joe Travis in thirteen episodes before his character's death.[1]

Guest stars

Female

The series featured a large array of leading ladies of that era as guest stars, including Mary Tyler Moore, cast as the "Brunette Girl in Coach", with Jeanne Carmen as Janine, the "Blonde Girl in Coach", in the 1959 episode, "A Night at Trapper's Landing". Moore played Lily Belle de Lesseps the next year in "Trunk Full of Dreams" (1960).[1]

Other female guest stars include:

Male

Many male guest stars also appeared on Riverboat. Ricardo Montalban portrayed United States Army Lt. Andre B. Devereaux in "A Night at Trapper's Landing" (November 8, 1959). In the story line, the Enterprise is commandeered by the military for a punitive expedition against the Indians after an attack on Devereaux and his men. Ben Frazer, however, tries to convince the Army that the uprising is really the result of a local Indian agent. The episode features Judson Pratt, as Sergeant Ned Bolger, Stacy Harris as Colonel Nicholson, and Raymond Bailey as General Jacoby, with other roles for character actors Morris Ankrum, R.G. Armstrong, and Peter Whitney.[2]

Other male guest stars include:

DVD releases

On October 30, 2007, Timeless Media Group released a 3-disc best-of set featuring 15 episodes from the series.[36]

On May 15, 2012, Timeless Media Group released Riverboat- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.[37]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Full Cast and Crew for Riverboat". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  2. ""A Night at Trapper's Landing", November 8, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  3. ""The Unwilling", October 11, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  4. ""Listen to the Nightingale", January 2, 1961". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  5. ""Three Graves", March 14, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  6. ""Zigzag", next-to-the last episode, December 26, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  7. ""Duel on the River", December 12, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  8. "Escape to Memphis". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  9. ""The Faithless", November 22, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  10. ""The Long Trail", April 4, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  11. ""Chicota Landing", December 5, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  12. ""A Race to Cincinnati", October 4, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  13. ""The Boy from Pittsburgh", November 29, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  14. ""The Wichita Arrows", February 29, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  15. "Fort Epitaph", March 7, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  16. ""The Water of Gorgeous Springs", November 7, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  17. ""The Quota", November 28, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  18. ""That Taylor Affair", September 26, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  19. ""Forbidden Island", January 24, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  20. ""Jessie Quinn", December 6, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  21. ""The Fight Back", October 18, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  22. ""Night of the Faceless Men", March 28, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  23. ""River Champion", October 10, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  24. ""No Bridge on the River" (1960)". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  25. ""Path of the Eagle", February 1, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  26. ""Trunk Full of Dreams", October 31, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  27. ""The Face of Courage", December 27, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  28. ""Hang the Men High", March 21, 2013". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  29. ""The Barrier", September 20, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  30. ""The Quick Noose", April 11, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  31. ""Witness No Evil", Riverboat, November 1, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  32. ""End of a Dream", September 19, 1960". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  33. ""Strange Request", December 13, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  34. ""About Roger Mowbray", September 27, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  35. ""Payment in Full", September 13, 1959". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  36. http://www.amazon.com/Riverboat/dp/B000TLTCOU
  37. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Riverboat-The-Complete-Series/16533

Further reading

Riverboat: The Evolution of a Television Series, by S. L. Kotar and J. E. Gessler. 2010. Albany, BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-505-4.

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