The Lloyd Bridges Show
Encyclopedia
The Lloyd Bridges Show is an American
anthology drama series
produced by Aaron Spelling
, which aired on CBS
from September 11, 1962 to May 28, 1963, starring and hosted by Lloyd Bridges
.
and Jane Wyman
had prevailed with Jane Wyman Presents
. The program featured Bridges's sons, Jeff
and Beau Bridges
, in occasional guest-starring roles.
The premiere episode is entitled "Wheresoever I Enter". "A Pair of Boots" casts Bridges as a Confederate
whose truce with the Union Army
is threatened by a southern soldier's desire to reclaim a pair of shoes stolen by a northerner. Co-stars in the episode are son Beau Bridges. Royal Dano
, and Seymour Cassel
. In the episode "My Daddy Can Beat Your Daddy", authored by Robert Towne
, the screenwriter of Chinatown, Bridges plays an aging boxer fighting a match against his own grown son. Co-stars are son Jeff Bridges and Gary Lockwood
.
production, aired on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern time; summer rebroadcasts aired from June to September 3, 1963. The series aired opposite the first season of ABC
's military drama Combat!, starring Rick Jason
and Vic Morrow
, and the last season of NBC
's western
series Laramie
starring John Smith
, Robert Fuller
, and Spring Byington
. It followed rebroadcasts of the half-hour version of CBS's Gunsmoke
under the title Marshal Dillon, starring James Arness
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
anthology drama series
Dramatic programming
Dramatic programming in the UK, or television drama and television drama series in the US, is television program content that is scripted and fictional along the lines of √a traditional drama. This excludes, for example, sports television, television news, reality show and game shows, stand-up...
produced by Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling was an American film and television producer. As of 2009, Spelling's eponymous production company Spelling Television holds the record as the most prolific television writer, with 218 producer and executive producer credits...
, which aired on CBS
CBS
CBS 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 September 11, 1962 to May 28, 1963, starring and hosted by Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
.
Synopsis
In the first fourteen episodes, from September to January, Bridges played the author Adam Shepherd who was transformed into the main character of each episode. In January, the program, considered in retrospect to have been highly innovative, became a straightforward anthology with Bridges hosting each episode, much as Ronald W. Reagan had done with the General Electric TheaterGeneral Electric Theater
General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:...
and Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
had prevailed with Jane Wyman Presents
Fireside Theater
Fireside Theater is an American anthology drama series that ran from on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. Stories were low budget and often based on public domain stories or written by freelance writers such as Rod Serling. While it was panned...
. The program featured Bridges's sons, Jeff
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
and Beau Bridges
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
, in occasional guest-starring roles.
The premiere episode is entitled "Wheresoever I Enter". "A Pair of Boots" casts Bridges as a Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
whose truce with the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
is threatened by a southern soldier's desire to reclaim a pair of shoes stolen by a northerner. Co-stars in the episode are son Beau Bridges. Royal Dano
Royal Dano
Royal Edward Dano was an American film and television character actor.-Early life:Dano was born in New York City to Mary Josephine , an Irish immigrant, and Caleb Edward Dano, a printer for newspapers. He reportedly left home at the age of twelve and at various intervals, lived in Florida, Texas...
, and Seymour Cassel
Seymour Cassel
Seymour Joseph Cassel is an American actor.He first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering independent films of writer/directorJohn Cassavetes...
. In the episode "My Daddy Can Beat Your Daddy", authored by Robert Towne
Robert Towne
Robert Towne is an American screenwriter and director. His most notable work may be his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown .-Film:...
, the screenwriter of Chinatown, Bridges plays an aging boxer fighting a match against his own grown son. Co-stars are son Jeff Bridges and Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood is an American actor probably best known for his iconic 1968 role as the astronaut Dr. Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey.-Early life:...
.
Broadcast history
The Lloyd Bridges Show, a Four StarFour Star Television
Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Charles Boyer, the company produced many well-known shows of the early days of...
production, aired on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern time; summer rebroadcasts aired from June to September 3, 1963. The series aired opposite the first season of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The 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...
's military drama Combat!, starring Rick Jason
Rick Jason
Rick Jason , born Richard Jacobson, was an American actor, born in New York City, and most remembered for his role as 2nd Lt. Gil Hanley in the ABC television drama Combat! .-Biography:...
and Vic Morrow
Vic Morrow
Victor "Vic" Morrow was an American actor whose credits include a starring role in the 1960s TV series Combat!, prominent roles in a handful of other television and cinema dramas, and numerous guest roles on television...
, and the last season of 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...
's 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 Laramie
Laramie (TV series)
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...
starring John Smith
John Smith (actor)
John Smith was an American actor remembered in particular for two NBC western television series.-Early life and career:He was born Robert Errol Van Orden, in Los Angeles, California...
, Robert Fuller
Robert Fuller
Robert Welch is a professional wrestler and manager better known by his ring names Robert Fuller and Col. Robert Parker. Robert and his brother Ron co-owned Continental Championship Wrestling for a time.-Career:...
, and Spring Byington
Spring Byington
Spring Byington was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a key MGM contract player appearing in films from the 1930s through the 1960s.-Early life:Byington was born Spring Dell Byington in Colorado Springs,...
. It followed rebroadcasts of the half-hour version of CBS's Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
under the title Marshal Dillon, starring James Arness
James Arness
James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
.
Notable guest stars
Other guest stars included:- Philip AbbottPhilip AbbottPhilip Abbott was an American character actor and occasional voice actor.Abbott was a secondary lead in several films of the 1950s and 1960s. Miracle of the White Stallions...
- Frank AletterFrank AletterFrank Aletter was an American stage, film, and television actor.During the 1950s Aletter appeared on Broadway in Bells Are Ringing, Time Limit, and Wish You Were Here. He soon moved on to a prolific television career, appearing as a guest on numerous shows between 1956 and 1988.Aletter starred in...
- Morgan BrittanyMorgan BrittanyMorgan Brittany is an American film and television actress. She is possibly best known for her role in the 1980s primetime soap opera Dallas, where she portrayed Katherine Wentworth, the scheming younger half-sister of Pamela Ewing and Cliff Barnes.-Early career:Under her birth name, Brittany...
- Edgar BuchananEdgar 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...
- Walter BurkeWalter BurkeWalter Burke was a prolific Irish-American character actor, of stage, film, and television. His small stature, and distinctive voice and face, made him easily recognizable in even the most minor of roles.- Early life :...
- John CassavetesJohn CassavetesJohn Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
- Lonny ChapmanLonny ChapmanLonny Chapman was an American television actor best known for his numerous guest star appearances on detective dramas, including Quincy, M.E., The A-Team, Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, and NYPD Blue...
- Michael ConstantineMichael ConstantineMichael Constantine is a Greek American actor.He is probably now best known for his portrayal of Gus Portokalos, the Windex bottle-toting Greek father of Toula Portokalos , in the 2002 surprise hit film My Big Fat Greek Wedding.Prior to that, he was well-known for his extensive TV work, especially...
- Russ ConwayRuss Conway (actor)Russ Conway was a Canadian-American character actor who appeared on film and television between 1947 and 1975.-Early years:...
- Gloria DeHavenGloria DeHavenGloria Mildred DeHaven is an American actress and a former contract star for MGM.-Early life and career:DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven, both former vaudeville performers.She began her career as a child...
- Don DubbinsDon DubbinsDon Dubbins , originally Donald Dubbins, was an American actor of film and television who in his early career usually played younger military roles, particularly in such classic pictures as From Here to Eternity and The Caine Mutiny...
- 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:...
- Paul Ford
- Dianne FosterDianne FosterDianne Foster is a Canadian actress of Ukrainian descent who began her career at the age of 13 in a stage adaptation of James Barrie's What Every Woman Knows. At fourteen she began a radio career, subsequently moved to Toronto, and became one of Canada's top radio stars...
- Betty GarrettBetty GarrettBetty Garrett was an American actress, comedienne, singer and dancer who originally performed on Broadway before being signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
- Don Gordon
- Harry GuardinoHarry GuardinoHarry Guardino was an American actor whose career spanned from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. In 1964, he was cast in a short-lived CBS series entitled The Reporter, a drama about a hard-hitting investigative journalist named Danny Taylor. His principal co-star was Gary Merrill as city...
- Glynis JohnsGlynis JohnsGlynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer...
- Carolyn JonesCarolyn JonesCarolyn Sue Jones was an American actress.Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising actresses...
- Werner KlempererWerner KlempererWerner Klemperer was a comedic and dramatic actor, best known for his role as Colonel Klink on the CBS television sitcom, Hogan's Heroes.-Early life:...
- Bethel LeslieBethel 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...
- John MarleyJohn MarleyJohn Marley was an American actor who was known for his role as Phil Cavalleri in Love Story and as Jack Woltz— the defiant film mogul who awakens to find the severed head of his prized horse in his bed—in The Godfather...
- Lee MeriwetherLee MeriwetherLee Ann Meriwether is an American actress, former model, and the winner of the 1955 Miss America pageant. She is perhaps best known for her role as Betty Jones, the crime-solving partner in the long-running 1970s crime drama, Barnaby Jones. The role earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations in...
- Ricardo MontalbánRicardo MontalbánRicardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG was a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning six decades and many notable roles...
- Kathleen NolanKathleen NolanKathleen Nolan is an American actress. She is sometimes confused with actress Jeanette Nolan. From 1957 to 1962, she played the role of Kate McCoy, a housewife in her late twenties, in the Walter Brennan series The Real McCoys....
- 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...
- Jerry ParisJerry ParisJerry Paris was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on The Dick Van Dyke Show.-Life and career:...
- Paul RichardsPaul Richards (actor)Paul Richards was a Jewish American actor who appeared in films and on television in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s until his death from cancer at the age of fifty. He married actress Monica Keating in 1953.Richards guest-starred in a number of classic television western series, including Gunsmoke...
- 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...
- Reta ShawReta ShawReta Shaw was an American character actress known for playing authoritative women, housekeepers, and domineering wives, especially on television...
- Robert F. SimonRobert F. SimonRobert F. Simon was an American character actor, often portraying military or authority figure roles. Though his face was recognized by audiences, he was mostly unknown by name...
- Maxine StuartMaxine StuartMaxine Stuart is a retired American actress. She has appeared in numerous television series, including Chicago Hope, NYPD Blue and Trapper John, M.D.....
- Dub TaylorDub TaylorWalter Clarence Taylor, Jr. , better known as Dub Taylor, was an American actor who worked extensively in Westerns, but also in comedy from the 1940s into the 1990s.-Early life:...
- Rhys WilliamsRhys Williams (actor)Rhys Williams was a Welsh character actor in movies and television, whose career spanned several decades.He made his film debut in How Green Was My Valley . This movie takes place in rural Wales with a large cast of Welsh characters, but was actually filmed in Hollywood with Canadian, American,...
Episodes
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | "Wheresoever I Enter" | September 11, 1962 |
| 1-2 | "El Medico" | September 18, 1962 |
| 1-3 | "My Child Is Yet a Stranger" | September 25, 1962 |
| 1-4 | "A Pair of Boots" | October 2, 1962 |
| 1-5 | "Mr. Penningham's Machine" | October 9, 1962 |
| 1-6 | "Just Married" | October 16, 1962 |
| 1-7 | "Testing Ground" | October 23, 1962 |
| 1-8 | "War Song" | October 30, 1962 |
| 1-9 | "Yankee Stay Here" | November 13, 1962 |
| 1-10 | "The Miracle of Mesa Verde" | November 20, 1962 |
| 1-11 | "Little Man, Big Bridge" | November 27, 1962 |
| 1-12 | "Permission Granted" | December 4, 1962 |
| 1-13 | "Gentleman in Blue" | December 11, 1962 |
| 1-14 | "The Sound of Angels" | December 18, 1962 |
| 1-15 | "Now, You Take Your Average Rock" | December 25, 1962 |
| 1-16 | "The Scapegoat" | January 1, 1963 |
| 1-17 | "The Wonder of Wanda" | January 8, 1963 |
| 1-18 | "My Daddy Can Beat Your Daddy" | January 22, 1963 |
| 1-19 | " A Game for Alternate Mondays" | January 29, 1963 |
| 1-20 | "A Personal Matter" | February 5, 1963 |
| 1-21 | "The Skippy Mannox Story" | February 12, 1963 |
| 1-22 | "The Rising Moon" | February 19, 1963 |
| 1-23 | "To Walk with Stars" | February 26, 1963 |
| 1-24 | "The Courtship" | March 5, 1963 |
| 1-25 | "Gym in January" | March 12, 1963 |
| 1-26 | "Sheridan Square" | March 19, 1963 |
| 1-27 | "Last Lion" | April 2, 1963 |
| 1-28 | "Tyrees of Capitol Hill" | April 9, 1963 |
| 1-29 | "Waltz of the Two Commuters" | April 16, 1963 |
| 1-30 | "Freedom Is for Those Who Want It" | April 30, 1963 |
| 1-31 | "The Ramp" | May 7, 1963 |
| 1-32 | "Without Wheat There Is No Bread" | May 14, 1963 |
| 1-33 | "The Epidemic" | May 21, 1963 |
| 1-34 | "Afternoon of the Champion" | May 28, 1963 |