Mr. Novak, NBC TV Series 1963-65. (1 Viewer)

[Bert Greene]

Don't like Hullabaloo or Shindig? Perhaps Sing Along With Mitch and Lawrence Welk were more to your liking?

As for the 2 series you dislike, that's ironic in that you pick the worst show of the decade and the BEST!

Might seem ironic, but both series, "My Mother the Car" and "The Defenders" always leave me with the same response. After watching either one, I'm left with a deep loathing of humanity, and an intense desire to see the world engulfed in flames.

As far as music, my tastes run more in the pre-television era, and much more in the vein of jazz.

 

[Lecagr]

A friend of mine once asked me if there were any 60s shows that I didn't like. I really had to think for a few days before I was able to come up with one: Daktari. I could actually add a couple more now. Cowboy in Africa, The Tammy Grimes Show and I'm not sure if there are any others. Even a bomb like Pruitts of Southampton had its charms.

Ivan Tors produced the animal shows. Flipper, Daktari, Gentle Ben. I have both seasons of Gentle Ben on DVD and the 1st season of Flipper. I don't have the DVD's of Daktari, I'm not sure if I want that show or not. I haven't seen Cowboy In Africa but I know it stars Chuck Connors. Child actor Gerald Edwards is in the series also. I'm familiar with Gerald Edwards from his funny role as a wisecracking kid in an episode of The Bill Cosby Show titled The March Of The Antelopes. Edwards steals the show in the episode and has several funny lines.

 

[Ian K McLachlan]

Oh, I have a hard time actively 'disliking' just about any series from the 1960s. A few have limited appeal for me, but that's different than disliking. For example, the music shows like "Shindig" or "Hullabaloo" don't really interest me in the least. And some things like the later seasons of "The Lucy Show" are a bit of a trial for me to endure. A lot of other items I might just be lukewarm on.

There are only two 1960s series I can think of that I genuinely dislike, "My Mother the Car" and "The Defenders."

The amazing thing about this message board is that although that we are all archive TV fans we all have shows that we like and others that we are not so keen on. The Defenders is one of my all time favourite shows and I was really disappointed when only season 1 was released. I remember watching it at the time. My Mother The Car was a show I had heard about but I don't think that they screened in where I live in the UK. However when It was released on DVD I bought it and I must say that I found it a fun show like Mr. Ed, Bewitched, The Addams Family etc.

To be honest I can't think of an America 60s show that I have seen that I have not liked.

 

[Matt Hough]

Cool info, guys! Love that artwork for the Ben Casey comic strip...really captures his likeness well. And I want that Rand McNally Elf Sergeant Preston book!

It's funny (and sad) the extent to which Mr. Novak seems to have dropped off the pop culture radar over the decades. So nice to see what was obviously a pretty famous show getting some belated love and attention (gotta be famous to make the cover of Betty and Veronica, am I right?)...thanks especially to Chuck Harter, Warner Archive and of course our very own Randall.

Speaking of...any sign of your S1 set yet, Randall? Might have to get the Mounties on the case...

I had piano sheet music for both the Dr. Kildare and Ben Casey themes, and arranged a medley of TV theme songs with them, Twelve O'clock High (added later in the 1960s), 77 Sunset Strip, and Peter Gunn.

 

[Gary OS]

As for the 2 series you dislike, that's ironic in that you pick the worst show of the decade and the BEST!

I don’t know Neil. I don’t think I’d rank My Mother the Car as the best show of the sixties.

Gary “some things never change” O.

 

[Flashgear]

Your description just makes me doubly excited to hopefully see the episode some day. I watched Mr. Novak back in the day, but I have no memory of individual episodes, certainly not this one.

Matt, thank you. As much as I indulge in superlatives to describe these many great episodes of Mr. Novak, I don't believe I've over sold any of them. And the second season's Let's Dig a Little Grammar is one of the best overall, and unique among the best with it's effective and brilliant use of the great American songbook of Dixieland and Swing Jazz that both facilitates the compelling story and carries it through with electric intensity. It helps that guest stars Tommy Sands and Johnny Crawford are as good as they are, with solid support from James Franciscus, David Sheiner and Dean Jagger. And the script is witty and insightful with a nice departure for Mr. Novak to display his seldom seen tough love persona. Mr. Novak is a truly great series that was one of the best TV dramas of it's age. It fully ranks with the best and was often better than some other prestige contemporary dramas of the 1963-65 seasons, Ben Casey, East Side / West Side, Route 66, Combat!, The Fugitive, Richard Boone Show, Channing, Eleventh Hour, The Nurses, The Defenders, Dr. Kildare, Kraft Suspense Theater, Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Perry Mason, The Lieutenant, Bob Hope Chrysler Theater, 12 O'clock High, Slattery's People, The Reporter etc., of course a lot of the great drama in that era was also seen on the many great Western series of the times, The Virginian, Gunsmoke, Rawhide etc...and in science fiction/fantasy like Outer Limits and Twilight Zone too...

Dr. Kildare had a game, books, and comics. Ben Casey had a game, comics sometimes drawn by Gene Colan and newspaper comic strip, daily and Sunday drawn by Neal Adams.

Thanks for all the great photos of the comic books, comic strips and board games, Bob! In retrospect, it does seem strange that Mr. Novak didn't have a Dell or Gold Key comic book tie-in like Dr. Kildare and Ben Casey. Neal Adams sure caught the likeness of Sam Jaffe, Ben Casey's good ol' Doctor Zorba, accurately. I wonder if those Ben Casey strips were ever compiled into a re-published 'Archive' type collection? Neal Adams, that guy was one of the masters! Mr. Novak did inspire a girl pop music duo called Jackie and Gayle with this minor ditty from 1964, Why Can't My Teacher Look Like Mr. Novak? I don't think it charted in the top ten, ha, ha...

It's funny (and sad) the extent to which Mr. Novak seems to have dropped off the pop culture radar over the decades. So nice to see what was obviously a pretty famous show getting some belated love and attention (gotta be famous to make the cover of Betty and Veronica, am I right?)...thanks especially to Chuck Harter, Warner Archive and of course our very own Randall.

Speaking of...any sign of your S1 set yet, Randall? Might have to get the Mounties on the case...

Thanks Jeff! I really appreciate the encouragement. My Mr. Novak set appears to be slow in coming. My order from Oldies has very limited tracking info thus far. I think it's coming through our slow as molasses postal system, although I paid FedEx shipping charges. The rotating postal strikes have ended as the Canadian government has ordered them back to work. But the media reports are that there is a huge back log of mail going into the Christmas season. I have things coming from Amazon also, like my Blu-ray S2 of Outer Limits...it's the most wonderful time of the year as they say...that brings to mind the repetitively numbing and relentless shopping mall muzak of the most unworthy and witlessly bland 'Holiday' kind that must be the playlist in Hell...Jeff, I hope you get your VEI order of Dan August and McMillan & Wife ASAP...Dan August reportedly looks great and unedited, and I have the other set which looks great...love the Dave Grusin and Jerry Goldsmith music...

I'm thinking about ordering the 1st season DVD of Mr. Novak, sounds like it's too good to pass up. To me, Mr. Novak is similar to Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare, the difference being that Mr. Novak is high school drama and the other two shows are medical dramas.

Lee, if you enjoyed Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare, I can guarantee you will love Mr. Novak...there are many episodes I would rank with the absolute best of compelling and important drama from that great era in TV...

Every note of music has to be cleared and if all of those cuts are what you say they were, they will never be able to clear that episode for release and judging by their past reluctance to not issue full seasons intact, means this episode is more of the problem than Faculty Follies is.

Neil Brock, I believe that is the case, from the first time I saw Let's Dig a Little Grammar, I thought it represented a far greater music clearance and licensing challenge than Faculty Follies ever did. It always struck me as a strange assertion that the bland and sometimes insufferable show tunes that were originally composed for this two part episode by writers Meyer Dolinsky and Hal Belfer weren't owned outright at the time by MGM. That just doesn't make business sense to me. I could well do with dispensing with that episode if there was a big issue there. This seems to be a similar situation to the intrinsic music composed for Dr. Kildare's season 4 three part episode Rome Will Never Leave You...But it would kill me if Let's Dig a Little Grammar can't be cleared...it really is one of my absolute favorite second season episodes, and one of the best in the whole series...the music doesn't hinder or detract from the story, but facilitates it and elevates it instead. I believe the Duke Ellington music (Black and Tan Fantasy) that is heard over a long wide angle shot of the student orchestra could be overdubbed with another Jazz orchestral piece. The Tommy Sands/Johnny Crawford song duet (Bill Bailey) done in a Louis Armstrong mimcry of his well known 'Satchmo' style would definitely be more of a problem. That sequence could possibly be cut as it is about a minute long. The rest of the music is all owned by Universal Music, Interscope Geffen A+M, and Sony Music, so it's never good news when WAC has to go off the lot to license music. And I have no idea if the multiple mentions of several Jazz titans comes under fair usage in the public domain, even if their music is not heard here, which is still unknown. Believe me, a Jazz scholar would be needed to analyze the many Trumpet riffs during the duel sequence to determine if any riffs are attributable to Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie or Chet Baker...and thus subject to licensing too. Let's hope that detailed and accurate cue sheets exist for this episode in the MGM TV production papers. Presumably, all rights of the actual performing musicians in the uncredited but famous Jazz ensemble were secured at the time of the production. Author Chuck Harter has told me that in one of his conversations with WAC boss George Feltenstein about releasing Mr. Novak on DVD, George did mention Duke Ellington music as being a concern. But he did not specifically reference Let's Dig a Little Grammar as the point of contention. Another second season episode that I wonder about is Visions of Sugar Plums, with guest star Eddie Albert. What I hope is that Warners has music clearances in hand for season two, having pursued and accomplished all the licensing necessary for the whole remastered series run in advance of releasing season one. But fans of Eleventh Hour have been waiting for over three years for season two of that series, so who knows?

I really hope that we get the second season of Mr. Novak even if it is incomplete.

Ian, It would be a crying shame if we don't. I have most of season two in my crappy home made DVDs sourced from crappy old VHS recordings off of TNT almost 30 years ago. Of course, TNT failed to actually air all the episodes of season two, just as they had failed to do for season one...so collectors have only 55 out of 60 episodes from those origins. One of those missing episodes, One Monday Afternoon, about the shocking sudden death on field of a star Jefferson high football player and starring Claude Akins, sounds like it might be one of the great episodes too.

How true, how true! I'm sure that there are those who enjoyed the entirety of The Odd Couple as CBS has presented it on DVD, even despite the musical replacements, because it's an incredibly classic comedy.

Ben,even if Warners doesn't have a history of actually doing music subs for Archive releases, I would hope they would do that when possible if the original music is a licensing problem and is feasible. I'm glad to have that Odd Couple complete series as is, even if the hilarious punchline as delivered by Tony Randall in a Broadway show tune in that episode with Pernell Roberts is missing.

Oh, I have a hard time actively 'disliking' just about any series from the 1960s. A few have limited appeal for me, but that's different than disliking. For example, the music shows like "Shindig" or "Hullabaloo" don't really interest me in the least. And some things like the later seasons of "The Lucy Show" are a bit of a trial for me to endure. A lot of other items I might just be lukewarm on.

There are only two 1960s series I can think of that I genuinely dislike, "My Mother the Car" and "The Defenders."

Bert, I agree with most everything you say here. Except I regard The Defenders to be one of the essential series in my life time collection and hope that the rest of that series can come out of the vaults somehow. To each his own, and I greatly respect and hold in high regard your opinions and wealth of knowledge about vintage TV and Movies. I've personally learned a lot from your very informative and entertaining posts. I think we share similar world views politically, as I am a Conservative, and not a soft Conservative. And I do see the growing Liberal bias in TV and Movies as they grew bolder into the '70s, where they quickly became insufferable and tiresome during the dreaded "Relevance" period of the early '70s. The driving creative personalities behind The Defenders, Herbert Brodkin and Reginald Rose, were undeniably liberal and created a show where that liberal impulse was an imperative, but for me, The Defenders is a product of the far more restrained and appropriate early 1960s, and the outstanding and important drama, great acting and incredible guest stars make it an absolute must for me, especially so as a relative paucity of contemporary drama is available on DVD from that extraordinary period in television history...

Warner Archive has not issued any series on DVD that they cannot clear all of the music nor have the issued any show with any music replacement. If they are unable to clear every episode in its original form, they do not issue it.

Neil Brock, let's hope they have already accomplished the necessary music clearances and licensing for season two, and that we won't have to wait the 3+ years that fans of Eleventh Hour have waited for season two of that show.

As far as music, my tastes run more in the pre-television era, and much more in the vein of jazz.

Bert, you will absolutely be in bliss for the great Jazz as seen and heard in Let's Dig a Little Grammar...and the obvious love and reverence for the great American Jazz songbook that it represents. As I said, I felt shivers going up and down my spine during the brilliant 10 minute concert and Jazz improv trumpet duel scene. It really is one for the ages...

The amazing thing about this message board is that although that we are all archive TV fans we all have shows that we like and others that we are not so keen on. The Defenders is one of my all time favourite shows and I was really disappointed when only season 1 was released. I remember watching it at the time. My Mother The Car was a show I had heard about but I don't think that they screened in where I live in the UK. However when It was released on DVD I bought it and I must say that I found it a fun show like Mr. Ed, Bewitched, The Addams Family etc.

To be honest I can't think of an America 60s show that I have seen that I have not liked.

Ian, I completely agree about The Defenders...perhaps we need to bump up the Defenders thread that you started those many years ago...to keep hope alive for seasons 2, 3 and 4...

Lovin' the Mountie thing too!

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Jeff, I hope you get your VEI order of Dan August and McMillan & Wife ASAP...Dan August reportedly looks great and unedited, and I have the other set which looks great...love the Dave Grusin and Jerry Goldsmith music.

Thanks for the speedy delivery wishes, Randall! VEI got right on that Dan August/McMillan order...it's already been delivered to my parents' home in Washington State. However, I'll have to wait for the annual Christmas/ New Years care package from my folks (complete with Mom's homemade fudge and various DVDs and Blu-Rays I've ordered over the past several months) to make its way through international mail...I might not receive it until early January. That's OK, though...I can wait. That's my usual model with TV on DVD, helped by years living overseas...wait, wait, wait...and when there's a sale - pounce!

Here's hoping Santa comes through for you and delivers both Mr. Novak S1 and The Outer Limits S2 Blu.

 

[Bert Greene]

Randall, to be clear, my ire at "The Defenders" was not solely due to its simple, biased ideological leanings, but a confluence of elements that leave a sour taste with me, from the disparity between actual justice and the grotesqueness of the court system, to the smug, condescending tone in the series that practically fetishized it. Add to this a continuing problem I sometimes have with a lot of 60s drama which I do believe oftentimes goes overboard in confusing 'drama' with existential angst and the post-war trend of hobbling every character with psychological demons. There's a limit as to how much of that I can take before my empathy gene withers and leaves me wanting to reach through the tv-screen and start slapping people. Or more likely, I retreat further back in time to older movies and genres that were populated with fewer mental basket-cases, along with a society and a culture that happily had less patience for it.

I taped and watched most of those "Mr. Novak" episodes that TNT aired back in the day, and I always very much liked Franciscus and Jagger in their respective roles. They kept things afloat for me, even when the waters got a bit choppy with too many 'angry young men' (as Bob Gu put it). I think it's quite a decent series. I somehow must have missed that "Let's Dig a Little Grammar" episode, but I'd really love to see it. I bet Johnny Crawford really enjoyed that role, as he was already a big buff on that vintage music at the time, and was certainly well-versed in such material. I forget the exact details, but I think his uncle was an agent of some kind, and he inherited a large collection of old-time jazz/dance-band records from the 1920s and 1930s, and developed quite a love for all that. I talked to him a couple of times about old bands and artists we both liked, at a few shows. All in all, there are probably more episodes I haven't seen than I realize. I'd also particularly like to see the one with Heather Angel, getting that late-in-career role.

 

[Neil Brock]

Ian, It would be a crying shame if we don't. I have most of season two in my crappy home made DVDs sourced from crappy old VHS recordings off of TNT almost 30 years ago. Of course, TNT failed to actually air all the episodes of season two, just as they had failed to do for season one...so collectors have only 55 out of 60 episodes from those origins. One of those missing episodes, One Monday Afternoon, about the shocking sudden death on field of a star Jefferson high football player and starring Claude Akins, sounds like it might be one of the great episodes too.

I don't know why your copies would be so crappy. The episodes that TNT ran were great looking one-inch tape transfers from right off the 35mm prints. I hope we get a DVD release as well, mainly for the 3 good second season episodes which I don't believe ever ran: Little Girl Lost, One Monday Afternoon and The People Doll. I had the opportunity to watch those as well as the 2-part Faculty Follies (which is as bad as one would expect) at Library of Congress a few years ago. Lets hope it happens but after what I saw posted about that jazz episode, I really not hopeful. If Warner was going to do music edits or substitutions, they would have done it by now with all of the detective shows that people are clamoring for.

 

[bmasters9]

Thanks for the speedy delivery wishes, Randall! VEI got right on that Dan August/McMillan order...it's already been delivered to my parents' home in Washington State. However, I'll have to wait for the annual Christmas/ New Years care package from my folks (complete with Mom's homemade fudge and various DVDs and Blu-Rays I've ordered over the past several months) to make its way through international mail...I might not receive it until early January. That's OK, though...I can wait.

You usually get a pretty good-sized care package, don't you?

 

[Jeff Flugel]

You usually get a pretty good-sized care package, don't you?

Well, it's not ONLY DVDs and Blu-Rays...plenty of stuff for my wife and son. These are just prezzies from me...to me!

 

[bmasters9]

Well, it's not ONLY DVDs and Blu-Rays...plenty of stuff for my wife and son. These are just prezzies from me...to me!

Good point! Something for everybody, I take it?

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Good point! Something for everybody, I take it?

Yes, indeed! Only a once-a-year sort of thing...some stuff that's harder to find over here.

Looking forward to checking out the Dan August set early in the new year (and Mr. Novak soon thereafter!)

 

[Bob Gu]

Jeff, enjoying your Arnold Friberg Mounties.

Speaking of Lawrence Welk, The Lennon Sisters sang Hi Lili, Hi Lo, too:


The Lennons even had comic books, drawn by Alex Toth, no less:

I couldn't find a Mountie with an accordion. But at least the girl with the hat is from Quebec City.

 

[Neil Brock]

Instead of posting 5000 pictures which have nothing to do with this topic, can someone confirm that TNT never ran these 3 episodes: Little Girl Lost, One Monday Afternoon and The People Doll.

 

[Matt Hough]

"Ah, yes, the lovely Lennon Sisters...."

 

[Gary OS]

Thanks for all the great pics, Jeff, Flash & Bob! They’ve really added to this thread.

Gary “especially love all the Mountie pics” O.

 

[disctrip]

Please people, this thread is about Mr. Novak. Forget the damn mounties already. Start your own thread.

 

[bmasters9]

Please people, this thread is about Mr. Novak. Forget the damn mounties already. Start your own thread.

That's one thing I do not like about this forum-- when a thread meant for one specific thing devolves in umpteen different directions. Whenever I want to say something that is not about the subject of the thread, I make it a point to say "OT," and then make the post, such that the differing content is clearly identified.

 

[Flashgear]

I like the Mountie postscript...it started as a reminder that you don't always get what you paid for with Warner Archive releases...in my case, mistakenly labeled episodes from another season entirely in a FBI half season volume...and as Bob Gu verified, his problem was with his Kirby Grant and Chinook Mountie B movie set...a reminder that QC at Amazon's "create space" leaves something to be desired at times...so check them thoroughly upon receiving...ironically, the 'Mounties' are Canada's FBI!

can someone confirm that TNT never ran these 3 episodes: Little Girl Lost, One Monday Afternoon and The People Doll.

Neil Brock, I have never found any tape trader with Little Girl Lost (Davey Davison, Buck Taylor) or One Monday Afternoon (Claude Akins, Brooke Bundy) in their possession, your knowledge of what has turned up over the years in collector's circles is more extensive by far than my more limited experience in digging through alternative sources, but my incomplete collection of Mr. Novak, 55 out of 60 episodes, is partly derived from 16 mm film chain, as well as from TNT recordings in 1988-90...from all contemporary trade paper reviews, it would appear that both of those consecutively aired episodes in season two are very strong ones, so it would be a killer if season two is long in coming from WAC, or not at all...hope not...

However, I do have a VHS sourced DVD copy of The People Doll: You Wind it up and it makes Mistakes...if you do not have this one in your collection, it once again resurrects the question as to whether TNT had more than one regional feed, and not just one national feed, where midnight programmers might have, on occasion, shown a different episode...here are some screen caps I took from my home made DVD, in faux widescreen which I can't correct, unfortunately...

Mr. Novak season two, The People Doll: You Wind it up and it Makes Mistakes, (Nov. 17, 1964) W: John D.F. Black. D: Herschel Daugherty. Guest starring Burt Brinkerhoff, Bonnie Beecher and Malachi Throne...Brinkerfhoff and Beecher are students determined to drop out and marry...the great Malachi Throne is the bride's none too pleased hard rock father...a grand Polish wedding ensues...along with a rediscovery of important wisdom as imparted by Mr. Novak and Principal Vane...



















Season two of Mr. Novak was co-produced by Leonard Freeman, most known as the creator and executive producer of Hawaii Five-0, and an accomplished writer for that show and Route 66, among many others, before his premature death at age 53 in 1974...

Tangents welcome...we can always bring it back to Mr. Novak...those who have taken the time and effort to contribute most here are entitled to include whatever they choose...it's about celebrating our love of classic TV, movies and the popular culture we grew up with...