ABC Stage 67

1966
ABC Stage 67

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP1 The Love Song of Barney Kempinski Sep 14, 1966

Barney Kempinski, thirtyish and contentedly self-unemployed, leaves his Lower East Side apartment smiling and happy. On this fine sunny day he is to be married - 3 o'clock at City Hall - to his girl Francine. In the few remaining hours of his bachelorhood, Barney goes off to tour the city and sing his love song - exuberant, irresponsible and frequently dangerous - to life, love and the city of New York.

EP2 Dare I Weep, Dare I Mourn Sep 21, 1966

Otto Hoffman, a small time West German manufacturer, is a weakling-mercilessly henpecked by his two spinster cousins who live with him. As a young man, Otto's personality was crushed by his powerful father, Karl Hoffman. Otto hated his father, and will soon be rid of him. He has only to go into East Germany to bring the old man's body back to the West for burial. Also in East Germany is his mother's jewelry-which Otto's cousins would like him to smuggle across the border.

EP3 Where It's At Sep 28, 1966

Dick Cavett hosts this comedy musical revue. Guests include comedians Ann Elder, Ronnie Schell, Larry Hovis and Pat McCormick. Music is provided by Bob Lind, Thurston Frazier, Delos Jewkes and the Doodletown Pipers.

EP4 The Kennedy Wit Oct 05, 1966

President Kennedy's speeches were filled with ringing rhetoric-and also with wit and humor that was eloquent and subtle. He had the gift of what comedians call ""good timing,"" and could deliver repartee with rapierlike precision. Films, stills and recordings recall famous and less well known lines from JFK's campaign speeches and calamities; news conferences (such as his celebrated exchanges with newswoman May Craig); addresses to statesmen and Nobel Prize winners; informal moments with his wife and family; and occasional problems with foreign languages. There's also an interview with David Powers, one of the late President's administrative assistants and a member of the famous ""Irish Mafia."" A close friend since 1946, Powers discusses Kennedy's tour of Ireland and his own duties during the campaign.

EP5 Olympus 7-0000 Oct 12, 1966

Original musical, songs by Richard Adler, about the world's worst football team, transformed into an unbeatable powerhouse by the miraculous intervention of the Greek gods. Music included: Overture / Olympus 7-0000 - Donald O'Connor & Phyllis Newman / We're Gonna Win - Larry Blyden & Phyllis Newman / What I Mean - Phyllis Newman / I Get Around - Donald O'Connor / I've Got Feelings - Donald O'Connor / For You - Larry Blyden / The Three of Us - Eddie Foy / Better Things to Do - Donald O'Connor & Phyllis Newman / For You - Phyllis Newman / Finale.

EP6 The Confession Oct 19, 1966

This drama probes the dilemma of a police officer who goes beyond the letter of the law to find the truth. Young Carl Boyer and his fiancee Bonnie agreed on a suicide pact as a last resort when they learned that she was pregnant. Carl turned on the gas jets - but he lived, and Bonnie died. At the police station Carl is interrogated by Lieutenant Hammond. Aiding and abetting suicide is punishable as first degree manslaughter, but Hammond is convinced that Carl is guilty of murder.

EP7 The Canterville Ghost Nov 02, 1966

Original musical version of the Oscar Wilde story with music and lyrics by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. U. S. Ambassador Otis and his family move from America to England to live at Canterville Hall. The house is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of Sir Simon Canterville but the Otis family doesn't believe it-even after the Ghost appears. Songs included: Welcome to Canterville Hall - Redgrave, Fairbanks, Schafer, Charkham & Colleano / Undertow - Schafer, Charkham & Colleano / I Worry & If You Never Try - Walker & Noone / Rattletrap - Fairbanks / Vengeance - Redgrave / You're Super - Noone / Overhead - Walker / Peace - Walker & Redgrave.

EP8 The People Trap Nov 09, 1966

Story was about a young couple living in one of those overpopulated futures where you have to have a special permit to have a child. They get a little careless, and the wife gets pregnant. If you don't have the permit, your child will be put in cold storage at birth. Later, if you can get a permit, the government will unfreeze the baby and give it back to you. They have a neighbor who has one of those kids, but he's never been quite right in the head since he was thawed out. The couple's only hope is for the husband to win a foot race whose first prize is an acre of land and a baby permit. All the other competitors have agreed that if they win, they'll sell the land to a Big Corporation. The husband won't sell, so the Big Corporation does various underhanded things to keep him from winning. He has to climb over a building to avoid them and win the race. At the end of the movie, the couple and their kid are frolicking on their land while a solid mass of people watches them through a cha

EP9 Evening Primrose Nov 16, 1966

This original musical, with songs by Stephen Sondheim, is a story about a poet, Charles Snell, who decides to drop out of society and live, secretly, in a department store. To his surprise he finds a group of people already doing just that. The catch is that once inside you must stay forever. Errant group members disappear only to reappear later as store mannequins. He meets a young lady, Ella Harkins, and the two fall in love and prepare to leave. The show ends with a shot of a new bride and groom mannequin in a store window. Songs included: (If You Can Find Me) I'm Here - Tony Perkins / I Remember - Charmian Carr / When - Perkins and Carr / Take Me to the World - Carr and Perkins. Music arranged and conducted by Norman Paris, assisted by David Shire.

EP10 Noon Wine Nov 23, 1966

Royal Earle Thompson's small dairy farm in West Texas isn't a thriving enterprise until he takes on Olaf Helton, a moody, hard-working Swede. Because business starts booming, Thompson makes a point of never prying into the personal life of his silent hired hand. But one day Thompson learns that Helton's stoicism masks a terrible secret.

EP11 The Legend of Marilyn Monroe Nov 30, 1966

Documentary about Marilyn Monroe.

EP12 On The Flip Side Dec 07, 1966

An original rock musical, with songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, about a washed up teen idol (Nelson) who is coached back onto the charts by a pink-haired angel (Joanie). Songs included: It Doesn't Matter Anymore - Rick Nelson / Fender Mender - Joanie Sommers & The Celestials / They Don't Give Medals (To Yesterday's Heroes) - Rick Nelson / Try To See It My Way - Joanie Sommers / Juanita's Place Montage - Peter Matz / Take a Broken Heart - Rick Nelson / They Gonna Love It - Donna Jean Young / Try to See It My Way - Rick Nelson & Joanie Sommers / Juanita's Place - The Celestials / They Don't Give Medals (To Yesterday's Heroes) - Peter Matz.

EP13 The Brave Rifles Dec 14, 1966

Documentary about the Battle of the Bulge.

EP14 A Christmas Memory Dec 21, 1966

Classic Capote story set in a small Alabama town where he was sent to live with relatives. The young Capote (Buddy) shared his desperately lonely childhood with his cousin Sook, a gentle and eccentric spinster, and some less imaginative, mirthless relatives. The reminiscence begins in 'fruitcake weather,' time for the annual ritual of baking Christmas cakes for the people whom Sook and Buddy like and admire.

EP15 The Trap of Solid Gold Jan 04, 1967

Ben Weldon is an ambitious businessman on the fast track to success. The company he works for expects him to live the upper class suburban lifestyle on a middle management salary in order to prove himself worthy of advancement. With two kids, a new house, club dues, etc. Ben and his wife Ginny find themselves stretched to the breaking point financially. Ben's coworker Hal Crady suggests he settle for a regional management position, as he hopes to do. Ben dismisses this as ""a dull routine job"" and keeps playing the game since he knows the boss has a promotion for him lined up. Hal suggests he sees a ""crack C.P.A."", J. J. Semmons, who tells him he needs to either get a raise or quit the game. At work he is eager to head a new test computer operation by commuting to Chicago while his finances get shakier. Finally he asks his boss, Mr. Mallory for a raise. After expressing disappointment in Ben, Mallory at first tells him to manage with his ""income bracket."" Ben refuses to be brush

EP16 Sex in the Sixties Jan 12, 1967

Documentary about the changing sexual manners and mores of the 1960's. Participating in the discussion are Drs. William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson, authors of Human Sexual Response, Dr. John Rock, director of the Rock Reproductive Clinic—and Playboy's Hugh Hefner.

EP17 General Eisenhower on The Military Churchill Jan 26, 1967

Alistair Cooke spent three days at Eisenhower's farm in Gettyburg, Pennsylvania interviewing the former President about his relationship with and memories of Winston Churchill.

EP18 David Frost's Night Out in London Feb 02, 1967

In foggy, swinging London, satirist David Frost introduces viewers to the late-life of the most 'in' town in the world. Heading where the action is, David goes to the posh West End, noted for its theaters, smart shops and fine restaurants; and the shady, Bohemian quarter called Soho. London is steeped in history, but on this tour, places are less important than faces: Sir Laurence Olivier, on stage to do his song-and-dance routine from John Osborne's The Entertainer; Albert Finney, who performs a scene from Osborne's Broadway hit, Luther; female impersonator Danny La Rue; and cabaret singer Libby Morris, who offers Just One of Those Things. In two comedy sketches, Peter Sellers portrays a snobbish wine taster and a bombastic BBC announcer interviewing a deep-sea diver (played by Kenneth Connor of the Carry On films).

EP19 The Light Fantastic Feb 09, 1967

Lauren Bacall and John Forsythe star in this lighthearted look at dancing in the United States. The show is subtitled ""How to Tell Your Past, Present, and Maybe Even Your Future Through Social Dancing,"" and the idea is that the lives we live are reflected on the dance floor. John, who appears as a social commentator, tries to prove that the depression produced the Big Apple; that the Cha-Cha, Bossa Nova and Conga are the result of pleasant Latin-American relations; and that the gradual decline of segregation can be traced through the Cake Walk, Castle Walk and Lindy. Lauren portrays an interested observer, mostly interested in John, but she soon decides to prove a point of her own, that even the Minuet, Black Bottom, Hully Gully and Twist are clues to the emancipation of women.

EP20 C'est La Vie Feb 23, 1967

Musical revue taped in Paris. Songs included: What The World Needs Now / Walking Happy / Just In Time / I Love Paris / Some Of These Days.

EP21 Rodgers and Hart Today Mar 02, 1967

Salute to the songs of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. All music program with no spoken dialogue. Songs include: I Could Write A Book / The Lady Is A Tramp / Little Girl Blue / I Wish I Were In Love Again - Bobby Darin, Falling in Love With Love - Bobby Darin and The Supremes, Lover / With a Song in My Heart / My Romance / Blue Moon / Manhattan - The Supremes, Where or When / Thou Swell / Spring is Here / On Your Toes - Petula Clark, Any Old Place with You - Darin and Clark, My Heart Stood Still / Glad to Be Unhappy / Here in My Arms / Sing for Your Supper - The Mamas and the Papas, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue - The Doodletown Pipers with Count Basie and His Orchestra, Dancing on the Ceiling / Give It Back to the Indians - Peter Gennaro, Johnny One Note -Peter Gennaro with Count Basie and His Orchestra, Wait till You See Her - The Doodletown Pipers, Mountain Greenery - Cast. Quincy Jones was the musical director.

EP22 The American Boy Mar 09, 1967

Three short films which tell stories about three completely different adolescent boys: one living in the city; one in the country; and one in the suburbs. 1-Skaterdater (with Michael Mell, Melissa Mallory) Some photography by Carroll Ballard. Music by Mike Curb & Nick Venet. A boy's emergence into adolescence is given a gentle treatment in this multiple award winning film. To joyous music the camera follows a young boy's adventures on his skateboard as he and the other members of his gang expertly maneuver along tree-shaded sidewalks and steep suburban streets. When he becomes interested in a girl, and loses leadership of the group in a test of skateboarding skills, he realizes that he is leaving his childhood for a new phase in his life. 2-The River Boy (with Philip Lombas, Chrissy Lapeyre). 3-Reflections (with Carl Chu, Diane Cecilio).

EP23 I'm Getting Married Mar 16, 1967

Original musical, with songs by Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, about a couple soon to be married and their fears and fantasies about what married life might be like. Performed cabaret-style with twin piano accompaniment. Songs included: Getting Married (Living As One) / Love is Our Umbrella / Roots / Venetia / Forbidden Fruit (originally written for the Broadway show ""Fade Out-Fade In"") and possibly Answer My Heart.

EP24 A Time For Laughter: A Look at Negro Humor in America Apr 06, 1967

Singer-actor Harry Belafonte produced this showcase of Negro humor, satire and self-parody. Sketches: A suburban couple (Godfrey Cambridge & Diana Sands) irritate their maid (Moms Mabley) by pretending to be white; in jail, a civil rights marcher (Dick Gregory) discusses Black Power; The clergyman doesn't show up for a funeral, leaving the nervous undertaker (Richard Pryor) to deliver the eulogy; In a barbershop routine, George Kirby plays seven parts, including Augustus X and Senator Irksen; A pool hustler (Redd Foxx) talks about poverty and civil rights; A judge (Pigmeat Markham) questions a quarreling couple (Harry Belafonte & Diahann Carroll). Songs included: Dogs - Harry Belafonte / Good Lovin' - Diahann Carroll / Jim Crow - Charles Moore & Bill Reilly.

EP25 The Wide Open Door Apr 20, 1967

Twins Jane and Jill Marriott are beautiful and criminal. Story concerns their efforts to rob a jewelry store.

EP26 The Human Voice May 03, 1967

Ingrid Bergman plays a middle-aged woman going through a psychological crisis as a love affair ends. French playwright Jean Cocteau's one-character drama unfolds in the form of an extended monologue--a one-sided telephone conversation in which the woman tries to win back her lover despite her growing suspicion that he is calling from his young fiancée's home.

EP27 Eat The Document Jan 01, 0001

Documentary about Bob Dylan's 1966 tour of Europe. This was the tour where he ""went electric"". Appearing with him are The Hawks, soon to be The Band.
7.4| 0h30m| en| More Info
Released: 14 September 1966 Returning Series
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Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

ABC Stage 67 is the umbrella title for a series of 26 weekly shows that included dramas, variety shows, documentaries, and original musicals. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company on September 14, 1966 with Murray Schisgal's The Love Song of Barney Kempinksi, directed by Stanley Prager and starring Alan Arkin as a man enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City in his last remaining hours of bachelorhood. Arkin was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance By An Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama and the program was nominated as Outstanding Dramatic Program. Future programs included appearances by Petula Clark, Bobby Darin, Sir Laurence Olivier, Albert Finney, Peter Sellers, David Frost, and Jack Paar. ABC's effort to bring culture to the masses was a noble but unsuccessful experiment. Scheduled first against I Spy on Wednesdays and then The Dean Martin Show on Thursdays, the show consistently received low ratings. Its last production, an adaptation of Jean Cocteau's one-woman play The Human Voice starring Ingrid Bergman, aired on May 4, 1967. "Stage 67" was not actually a part of the primary ABC facilities in Los Angeles. It was produced at the old Monogram Studios backlot that was later sold to KCET.

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F Gwynplaine MacIntyre The number in the title 'ABC Stage 67' referred to the one and only year in which this series aired: the 1966/67 TV season. If it had run longer, would they have upped the number every year? (This was done for the children's TV series "Discovery '62", which became "Discovery '63" in its second season.) UPDATE: My thanks to correspondent J. Posner, who points out to me that ABC's Manhattan studio is located in West 67th Street; this is likely the real explanation for the title 'Stage 67'.At all events, 'ABC Stage 67' was an ambitious attempt to repeat the success of the 'Omnibus' TV series a decade previously ... offering a mixed fare of music, comedy, drama, and documentary. Regrettably, 'ABC Stage 67' transmitted only 26 episodes from September '66 through May of the next year. One other episode was produced but never aired: 'Eat the Document', a hodgepodge of rock-concert footage featuring Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Johnny Cash.This posting is a review of the 12 October 1966 episode of 'ABC Stage 67', an original musical comedy (in colour) called 'Olympus 7-000', with music and lyrics by Richard Adler ... chiefly of interest for a brief appearance by Joe Namath and the New York Jets.The songwriting team Richard Adler and Jerry Ross wrote the excellent score for "John Murray Anderson's Almanac", a 1953 Broadway revue that really ought to be revived. More famously, they wrote the songs for two Broadway musicals that have been classics ever since: 'The Pyjama Game' and 'Damn Yankees'. Most songwriting teams consist of a composer and a lyricist, but Adler and Ross co-wrote their tunes and their lyrics. They were proteges of the great songwriter Frank Loesser, who likewise wrote music and lyrics. Jerry Ross died of leukaemia before his 30th birthday, leaving us to wonder what great shows this talented team might have written. Richard Adler has continued to write new material, but he has never recaptured the early success of his teamwork with Ross.The script of 'Olympus 7-000' was by Broadway veteran Jerome Chodorov, who had earned success with 'My Sister Eileen' and other projects ... but his story for 'Olympus 7-000' was terrible, and derivative with it.You can almost smell the desperation of this project, and I suspect that most of the blame should go to Richard Adler. His most successful project had been 'Damn Yankees', a musical comedy in which the Devil comes to Earth to help the world's worst baseball team win the pennant. 'Olympus 7-000' is a blatant reworking of the same premise: this time, God comes to Earth to help the world's worst football team win the championship. But some viewers might get perturbed if the Lord God Jehovah got involved in such mundane activities. So, instead of the Judaeo-Christian deity, we have the Greek god Hermes showing up in New England to help a college football squad in the present day (1966).Straight from the kick-off, this raises some unpleasant questions: if the Greek gods are real, where have they been hiding all these centuries? And if Hermes (or any other god) is willing to give supernatural assistance to a football team, then why doesn't he lend a hand to all the people dying in earthquakes, famines, and so forth? Maybe I shouldn't inject these big metaphysical questions into a frothy little musical comedy, but 'Olympus 7-000' is such a plodding lump of work that I had plenty of time to ponder such issues while I watched this old kinescope.The god Hermes is played by Donald O'Connor, looking not so much godlike as elfin. As Hermes, O'Connor wears a metallic silver-coloured outfit and a shiny bowler hat with wings on the brim. In this glittering ensemble, O'Connor looks like the mutant offspring of a one-night stand between the Tin Woodman of Oz and Og the Leprechaun from "Finian's Rainbow". O'Connor brandishes a little silvery stick which is apparently meant to be the caduceus of Hermes, but it looks more like Glinda's fairy wand. And, yes, 'Olympus 7-000' is Hermes's phone number.Veteran comedian Eddie Foy, Jnr struggles gamely in his role as Casey, the coach of the hapless football team. Character actor Fred Clark (whom I always enjoy watching) is deliciously dyspeptic in a badly-written role as the dean of the college. Phyllis Newman is quite attractive as the dean's daughter, although I can do without her singing. The underrated Larry Blyden provides the love interest for Ms Newman, and vulgar comedian Lou Jacobi leers and smirks on the sidelines.The most interesting bit of casting in 'Olympus 7-000' is also the only reason why this poor musical (only an hour long, with commercials) is ever likely to be made available on video. The quarterback of the incompetent football team is played by none other than Joe Namath, who was probably at the peak of his popularity at this time. Namath demonstrated some minor talent elsewhere (not here) as an actor. Namath eventually starred as Joe Hardy in a dinner-theatre production of 'Damn Yankees' ... a role similar to the one he plays here, but in a much better show.The best songs in 'Olympus 7-000' are 'Better Things to Do' (a duet for O'Connor and Newman) and Eddie Foy's number 'The Three of Us' ... but 'best' is hardly the proper word here. This terrible show was directed by Stanley Prager (who?), and the musical numbers were staged by Gordon Rigsby (huh?). If you're a fan of any of the performers in this show (including Joe Namath), be assured that all of them did much better work elsewhere. 'Olympus 7-000' is hardly the stuff of the gods, although I might consider it a Greek tragedy.