The Long, Hot Summer (TV series)
The Long Hot Summer is an American drama series from 20th Century Fox Television that was broadcast on ABC-TV for one season from 1965–1966. It was aired in the UK on ITV.
| The Long, Hot Summer | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Dean Riesner |
| Opening theme | "The Long Hot Summer" performed by Jimmie Rodgers |
| Composer | Leith Stevens |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Frank Glicksman |
| Running time | 45 mins. (approx) |
| Production company | 20th Century Fox Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | September 16, 1965 – April 13, 1966 |
Series synopsis
The series is set in the Deep South community of Frenchman's Bend, Mississippi, which is dominated and owned by the town's wealthy, powerful (and deceitful) bank owner "Boss" Will Varner (Edmond O'Brien). A widower with two grown children, the unscrupulous Varner runs the town and its citizens with an iron fist and nobody dares to question him. He and his family live in the largest mansion in Frenchman's Bend. However, problems arise when Ben Quick (Roy Thinnes), a young man whose father Varner destroyed some years prior, returns to town to reclaim his family's farm and challenge Varner's absolute authority over the town and its people.
Supporting characters include Jody Varner, Will's weak-willed but more honest son, and Clara, Will's sensible older daughter and lady of the house (in lieu of her late mother). To her father's dismay, she and Ben fall in love. Other characters include the town's hotel owner, Minnie Littlejohn, who is also Will's mistress, and Eula Johnson, a 17-year-old girl who becomes a central point in Jody's life after he picks her up during a rain storm. In the 1958 film of the same name, Eula and Jody were married, but in the television series they are merely friends. Also seen in recurring roles were Andrew (Charles Lampkin), the Varner family's butler/chauffeur, Sheriff Harve Anders (Paul Bryar), the local sheriff for the county in which Frenchman's Bend is located, and Dr. Aaron Clark (Jason Wingreen), the Varner family's physician.
Cast
Main
- Edmond O'Brien (eps. 1–13) and Dan O'Herlihy (eps. 15–26) as "Boss" Will Varner
- Nancy Malone as Clara Varner
- Roy Thinnes as Ben Quick
- Lana Wood as Eula Johnson (eps. 3+)
- Paul Geary (eps. 1–23) and Tom Lowell (eps. 24–26) as Jody Varner
- Ruth Roman as Minnie Littlejohn
Guest cast
- Karen Steele as Willow Sterne (eps. 4–5)
- Celeste Holm as Libby Rankin (ep. 15)
- Gary Lockwood as Danny Hamil (ep. 17)
- Ralph Meeker as Jess Corbett (ep. 21)
- Ricardo Montalban as Brice Ferguson (ep. 26)
Production
Development
Created by Dean Riesner, The Long Hot Summer was based on the novel The Hamlet by William Faulkner, the short story "Barn Burning", and the 1958 film of the same name. The show retained the movie's theme song, "The Long, Hot Summer," written by Sammy Cahn and Alex North, and Jimmie Rodgers sang it for the series just as he did for the film.
Broadcast
The Long Hot Summer was scheduled on Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST opposite CBS' Thursday Night Movie and NBC's long-running variety series The Dean Martin Show.[1] The series was canceled after twenty-six episodes with the last original episode airing on April 13, 1966.
Casting
In January 1966, series star Edmond O'Brien left the series after a disagreement with the producers (the disagreement was about making Ben Quick the main focus of the show instead of the Varners) and was replaced by Dan O'Herlihy. O'Herlihy played the role of Will Varner for the rest of the series' run.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Homecoming" | Ralph Senensky | Dean Riesner | September 16, 1965 | 14.5[2] |
| 2 | "A Time for Living" | Robert Gist | Story by : Donald S. Sanford Teleplay by : Donald S. Sanford & Dean Reisner | September 23, 1965 | 15.5 |
| 3 | "A Stranger to the House" | Vincent Sherman | Story by : Alfred Brenner Teleplay by : Alfred Brenner & Dean Reisner | September 30, 1965 | 14.6 |
| 4 | "The Twisted Image – Part 1" | Robert Gist | Anthony Lawrence | October 7, 1965 | 14.3 |
| 5 | "The Twisted Image – Part 2" | Mark Rydell | Anthony Lawrence | October 14, 1965 | 13.0 |
| 6 | "Home is a Nameless Place" | Richard Sarafian | William Bast | October 21, 1965 | 14.5 |
| 7 | "No Hiding Place" | Vincent Sherman | Story by : Jerome Ross Teleplay by : John Bloch | October 28, 1965 | 15.0 |
| 8 | "Run, Hero, Run" | James B. Clark | Mark Rodgers | November 4, 1965 | 13.9 |
| 9 | "The Desperate Innocent" | Alex March | Oliver Crawford | November 11, 1965 | 14.6 |
| 10 | "Bitter Harvest" | Vincent Sherman | Al C. Ward | November 18, 1965 | 16.1 |
| 11 | "Hunter to the Wind" | Alex March | Franklin Barton | December 2, 1965 | 14.5 |
| 12 | "Nor Hell a Fury" | Vincent Sherman | Oscar Millard | December 9, 1965 | 13.5 |
| 13 | "The Return of the Quicks" | Don Richardson | James Gunn | December 16, 1965 | 13.4 |
| 14 | "Track the Man Down" | Vincent Sherman | Oliver Crawford | December 30, 1965 | 13.0 |
| 15 | "Face of Fear" | Lewis Allen | Story by : Bernard Schoenfeld Teleplay by : Jack Turley | January 6, 1966 | 14.6 |
| 16 | "Evil Angel" | Robert Stevens | Story by : Alfred Brenner & Robert J. Shaw Teleplay by : Robert J. Shaw | January 13, 1966 | 14.3 |
| 17 | "Day of Thunder" | Don Richardson | Jack Turley | January 19, 1966 | 13.1 |
| 18 | "The Warning" | Marc Daniels | Sy Salkowitz | January 26, 1966 | 14.2 |
| 19 | "The Intruders" | John Peyser | Jerome Ross | February 2, 1966 | 14.1 |
| 20 | "From This Day Forward" | Vincent Sherman | Robert J. Shaw | February 9, 1966 | 13.9 |
| 21 | "A Time to Die" | Alex March | Michael Zagor | February 16, 1966 | 13.0 |
| 22 | "Reunion—Italian Style" | Marc Daniels | Story by : Mark Rodgers & Robert J. Shaw Teleplay by : Robert J. Shaw | February 23, 1966 | 15.2 |
| 23 | "Blaze of Glory" | Vincent Sherman | Story by : William Bast & Robert J. Shaw Teleplay by : Robert J. Shaw | March 2, 1966 | 14.5 |
| 24 | "Crisis" | Mark Rydell | Anthony Lawrence | March 9, 1966 | 14.2 |
| 25 | "Carlotta, Come Home" | Mark Rydell | Robert J. Shaw | March 30, 1966 | 14.3 |
| 26 | "Man with Two Faces" | Alex March | Jack Turley | April 13, 1966 | unknown |
References
- Hyatt, Wesley (2003). Short-Lived Television Series, 1948–1978: Thirty Years of Bore Than 1,000 Flops. McFarland & Co. p. 155. ISBN 0-7864-1420-0.
- Bruce B. Morris, Prime Time Network Serials: Episode Guides, Casts and Credits for 37 Continuing Television Dramas, 1964-1993, McFarland and Company, 1997.
External links
- The Long Hot Summer at IMDb
- Long Hot Summer on TV IV
- Long Hot Summer complete episodes on YouTube