Gibbsville (TV series)

Gibbsville is a 1976 American dramatic television series starring John Savage and Gig Young. The plot centers on the activities of two reporters for a newspaper in a small Pennsylvania town in the 1940s. It aired from November 11 to December 30, 1976 on NBC.[1][2][3]

Gibbsville
Gibbsville title card
GenreDrama
StarringJohn Savage
Gig Young
Biff McGuire
Peggy McCay
Bert Remsen
Theme music composerLeonard Rosenman
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (7 unaired) plus movie pilot
Production
Executive producerDavid Gerber
Running time60 minutes
Production companiesDavid Gerber Productions
Columbia Pictures Television
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseNovember 11 (1976-11-11) –
December 30, 1976 (1976-12-30)

Cast

Synopsis

In the 1940s, Jim Malloy returns to his hometown, the fictional small mining town of Gibbsville, Pennsylvania, after being expelled from Yale University during his sophomore year. He becomes a young cub reporter for the town's newspaper, the Gibbsville Courier. He works there with a senior reporter, Ray Whitehead, who had begun his career in journalism with the Courier and left Gibbsville to pursue a promising career with more prestigious newspapers in larger cities. However, alcoholism had made Ray's career falter, and he had returned to Gibbsville and the Courier to try to make a fresh start. Mr. Pell is the editor of the Courier and is Jim's and Ray's boss.[1][2]

Jim lives in Gibbsville with his parents, Dr. Mike Malloy and Mrs. Malloy. Dr. Malloy is the town's physician.[1][2]

Production

David Gerber was Gibbsville's executive producer.[1] The stories and characters in the show were based on the writings of John O'Hara[1][2] about the fictional Gibbsville (itself based closely on the real-life town of Pottsville, Pennsylvania), and the opening credits refer to the show as "John O'Hara's Gibbsville."

In addition to a 1975 television movie written and directed by playwright Frank D. Gilroy that served as the show's pilot, thirteen episodes were produced, although only six of them aired.[1]

Broadcast history

A 90-minute television movie, John O'Hara's Gibbsville – later retitled The Turning Point of Jim Malloy and alternatively titled Gibbsville: The Turning Point of Jim Malloy – aired on NBC on April 12, 1975. Based on the John O'Hara semi-autobiographical story anthology The Doctor's Son, it served as the pilot for Gibbsville. Several delays followed in getting the weekly series on the air. Gibbsville finally was to have premiered at the beginning of NBC's fall 1976 season, but it encountered one last delay when it was displaced at the last minute. After the cancellation of the series Gemini Man, NBC reshuffled its Thursday evening lineup and added Gibbsville to the schedule in mid-November 1976.[1][4]

Gibbsville finally premiered as a weekly series on November 11, 1976 – 17 months after its pilot aired – and NBC broadcast it at 10:00 p.m. on Thursdays throughout its brief run. Its sixth episode was broadcast on December 30, 1976, after which NBC cancelled it.[1][2] The remaining seven episodes never aired.[3]

Episodes

Sources:[3][5]

No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date
TVM"The Turning Point of Jim Malloy"UnknownUnknownApril 12, 1975 (1975-04-12)
Jim Malloy returns to his home town of Gibbsville, Pennsylvania, after being expelled from Yale University during his sophomore year and begins a new career on the town's newspaper, the Gibbsville Courier. Originally broadcast as the television movie John O′Hara′s Gibbsville and also alternatively titled Gibbsville: The Turning Point of Jim Malloy, this was the only 90-minute episode of Gibbsville.
1"How Old, How Young"Harry HarrisLiam O'BrienNovember 11, 1976 (1976-11-11)

Gibbsville city officials thwart efforts to get to the bottom of a mysterious explosion.

Guest stars: Walter Pidgeon, Jane Wyatt, Jack Aranson, Kenneth Tobey, Frank Campanella, Roy Jenson and Arnold Soboloff
2"Saturday Night"UnknownJerry LudwigNovember 18, 1976 (1976-11-18)
An armed robber terrorizes local merchants, a middle-aged couple are purged of the guilt with which they lived for six years, and at the local dance Jim enjoys the company of a high-school acquaintance who has blossomed into a stunning beauty, all on the same Saturday night in Gibbsville.
3"Trapped"UnknownRichard FielderDecember 9, 1976 (1976-12-09)
The people of Gibbsville await word on miners trapped in an explosion while a radio personality milks the disaster for pathos and Jim and Ray try to dig up evidence of negligence.
4"All the Young Girls"UnknownMichael MannDecember 16, 1976 (1976-12-16)
A policeman who supplements his income illegally gives some help to his wartime buddy, a has-been boxer.
5"Andrea"UnknownEdward AdlerDecember 23, 1976 (1976-12-23)
Ray rekindles a romance with a woman (Joan Collins) who is now engaged to a judge presiding over a mine-safety hearing.
6"Afternoon Waltz"UnknownLarry BrodyDecember 30, 1976 (1976-12-30)
Jim's former classmate at Yale University struggles to adjust to a secret personal problem.
7"Chautauqua, Chautauqua, Chautauqua"TBDAnthony LawrenceUNAIRED
8"In the Silence"TBDTBDUNAIRED
9"Manhood"TBDTBDUNAIRED
10"A Case History"TBDTBDUNAIRED
11"The Price of Everything"TBDJerry LudwigUNAIRED
12"All I've Tried to Be"TBDTBDUNAIRED
13"The Grand Gesture"TBDTBDUNAIRED

References
  1. McNeil, Alex, Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 326.
  2. Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present, Sixth Edition, New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, ISBN 0-345-39736-3, p. 397.
  3. Classic Television Archive: Gibbsville
  4. nytimes.com The Turning Point of Jim Malloy
  5. tvguide.com Gibbsville Episodes
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