Riverboat

Riverboat
Hugh Downs and Darren McGavin, 1960.
Format	Western
Starring	Darren McGavin Burt Reynolds Noah Beery, Jr.
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	44
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	Revue Studios
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Picture format	Black and white (1959-1961)
Original run	September 13, 1959 – June 3, 1961

Riverboat is a western television series starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds that was broadcast on the NBC television network from September 13, 1959 until January 2, 1961, and was produced by Revue Studios.

Riverboat depicted the exploits of Captain Grey Holden (McGavin) and his crew as they navigated the riverboat Enterprise along the West and Midwest, running into interesting characters along the way, including a pre-presidential Abraham Lincoln.

Riverboat featured Reynolds as Ben Frazer, but after reported disputes with McGavin, Reynolds left the show after 21 episodes, and was replaced by Noah Beery, Jr., nephew of Wallace Beery. Jack Lambert and John Mitchum co-starred for the first 25 and 21 episodes, respectively.

Guest stars included:

• Francis De Sales appeared as Ed Baker in the 1959 episode "The Boy from Pittsburgh"
• Ron Hagerthy, formerly of Sky King, appeared as Phelan in the 1960 episode "The Quota".
• Judson Pratt guest starred as Sergeant Ned Bolger in the 1959 episode "A Night at Trapper's Landing".
• Dayton Lummis played Gideon Templeton in the 1960 episode "Path of the Eagle".
• Read Morgan played Clint Casey in "The Barrier" (1959).
• John M. Picard, earlier of Boots and Saddles, played a river pirate in the 1959 episode "The Unwilling."
• Mary Tyler Moore was a "Brunette Girl in Stagecoach" in the ninth episode "A Night at Trapper's Landing" (1959). She returned the next season as "Lily Belle" in the sixth episode, "Trunk Full of Dreams" (1960).
• Hugh Downs was a guest star in the episode "Night of the Faceless Men" (1960).

DVD releases

On October 30, 2007, Timeless Media Group released a 3-disc best-of set featuring 15 episodes from the series.^[1]

On May 15, 2012, Timeless Media Group will release Riverboat- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.^[2]

References

1. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Riverboat/dp/B000TLTCOU
2. ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Riverboat-The-Complete-Series/16533

• McNeil, Alex. Total Television (1996). New York: Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-024916-8
• Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (1999). New York: Ballantine Books ISBN 0-345-42923-0

Further reading

Riverboat: The Evolution of a Television Series, by S. L. Kotar and J. E. Gessler. 2010. Albany, BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-505-4.

External links

• Riverboat at the Internet Movie Database