Route 66 (TV series)

Route 66
File:Route66bnov.jpg Buz and Tod take a ferry to trouble in the series premiere.
Created by	Herbert B. Leonard Stirling Silliphant
Starring	Martin Milner George Maharis (1960-1963) Glenn Corbett (1963-1964)
Country of origin	USA
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	116
Production
Running time	approx. 52 mins. (per episode)
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	October 7, 1960 – March 20, 1964

Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America in a Chevrolet Corvette sports car. The show ran weekly on Fridays on CBS from October 7, 1960 to March 20, 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for the first two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod was shown traveling on his own. Tod met Lincoln Case, played by Glenn Corbett, late in the third season, and traveled with him until the end of the fourth and final season. The series currently airs on Me-TV, My Family TV and RTV.

Among the series more notable aspects were the featured Corvette convertible, and the program's instrumental theme song (composed and performed by Nelson Riddle), which became a major pop hit.

Format and characters

Route 66 was a hybrid between episodic television drama, which has continuing characters and situations, and the anthology format (e.g., The Twilight Zone), in which each week's show has a completely different cast and story. Route 66 had just three continuing characters, no more than two of whom appeared in the same episode. Like Richard Kimble from The Fugitive, the wanderers would move from place to place and get caught up in the struggles of the people there. Unlike Kimble, nothing was forcing them to stay on the move except their own sense of adventure, thus making it thematically closer to Run for Your Life, Maverick, Movin' On, and Then Came Bronson.

This semi-anthology concept, where the drama is often centered on the guest stars rather than the regular cast, was carried over from series creator Stirling Silliphant's previous drama Naked City (1958–1963). Both shows were recognized for their literate scripts and rich characterizations. The open-ended format, featuring two roaming observers/facilitators, gave Silliphant and the other writers an almost unlimited landscape for presenting a wide variety of dramatic (or comedic) story lines. Virtually any tale could be adapted to the series. The two regulars merely had to be worked in and the setting tailored to fit the location.

Tod and Buz (and later, Linc) symbolized restless youth searching for meaning in the early 1960s. The two men take odd jobs along their journey, like toiling in a California vineyard or manning a Maine lobster boat, bringing them in contact with dysfunctional families or troubled individuals in need of help. The lead characters are not always the focus of any given episode, and their back stories are revealed only in occasional references across widely-spaced episodes.

Tod Stiles, portrayed by clean-cut Martin Milner, is the epitome of the decent, honest, all-American type. Tod came from a background of wealth and privilege; his father owned a shipping company, and Tod's early years were spent in New York and Connecticut. He attended Yale, but after the death of his father, Tod discovered that his father's business had essentially gone bankrupt. The only legacy left to Tod was a new Corvette.

Buz Murdock, meanwhile, was an orphan who had worked with Tod's father as a labourer on one of his ships in New York City. After the death of the senior Mr. Stiles, and the subsequent collapse of his business, Tod and Buz decided to drive across America in search of work, adventure, and themselves. The working-class Buz (George Maharis) is looser, hipper, and more Beat Generation in attitude than Tod, though the two characters share a mutual respect for each other. There were subtle indications the Buz character was intended to loosely embody Jack Kerouac in appearance and attitudes.

Towards the end of the second season, Maharis was absent for several episodes, due to a bout of infectious hepatitis. He returned for the start of the third season, but was again absent for a number of episodes before leaving the show entirely mid-way through season three. Consequently, in numerous episodes in late season two and early season three, Tod travels solo, while Buz is said to be in the hospital with an unspecified ailment. Tod is often seen writing to Buz in these episodes, or having a one-sided phone conversation with him. In total, Tod appears solo in 13 episodes during seasons two and three.

Buz made his final appearance in a January 1963 episode, and was then written out of the show without a definitive explanation. Then, after five consecutive solo Tod stories, Tod gained a new traveling companion named Lincoln Case (Glenn Corbett) in March 1963. Case is a darker character than Buz Murdock, an army veteran haunted by his past. He's also more introspective than Buz with a sometimes explosive temper, but he is nonetheless a reliable companion as the duo continues their travels.

The series concluded in Tampa with the two-part episode "Where There's a Will, There's a Way," in which Tod Stiles got married, and Linc announced his intention to return home to his family in Texas, after a long period of estrangement. This made the series one of the earlier prime-time television dramas to have a planned series finale resolving the fate of its main characters.

The show was filmed and presented in black and white throughout its run.

Locations

Route 66 is well remembered for its cinematography and location filming. Writer-producer Stirling Silliphant traveled the country with a location manager (Sam Manners), scouting a wide range of locales and writing scripts to match the settings. The actors and film crew would arrive a few months later. Memorable locations include a logging camp, shrimp boats, an offshore oil rig, and Glen Canyon Dam, the latter while still under construction.

The show had little connection with the U.S. Highway providing its name. Most of the locations in the series were far from "The Mother Road," which passed through only eight states, while the series was filmed and took place throughout the lower 48 US states and elsewhere—two of the episodes even took place in (and were filmed in) Canada, while another episode featured a brief coda set in Mexico (though it was filmed in California). U.S. Route 66 the highway was briefly referred to in just three early episodes of the series ("Black November," "Play It Glissando," and "An Absence of Tears"). The highwsy is even more rarely shown, as in the early first season episode "The Strengthening Angels."

Route 66 is one of few series in the history of TV to be filmed entirely on the road. This was done at a time when the United States was much less homogeneous than it is now. People, their accents, livelihoods, ethnic backgrounds, and attitudes varied widely from one location to the next. Scripted characters reflected a far less mobile, provincial society, in which people were more apt to spend their entire lives in one part of the country. Similarly, the places themselves were very different from one another visually, environmentally, architecturally, in goods and services available, etc. Stars Martin Milner and George Maharis mentioned this in 1980s interviews. "Now you can go wherever you want," Maharis added by way of contrast, "and it's a Denny's."

Guest stars

The roster of guest stars on Route 66 includes several actors who later went on to fame, as well as major stars on the downward side of their careers. One of the most historically significant episodes of the series in this respect was "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing." It featured Lon Chaney, Jr., Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff as themselves, with the latter donning his famous Frankenstein monster make-up for the first time in twenty-five years and Chaney reprising his role as the Wolfman. The show was filmed at the O'Hare Inn, near O'Hare Airport, Chicago. Dutch singer Ronnie Tober had a small guest role with Sharon Russo, Junior Miss America.

Other notable guest stars were James Brown (of Leonard's previous show, "Rin Tin Tin," multiple times and the actual Rin Tin Tin dog once with a guest starring credit as a guide dog in "Absence of Tears"), James Caan, Joan Crawford, Robert Duvall, Dorothy Malone, George Kennedy, Joey Heatherton, Ben Johnson, E.G. Marshall, Walter Matthau, David Janssen, Buster Keaton, Ed Asner, Lee Marvin, Michael Rennie, Tina Louise, Darren McGavin, Jack Lord, Kent McCord (who would later co-star with Milner in the TV series Adam-12), Suzanne Pleshette, Anne Francis, Tuesday Weld, Susan Oliver, Robert Redford, Leslie Nielsen, Martin Sheen, Rod Steiger, Lois Nettleton, Lois Smith, Sylvia Sidney, Beulah Bondi, Barbara Eden, Diane Baker, and Joan Tompkins. Julie Newmar is especially memorable as a motorcycle-riding free-spirit—a role she reprised in a later episode. William Shatner and DeForest Kelley (both of whom would later go on to fame by starring in the TV series Star Trek and appearing in seven Star Trek films.) also guest starred, in separate episodes. Lee Marvin and DeForest Kelley were among the many actors and actresses to appear in more than one role in the series. Janice Rule played different characters in three episodes. Two others were Logan Ramsey and Bruce Glover, who both later appeared in the three theatrical movies about Buford Pusser, Walking Tall, Walking Tall Part 2, and Walking Tall: Final Chapter, and Ed Asner and Lois Nettleton, who appeared in the episode, "The Opponent," appeared in the 2006 Christmas movie, "The Christmas Card." Burt Reynolds and Gene Hackman, among others, appeared in small bit parts. Martin Balsam appeared as a Social Worker.

In a 1986 interview, Martin Milner reported that Lee Marvin credited him with helping his career by breaking Marvin's nose "just enough" to improve his look. This happened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during a scripted fistfight for "Mon Petit Chou," the second of two episodes with Marvin.

Two late third-season episodes, which aired one week apart, each featured a guest star in a bit part playing a character with a profession with which he would later become associated as the star of his own mega-hit television series. In "Shadows of an Afternoon," Michael Conrad was a uniformed policeman, years before he became famous as Police Sgt. Phil Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues. In "Soda Pop and Paper Flags," Alan Alda guest starred as a surgeon, a precursor to his career-defining role as Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce on M*A*S*H. Also in the first season episode, The Strengthening Angels, which aired November 4, 1960, Hal Smith, who played town drunk Otis Campbell in The Andy Griffith Show, also played a drunk named Howard and was listed in the credits as "Drunk."

A 4th season episode, "Is It True There Are Poxies at the Bottom of Landfair Lake?", featured guest stars Geoffrey Horne and Collin Wilcox. In the episode's story line, Wilcox's character pretended to get married to Horne's, although it turned out to be a practical joke. A few years after appearing in this episode, Horne and Wilcox would be briefly married to each other in real life.

A noteworthy in-joke occurs during the 4th season episode, "Where Are the Sounds of Celli Brahams?" In this segment, Horace McMahon guest stars as a Minneapolis, Minnesota, festival promoter. His character confesses to Linc his failed ambition to be a policeman. Linc remarks that he looks like a policeman Linc once knew in New York City. McMahon had starred as Lt. Mike Parker on the New York-based police drama Naked City from 1958 to '63, another TV series overseen by the creative team of Stirling Silliphant and Herbert B. Leonard.

Production notes

• The original working title of the series was The Searchers, according to George Maharis. That was the title of the 1956 film The Searchers directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, so the series was renamed.

• The episode "I'm Here to Kill a King," about a potential assassination, was originally scheduled to air on November 29, 1963. It was removed from the schedule because of President John F. Kennedy's assassination one week earlier, and (according to TV schedule listings published at the time) was not aired until the series went into syndication. This episode, and "A Long Way from St. Louie," are the only ones filmed outside the US. Both were filmed in Canada, the latter in Toronto.

Scripts

Route 66 was officially created by producer Herbert B. Leonard and writer Stirling Silliphant, though Silliphant wrote the majority of the episodes (including the pilot) while Leonard did not write at all. It was notable for its dark story lines and exceptional realism. Tod and Buz would frequently become involved with individuals whose almost nihilistic world view made for occasionally frightening TV. Some 50 years after its premiere, Route 66 is still one of the few TV series to offer such a range of socially conscious stories, including mercy killing, the threat of nuclear annihilation, terrorism, runaways, and orphans. Other episodes dealt with the mentally ill, lupus, drug addiction, or gang violence. Some stories were lighthearted, such as a memorable episode featuring Richard Basehart as a folklorist trying to record the music of an isolated Appalachian community, and a Halloween episode called "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing."

Even more unusual is the way it served up a kind of soaring dialog that has been referred to as "Shakespearean" and free-verse poetry. For instance, the boys encounter a Nazi hunter named Bartlett on the offshore oil drilling rig where they work. Bartlett describes the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust thus: "Tod, I hope you live a long life and never know the blistering forces that sear and destroy, turn men into enemies and sweep past the last frontiers of compassion" and "Once you've seen that dark, unceasing tide of faces...of the victims...the last spark of dignity so obliterated that not one face is lifted to heaven, not one voice is raised in protest even as they died..." (from episode #4, "The Man on the Monkey Board").

The quirky, textured writing extended to episode titles, which included such oddities as "How Much a Pound is Albatross?" and "Ever Ride the Waves in Oklahoma?" the latter causing a sensation as a 'surfing story' where Buz oddly berates a surf bum for existing without purpose. Other episode titles were drawn from a wide range of literary sources, such as Shakespeare ("A Lance of Straw," "Hell is Empty, All the Devils are Here") or Alfred, Lord Tennyson ("A Fury Slinging Flame").

Many of the stories were character studies, like the above-mentioned one featuring Richard Basehart as a man who uses people then tosses them away. The episode titled "You Can't Pick Cotton in Tahiti" refers to small-town America as both a far-away, exotic Tahiti and the "real America" compared to "phony-baloney" Hollywood. Many episodes offer moving soliloquies, into which future Academy-Award-winning writer Stirling Silliphant (In the Heat of the Night) poured his deepest thoughts.

Despite all the adventure, travelogue, drama, and poetry, the real subject of the series was the human condition, with Tod and Buz often cast as a kind of roving Greek chorus, observers and mentors to broken-down prizefighters and rodeo clowns, sadists and iron-willed matrons, surfers and heiresses, runaway kids and orphans, and other people from all walks of life, forced by circumstances to confront their demons.

One hallmark of the show was the way it introduced viewers to new ways of life and new cultures, for instance, a view of a shrimper's life in episode 2 of season 1, "A Lance of Straw," and a look at Cleveland, Ohio's Polish community in episode 35, "First Class Mouliak." Here the young are pushed by their parents into careers and marriages they may not want, in an effort to hold community and family together, albeit at the expense of the happiness and well-being of the kids. This story featured Robert Redford, Martin Balsam, Nehemiah Persoff, and Nancy Malone as guest stars.

One of the legacies Route 66 left behind is a dramatic and photographic portrait of early 1960s America as a less crowded and less complicated era — if not a less violent one — in which altruism and optimism still had a place. That place was filled by two young men who seemed to represent the best in us, the willingness to stand up for the weak, old-fashioned values like honesty, and the physical courage necessary to fight in their own and others' defense. In their role of wanderers, they appeared to be peaceful rebels who rejected, at least for a time, material possessions and the American dream of owning a home. The boys were de facto orphans adrift in American society; as such, they embodied facets of Jack Kerouac's Beat Generation, a little bit of Marlon Brando's wild side from The Wild One, James Dean's inability to settle down and fit in from Rebel Without a Cause, and the wanderlust of the above-mentioned Jim Bronson, the traveling writer and loner who toured the USA on a motorcycle in the 1969-1970 series Then Came Bronson. While often cited as a reference point, Kerouac was not necessarily a supportive fellow traveler of the series, having contemplated filing a lawsuit against the producers and Chevrolet for infringement and misappropriation of his themes and characters from his iconic "On The Road" novel. The use of the Corvette on Route 66, not only as the boys' transportation but as their marquee and symbol of their wandering spirit, created a link between America's Sports Car and America's highways that endures to this day.

Theme song

Nelson Riddle was commissioned to write the instrumental theme when CBS decided to have a new song, rather than pay royalties for the Bobby Troup song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66." Riddle's theme, however, offers an unmistakable homage to the latter's piano solo (as originally recorded by Nat King Cole) throughout the number. Riddle's "Route 66 Theme" instrumental was one of the first television themes to make Billboard magazine's Top 30, following Ray Anthony's "Dragnet Theme" (in 1953) and Henry Mancini's "Mr. Lucky Theme" (in 1960). The song earned two Grammy nominations in 1962. A vocal version, retitled "Open Highway" and featuring lyrics by Stanley Styne, was recorded by jazz singer Teri Thornton and reached #150 in the Music Vendor survey of October 1963.

Car

George Maharis reported in a 1986 Nick at Nite interview that people often ask about "the red Corvette." According to Maharis, the Corvette was never red. (The misconception may stem from the box illustration on the official board game, released by Transogram in 1962, which showed Tod and Buz in a red-colored model.) It was light blue the first season (in which a 1960 Corvette appeared in the pilot episode, and a '61 Corvette was used in all subsequent first-season episodes), and Fawn Beige for the second season (on a '62) - although in the episode "To Walk with the Serpent" it is described as green - and Saddle Tan (on '63 and '64 Corvette Sting Rays) for the third and fourth seasons. Those colors were chosen to photograph well in black and white, but the show's cinematographer complained that the powder blue car reflected too much light. The Corvette was replaced with a newer model annually by series' sponsor Chevrolet but the show itself never mentioned or explained the technicality, though the series' travels apparently took them through St. Louis, (where Corvettes were then assembled). The model update made a particular splash in the third season, when the new Corvette Sting Ray introduced the then-revolutionary design change of headlights that rotated into the hoodline when not in use. Virtually every car and truck driven by each episode's characters, and used in street scenes, were different variations of Chevrolets. Chevrolet also supplied the trucks that transported the show's company, and a Corvair Greenbrier van for Milner and his family. Yet, George Maharis claimed in a radio interview, Chevrolet never allowed Milner nor Maharis to use the Corvette other than in film shooting. Maharis thought it may have been for insurance reasons.

Awards and nominations

• In 1962, guest star Ethel Waters was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Series" for her performance in the episode "Good Night, Sweet Blues." It was the first ever Emmy nomination for an African-American actress.

• Also in 1962, George Maharis was nominated for "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series" (Best Actor) for his role as Buz.

• In 1963, the Writers Guild of America presented writer Larry Marcus the "Best Episodic Drama" award for his screenplay for the episode "Man Out of Time."

Broadcast History

Route 66 aired Friday at 8:30-9:30 PM on CBS its entire run.

Episode list

First season (1960-1961)

Ep.	Season	Title	Airdate	Writer(s)	Location
1	1	"Black November"	October 7, 1960	Stirling Silliphant	Garth, Mississippi (actual filming location: Concord, Kentucky)
Car trouble strands Tod and Buz in an isolated but hostile Mississippi lumber town named for and dominated by its unscrupulous ruler (Everett Sloane) and haunted by a secret dating back to World War II. Guest stars Patty McCormack, Keir Dullea.
2	2	"A Lance of Straw"	October 14, 1960	Stirling Silliphant	Grand Isle, Louisiana
Tod and Buz crew a shrimp trawler while its fiercely independent captain (Janice Rule) deals with a hurricane and a jealous boyfriend (Nico Minardos).
3	3	"The Swan Bed"	October 21, 1960	Stirling Silliphant	New Orleans, Louisiana
A young woman (Zina Bethune) living with her embittered mother (Betty Field) inadvertently interferes with a bird smuggling ring at the center of a psittacosis outbreak.
4	4	"The Man on the Monkey Board"	October 28, 1960	Stirling Silliphant	Venice, Louisiana
While working on an oil platform, Tod and Buz assist a peculiar co-worker with his mission after discovering that he is an undercover Nazi hunter (Lew Ayres).
5	5	"The Strengthening Angels"	November 4, 1960	Stirling Silliphant	Hastings, Sparrow Falls and River Rock (state not mentioned, but in Western USA) (actual filming location: Port Hueneme, California)
Buz attempts to prove to a small-town sheriff (John Larch) that the killing of the latter's younger brother by a single mother (Suzanne Pleshette) was in self-defense by searching for the lone witness.
6	6	"Ten Drops of Water"	November 11, 1960	Howard Rodman	Kanab, Utah
Three orphaned ranchers (Burt Brinckerhoff, Deborah Walley and Tony Haig) stubbornly fight a losing battle against chronic drought conditions.
7	7	"Three Sides"	November 18, 1960	Stirling Silliphant	Grants Pass, Oregon
Tod and Buz help a hops farmer (E. G. Marshall) reluctant to instill discipline in his spoiled son and daughter (Stephen Bolster and Joey Heatherton).
8	8	"Legacy for Lucia"	November 25, 1960	Stirling Silliphant, Melvin Levy	Merlin, Oregon
A Sicilian woman (Arline Sax) tries to finance a new Virgin Mary statue for her church in Palagonia by selling all of Oregon "bequeathed" to her by an American soldier during World War II.
9	9	"Layout at Glen Canyon"	December 2, 1960	Stirling Silliphant	Page, Arizona
Marital problems between a chaperone (Bethel Leslie) for four young models and a foreman (Charles McGraw) are revealed during a fashion shoot at the Glen Canyon Dam construction site.
10	10	"The Beryllium Eater"	December 9, 1960	Richard Collins
After an elderly prospector (Edgar Buchanan) discovers beryllium ore in the Colorado Plateau, Tod and Buz protect his mining claim despite intimidation from their mining company employer (Edward Binns) and his enforcers.
11	11	"A Fury Slinging Flame"	December 30, 1960	Stirling Silliphant	Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
Based on perceived clues from a mysterious stranger, an atomic physicist (Leslie Nielsen) and his handpicked followers take cover in Carlsbad Caverns fearing a possible nuclear attack at sunset on New Year's Day.
12	12	"Sheba"	January 6, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	El Paso, Texas
Tod and Buz search for the truth behind a "David and Bathsheba" situation between a paroled widow (Whitney Blake) and a manipulative cowboy (Lee Marvin) who had framed her for embezzlement.
13	13	"The Quick and the Dead"	January 13, 1961	Stirling Silliphant, Charles Beaumont and Jerry Sohl	Riverside, California
The fearful wife (Betsy Jones-Moreland) of an aging racer (Frank Overton) asks Tod to substitute for him at the United States Grand Prix at Riverside International Raceway despite objections from their daughter (Susan Kohner).
14	14	"Play It Glissando"	January 20, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Malibu, California
Tod and Buz's vacation is interrupted when they get caught between a violently possessive jazz trumpet virtuoso (Jack Lord) and his heiress wife (Anne Francis) who is trying to escape from him.
15	15	"The Clover Throne"	January 27, 1961	Herman Meadow	Indio, California
An date grower (Jack Warden) fights to prevent highway construction from running through his property while holding on to his attractive but flirtatious ward (Anne Helm) whom he wants to eventually marry.
16	16	"Fly Away Home (Part 1)"	February 10, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Phoenix, Arizona
The widow owner (Cathy Lewis) of a crop dusting company, her daughter (Jenny Maxwell) and a veteran pilot (Michael Rennie) with a "Jonah" complex dissuade Tod from joining their flyer ranks.
17	17	"Fly Away Home (Part 2)"	February 17, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Phoenix, Arizona
His ex-wife (Dorothy Malone) romantically involved with Buz, the veteran pilot tries to save the financially troubled business by undertaking a job involving sulfur application, just like the one that killed the owner's husband.
18	18	"Sleep on Four Pillows"	February 24, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Los Angeles, California
Feeling neglected by her rich parents, a teenager (Patty McCormack) latches on to UCLA computer programming student Tod and door-to-door cosmetics salesman Buz while faking her own kidnapping.
19	19	"An Absence of Tears"	March 3, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Los Angeles, California
A totally blind dance instructor (Martha Hyer), accompanied by her guide dog (Rin Tin Tin), is motivated to avenge her newlywed husband's murder at a filling station by attempting to kill the three perpetrators.
20	20	"Like a Motherless Child"	March 17, 1961	Howard Rodman, Betty Andrews	Fallon, Nevada
Buz confronts his past in separate encounters in western Nevada with a runaway orphan boy and an alcoholic chorus girl chaperone (Sylvia Sidney) still torturing herself over abandoning her infant son decades earlier.
21	21	"Effigy in Snow"	March 24, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Olympic Valley, California
Vengeful over his mother's infidelity, a ski-jumping psychiatric hospital escapee (Scott Marlowe) strangles a woman to death on the slopes of Squaw Valley Ski Resort and targets the ski shop's widowed proprietor (Jeanne Bal).
22	22	"Eleven, the Hard Way"	April 7, 1961	George Clayton Johnson	Reno, Nevada
Tod and Buz assist a gambler (Walter Matthau) and a paymaster (Edward Andrews) who are both going to Reno hoping to win enough money at the craps table to save their economically depressed Nevada mining town.
23	23	"Most Vanquished, Most Victorious"	April 14, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Los Angeles, California
Fulfilling the final request of his dying destitute aunt (Beatrice Straight), Tod searches for and learns about his inspirational cousin but also confronts the gang responsible for her murder.
24	24	"Don't Count Stars"	April 28, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	San Diego, California
A 9-year-old hotel heiress (Susan Melvin) enlists Tod and Buz to help her with a child custody case to stay with her gambling, alcoholic "uncle" who is actually her widowed biological father (Dan Duryea).
25	25	"The Newborn"	May 5, 1961	Stirling Silliphant, Herb Purdum	New Mexico
Tod and Buz transport the newborn son of a mother (Arline Sax) who died after childbirth to her father at a New Mexico Pueblo while pursued by the infant's other grandfather, a ruthless cattle baron (Albert Dekker). Guest star Robert Duvall.
26	26	"A Skill for Hunting"	May 12, 1961	Jack Turley, Milton Gelman	New Mexico
A driven, unprincipled Oklahoman (Gene Evans) frames Tod and Buz for poaching and fights to seize control of a trucking company from his business partner who is also its majority owner (Harold J. Stone) in New Mexico. Guest star Joanna Moore.
27	27	"Trap at Cordova"	May 26, 1961	Stirling Silliphant, Joseph Vogel	Las Cruces, New Mexico
The patrón (Thomas Gomez) of a New Mexico village defies a state government order to bus its schoolchildren to a new facility in Las Cruces. Special appearance by then-State Senate Majority Leader Fabian Chavez.
28	28	"The Opponent"	June 2, 1961	Stirling Silliphant, Leonard Freeman	Youngstown, Ohio
Realizing that a professional boxer (Darren McGavin) he has idolized since boyhood is way past his prime, Buz, along with the pugilist's girlfriend (Lois Nettleton), encourages him to end his career positively.
29	29	"Welcome to Amity"	June 9, 1961	Will Lorin	Amity, Ohio (actual filming location: Kinsman, Ohio)
A native (Susan Oliver) returning to her small Ohio town gets Tod and Buz to help relocate her mother's remains from a potter's field to the adjacent cemetery, but meets resistance from townspeople due to the decedent's pariah status.
30	30	"Incident on a Bridge"	June 16, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Cleveland, Ohio
Two sand & gravel workers, one jealous (Allan Melvin) and the other compassionate (Nehemiah Persoff), violently contend for the affections of their boss' oppressed mute daughter (Lois Smith) in Cleveland's Russian community.

Second season (1961-1962)

Ep.	Season	Title	Airdate	Writer	Location
31	1	"A Month of Sundays"	September 22, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Butte, Montana
A terminally ill Broadway star (Anne Francis), secretly abandoning her career to return to her Montana hometown, copes with her oncoming death as she is courted by Buz who is unaware of her condition.
32	2	"Blue Murder"	September 29, 1961	Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant Based on a story by: Wilbur Daniel Steele	Jefferson County, Montana
A farrier (Claude Akins) exploits the violent reputation of an untamed stallion to murder his two affluent brothers in order to gain the affections of the wife (Suzanne Pleshette) of his rancher sibling (Gene Evans).
33	3	"Goodnight Sweet Blues"	October 6, 1961	Teleplay: Will Lorin Story: Leonard Freeman and Will Lorin	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A dying singer (Ethel Waters) reunites with a jazz band (Roy Eldridge, Bill Gunn, Coleman Hawkins, Juano Hernández, Jo Jones and Frederick O'Neal) with which she last performed thirty years earlier.
34	4	"Bird Cage on My Foot"	October 13, 1961	Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant Story: Stirling Silliphant and Elliot Silverstein	Boston, Massachusetts
Motivated by a traumatic experience during his adolescence, Buz overcomes his initial refusal to help a heroin addict (Robert Duvall) go cold turkey after the latter's attempted theft of Tod's Corvette.
35	5	"First-Class Mouliak"	October 20, 1961	John Vlahos	Cleveland, Ohio
The son (Robert Redford) of Tod and Buz's supervisor (Nehemiah Persoff) is involved in the accidental death of the daughter of the latter's colleague and best friend (Martin Balsam).
36	6	"Once to Every Man"	October 27, 1961	Frank L. Moss	Gloucester, Massachusetts
Tod is engaged to a jet-set shipyard heiress (Janice Rule), but is unaware of her intentions to close the business. Special appearance by the Mako Shark concept car.
37	7	"The Mud Nest"	November 10, 1961	Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant Story: Leonard Freeman	Baltimore, Maryland (opening scenes set in Hester, Maryland)
An encounter with a rural Maryland family (Lon Chaney, Jr. and Maharis siblings Cleopatra, Harold and Paul) bearing a striking resemblance to him leads Buz to Baltimore where, with the help of a police detective (Edward Asner), he searches for the woman who might be his mother (Betty Field).
38	8	"A Bridge Across Five Days"	November 17, 1961	Howard Rodman	Baltimore, Maryland
A newly hired secretary (Nina Foch) at a Baltimore shipyard struggles with both her bipolar disorder and readjusting to normal life after spending eighteen years at Spring Grove State Hospital.
39	9	"Mon Petit Chou"	November 24, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Tod falls for a chanteuse (Macha Méril), but also confronts her domineering mentor (Lee Marvin) still embittered by his ex-wife's infidelity. Directed by Sam Peckinpah.
40	10	"Some of the People, Some of the Time"	December 1, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Tod and Buz are employed by a hustler (Keenan Wynn), who is operating a traveling beauty contest promising movie roles to its winners. Directed by Robert Altman.
41	11	"The Thin White Line"	December 8, 1961	Teleplay: Leonard Freeman Story: Jordan Brotman and Bill Stine	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Buz and the police search for a temporarily psychotic Tod, who is on the loose in Philadelphia after inadvertently drinking a beer spiked with an experimental hallucinogen intended for someone else at a party.
42	12	"...And the Cat Jumped Over the Moon"	December 15, 1961	Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant Story: Frank L. Moss	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Buz convinces a defector (James Caan) from a gang to avenge the death of a mentor friend (Milt Kamen) to both by challenging its leader (Martin Sheen) to a game of rooftop chicken.
43	13	"Burning for Burning"	December 29, 1961	Stirling Silliphant	Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania
Visiting her in-laws' poultry farm, a widow (Inger Stevens) with an infant son is blamed for her husband's death by his domineering mother (Beulah Bondi) and older brother (Pat Hingle).
44	14	"To Walk with the Serpent"	January 5, 1962	Will Lorin	Boston, Massachusetts
Tod and Buz assist in stopping a hate group leader (Dan O'Herlihy) after being recruited by FBI agents (Simon Oakland and Joseph Campanella) and the target's father (Judson Laire).
45	15	"A Long Piece of Mischief"	January 19, 1962	Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant Story: Richard Shapiro and Esther Mayesh	Mesquite, Texas
A rodeo clown (Albert Salmi) nurses a love for a trick rider (Audrey Totter) while fending off torment from a pair of competing cowboys (Ben Johnson and Slim Pickens) at the Mesquite Rodeo.
46	16	"1800 Days to Justice"	January 26, 1962	Jo Pagano	Harcourt Juncture, Texas (actual filming location: Crandall, Texas)
An ex-convict (John Ericson) seizes his small North Texas hometown to hold a kangaroo court to vindicate himself against the man (DeForest Kelley) who framed him for a bank robbery five years earlier.
47	17	"City of Wheels"	February 2, 1962	Frank Chase	Long Beach, California
While working at a Veterans Administration Hospital with Tod, Buz strives to romantically unite an embittered, self-pitying paraplegic (Steven Hill) and the nurse (Bethel Leslie) who loves him.
48	18	"How Much a Pound Is Albatross?"	February 9, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Tucson, Arizona
The free-spirit approach to life of Vicki Russell (Julie Newmar), a motorcycle-riding heiress who lost her entire family in an aviation accident, mirrors that of Tod and Buz . First of two appearances by Newmar in the same role.
49	19	"Aren't You Surprised to See Me?"	February 16, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Dallas, Texas
A religious fanatic/serial killer (David Wayne) kidnaps Buz at the Trade Mart and threatens to murder him unless everyone in Dallas obeys all Ten Commandments for 24 hours.
50	20	"You Never Had It So Good"	February 23, 1962	Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant and Frank L. Moss Story: Frank L. Moss	Phoenix, Arizona
An executive assistant (Patricia Barry) plotting for a vice presidency at a real estate development firm employs Buz, who is unaware of her relationship with the company's president (Peter Graves).
51	21	"Shoulder the Sky, My Lad"	March 2, 1962	Mort Thaw	Phoenix, Arizona
Nearing his Bar Mitzvah, a Jewish boy (Michael McGreevey) has a crisis of faith after his father (Edward Asner) is murdered in a mugging.
52	22	"Blues for the Left Foot"	March 9, 1962	Leonard Freeman	Los Angeles, California
Widowed after the death of her abusive, alcoholic husband, a dancer (Elizabeth Seal) who was Tod's first crush attempts a comeback by auditioning for a variety show's dance troupe at CBS Television City.
53	23	"Go Read the River"	March 16, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Lake Havasu City, Arizona
Tod works with a Lake Havasu-based speedboat engine designer (John Larch) whose exceptional commitment to his work, which had cost him his marriage, obstructs a reconciliation with his estranged daughter (Lois Smith).
54	24	"Even Stones Have Eyes"	March 30, 1962	Barry Trivers	Kerrville, Texas
Fearing that his total blindness from a construction accident is permanent, Buz learns to adjust to the disability at the Texas Lions Camp in Kerrville, where his instructor (Barbara Barrie) falls in love with him.
55	25	"Love is a Skinny Kid"	April 6, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Kilkenny, Texas (actual filming location: Lewisville, Texas)
Returning to her North Texas hometown wearing a mask, a woman (Tuesday Weld) seeks vengeance against the mother (Cloris Leachman) who had committed her to a psychiatric hospital and falsified her death.
56	26	"Kiss the Maiden All Forlorn"	April 13, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Dallas, Texas
An international fugitive embezzler (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) risks recapture by slipping into Dallas to dissuade his daughter (Zina Bethune) from becoming a nun.
57	27	"Two on the House"	April 20, 1962	Gil Ralston	Cleveland, Ohio
A 12-year-old boy (Brad Herrman) fakes his own kidnapping after feeling neglected by his construction tycoon father (Ralph Meeker) who is preoccupied with a project in Morocco.
58	28	"There I Am - There I Always Am"	May 4, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Santa Catalina Island, California
While Tod is on a three-hour errand, Buz struggles to rescue from a rising tide a jet setter (Joanna Moore) whose left foot is stuck in the rocks at a beach that is deserted for the winter.
59	29	"Between Hello and Goodbye"	May 11, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Santa Monica, California
Tod and a psychiatrist (Herschel Bernardi) race through Pacific Ocean Park to prevent a woman (Susan Oliver) with a split personality from committing suicide. First of four consecutive episodes without Maharis; Buz is referenced as being in a hospital in Pacoima, California with an unspecified ailment.
60	30	"A Feat of Strength"	May 18, 1962	Teleplay: Howard Rodman and Joseph Petracca Story: Everett De Baun	Pacoima, California
A Hungarian professional wrestler/political prisoner (Jack Warden) gains his freedom after his wife (Signe Hasso) makes a deal for his release, but the resulting debt relegates him to a role as a jobber. Tod visits the Pacoima hospital where Buz is staying, but neither he nor we get to actually see him.
61	31	"Hell is Empty, All the Devils Are Here"	May 25, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Thousand Oaks, California
Tod's employer at Jungleland USA is an animal trainer (Peter Graves) plotting revenge against the man (Michael Pate) he believes was responsible for his first wife's death.
62	32	"From an Enchantress Fleeing"	June 1, 1962	Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant Story: Abram S. Ginnes	Malibu, California (later scenes set in an unnamed village in Mexico)
Tod empathizes with a henpecked, eccentric inventor (Arthur O'Connell) retreating from his marriage despite working for the latter's wife (June Vincent) who's an assertive, self-sufficient dentist in Southern California.

Third season (1962-1963)

Ep. #	Title	Airdate	Writer	Location
63	"One Tiger to a Hill"	September 21, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Astoria, Oregon
Tod's relationship with the daughter (Laura Devon) of his employer (Signe Hasso) draws the wrath of a fisherman (David Janssen) still haunted by a fatal decision he made during World War II.
64	"Journey to Ninevah"	September 28, 1962	William R. Cox	Gladstone Landing, Missouri (actual filming location: Calabasas, California)
While traveling through the Missouri Ozarks, Tod and Buz befriend a local jinx named Jonah (Buster Keaton) who unwittingly has an engagement ring that can get his brother (Joe E. Brown) released from jail.
65	"Man Out of Time"	October 5, 1962	Larry Marcus	Chicago, Illinois
Taxicab drivers Tod and Buz encounter a Prohibition-era gangster (Luther Adler) returning to Chicago after serving 32 years in prison who believes someone from his past wants to kill him.
66	"Ever Ride the Waves in Oklahoma?"	October 12, 1962	Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant Story: Borden Chase and Frank Chase	Huntington Beach, California
Offended by the callous reaction of the local champion (Jeremy Slate) to the death of a fellow surfer (Bruce Watson), Buz challenges him to shoot the pier.
67	"Voice at the End of the Line"	October 19, 1962	Larry Marcus	Chicago, Illinois
An unwitting accomplice to a practical joke that humiliates a Chicago shipping clerk (Sorrell Booke), Buz, along with a reluctant Tod, makes amends by helping to advance the victim's telephone romance with a woman he has never seen.
68	"Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing"	October 26, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Chicago, Illinois
Uncertain about whether their classic brand of horror is still effective for a new generation, Lon Chaney, Jr., Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre execute Tod's suggestion of testing it at a secretaries convention at the O'Hare Inn.
69	"Across Walnuts and Wine"	November 2, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Oregon City, Oregon
Tod and Buz board at a house occupied by a psychic reader (Betty Field), her unemployed husband (James Dunn), her recently fired sister (Nina Foch) and her nephew (Robert Walker, Jr.) who threatens to evict them all.
70	"Welcome to the Wedding"	November 9, 1962	Howard Rodman	Cleveland, Ohio
While awaiting the delayed arrival of the maid of honor in Cleveland Union Terminal, Tod is taken hostage by a cold-blooded killer (Rod Steiger) who murdered his custody officer (Edward Asner) to escape a prison transfer.
71	"Every Father's Daughter"	November 16, 1962	Anthony Lawrence	Cleveland, Ohio
An attempt by a road-construction boss (Jack Kruschen) to pay employee Buz to begin a relationship with his terminally ill daughter (Madlyn Rhue) is met with strong disapproval from his son (Robert Drivas).
72	"Poor Little Kangaroo Rat"	November 23, 1962	Les Pine	Palos Verdes, California
Tod and Buz work at Marineland of the Pacific with a shark-hunting scientist (Leslie Nielsen) whose obsession with his cholesterol research estranges him from his wife (Joanne Linville) and son (Ron Howard).
73	"Hey, Moth, Come Eat the Flame"	November 30, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	St. Louis, Missouri
Tod and Buz try to help a young boy (Mickey Sholdar) cope with the alcoholism of his piano-playing widower father (Harry Guardino) who was also being tempted into participating in a payroll heist. Debut of the Corvette Stingray.
74	"Only by Cunning Glimpses"	December 7, 1962	Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant Story: Stirling Silliphant, Preston Wood	Cleveland, Ohio
At odds with her father (Theodore Bikel) over her occupation, a mentalist (Lois Smith) makes a haunting prediction of Tod's involvement in Buz's death in a fire.
75	"Where is Chick Lorimer, Where Has She Gone?"	December 14, 1962	Teleplay: Larry Marcus Story: Bert Lambert	St. Charles, Missouri (opening scene set in Oklahoma)
After unwittingly helping a striptease performer (Vera Miles) escape from her bail bondsman (Robert Emhardt), Tod tracks her down in her hometown where her acquaintances are oblivious to her occupation. First of four consecutive episodes without Maharis; Buz is said to be in a hospital in Cleveland, suffering from an "echo-virus".
76	"Give the Old Cat a Tender Mouse"	December 21, 1962	Stirling Silliphant	Memphis, Tennessee
Tod accumulates driving violations while pursuing Vicki Russell (Julie Newmar), who is busy courting a cotton baron (Robert Webber). Second of two appearances by Newmar in the same role.
77	"A Bunch of Lonely Pagliaccis"	January 4, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Hernando, Mississippi
Tod works as an assistant to a famous novelist (Barry Sullivan) whose daughter (Laura Devon) is on trial for shooting her husband. But what at first appears to be the simple, brutal act of a jealous wife gaining revenge on her cheating spouse, slowly reveals itself to be something much more complex.
78	"You Can't Pick Cotton in Tahiti"	January 11, 1963	Shimon Wincelberg	Lake Chisholm, Tennessee (actual filming location: Arlington, Tennessee)
Upon arrival in a Tennessee town, a Hollywood songwriter/runaway groom (Richard Basehart) steals the heart of the girlfriend (Jena Engstrom) of Tod's cotton gin plant colleague (William Bramlette), but gets "cold feet" again.
79	"A Gift for a Warrior"	January 18, 1963	Television Story and Teleplay: Larry Marcus Based on a story by: Harlan Ellison	Chula Vista, California
Thinking that his mother was abandoned by his American father (James Whitmore) after World War II, a young German matrose (Lars Passgård) jumps ship with the intention of killing him, but not knowing what actually happened. Final series appearances (in original airdate order) for Maharis and the C1 Corvette.
80	"Suppose I Said I Was the Queen of Spain"	February 8, 1963	Teleplay: Stirling Silliphant Story: Jerome B. Thomas	Los Angeles, California
Tod falls for a mysterious woman (Lois Nettleton) who steals his credit card and changes her identity. Robert Duvall and Harvey Korman also featured.
81	"Somehow It Gets to Be Tomorrow"	February 15, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Corpus Christi, Texas
A self-reliant 13-year-old (Roger Mobley), along with his younger sister (Leslye Hunter), attempt to escape from their foster parents and latch on with Tod while evading a social worker (Martin Balsam).
82	"...Shall Forfeit His Dog and Ten Shillings to the King"	February 22, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Apache Junction, Arizona
After witnessing the robbery/murder of an elderly millionaire near Superstition Mountain, Tod joins a posse to track down the killer, along with the deceased's trophy wife (Kathleen Crowley), a greyhound trainer (Steve Cochran) who is a friend of the family, and a retired U.S. Cavalry general (John Anderson).
83	"In the Closing of a Trunk"	March 8, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Lobos Island, Texas (actual filming location: Port Aransas, Texas)
A Texas Gulf Coast fisherman (Ed Begley) and his grandson (Don Dubbins) use Tod as a pawn in psychological battle with a woman (Ruth Roman) who was recently released from prison after 27 years, having murdered her father.
84	"The Cage Around Maria"	March 15, 1963	Jesse Sandler	Houston, Texas
A mentally unstable young woman (Elizabeth Ashley) rescued from the Houston Zoo bear pit by Tod accuses her riding master stepfather (Mario Alcalde) of plotting to kill her wealthy mother (Beatrice Straight).
85	"Fifty Miles from Home"	March 22, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Houston, Texas (later scenes set in Landor, Texas)
Lincoln Case, an Army Ranger/Purple Heart recipient returning to Houston after serving in Vietnam, declines to accept a hero's welcome in his hometown to join Tod in searching for the meaning of his life. Glenn Corbett's debut as series regular.
86	"Narcissus on an Old Red Fire Engine"	March 29, 1963	Joel Carpenter	Galveston, Texas.
Linc becomes involved with a troubled, self-obsessed young debutante (Anne Helm). Alan Hale, Jr. also featured.
87	"The Cruelest Sea of All"	April 5, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Weeki Wachee, Florida and Crystal River, Florida
Tod is attracted to a young exceptional swimmer (Diane Baker), but refuses to believe that she just might be a real mermaid.
88	"Peace, Pity, Pardon"	April 12, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Tampa, Florida
With Linc's aid, a jai alai player (Alejandro Rey), attempts to execute the defection of the daughter of his Cuban army colonel brother (Michael Tolan) over the objections of his other brother (Victor Gabriel Junquera) and Tod.
89	"What a Shining Young Man Was Our Gallant Lieutenant"	April 26, 1963	Howard Rodman	Tampa, Florida
After the guys are shortchanged on the docks in Tampa, Linc pays a visit to his former commanding officer (Dick York) only to find that head wounds suffered in combat have regressed him back into an 8-year-old boy.
90	"But What Do You Do In March?"	May 3, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	St. Petersburg, Florida
The rivalry between two spoiled Chicago heiresses (Susan Kohner and Janice Rule) is manifest when Tod and Linc are opposing racers in a speedboat challenge arranged by Guy Lombardo. Carmen Lombardo also featured.
91	"Who Will Cheer My Bonnie Bride?"	May 10, 1963	Shimon Wincelberg	Cape Coral, Florida
During a motel robbery/shooting, a shanghaied Linc becomes the getaway driver for two holdup men (Rip Torn and Albert Salmi), one of whom intends to crash his ex-girlfriend's wedding. Gene Hackman also featured.
92	"Shadows of an Afternoon"	May 17, 1963	Teleplay: Leonard Freeman and Alvin Sargent Story: Leonard Freeman and Eric Scott	Charlotte County, Florida
Linc is jailed and held without bail after a prominent townswoman (Miriam Hopkins) alleges to have seen him slashing a dachshund with pruning shears. Ralph Meeker, Michael Conrad and Richard Mulligan also featured.
93	"Soda Pop and Paper Flags"	May 31, 1963	John McGreevey	Mapleton, Missouri and Martinsdale (state not mentioned) (actual filming locations: St. Louis, Missouri and St. Petersburg, Florida)
A hobo (Chester Morris), accused of being a carrier of a rare type of sleeping sickness, is protected by Tod and his rubber processing company boss (Frank Overton) from confrontational citizens in a small Missouri town. In a different town, novice salesman Linc meets his first potential customer (Tom Bosley). Joseph Campanella and Alan Alda also featured. All of Corbett's scenes filmed in Florida.

Fourth season (1963-1964)

Ep. #	Title	Airdate	Writer	Location
94	"Two Strangers and an Old Enemy"	September 27, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Cape Coral, Florida
While Tod and Linc attempt to rescue a suicidal World War II flying ace (Jack Warden) who had plunged his plane into the Everglades, a Japanese adversary (Sessue Hayakawa) from a classic dogfight tries to revive the hero's will to live. Anthony Zerbe also featured.
95	"Same Picture, Different Frame"	October 4, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Poland Spring, Maine
Camp counselor Linc protects an equestrienne (Joan Crawford) from being stalked by her painter husband/psychiatric hospital escapee (Patrick O'Neal); social director Tod dodges the teen daughter (Jacqueline Courtney) of a doctor (Tom Bosley).
96	"Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!"	October 11, 1963	Teleplay: Anthony Basta, Stirling Silliphant Story: Richard Jessup	an unnamed town in Maine (actual filming locations: Poland, Maine and Lewiston, Maine)
The daughter (Diane Baker) of a French Canadian boarding house proprietor (Lon Chaney, Jr.) has relationships with Linc and a sailor (Alex Viespi), but both are brief due to her not having any idea of what she wants out of life.
97	"Where Are the Sounds of Celli Brahms?"	October 18, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Hotel public relations assistant Tod struggles to keep up with a dedicated acoustical engineer (Tammy Grimes) striving to become a vice president; Aquatennial beauty pageant judge Linc agonizes over voting for a longshot contestant (Kelly Peters). Harry Bellaver, Horace McMahon and University of Minnesota Memorial Stadium also featured.
98	"Build Your Houses With Their Backs to the Sea"	October 25, 1963	Frank R. Pierson	South Portland, Maine (also filmed in Cape Elizabeth, Maine)
After a year away from his family which still didn't accept his wife (Louise Sorel) as a member, a stubborn son (William Shatner) returns to confront his equally obstinate lobster fisherman father (Pat Hingle) over the drowning death of his aquaphobic brother. Audra Lindley also featured.
99	"And Make Thunder His Tribute"	November 1, 1963	Lewis John Carlino	Minnesota
Tod and Linc work for an eccentric but feisty Italian-American raspberry grower (J. Carrol Naish) who is at odds with his son (Lou Antonio) over both his farmland and outmoded methods.
100	"The Stone Guest"	November 8, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Colorado
A mine collapse that trapped Linc's troublemaking Army colleague (Lee Philips) underground with an out-of-town spinster (Jo Van Fleet) parallels the local performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Marion Ross and Harold Gould also featured.
101	"I Wouldn't Start From Here"	November 15, 1963	Ernest Kinoy	Vermont
Forced by bankruptcy to auction off all of his property, an elderly farmer (Parker Fennelly) retains his two horses for a pulling competition in a last-ditch attempt to keep his farm.
102	"A Cage in Search of a Bird"	November 29, 1963 §	Stirling Silliphant	Denver, Colorado
A moll (Stefanie Powers), hounded by her con artist ex-boyfriend (Alex Viespi) for stealing from his poker pot, receives an offer from her uncle {Dan Duryea} to collect a monetary reward by turning him in to the police for his role in a long-forgotten bank heist.
103	"I'm Here to Kill a King"	unaired in original network run §	Stirling Silliphant	Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Coincidence brings Tod together with a political assassin (also played by Martin Milner) who is his identical double.
104	"A Long Way From St. Louie"	December 6, 1963	Stirling Silliphant	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Enthusiastic Linc, grumpy Tod and a skirt-chasing helicopter pilot (Hedley Mattingly) help a St. Louis-based progressive jazz quintet (Lynda Day, Patricia Harty, Susan Ringwood, Jessica Walter and Virginia Wing) in dire need of a gig after their agent absconded with all of their money. Al Lewis and Exhibition Stadium also featured.
105	"Come Home Greta Inger Gruenschaffen"	December 13, 1963	Joel Carpenter	Mount Snow, Vermont
In love with fellow Buffalo, New York Turner/chapter president (Chad Everett) but objecting to being sent away on a two-year solo mission, Greta (Tammy Grimes) escapes to Snow Lake Lodge where motel receptionist Tod and maintenance man Linc vie for her affections. Buffalo Central Terminal also featured.
106	"93 Per Cent in Smiling"	December 20, 1963	Alvin Sargent	Niagara Falls, New York
Tired of their parents' bickering, two young children kidnap their baby brother and set up their own "family."
107	"Child of a Night"	January 3, 1964	Stirling Silliphant	Savannah, Georgia
Tod and Linc try to fulfill a dying man's wish to find the child he never knew and give her his life's savings.
108	"Is it True There Are Poxies at the Bottom of Landfair Lake?"	January 10, 1964	Alvin Sargent	Georgia
A young man (Geoffrey Horne) seeks to publicly humiliate a woman who was the instrument of a cruel practical joke perpetrated on him in the Army.
109	"Like This It Means Father...Like This - Bitter...Like This - Tiger..."	January 17, 1964	Stirling Silliphant	Savannah, Georgia
Linc runs into a former member (Larry Blyden) of his Vietnam outfit - the man who got his men killed in combat.
110	"Kiss the Monster - Make Him Sleep"	January 24, 1964	Stanley R. Greenberg	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Linc has a full plate as he carries on a relationship with a troubled young woman while reconciling with his mother and estranged father. Guest starring James Coburn
111	"Cries of Persons Close to One"	January 31, 1964	William Kelley and Howard Rodman	Daytona Beach, Florida
Linc must take the place of an alcoholic boxer (Michael Parks) who is unable to participate in a fight.
112	"Who in His Right Mind Needs a Nice Girl"	February 7, 1964	Joel Carpenter	Daytona Beach, Florida
A shy and naive young librarian (Lois Smith) becomes infatuated with a dashing stranger (Lee Philips), unaware he is a murderer being sought by the Daytona police.
113	"This is Going to Hurt Me More Than It Hurts You"	February 14, 1964	Stirling Silliphant
A former classmate of Tod's (Soupy Sales), who is now a millionaire, wants Tod and his "manservant" Linc to take his place.
114	"Follow the White Dove With the Broken Wing"	February 21, 1964	Alvin Sargent
After accidentally killing a policeman, a troubled teenager takes Tod and Linc hostage.
115	"Where There's a Will, There's a Way" (Part One)	March 6, 1964	Stirling Silliphant	Tampa, Florida
The bizarre terms of a tycoon's will mandate that Tod marry his daughter (Barbara Eden).
116	"Where There's a Will, There's a Way" (Part Two)	March 13, 1964	Stirling Silliphant	Tampa, Florida
After surviving an attempt on his life by inheritance-seekers, Tod plans a Monte Cristo-esque revenge.

§: "A Cage in Search of a Bird" and "I'm Here to Kill a King" were originally scheduled to air on November 22 and 29, 1963 respectively. CBS' coverage of the assassination of John F. Kennedy necessitated the programming changes. "A Cage In Search Of A Bird" was simply moved back one week, but as "I'm Here To Kill A King" dealt with the topic of political assassination, it was unsuitable for broadcast in the immediate wake of Kennedy's death. Some sources indicate that "I'm Here To Kill A King" aired on CBS on March 20, 1964, one week after the series finale. However, contemporary television listings in The New York Times and other U.S. newspapers list the episode of March 20 as a re-run of season three's "Hey, Moth, Come Eat the Flame". "I'm Here To Kill A King" was made available in syndication when Route 66 was syndicated starting in the 1964/65 season.

DVD releases

Roxbury Entertainment released the first three seasons of Route 66 on DVD in Region 1 between 2008-2010. As of November 2011, these releases are now out of print as Roxbury Entertainment no longer possesses the rights to the series.

On November 7, 2011, Shout! Factory announced that it had acquired the exclusive rights to the series, including the home entertainment rights. It planned on releasing the series through multiple platforms, including DVD releases. It subsequently announced that it would release Route 66--The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on May 22, 2012. The 24-disc collectors box set would feature all 116 episodes of the series as well as special bonus features.

Title	Ep #	Release Date
Complete First Season	30	August 5, 2008
Complete Second Season	32	October 21, 2008
Season Three, Volume One	16	July 21, 2009
Season Three, Volume Two	15	October 20, 2009
Complete Third Season	31	January 12, 2010
Complete Fourth Season	23	April 2, 2013
The Complete Series	116	May 22, 2012

Cultural impact

• The series was lampooned in the April 1962 issue of Mad magazine. The parody, entitled "Route 67," followed the publication's established practice of irreverently satirizing current popular programs and motion pictures in comic strip format. The send-up features an appearance by the character Mary Worth, who chides the boys for trying to usurp her role as the nation's chief do-gooder.

• According to biographer Dennis McNally (Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, The Beat Generation, and America), Jack Kerouac tried to sue the show's producer Stirling Silliphant, claiming that it plagiarized his novel On the Road, which also featured two buddies traveling America's byways in search of adventure. McNally said Kerouac was "appalled by the show's violence," but the lawyers he contacted convinced him that he could never win a lawsuit. (page 272, Desolate Angel, McNally)

• Route 66 was featured on the cover of TV Guide four times.

• In a 1963 episode of the popular situation comedy Leave It to Beaver, the character Eddie Haskell obtains a summer job on an Alaskan fishing boat and likens himself to "the guys on Route 66." Beaver was at the time airing on the rival ABC network.

• In a 1977 episode of SCTV a space age satire of the show called Galaxy 66 stars Joe Flaherty and Dave Thomas as Micron and Antar, two guys who prowl the galaxies looking for adventure, and find it when a mutant thug (John Candy) accosts a human girl (Catherine O'Hara), whom they rescue. Later on in the show, they are seen at the end of another skit tying pyramids to their heads to keep from being hit by meteoroids.

• In the Alien Nation episode "Gimmee, Gimmee," Albert gives Matt a vintage Corvette, whereupon the series theme by Nelson Riddle is heard.

• Actor Martin Milner toured the real Route 66 for the 2002 video production Route 66: Return to the Road with Martin Milner.

Sequel

In 1993, Route 66 was resurrected, albeit briefly. The "sequel" series followed the adventures of two friends, Nick Lewis (played by James Wilder) and Arthur Clark (Dan Cortese), one of whom (Lewis) had inherited a classic Corvette from his father, Buz Murdock. The new series lasted just four episodes on NBC before being canceled.

Further reading

• Rosin, James. Route 66: The Television Series 1960-1964. The Autumn Road Company, Philadelphia. ISBN 0-9728684-2-9, ISBN 978-0-9728684-2-6

Notes

• Actor interviews, aired on Nick at Nite, 1986
• Steinberg, Cobbit S. TV Facts. New York: Facts on File, 1980. ISBN 0-87196-312-4

External links

• Route 66 (1960) at IMDb
• Route 66 (1960) episode list on epguides.com
• www.ohio66.com - Route 66 filming locations