Going My Way (TV series) - Wikipedia
- ️Wed Oct 03 1962
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| Going My Way | |
|---|---|
 Fred Clark and Gene Kelly in the episode "A Matter of Principle" (1962) | |
| Genre | Comedy drama |
| Written by | Richard Baer Mark Weingart Joe Connelly Emmet Lavery |
| Directed by | Joseph Pevney Robert Florey Alan Crosland, Jr. Paul Stewart |
| Starring | Gene Kelly Dick York Leo G. Carroll Nydia Westman |
| Theme music composer | Jack Marshall Cyril Mockridge |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Joe Connelly |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | Kerry Productions Revue Studios The My Way Company |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | October 3, 1962 – April 24, 1963 |
| Related | |
Going My Way is an American comedy-drama series starring dancer and actor Gene Kelly. Based on the 1944 film of the same name starring Bing Crosby, the series aired on ABC with new episodes from October 3, 1962, to September 11, 1963.[1][2] The program was Kelly's first and only attempt at a weekly television series.[3] The series was cancelled after one season of 30 episodes.[citation needed] The program was also broadcast in England, where the trade publication Sponsor reported that it was "a smash in the London market", rated in the top 10 programs there in 1963.[4]
Kelly stars as Father Chuck O'Malley, a Roman Catholic priest who is sent to St. Dominic's Parish located in a lower-class section of New York City. Dick York portrays Chuck's boyhood friend Tom Colwell, the director of a secular neighborhood youth center. Also co-starring is Leo G. Carroll as the aging pastor, Father Fitzgibbon. Nydia Westman is Mrs. Featherstone, the housekeeper of the rectory.[2] Episodes focus on Father O'Malley's attempts to connect with the congregation and his relationship with the elderly Father Fitzgibbon.
Going My Way was broadcast on Wednesdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time.[2] Its competition included The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Virginian, and Kraft Television Theatre. Joe Connelly was the producer. Directors included Joseph Pevney[6] and Fielder Cook. Writers included Arnold Bernstein[5] and Emmet Lavery was the writer.[6]
The series was produced by Revue Studios,[7] as parent company MCA owned the rights to the original film through its subsidiary, EMKA, Ltd., which in 1957 bought Going My Way and many other pre-1950 sound feature films from Paramount Pictures.[citation needed]
John H. Breck, Inc. sponsored the program, promoting its Breck Shampoos. The company had sponsored some specials in previous seasons, but this was its first sponsorship of a series. The $3.2 million that it spent for 50 weeks was double what the company had spent on TV advertising in any previous year, and it matched the most that the company had spent on both TV and print advertising in any previous year. The company hoped "to attract families, with large shares of women."[8]
A review in the trade publication Variety said that the show had potential based on its family-show appeal and the co-stars, but it acknowledged the strength of competition on other networks. Kelly and Carroll were said to be well-cast, but the plot was described as thin.[9]
On December 6, 2011, Timeless Media Group released Going My Way: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[10]
- ^ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 331. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
- ^ a b c Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1999). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (7th ed.). New York: The Ballentine Publishing Group. p. 393. ISBN 0-345-42923-0.
- ^ Levy, Claudia. "Song-and-Dance Man Gene Kelly Dies; Breezy, Athletic Style Graced Film Musicals of '40s and '50s", The Washington Post, February 3, 1996. Accessed November 2, 2008. "He won an Emmy in 1967 for his television production of Jack and the Beanstalk and appeared often on television, starring in one short-lived 1962 series, Going My Way, based on the Bing Crosby movie."
- ^ "Top drawer". Sponsor. March 18, 1963. p. 58. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ a b Deane, Pamala S. (October 1, 2014). James Edwards: African American Hollywood Icon. McFarland. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-7864-5816-5. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ a b Hyatt, Wesley (October 6, 2015). Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops. McFarland. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-4766-0515-9. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ "This Week - Network Debuts". Ross Reports. October 1, 1962. p. 94. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ "A Breck switch: tv surpasses print". Sponsor. October 22, 1962. pp. 34–37. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
- ^ "Going My Way". Variety. October 10, 1962. p. 32. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
- ^ "Going My Way - the Complete Series - 30 Episodes!". Amazon. 6 December 2011.
- Going My Way at IMDb