It's a Man's World (TV series)

It's a Man's World is an American comedy-drama television series which aired on NBC from September 17, 1962, to January 28, 1963.[1]

It's a Man's World
Series title card
Genre	Comedy-drama
Created by	Peter Tewksbury James Leighton
Starring	Glenn Corbett Michael Burns Ted Bessell Randy Boone
Composers	Earle Hagen Jack Marshall Herbert W. Spencer
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	19
Production
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	60 mins.
Production company	Heyday Productions
Distributor	Revue Studios NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	September 17, 1962 – January 28, 1963

Synopsis

The series centers on four young men who live in a houseboat called The Elephant, which is moored at an Ohio River town named Cordella in Ohio. Cordella is loosely based on the city of Marietta, Ohio, and some of the establishing shots in the series were shot there.

Randy Boone and Michael Burns.

The main characters are pre-law college student Wes Macauley, portrayed by Glenn Corbett and his younger brother Howie, recently orphaned by an automobile accident, played by Michael Burns, also a cast member on Wagon Train. Ted Bessell played Tom-Tom DeWitt, a college student who came from a wealthy Chicago family. Randy Boone played free spirit Vern Hodges, a talented guitarist from Boone's native North Carolina.[2]

In the story line, Wes is working his way through college at Stott's Service Station, owned by Houghton Stott, played by Harry Harvey, Sr. Jan Norris appears as Wes's fiancee, college student Irene Hoff. Other characters, Iona and Virgil Dobson, are portrayed by Kate Murtagh and Scott White, friends of Stott and the four houseboat males. Their daughter, Alma Jean (played by Jeanine Cashell), is interested in Vern. Nora Fitzgerald (played by Ann Schuyler) is interested in Tom-Tom. There is also a dog named Shadrack.[3]

Among the series guest stars were Med Flory, Hope Summers, Joan Tewkesbury, and Dawn Wells.

Cast

• Glenn Corbett as Wes Macauley
• Michael Burns as Howie Macauley
• Ted Bessell as Tom-Tom DeWitt
• Randy Boone as Vern Hodges

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Four to Go"	Peter Tewksbury	Jim Leighton & James Menzies	September 17, 1962
2	"Stir Crazy"	Peter Tewksbury	Peter Tewksbury & Jim Leighton	September 24, 1962
3	"Molly Pitcher and the Green-Eyed Monster"	Peter Tewksbury	Story by : James Menzies Teleplay by : David Duncan	October 1, 1962
4	"Winning His Way"	Peter Tewksbury	John McGreevey	October 8, 1962
5	"Drive Over to Exeter"	Peter Tewksbury	Story by : Jim Leighton Teleplay by : Earl Hamner Jr.	October 22, 1962
6	"The Beavers and the Otters"	Peter Tewksbury	Ben Masselink & Jim Leighton	October 29, 1962
7	"Howie's Adventure"	Peter Tewksbury	Peter Tewksbury & Jim Leighton	November 5, 1962
8	"The Bravest Man in Cordella"	Peter Tewksbury	Elliott Simms	November 12, 1962
9	"The Man on the Second Floor"	Peter Tewksbury	Story by : Jim Leighton Teleplay by : John McGreevey	November 19, 1962
10	"I Count My Life in Coffee Cups"	Peter Tewksbury	William Blinn & Michael Gleason	November 26, 1962
11	"Chicago Gains a Number"	Lamont Johnson	Elliott Simms	December 3, 1962
12	"The Macauley Profile"	Peter Tewksbury	Hal J. Todd	December 10, 1962
13	"The Long Short Cut"	Peter Tewksbury	Peter Tewksbury & Jim Leighton	December 17, 1962
14	"The Long Way Around"	Peter Tewksbury	Robert Bassing	December 24, 1962
15	"Night Beat of the Tom-Tom"	Lamont Johnson	David Duncan & Jim Leighton	December 31, 1962
16	"Hour of Truth"	Hal J. Todd	William Blinn & Michael Gleason	January 7, 1963
17	"The Unbalanced Line"	Hal J. Todd	Story by : James Bonnett Teleplay by : Jim Leighton & James Menzies	January 14, 1963
18	"Mutiny on the Elephant"	Peter Tewksbury	Elliott Simms	January 21, 1963
19	"Winter Story"	Hal J. Todd	Jim Leighton & James Menzies	January 28, 1963

Production notes

Peter Tewksbury and James Leighton were the creators of the series, originally titled The Young Men, a Revue Studios production. Earl Hamner, Jr. was part of the writing staff.[4]

Reception

It's a Man's World was "ahead of its time": it depicted the restlessness, idealism, and increasing iconoclasm that began to emerge among American youth during the early 1960s.[5] Broadcast at the family hour, It's a Man's World did not shy from the themes of premarital sex, feminism, and the gulf between adults and adolescents, which began to be known as the generation gap. The program coincided with the Cuban Missile Crisis, civil rights disputes, and the emergence of protest singer Bob Dylan. It attracted a minor cult following on college campuses, but it failed to attract mass audiences.[5]

It's a Man's World faced relatively weak competition at 7:30 Eastern on Mondays from the last season of Clint Walker's western Cheyenne on ABC and the two long-running CBS quiz programs, To Tell the Truth with Bud Collyer and I've Got a Secret with Garry Moore.[6]

NBC cancelled It's a Man's World midway through its only season, on the grounds of low Nielsen ratings. They ignored viewers who wrote letters of protests, the kind which resurfaced four years later in 1967, when CBS axed Gunsmoke but then reversed itself and gave the long-running western another eight years of production.[5]

Aftermath

After the show was cancelled as of mid-January 1963, Corbett found work almost immediately on the already-airing show Route 66. Route 66 was thematically similar to It's A Man's World, exploring many of the same issues of American life, particularly the issues of restlessness and idealism. Corbett began his co-starring role as Lincoln Case on Route 66 in March, 1963.

In 1977, ABC revisited the premise of It's a Man's World with The San Pedro Beach Bums, a 60-minute situation comedy about five young men living together on a houseboat in San Pedro, California. It also was unsuccessful, lasting only ten episodes.

References

1. Alex McNeil, Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, 4th ed., pp. 415–416
2. "TV.com, It's a Man's World". tv.com. Retrieved December 25, 2008.
3. "Television Obscurities - It's a Man's World". tvobscurities.com. Retrieved December 25, 2008.
4. James E. Person, Earl Hamnner. Google Books. 2005. ISBN 9781581824551. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
5. "Kerry Pechter, TELEVISION/RADIO; 'It's a Man's World': Ahead of Its Time, And Ahead of Ours, January 14, 200". The New York Times. January 14, 2001. Retrieved December 25, 2008.|
6. 1962–1963 American network television schedule; appendix of Total Television

External links

• It's a Man's World at IMDb
• It's a Man's World at Television Obscurities