Wed, Mar 4, 1964
Channing was an interesting, well reviewed, but little known tv series from TV's "New Frontier " era. The much praised but now little -viewed shows of that era featured unusual heroes who grappled with the issues of the day. There were shows built around Psychiatrists ( The Eleventh Hour), Social workers, (EastSide/ West Side), drifters ( Route 66), High school English teachers( Mr. Novak), and state legislators. ( Slattery's People.) All of these shows attracted passionate, if in most cases, small followings. Almost none of them are rerun, almost none are available on DVD. One such show was Channing.
Channing was almost unique among serious TV dramas was that it was set in a liberal arts college. Having lived in that envirionment, ( for many years) I can testify that it is , in fact a much more interesting- and dramatic world than most outsiders think. Unfortunatey, it is also a pretty high-brow world, and the typical TV viewers is NOT highbrow. Channing tried to make gripping TV drama out of that world, and the average viewer wasn't buying.
This may have been unfortunate, since there were some pretty talented people involved with this show. Jack Laird and Bob Rafelson were the chief producers, and the show starred Jason Evers( who was then a promising newcomer) , and that wonderful character actor with the unforgettable voice, Henry Jones. Laird and some of the other people behind the show had worked with the great James Moser on Ben Casey, and like some other New Frontier Dramas, Channing followed the Ben Casey formula. Bold brash, Kennedy-like Young Turk sometimes blessed and and sometimes burdened with a Wise Old Mentor.( Think Ike.) In the case of Channing, the bold young new frontiersman was a bright young English professor and Korean War vet named Joseph Howe played by Evers, while the wise old mentor was Dean Henry Baker, played by Jones.
Every episode was built around the sort of small drama that often occurs on campus- a tenure fight, a perpetual grad student, and popular but alcoholic professor, a student athlete torn between his studies and the playing field. One episode was built around an angry Vietnam War veteran ( In 1963!) Almost every episode featured one or more remarkable guest stars. Freedom is a Lovesome Thing God Wot was one of the most interesting episodes. It was nominated for Writers Guild award and featured two of the greatest performers ever. Agnes Morehead played a mathematics professor, and James Earl Jones played a bitter, brilliant, Black intellectual. ( Imagine, a tv drama with two INTELLIGENT characters.) The plot was simple. These two very smart, but very different, people clashed over the future of a gifted young black student. Moorehead wanted to guide him toward an academic career, Jones had other ideas. I would love to find this on DVD somewhere, but this show seems to be harder to find than even Slattery's People or East Side/ West Side.
Channing was almost unique among serious TV dramas was that it was set in a liberal arts college. Having lived in that envirionment, ( for many years) I can testify that it is , in fact a much more interesting- and dramatic world than most outsiders think. Unfortunatey, it is also a pretty high-brow world, and the typical TV viewers is NOT highbrow. Channing tried to make gripping TV drama out of that world, and the average viewer wasn't buying.
This may have been unfortunate, since there were some pretty talented people involved with this show. Jack Laird and Bob Rafelson were the chief producers, and the show starred Jason Evers( who was then a promising newcomer) , and that wonderful character actor with the unforgettable voice, Henry Jones. Laird and some of the other people behind the show had worked with the great James Moser on Ben Casey, and like some other New Frontier Dramas, Channing followed the Ben Casey formula. Bold brash, Kennedy-like Young Turk sometimes blessed and and sometimes burdened with a Wise Old Mentor.( Think Ike.) In the case of Channing, the bold young new frontiersman was a bright young English professor and Korean War vet named Joseph Howe played by Evers, while the wise old mentor was Dean Henry Baker, played by Jones.
Every episode was built around the sort of small drama that often occurs on campus- a tenure fight, a perpetual grad student, and popular but alcoholic professor, a student athlete torn between his studies and the playing field. One episode was built around an angry Vietnam War veteran ( In 1963!) Almost every episode featured one or more remarkable guest stars. Freedom is a Lovesome Thing God Wot was one of the most interesting episodes. It was nominated for Writers Guild award and featured two of the greatest performers ever. Agnes Morehead played a mathematics professor, and James Earl Jones played a bitter, brilliant, Black intellectual. ( Imagine, a tv drama with two INTELLIGENT characters.) The plot was simple. These two very smart, but very different, people clashed over the future of a gifted young black student. Moorehead wanted to guide him toward an academic career, Jones had other ideas. I would love to find this on DVD somewhere, but this show seems to be harder to find than even Slattery's People or East Side/ West Side.