''Co-Ed Fever'' is an American sitcom that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

in 1979. The series attempted to capitalize on the success of the motion picture ''

National Lampoon's Animal House ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hulc ...

''. It was the third of three "frat house" comedy series to air in early 1979 (the others were

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

Delta House ''Delta House'' is an American sitcom that was adapted from the 1978 film ''National Lampoon's Animal House.'' The series aired from January 18 to April 21, 1979 on ABC. Casting Cast members reprising their roles from ''Animal House'' included ...

'' and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's '' Brothers and Sisters''). After CBS aired the first episode of ''Co-Ed Fever'' as a "special preview" on February 4, 1979, the airing's low ratings and viewer complaints caused the network to cancel it before it ever aired in its planned Monday-night time slot. ''Co-Ed Fever'' ranked number 32 on ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

''s 50 Worst Shows of All Time list.

Synopsis

The series is set in Brewster House, a

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

on the campus of Baxter College, a formerly all-female college that has just started to admit male students.(12 January 1979).
College fun big success in Hollywood
. ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

''.

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

. ''Co-Ed Fever'' stars

Heather Thomas Heather Anne Thomas (born September 8, 1957) is an American actress, author, and political activist, who co-starred as Jody Banks on the TV series ''The Fall Guy.'' Early life Thomas was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Gladdy Lou Ryder, a s ...

(as Sandi),

Alexa Kenin Alexa Jordan Kenin (February 16, 1962 – September 10, 1985) was an American actress known for her supporting roles in several films released during the 1980s, including ''Little Darlings'' (1980), '' Honkytonk Man'' (1982), and ''Pretty in ...

(Maria ''a.k.a.'' "Mousie"), Cathryn O'Neil (Elizabeth), Tacey Phillips (Hope), and Jillian Kesner (Melba) as residents of Brewster House, who are joined by

David Keith David Keith may refer to: * David Keith (novelist) (1906–1994), pen name of American scholar Francis Steegmuller *David Keith (actor) (born 1954), American film and TV performer and director *David Keith (physicist), Canadian-born Harvard Profess ...

(Tucker Davis), Christopher S. Nelson (Doug), and Michael Pasternak (Gobo).

Jane Rose Jane Prim Rose (February 7, 1913 – June 29, 1979) was an American character actress, perhaps best remembered as Audrey Dexter, the gently befuddled mother-in-law of Phyllis Lindstrom on the CBS sitcom ''Phyllis'' (1975–1977). Early life Jane ...

plays the "spaced-out" housemother Mrs. Selby and

Hamilton Camp Hamilton Camp (Born Robin S. Camp, 30 October 1934 – 2 October 2005) was a London-born actor and singer, who relocated to the United States with his family when he was a young child. He became an American folk singer during he 1960s, and ev ...

plays the role of Mr. Peabody. The episode "Pepperoni Passion" was aired as a "special preview" at 10:30 p.m. EST on February 4, 1979, immediately after the airing of the movie ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...

''. However, ''Co-Ed Fever'' was canceled in the period between the airing and the scheduled premiere date of February 19, the result of low ratings, viewer complaints and censorship issues because of content (a problem that also affected its rival shows). CBS scheduled another new sitcom, '' Billy'', in its time slot. Six episodes were completed, but only "Pepperoni Passion" was broadcast in the United States; however, all six were aired in Canada (on BCTV in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

) in a late-afternoon weekend time slot. The Brewster House set was later reused as the girls' dormitory during the first season of '' The Facts of Life'', which premiered during the summer of 1979.

Episodes

References

External links

*
Sitcoms online listing for ''Co-Ed Fever''
including pictures and cast list
YouTube video showing series promo and first few minutes of pilot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Co-Ed Fever 1979 American television series debuts 1979 American television series endings 1970s American sitcoms CBS original programming 1970s American college television series English-language television shows Television series canceled after one episode Television series by Filmways Television series by MGM Television