''My Friend Tony'' is an American crime drama that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in 1969. The pilot originally aired as "My Pal Tony" on ''

The Danny Thomas Hour ''The Danny Thomas Hour'' is an American anthology television series that was broadcast on NBC during the 1967–68 television season. Synopsis ''The Danny Thomas Hour'' comprised various formats, including dramas, comedies and musical-variety ...

'' on March 4, 1968.

Synopsis

The series features

Enzo Cerusico Enzo Cerusico (22 October 1937 – 26 November 1991) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1951 and 1984. Career in the United States Cerusico's first role on American television was in a 1966 episode of ''I ...

as the title character, Tony Novello, and

James Whitmore James Allen Whitmore Jr. (October 1, 1921 – February 6, 2009) was an American actor. He received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Theatre World Award, and a Tony Award, plus two Ac ...

as John Woodruff, a professor of criminology who served in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. As a child, Novello had been a

street urchin Street children are poor or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids or street child; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymak ...

who survived as a

pickpocket Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection. A th ...

, with Woodruff being one of his intended victims. The premise of the series was that the adult (and reformed) Novello had emigrated to the United States to join Woodruff in a private investigation team. Novello handled the legwork and physical side of the investigations while Woodruff conducted painstaking analysis of the most obscure clues. ''My Friend Tony'' debuted on January 5, 1969. NBC slotted the program in the 10 p.m. Eastern timeslot on Sundays, following '' Bonanza''. The network ended production of the series after 16 episodes but continued airing reruns of the show through that summer. The program aired for the last time on August 31, 1969.

Reception

Despite having the highly successful ''Bonanza'' as its lead-in,

Sheldon Leonard Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle-clas ...

— who developed ''My Friend Tony'' and was its executive producer — attributed the program's low ratings to its timeslot. "First, the 10-to-11 P.M. time spot didn't take full advantage of Enzo's youthful audience, as shown by his flood of fan mail, which exceeds anything in our experience," Leonard told ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

''. "Second, because of the one-hour length and the network's commitment to 27 new projects all demanding air time, there was no 8 or 9 o'clock spot into which to move it." Critics had savaged ''My Friend Tony'', calling the series "hackneyed and confusing" ... "the kind of minimal fare that has been ground out ''ad nauseam''" ... "mundane" and "bilge."Goodwin, ''op cit''

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:My Friend Tony 1969 American television series debuts 1969 American television series endings 1960s American crime drama television series English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series by CBS Studios