''Straightaway'' is an American adventure-drama

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

starring Brian Kelly and John Ashley which centers around two partners in an automobile workshop who design race cars. Original episodes aired from October 6, 1961, until April 4, 1962.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, Fourth Edition'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, , p. 794.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present (Sixth Edition)'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, , p. 984.Classic TV Archive Straightaway (1961-62)
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Cast

* Brian Kelly....Scott Ross * John Ashley....Clipper Hamilton

Synopsis

Scott Ross and Clipper Hamilton are the co-owners of the Straightaway Garage, an automobile workshop, where they design, build, and maintain race cars. Scott specializes in designing cars, while Clipper is the better mechanic. Their work involves them in the world of lovers of speed and professional

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

, which leads to various adventures for them, often after a client brings a car to the garage.

Production

''Straightaway'', produced by Racer Productions, was plagued with production problems. While the series was in development, it went through three producers before finally settling on

Josef Shaftel Josef Shaftel (14 March 1919–9 March 1999) was an American film producer, director and writer. He made a number of films in England. Shaftel was particularly prolific in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1970 he raised seven million pounds to ...

— the fourth person to take the job — as the series producer. Originally, the show was to have the title ''The Racers'' and include exciting racing sequences, and its original sponsor, the

spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...

manufacturer

Autolite Autolite or Auto-Lite is an American brand of spark plugs and ignition wire sets. Autolite products are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Australia. Until 2011, the Autolite brand was a part of Honeywell's automotive Consumer Pro ...

, approved of the show′s racing focus. During the summer of 1961, however, the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

bought Autolite. Ford wished to emphasize the safety of automobiles for family use, an image of cars obviously lacking in auto racing scenes. Before the show premiered, and at the insistence of Ford, the show was retitled ''Straightaway'', the ten episodes that Racer Productions had already filmed before Ford became involved had to be reedited to delete their racing sequences, and later episodes had to deemphasize the show's original focus on racing. Co-star John Ashley in real life was a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

performer, and his character Clipper Hamilton occasionally sang during episodes of ''Straightaway''.

Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...

composed the theme music for ''Straightaway'', and his 1961 album ''

"Straightaway" Jazz Themes ''"Straightaway" Jazz Themes'' is an album released by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson containing music composed for the 1961–1962 television series '' Straightaway''. The album was recorded in 1961 and released by Roulette.Minn, MMayna ...

'' contains music he composed for the television series.

Selchow and Righter Selchow and Righter was a 19th- and 20th-century game manufacturer best known for the games ''Parcheesi'' and ''Scrabble''. It was based in Bay Shore, New York. It dates back to 1867 when it was founded as E. G. Selchow & Co. In 1880, to reflec ...

produced a ''Straightaway''-themed board game in 1961.

Broadcast history

''Straightaway'' premiered on

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 ...

on October 6, 1961, and for the remainder of that year aired on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. At the beginning of 1962, it moved to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesdays, where it remained for the rest of its run. CBS cancelled it after only one season, and its last original episode aired on April 4, 1962. After the show ended, ABC broadcast prime-time reruns of ''Straightaway'' during its normal Wednesday time slot, beginning on April 11, 1962, a week after the last new episode aired. The last prime-time rerun aired on July 4, 1962.

Episodes

Sources tv.com Straightaway Episode Guide
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References

{{reflist, 1

External links

''Straightaway'' opening credits on YouTube

John Ashley singing scene from ''Straightaway'' on YouTube

''Straightaway'' theme music by Maynard Ferguson on YouTube
American Broadcasting Company original programming 1960s American drama television series American adventure drama television series 1961 American television series debuts 1962 American television series endings Television shows set in the United States