''The Lieutenant'' is an American

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 ...

, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. It 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 ...

on Saturday evenings in the 1963–1964 television schedule. It was produced by

Arena Productions Norman Francis Felton (April 29, 1913 – June 25, 2012) was a British-born American television producer, known for his involvement in shows such as ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' and ''Dr. Kildare''. Background Felton was born in London, the son ...

, one of

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

's most successful in-house production companies of the 1960s. Situated at

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by O ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, the West Coast base of the U.S. Marine Corps, ''The Lieutenant'' focuses on the men of the Corps in peacetime with a

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

backdrop. The title character is Second Lieutenant William Tiberius Rice, a rifle platoon leader and one of the training instructors at Camp Pendleton. An hour-long drama, ''The Lieutenant'' explores the lives of enlisted Marines and officers alike. The series was known for hosting a plethora of stars and guest stars who would later appear in Roddenberry's more well known work, ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

''. Rice himself—whose middle name was also shared by the character

James T. Kirk James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in ''Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk leads ...

—was played by

Gary Lockwood Gary Lockwood (born John Gary Yurosek; February 21, 1937) is an American actor. Lockwood is best known for his roles as astronaut Frank Poole in the film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968), and as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell in the '' Star ...

, who appeared in the second Star Trek pilot "

Where No Man Has Gone Before "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the third episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series, ''Star Trek''. Written by Samuel A. Peeples and directed by James Goldstone, it first aired on September 22, 1966. In t ...

Majel Barrett Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (; born Majel Leigh Hudec;
, ''

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...

Nichelle Nichols Nichelle Nichols (, born Grace Dell Nichols; December 28, 1932 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for her portrayal of Nyota Uhura in ''Star Trek'' and its film sequels. Nichols' portrayal of Uhura was g ...

, and

Walter Koenig Walter Marvin Koenig (; born September 14, 1936) is an American actor and screenwriter. He began acting professionally in the mid 1960s and quickly rose to prominence for his supporting role as Ensign Pavel Chekov in ''Star Trek: The Original S ...

all appeared as guest stars, along with

Ricardo Montalbán Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG (; ; November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican and American film and television actor. Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for performances in a var ...

—famous for his portrayal as

Khan Noonien Singh Khan Noonien Singh is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' science fiction franchise, who first appeared as the main antagonist in the ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' episode "Space Seed" (1967), and was portrayed by Ricardo Montalbán ...

— and

Paul Comi Paul Domingo Comi (February 11, 1932 – August 26, 2016) was an American film and television actor. Biography Paul Comi was born 1932 in Brookline, Massachusetts. Comi grew up in North Quincy, Massachusetts and joined the United States Army a ...

, from the ''Star Trek'' episode " Balance of Terror". Several other prominent stars can be seen in various other episodes, such as Rip Torn—playing a

drill instructor A drill instructor is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces, fire department, or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. Foot drill, military step, and marching are typically taught by drill instructors. Australia Austr ...

, Ted Knight playing a yeoman, veteran actor James Gregory as a senior Marine NCO, '' Alice'' star

Vic Tayback Victor E. Tayback (January 6, 1930 – May 25, 1990) was an American actor. He is known for his role as Mel Sharples in the film ''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'' (1974) and the television series ''Alice'' (1976–1985). The latter earned him t ...

as a Marine Corps sentry, and veteran character actor Denver Pyle—later internationally known as Uncle Jesse from ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television serie ...

''—appeared in the series as a Marine Corps

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. The series was released on DVD in two half-season sets by the Warner Archive Collection on August 14, 2012.

Synopsis

starred as USMC

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

William Tiberius Rice, a recent graduate of the United States Naval Academy who is assigned his first command, that of a rifle platoon. Rice is a young, educated idealist who still has much to learn from an older mentor.

Robert Vaughn Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His television roles include the spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''; th ...

played Captain Raymond Rambridge, Rice's company commander, an up-from-the-ranks officer.

Richard Anderson Richard Norman Anderson (August 8, 1926 – August 31, 2017) was an American film and television actor. Among his best-known roles was his portrayal of Oscar Goldman, the boss of Steve Austin ( Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers ( Lindsay Wagner) i ...

, remembered for playing

Oscar Goldman ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After a NASA test flight accident, Austin is re ...

in ''

The Six Million Dollar Man ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After a NASA test flight accident, Austin is re ...

'' and ''

The Bionic Woman ''The Bionic Woman'' is an American science fiction action-adventure television series created by Kenneth Johnson based on the 1972 novel ''Cyborg'' by Martin Caidin, starring Lindsay Wagner that aired from January 14, 1976, to May 13, 1978. ' ...

'', had a recurring role as battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Steve Hiland, and

Linda Evans Linda Evans (born Linda Evenstad; November 18, 1942) is an American actress known primarily for her roles on television. In the 1960s she played Audra Barkley, the daughter of Victoria Barkley (played by Barbara Stanwyck) in the Western tel ...

, later known for her roles on '' The Big Valley'' and as

Krystle Carrington Krystle Carrington (maiden name Grant; formerly Jennings) is a fictional character from the 1980s American TV series ''Dynasty'', created by Richard and Esther Shapiro. Portrayed by Linda Evans, the character was introduced in the 1981 pilot ep ...

in ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'', appeared in several early episodes as Colonel Hiland's daughter Nan, who flirted with Rice. The series focused primarily on Rice's various assignments as a junior officer, which often involved special details or difficult situations. Several of the later episodes featured Rice becoming an undercover investigator with

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

, allowing for plots and scenarios which Rice would otherwise not be involved with as a second lieutenant.

Production and broadcast

After its original broadcast, ''The Lieutenant'' was sparsely rerun in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

, as its run had not been long enough for episodes to be stripped in daily broadcasts. In 2016,

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

network

GetTV getTV is an American digital multicast television network owned by the Sony Pictures Television Networks subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television. Originally formatted as a movie-oriented service, the network has since transitioned into a genera ...

aired ''The Lieutenant'' on Wednesday evenings at 8 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...

in a block of four episodes, not following the original airdate order.

Unbroadcast episode

The installment "

To Set It Right "To Set It Right" is the 21st episode of the American military drama television series ''The Lieutenant'', produced for broadcast on NBC. Written by Lee Erwin, it featured a guest cast that included Dennis Hopper, Don Marshall, Woody Strode and th ...

", which was written by Lee Erwin, was about racial prejudice, and featured

as the fiancée of a black Marine, portrayed by

Don Marshall Donald Robert Marshall (born March 23, 1932) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward. Don played in the National Hockey League from 1951 to 1972. During this time, he played for the New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs and Mon ...

, with Dennis Hopper as the antagonist to that Marine. It was never broadcast. The subject of race was considered taboo in entertainment television in 1964, and because the network refused to broadcast "To Set It Right" or even pay for it, MGM had to shoulder the entire cost of production.

The Paley Center for Media The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, dedicated to ...

in New York City possesses a videotape of the episode. This episode was eventually broadcast on the cable channel

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

in the early 1990s.

After ''The Lieutenant''

''The Lieutenant'' was canceled after only one season. Roddenberry recruited Lockwood one more time, in "Where No Man Has Gone Before," the second pilot installment for ''

,'' as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell. The title character in ''The Lieutenant'' was Second Lieutenant William Tiberius Rice; on the original series of ''Star Trek,'' the title character was

. It was not until the " Star Trek: The Animated Series" episode " BEM" that "Tiberius" was revealed as Captain Kirk's middle name. The DVD release of ''The Lieutenant - The Complete Series, Part 2'' includes a feature film version of the episode "To Kill a Man" that was released in international markets.

Cast members

Regulars

– Second Lieutenant William Tiberius Rice *

– Captain Raymond Rambridge *

John Milford John Milford (September 7, 1927 - August 14, 2000) was an American actor in theater, television, and films, playing scores of roles, often as a western villain. He was estimated to have had about 500 appearances in TV roles. Early years Born i ...

– Sergeant Kagey * Henry Beckman – Major Al Barker *

– Lieutenant Colonel Steve Hiland * Don Penny – Lieutenant Harris * Chuck Haren – Corporal Sandow *Carmen Phillips – Lily * Steve Franken – Lieutenant Samwell 'Sanpan' Panosian * Chris Noel – the regular female cast member, who never had a regular "character;" Gene Roddenberry had her acting out different characters each week

Robert Vaughn

Vaughn received the same compensation as Lockwood, even though he was usually in only one scene per episode. Vaughn asked both MGM Television and Norman Felton (under whose Arena Productions banner ''The Lieutenant'' was being produced) for his own series during the run of ''The Lieutenant''. The result was ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...

'', which began the next season and proved to be highly successful.

Guest stars

Guest stars included

Eddie Albert Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', ...

Jack Albertson Harold Albertson (June 16, 1907 – November 25, 1981), known professionally as Jack Albertson, was an American actor, comedian, dancer and singer who also performed in variety. Albertson was a Tony, Oscar, and Emmy winning actor. For his perfo ...

Edward Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' a ...

Barbara Babcock Barbara Babcock (born February 27, 1937) is an American actress who played Grace Gardner on ''Hill Street Blues'', for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress—Drama Series in 1981, She played Dorothy Jennings on ''Dr. Quinn, ...

Barbara Bain Barbara Bain (born Mildred Fogel; September 13, 1931) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Cinnamon Carter on the action television series '' Mission: Impossible'' (1966–1969), which earned her three Primetime Emmy Awa ...

Ina Balin Ina Balin (née Rosenberg; November 12, 1937 – June 20, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She is best known for her role in the film '' From the Terrace'' (1960), for which she received two Golden Globe Award nomination ...

, and

Majel Barrett Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (; born Majel Leigh Hudec;
, ''

Marian Collier,

Russ Conway Russ Conway, DSM (born Trevor Herbert Stanford; 2 September 1925 – 16 November 2000) was an English popular music pianist and composer. Conway had 20 piano instrumentals in the UK Singles Chart between 1957 and 1963, including two number on ...

Dennis Cross Dennis Cross (December 17, 1924 – April 6, 1991) was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing the role of Commander Arthur "Tex" Richards in the American syndicated television series '' The Blue Angels''. Life and car ...

Robert Karnes Robert Anthony Karnes (June 19, 1917 – December 4, 1979) was an American film, stage and television actor. Life and career Karnes was born in Kentucky. He served in World War II, where he had interest into acting and going to Hollywood, Cal ...

Paul Newlan Paul Emory Newlan (June 29, 1903 – November 23, 1973) was an American film and TV character actor from Plattsmouth, Nebraska. He was best known for his role as Captain Grey on the NBC police series ''M Squad'' and for his roles in films incl ...

Gregg Palmer Palmer Edwin Lee (January 25, 1927 – October 31, 2015), known by his stage name Gregg Palmer, was an American film and television actor. Born in San Francisco, California, Palmer served in the United States Army Air Corps as a cryptographer i ...

Joe Ploski Joseph Henry Ploski (April 16, 1904 – May 17, 1993) was a Polish-American film and television actor. He was known for his appearance in the 1953 film ''Stalag 17'', which starred William Holden, Don Taylor and Otto Preminger. Ploski Was born ...

Penny Santon Pierina Burlando (September 2, 1916 – May 12, 1999) was an American film, stage and television actress. She was known for playing the role of Mama Rosa Novelli in the American crime drama television series ''Matt Houston''. Santon died in May ...

Tom Simcox Thomas William Simcox (born June 17, 1937) is an American film and television actor. Early life Simcox was born in Medford, New Jersey. Career Simcox began his career in 1962, first appearing in the police procedural television series '' ...

Ray Teal Ray Elgin Teal (January 12, 1902 – April 2, 1976) was an American actor.The book ''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory'' gives Teal's birth date as January 12, 1908. His most famous role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on the televis ...

and

Kelly Thordsen Kelly Thordsen, born Sherman Jess Thordsen (January 19, 1917 – January 23, 1978) was an American film and television actor. Life and career Thordsen was born in Deadwood, South Dakota. He served in the United States Navy during World War II ...

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lieutenant, The 1963 American television series debuts 1964 American television series endings American military television series Black-and-white American television shows NBC original programming Television shows about the United States Marine Corps Television series by MGM Television Television series created by Gene Roddenberry Television shows set in California