''The Waverly Wonders'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

starring

Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college foot ...

that aired Fridays at 8:00 pm on

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 ...

from September 7 to October 6, 1978.

Premise

Conceived as a vehicle for Namath (who had retired from the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

after the 1977

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

season), the show focused on the misadventures of Joe Casey, a washed-up professional basketball player who now taught history at Waverly High School (in Eastville, Wisconsin) and coached the school's basketball team, the Waverly Wonders. Casey wasn't much of a teacher (he knew nothing about history) and his team wasn't much on the court (they hadn't won a game in three years); about the only decent player they had was a girl, Connie (

Kim Lankford Kim Lankford (born June 14, 1954) is an American businesswoman and retired actress, best known for her role as Ginger Ward on ''Knots Landing'' from 1979 to 1983. Life and career Lankford was born in Montebello, California. She made her screen ...

). Other "Wonders" included Tate (Charles Bloom), Faguzzi (Joshua Greenrock) and Parks (Tierre Turner).

Ben Piazza Ben Piazza (July 30, 1933 – September 7, 1991) was an American actor. Life and career Piazza made his film debut in Sidney J. Furie's Canadian film ''A Dangerous Age'' (1959) followed by his Hollywood debut in '' The Hanging Tree'' (1959). T ...

co-starred as stodgy former coach George Benton, who served as a foil to Casey.

Cast

as Joe Casey *

as Connie Rafkin * Charles Bloom as John Tate * Joshua Greenrock as Tony Faguzzi * James Staley as Alan Kerner * Tierre Turner as Hasty Parks * Gwynne Gilford as Linda Harris *

as George Benton

Episode list

Ratings

Up against '' Donny and Marie'' on ABC and ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

'' 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 Entertainmen ...

, ''The Waverly Wonders'' drew poor ratings. A total of nine episodes were produced. However, only three were shown from September 22 through October 6, 1978.McNeil, Alex. ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present''. 4th ed. New York: Penguin, 1996. (4 October 1978)
ABC Racks Winnings In Latest Nielsens
''Fort Walton Beach Playground Daily News'' (Associated Press) (The show was in the basement of the Nielsen rating for the week of September 25-October 1, 1978: "The six programs at the bottom of the ratings were new this season — NBC’s "Waverly Wonders” and CBS' "American Girls,” tied for 62nd") Hanauer, Joan (12 October 1978)
NBC juggles lineup as ratings booster
''Salina Journal'' (Associated Press) (episode which aired the week of October 2–8, 1978 was the fourth-least watched prime time program of the week) Less than two months after ''The Waverly Wonders'' failed, a new show with a similar premise -- '' The White Shadow''—started its three-year run as a 60-minute comedy-drama on CBS. Meanwhile, at NBC, its time slot was replaced by a more successful TV series, ''

Diff'rent Strokes ''Diff'rent Strokes'' is an American television sitcom, which aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, r ...

'', which in its first year, got to Number 27 of 114 prime time shows that year. Namath never starred in another TV series, although he did do guest spots on such programs as ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pac ...

'' and ''

Fantasy Island ''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. Gu ...

''.

Larry Hagman Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American film and television actor, director, and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera, ''Dal ...

was originally offered the role of Joe Casey, but instead chose to play

J.R. Ewing John Ross "J.R." Ewing Jr. is a fictional character in the American television series ''Dallas'' (1978–1991) and its spin-offs, including the revived ''Dallas'' series (2012–2014). The character was portrayed by Larry Hagman from the serie ...

on ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

''.A Few Facts About Larry Hagman

Eddie Deezen Edward Harry Deezen (born March 6, 1957) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his roles as "nerd" characters in films including '' Grease'', ''Grease 2'', '' Midnight Madness'', ''I Wanna Hold Your Hand'', ''1941'', and ''WarGames''. ...

, Neatorama.com, 27 November 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waverly Wonders 1978 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings 1970s American high school television series 1970s American sitcoms 1970s American workplace comedy television series Basketball television series NBC original programming Television series about educators Television series by Lorimar Television Television shows set in Wisconsin