''Big John, Little John'' is an American Saturday-morning

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

, produced by

Sherwood Schwartz Sherwood Charles Schwartz ( ; November 14, 1916 – July 12, 2011) was an American television screenwriter and producer. He worked on radio shows in the 1940s, but he now is best known for creating the 1960s television series ''Gilligan's Island ...

, which starred Herbert Edelman as "Big John" and Robert "Robbie" Rist as "Little John". The show first aired on September 11, 1976, on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, and ran for one season of 13 episodes. The series was produced by Redwood Productions in association with D'Angelo-Bullock-Allen Productions. In the United Kingdom, it was shown on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

Plot summary

The show's main character was a forty-year-old

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

science teacher named John Martin (played by Edelman). While vacationing in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, he drinks from a spring which turns out to be the legendary

Fountain of Youth The Fountain of Youth is a mythical Spring (hydrology), spring which supposedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted around the world for thousands of years, appearing in t ...

sought by

Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León ( – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and ''conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Puerto Rico in 1508 and Florida in 1513. He was born in Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, Spain, in ...

. The water changes him into a twelve-year-old boy (played by Rist), and back again. The changes occur spontaneously and without warning. Because Martin only sipped the water, the changes are recurring and not permanent; according to legend, had he taken a full drink, he would be age twelve permanently. Only his wife, Marjorie (

Joyce Bulifant Joyce Collins Bulifant (born December 16, 1937) is an American actress and author. In addition to recurring roles on television, including ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' as Marie Slaughter, Bulifant is recognized for film roles in ''The Happiest ...

), and son, Ricky (

Mike Darnell Michael Darnell (born 1962 or 1963) is an American entertainment executive. As president of Alternative Entertainment at the Fox network and subsequently president of Unscripted Television at Warner Bros., Darnell was in charge of some of the mos ...

), know his secret, though Martin's students (who befriend him as "Little John") and his boss, principal Bertha Bottomly (Olive Dunbar), do become suspicious that something unusual is going on. The Martin family explain the younger John as their nephew, staying with them. Throughout the series, "Big John" unsuccessfully tries to find a cure for his predicament, but his experiences as "Little John" often give him insight into what his students are facing. To make the two actors resemble each other more closely, Rist's blond hair was dyed brown, while Edelman wore a hairpiece that partially covered his baldness, though was absent during the credits sequences. Edelman and Rist appeared together in 1977, on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.

Cast

Herb Edelman Herbert “Herb” Edelman (November 5, 1933 – July 21, 1996) was an American comedian, and actor of stage, film and television. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Awards, Emmy Award for his television work. His best-known role was as Stanl ...

- Big John Martin *

Robbie Rist Robert Anthony Rist (born April 4, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for playing Cousin Oliver in ''The Brady Bunch'', Martin in ''Grady (American TV series), Grady'' and "Little John" in ''Big John, Little John''. Rist is also known fo ...

- Little John Martin *

- Marjorie Martin *

- Ricky Martin *Olive Dunbar - Bertha Bottomly * Kristoff St. John - Homer *Cari Anne Warder - Valerie *

Stephen H. Cassidy Stephen H. Cassidy (born May 14, 1964) is an attorney who served as the mayor of San Leandro from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2014. Early life and education On May 14, 1964, Cassidy was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a child, Cassid ...

- Stanley Rist had previously worked on Schwartz's ''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired five seasons from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family of six children, with three boys and three gir ...

'' during its final season (1973–1974), as the Bradys' cousin, Oliver.

Episodes

Home media

The complete series was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

(for Regions 1 and 2) in 2009 by Fabulous Films.

References

External links

*
''Big John, Little John'' at 70s Live Action Kid Vid website
{{Children's programming on NBC in the 1970s 1976 American television series debuts 1976 American television series endings 1970s American children's comedy television series 1970s American sitcoms American children's television sitcoms American children's fantasy television series American English-language television shows Television series by CBS Studios Television series about children Television series about size change Television series created by Sherwood Schwartz NBC sitcoms