''O.K. Crackerby!'' is an American television sitcom that aired on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
from September 16, 1965, to January 6, 1966.
Synopsis
O.K. Crackerby is a billionaire widower from Oklahoma who has three children: 16-year-old Cynthia, 13-year old O. K., Jr., and 9-year-old Hobert. The family moves to
Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...
, go to the exclusive Hotel Havenhurst, and discover the staff refuses to rent out the entire penthouse floor to them. Crackerby asks to use the telephone, and in five minutes purchases the hotel, which he renames Havenhurst-Crackerby, and the family turns the penthouse floor into their new home.
[David C. Tucker, ''Lost Laughs of '50s and '60s Television'', pages 164, 165, 169, McFarland, Inc., 2010]
Crackerby wants his children to be able to fit into high society so he hires an impoverished Harvard graduate St. John Quincy (who pronounces his name Sihn-Jihn-Kwihn-zee) as a tutor. Quincy initially turned down the job, but accepted it after Crackerby deposited $5,000 into his bank account, provided him with a chauffeur-driven limousine, bought the sporting goods store Quincy worked at, and had him fired.
Throughout the short-lived series Crackerby and Quincy alternate between verbally fighting over differing moral values and banding together to battle those they both consider social snobs.
[Tim Brooks & Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946-Present'', page 454, Ballantine Books, 1979]
Other recurring characters are Susan, Quincy’s girl friend,
and Slim, an employee back at the Oklahoma ranch. Slim spends most of his time in an office, complete with a bed and refrigerator, so he can stay near the phone in order to fulfill Crackerby’s orders within five minutes. He even has a massive 1960s-style mainframe computer to provide any information his boss may need.
Cast
*
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American Folk music, folk singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades.
Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his o ...
as O.K. Crackerby
*Hal Buckley as St. John Quincy
*
Brooke Adams as Cynthia Crackerby
*Brian Corcoran as O.K. Crackerby, Jr.
*Joel Davidson as Hobart Crackerby
*
Dick Foran
John Nicholas "Dick" Foran (June 18, 1910 – August 10, 1979) was an American actor and singer, known for his performances in Western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures. He appeared in dozens of movies of every ...
as Slim
Recurring:
*
Laraine Stephens
Laraine Stephens (born 24 July 1941) is a retired American actress.
Stephens was born in Oakland, California. She studied at both Los Angeles City College and the University of California, Los Angeles.
A coloratura soprano, Stephens performed ...
as Susan Wentworth (13 episodes)
*John Indrisano as John, the chauffeur (5 episodes)
*William Kinney as Joe, the bellboy (3 episodes)
Ratings and cancellation
Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
ranked the series as 71st out of 102 evening television programs, but before ABC could announce its cancellation Burl Ives sent out letters to newspaper columnists stating, "''O.K. Crackerby'' is over"… as "the show never did get off the ground in the script department."
Bob Smith, Burl Ives Pulls Ambush on ABC, ''The Tampa Times'', November 9, 1965, page 19
/ref> The last episode of the series was broadcast on January 6, 1966.
Episodes
References
External links
*{{IMDb title, tt0058834
1965 American television series debuts
1966 American television series endings
1960s American sitcoms
Television series about families
American English-language television shows
American Broadcasting Company sitcoms