Route 66
Only fiction series written and shot all over North America. Two young adventurers in a Corvette explore early 60's social problems and changing mores, looking for the right place to settle down while seeking themselves. Debuting 3 years after "On the Road" transformed modern literature, while such newly available fast cars dominated the new teenage culture, Tod, an Ivy Leaguer, and Buz, an orphan from Hell's Kitchen, cruise the U.S.A. coping with shifting relationships and lifestyles. The FCC's Newton Minow characterized U.S. TV as a "vast wasteland," in 1961, but "Route 66" found important, compelling stories all over. Stirling Silliphant who won an Oscar for writing "In the Heat of the Night," traveled around the U.S. and Canada scouting locales, while writing ¾ of the very dark, literate show's episodes - a feat only Rod Serling matched with The Twilight Zone. Soon, a crew of 50 arrived at the location. Shows were filmed in 40 States. Tod, from a once-wealthy family, inherited only a Corvette when his father died, so he and Buz (suddenly jobless because he worked for Tod's father's company) strike out across North America, especially along the iconic Route 66 from Chicago to L.A. which the Okies traveled. Tod and Buz take local jobs (such as shrimping, shipbuilding, oil rigging) to support their wanderings. The 2 socially conscious knights of the road, encourage, champion, and learn from oppressed and troubled people they encounter. 1962 guest star Ethel Waters was the first African-American woman nominated for an Emmy Award. The CBS show doubled Corvette sales its first season. Tod and Buz's beige Corvette's 2 seats meant "sans souci" and constant movement, so shows were shot in 6 days, in a new city almost every week. The two drifters reject the post-war American Dream of the suburbs, while exploring a disappearing North America with very diverse local culture, not yet dominated by international franchises and cookie-cutter suburbs. The shows' vibrate with the new dreams for a Great Society and the fears of the Cold War. The volatile Buz Murdock was cast quickly, while Martin Milner beat out Robert Redford for the Tod Stiles role. Due to hepatitis, Maharis did not appear in the series' last 1 ½ seasons. The show grew from a pilot on creator Silliphant and Route 66 producer Herbert B. Leonard's "Naked City," also shot on location. Naked City and Route 66 bridged the widely varied anthologies and live plays of the 1950's Golden Age of Television, to the much cheaper, 1 hour dramatic, set-character based series, which continue to rule prime-time. Nelson Riddle's atmospheric Theme from Route 66, and his episode scores factored heavily in the show's allure. The breezy song Route 66, written by Bobby Troup (of the 1970's TV series "Emergency !"), a 1946 Nat King Cole hit, wasn't used for the series. A sequel to Route 66 appeared in 1993, but lasted only 4 episodes.
- 1960-1964
- 4 seasons
- CBS
- Action & Adventure, Suspense, Drama
- TV-Y7
Only fiction series written and shot all over North America. Two young adventurers in a Corvette explore early 60's social problems and changing mores, looking for the right place to settle down while seeking themselves. Debuting 3 years after "On the Road" transformed modern literature, while such newly available fast cars dominated the new teenage culture, Tod, an Ivy Leaguer, and Buz, an orphan from Hell's Kitchen, cruise the U.S.A. coping with shifting relationships and lifestyles. The FCC's Newton Minow characterized U.S. TV as a "vast wasteland," in 1961, but "Route 66" found important, compelling stories all over. Stirling Silliphant who won an Oscar for writing "In the Heat of the Night," traveled around the U.S. and Canada scouting locales, while writing ¾ of the very dark, literate show's episodes - a feat only Rod Serling matched with The Twilight Zone. Soon, a crew of 50 arrived at the location. Shows were filmed in 40 States. Tod, from a once-wealthy family, inherited only a Corvette when his father died, so he and Buz (suddenly jobless because he worked for Tod's father's company) strike out across North America, especially along the iconic Route 66 from Chicago to L.A. which the Okies traveled. Tod and Buz take local jobs (such as shrimping, shipbuilding, oil rigging) to support their wanderings. The 2 socially conscious knights of the road, encourage, champion, and learn from oppressed and troubled people they encounter. 1962 guest star Ethel Waters was the first African-American woman nominated for an Emmy Award. The CBS show doubled Corvette sales its first season. Tod and Buz's beige Corvette's 2 seats meant "sans souci" and constant movement, so shows were shot in 6 days, in a new city almost every week. The two drifters reject the post-war American Dream of the suburbs, while exploring a disappearing North America with very diverse local culture, not yet dominated by international franchises and cookie-cutter suburbs. The shows' vibrate with the new dreams for a Great Society and the fears of the Cold War. The volatile Buz Murdock was cast quickly, while Martin Milner beat out Robert Redford for the Tod Stiles role. Due to hepatitis, Maharis did not appear in the series' last 1 ½ seasons. The show grew from a pilot on creator Silliphant and Route 66 producer Herbert B. Leonard's "Naked City," also shot on location. Naked City and Route 66 bridged the widely varied anthologies and live plays of the 1950's Golden Age of Television, to the much cheaper, 1 hour dramatic, set-character based series, which continue to rule prime-time. Nelson Riddle's atmospheric Theme from Route 66, and his episode scores factored heavily in the show's allure. The breezy song Route 66, written by Bobby Troup (of the 1970's TV series "Emergency !"), a 1946 Nat King Cole hit, wasn't used for the series. A sequel to Route 66 appeared in 1993, but lasted only 4 episodes.
Season 4 Episode Guide
23 Episodes 1963 - 1964
Episode 1
Two Strangers and an Old Enemy
Fri, Sep 27, 1963 50 mins
Tod and Linc, in Cape Coral, Florida working for an air service, search for the owner-missing with his plane in swampland. As the story unfolds it is revealed that the owner, a WWII air ace, was never able to adjust to non-hero civilian life. The unhappy saga includes the man's ex-wife and one-time enemy.
Episode 2
Same Picture, Different Frame
Fri, Oct 4, 1963 50 mins
Tod and Linc are in Poland Spring, Maine working at a children's Summer Camp. Linc acts as protector for one of the Camp counselors, an older lady, who has become frightened by the threat of her escaped mental patient husband. Tod, meanwhile, has his hands full warding off the advances of a teenage attendee at the Camp.
Episode 3
Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!
Fri, Oct 11, 1963 50 mins
Tod and Linc, in the Poland Spring, Maine area, are working at a saw mill. Linc has found a girl he is madly in love with. She seems interested in him as well but oddly "wants to save him the trouble of being hurt" and pursues another man. The man brings her to realize that she has no idea of what she wants out of life.
Episode 4
Where Are the Sounds of Celli Brahms?
Fri, Oct 18, 1963 50 mins
Tod and Linc, working in Minneapolis, Minnesota at a luxury hotel, are both amused and irritated victims of a female efficiency expert. She is a driven high-strung workaholic perfectionist with few social skills. Recognition of her regulated life and its flaws are something she has never noticed.
Episode 5
Build Your Houses with Their Backs to the Sea
Fri, Oct 25, 1963 51 mins
Tod and Linc, in Maine, encounter a "long-lost son". Tod works with the man's abandoned wife, Linc with the man's hated father. The son has old grudges and cannot be reasoned with. He is especially obsessed with doing his father harm and causes a violent feud before challenging his father to a fight to the death.
Episode 6
And Make Thunder His Tribute
Fri, Nov 1, 1963 50 mins
Tod and Linc, in the St Paul, Minnesota area, find work with an eccentric farmer. He is at odds with his son about using any new farming ideas and actually uses a shotgun for noise to scare birds away from his crop. The son and he escalate the battle between them over the possible use of the farm as the site of a motel.
Episode 7
The Stone Guest
Thu, Nov 7, 1963 51 mins
Tod and Linc working in the Central City, Colorado area; Tod backstage with a theater group and Linc in a mine with an old Vietnam buddy. Linc's friend and a visiting woman become trapped in the mine after a cave-in. The sad lives of the two are reviewed as rescue workers try to get to them before their oxygen runs out.
Episode 8
I Wouldn't Start from Here
Fri, Nov 15, 1963 50 mins
Tod and Linc, driving through rural Vermont, become lost and have car trouble. They encounter an elderly farmer who helps them. He is widowed with no children and lives with no conveniences such as electricity or telephone. Sadly,his method of making a living and his existence are doomed by the modern world.
Episode 9
A Cage in Search of a Bird
Fri, Nov 29, 1963 50 mins
Tod and Linc, in Denver, Colorado, become involved in the story of an Depression Era bank robber and a pretty young woman. The robber, never caught and now an old man, has selected her to report his crime and collect the reward in order to give her "a fresh start". Her former "business partner" and the passing of time complicate things.
Episode 10
A Long Way from St. Louie
Fri, Dec 6, 1963 50 mins
Tod and Linc, sightseeing in Toronto, Canada, make the acquaintance of a female jazz band. The attractive women are from St. Louis and are stranded without funds. Linc attempts to help them find work so they can afford passage to return home. Tod is not enthusiastic about getting involved. A local Romeo/pilot is.
Episode 11
Come Home Greta Inger Gruenschaffen
Fri, Dec 13, 1963 50 mins
Tod and Linc are in Mount Snow,Vermont employed at the Snow Lake Lodge Motel. An attractive "escapee" of the Buffalo, NY Chapter of "The League For Physical Revelation" is of interest to both Tod and Linc. Chosen by her group to promote physical fitness worldwide,she actually is more concerned about her love life.
Episode 12
93 Percent in Smiling
Fri, Dec 20, 1963 51 mins
Tod and Linc are in Erie Canal,New York working in construction and living in a "mobile home court". Their know-it-all neighbor, who has moved his family to various cities because he cannot hold a job, suffers when his baby son disappears. Linc, playing detective, finds out the man's other two children are the cause.
Episode 13
Child of a Night
Fri, Jan 3, 1964 50 mins
Tod and Linc driving through rural Georgia witness the crash of a plane and speak to the dying survivor. A man asks them to go to Savannah and find a woman he met 25 years before and had a child with. He wants a money belt with $38,000 given to the child. Tod and Linc agree to help and find that the search is painful.
Episode 14
Is It True There Are Poxies at the Bottom of Landfair Lake?
Fri, Jan 10, 1964 50 mins
Tod and Linc, employed by a sign company in Savannah, deliver a neon sign to tiny Clausen, Georgia and a recently discharged Army vet intentionally damages it. Tod and Linc stay to repair the sign and find out why the man did it. Afterward, Tod offers him this advice "When you get burned, scream and learn to live with it."
Episode 15
Like This It Means Father... Like This - Bitter... Like This - Tiger...
Fri, Jan 17, 1964 50 mins
Tod and Linc are employed at a plant in Savannah, Georgia. In a bar after work, Tod sees Linc violently attack a man seemingly for no reason. Later it comes out that this man's cowardice caused the death of two men in Linc's Viet Nam unit. The man received no punishment for his behavior and Linc wants justice.
Episode 16
Kiss the Monster - Make Him Sleep
Fri, Jan 24, 1964 50 mins
Tod and Linc are in Minneapolis working in Construction on a River Lock Project. Linc becomes "involved" with the sister of their boss. She resents her brother being overprotective and buying off her men friends. Linc tries to help her make it on her own but later finds she has neuroses involving dependency and nymphomania.
Episode 17
Cries of Persons Close to One
Fri, Jan 31, 1964 51 mins
Tod and Linc, driving along the Eastern Coast of Florida, make the acquaintance of an uneducated alcoholic boxer and his faithful girlfriend after a melee. While Tod is hardly sympathetic, Linc is and after offering his help to the couple, Linc even goes as far as to substitute for the fighter in a boxing match!
Episode 18
Who in His Right Mind Needs a Nice Girl
Fri, Feb 7, 1964 49 mins
Tod and Linc, in Daytona, Florida, befriend a shy librarian. She seems to be bothered by a drifter who they escort out of town. Unknown to them, she is attracted to the man and offers herself totally to him when he returns to town. When the news reveals that the man is wanted for murder Tod and Linc find the girl is missing.
Episode 19
This Is Going to Hurt Me More Than It Hurts You
Fri, Feb 14, 1964 49 mins
Tod and Linc, in St. Augustine, Florida, run into a friend of Tod's from his college days at Yale. The friend is wealthy with a strange way of seeking eligible candidates for marriage. Deciding a true test would involve having the women meet someone even wealthier, he hatches an idea - TOD will play the wealthier man.
Episode 20
Follow the White Dove with the Broken Wing
Fri, Feb 21, 1964 50 mins
Tod and Linc, stopping in a Vilano Beach Florida bar, encounter an odd acting youth. He is not liked by his peers and after a prank goes wrong his fellow teenagers act as brutal vigilantes, aggressively hunting him down. Tod and Linc become caught in the middle when the unstable youth uses them as a means to escape.
Episode 21
Where There's a Will, There's a Way: Part One
Fri, Mar 6, 1964 50 mins
Multimillionaire con artist Alexander Tiffin has just passed away. His longtime friend and lawyer, Monty Musgrave, executor of his will, has convened his sole remaining five relatives together in Tampa, Florida, for the reading of the will. Four of those relatives are his equally fraudulent but diverse siblings - Otis, Michael, Samantha and Leon - an eclectic group of mock internationalists, each who wants as much of Alexander's $5 million estate as possible. The fifth is Alexander's single daughter, Margo, who hated what her father did to amass his wealth, but nonetheless loved him. She has yet to find or have any love in her life. The will states that all five will get a piece of the pie, the largest piece - the vast majority of it - going to one person, that person being decided by Monty. But receiving any of that money is contingent upon Tod, who the five have never met or even heard of. Conversely, Tod has never heard of a man named Alexander Tiffin. Tampa was chosen as Tod and Linc have recently arrived in town, they who are working in the boat rental business. Tod's involvement, which affects Margo the most, would be made all the more easy if Linc was not in the picture. As Tod gets ensconced within the lives of the Tiffin family without knowing anything about a will, he has no idea that his life is in danger at the hands of the four siblings, who see him solely as an obstacle to them getting that largest slice of the pie.
Episode 22
Part Two: Where There's a Will, There's a Way
Fri, Mar 13, 1964 50 mins
Tod and Linc find the end of the road is Tampa,Florida. The four year journey of "trying to catch a star" and "finding a place in this world" has been accomplished for one of them. Ironically,they both travel to Houston,Texas at the conclusion of this episode-but not together.
Episode 23
I'm Here to Kill a King
Fri, Mar 20, 1964 50 mins
Tod and Linc, working at Niagara Falls, find some odd incidents puzzling. Tod eventually learns he has a double who looks and sounds exactly like him. The "evil twin" is a cold blooded hit man with the assignment of killing a visiting Arab king. Tod is kidnapped and his job at the Falls used as a venue for the hit.