- Ensign O'Toole
infobox television
show_name =Ensign O'Toole
format =Sitcom
picture_format =Black and white
runtime = 30 minutes
starring = Dean JonesJack Mullaney Harvey Lembeck Jack Albertson Jay C. Flippen Beau Bridges Robert Sorrells John McGiver
country =United States
network = NBC
first_aired =September 23 ,1962
last_aired =May 5 ,1963
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 32
imdb_id = 0055671"Ensign O'Toole" is a
military comedy which aired on NBC fromSeptember 23 ,1962 , toMay 5 ,1963 , with 31-year-old Dean Jones in the title role of a nonchalant Navyensign during the early1960s . Jones, born in 1931 inAlabama and a Navy veteran of theKorean War , played an officer aboard thedestroyer "U.S.S. Appleby", which roamed thePacific Ocean . The "Appleby"'s crew included:*
Jack Mullaney (1929-1984) a 33-year-oldLieutenant Rex St. John, wealthy, handsome, and ambitious but vain*
Jay C. Flippen (1899-1971) as the cantankerousChief Petty Officer Homer Nelson*
Jack Albertson (1907-1981), asLieutenant Commander Virgil Stone, the ship's executive officer who delivered orders from the ship's unseen captain, heard only over speakers*
Harvey Lembeck (1923-1982), earlier onPhil Silvers 's "Sergeant Bilko " series, portrayed Seaman Gabby Di Julio*
Beau Bridges (born 1941), son ofLloyd Bridges , as Seaman Howard Spicer*
Robert Sorrells (born 1930) as Seaman Claude White*
John McGiver (1913-1975), a popularcharacter actor who later starred on CBS's "Many Happy Returns", appeared as Stoner's brother-in-law, thepsychologist Arthur Ainsley, who argued that the ship's crew was unhappy and hiding deep-seated depression.TV.com: "Ensign O'Toole":http://www.tv.com/ensign-otoole/show/4531/summary.htmlhttp://www.tvacres.com/military_ensignotoole.htm]eries background
"Ensign O'Toole" was based on "All the Ships at Sea" and "
Ensign O'Toole and Me ", twobook s byWilliam Lederer , who served as aconsultant on the series. Though there was no second season of production, "Ensign O'Toole" was repeated on NBC throughSeptember 15 ,1963 , and it was rebroadcast once more by ABC in the1963 —1964 season.The "Appleby" was actually the "
USS Frank E. Evans (DD-754) ", which had been launched onOctober 3 ,1944 , and commissioned onFebruary 3 ,1945 . OnJune 3 ,1969 , the "Evans" was cut in half in a collision with theAustralian aircraft carrier "HMAS Melbourne ". A few months later, the bow andstern of the ship were sunk as targets inSubic Bay ,Phillipines ."Ensign O'Toole" was aired opposite CBS's long-running "Lassie" at the 7 p.m. Eastern time slot on
Sunday s. ABC that season aired repeats of Robert Young's "Father Knows Best " in the same time slot. [1962-1963 American television network schedule]elected episodes
During its tour of duty, the "Appleby" anchored in numerous ports:
Hong Kong ,South Korea , the Arctic, the South Pacific, and its home port, San Diego,California . The opening episode entitled "Operation Kowana" introduces the cast. The sailors are givenshore leave with a stern warning to mind their behavior when they land in the Japanese port of Kowana.http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Stage/2950?US/Comedy/EnsignOToole.htm?200] The second episode, "Operation Model T", which aired onSeptember 30 ,1962 , O'Toole (who had no first name on the program) buys aModel T on a Frenchisland in the South Pacific and camouflages it in pieces aboard the ship. After reaching California, O'Toole has the car reassembled, and anadmiral , who is anantique car collector, sees it on the dock and thus foils the ensing's plans.In the third episode,
October 7 ,1962 , entitled "Operation Daddy", O'Toole has to assemble emergency leave papers for Seaman White, whose wife in Omaha,Nebraska , is about to give birth.In "Operation Benefit" (
October 14 ,1962 ), while the "Appleby" was in Korea, Ensign O'Toole and the crew put on the "Foster Father's Follies" show to raise money to adopt Koreanorphan s. TheKim Sisters provided the entertainment.Dick Powell (1904-1963), owner ofFour Star Television , which produced the series, guest starred in the episode. [Internet Movie Data Base: "Ensign O'Toole":http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055671/] At the time of his appearance, Powell had fewer than three months to live.Soupy Sales guest starred in "Operation Jinx" onOctober 21 ,1962 , as Seaman Jerome J. Johnson". Chief Nelson warns of trouble because Johnson is believed to be a bad-luck omen.In "Operation Holdout" on
October 28 ,1962 , the crew found four strandedsoldiers , two American and two Japanese, who thinkWorld War II is still underway.Harry Morgan (born 1915), laterColonel Sherman T. Potter on CBS's "M*A*S*H* " appeared as the cook "Charlie" in theNovember 18 ,1962 episode entitled "Operation Mess". O'Toole is puzzled why the crew is grumbling about the food when Charlie was previously known as a superiorchef .In "Operation Potomoc" on
December 9 ,1962 , O'Toole tries to determine why someone sent him a dress while the ship is in port nearWashington, D.C. The unsolicited gift inspired lots of ribbing from his fellow crew members. Eventually, O'Toole learns the dress was for a female naval officer with the same name assigned to the same installation."Operation Gaslight" on
December 16 ,1962 , featuredSteven Franken ,Chatsworth Osborne, Jr. , in CBS's "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis ", as Ensign Bender, a by-the-book sailor from theUnited States Naval Academy at Annapolis,Maryland . O'Toole decides to "initiate" Bender by convincing him that he has contracted an unusual nautical disease.In "Operation Swindle" on
December 30 ,1962 ,Rosemary De Camp , who played the sister ofBob Cummings in an earlier NBC comedy series, guest starred as a Southern belle who strips Chief Nelson of his bank book."Operation Intrigue" on
January 13 ,1963 , us set in Hong Kong, then a Britishcolony . O'Toole volunteered to helpScotland Yard find a jewelthief by going undercover.In "Operation Stowaway" on
March 24 ,1963 ,Nita Talbot appears as Grapunia, a young girl who stows away on the "Appleby", and the crew goes overboard to win her favor.In "Operation Tubby" on
April 14 ,1963 ,Stubby Kaye (1918-1997) guest starred as Tubby Mason, a compulsive eater on the verge of being discharged from the Navy forobesity . He is ordered to go on a crash diet.The final episode, "Operation Geisha", has Jack Carter as a
con man who must return money to an irate victim. He and a partner open a reversegeisha house .After "Ensign O'Toole", Dean Jones starred in numerous
Walt Disney film s from1965 —1977 .References
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