Follow the Sun (TV series)

Infobox Television
show_name = Follow the Sun


caption =
genre = Drama
creator = Roy Huggins
writer = Ellis Kadison
director = Ted Post
starring = Brett Halsey
Barry Coe
Gary Lockwood
Gigi Perreau
Jay Lanin
theme_music_composer = Sonny Burke
country = USA
language = English
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 29
list_episodes =
producer = Anthony Wilson
runtime = 60 mins.
channel = ABC
picture_format = Black-and-white
first_aired = September 17, 1961
last_aired = April 8, 1962

"Follow the Sun" is an American drama series which ran for twenty-nine episodes on the ABC television network from September 17, 1961, through April 8, 1962

ynopsis

"Follow the Sun" starred Brett Halsey and Barry Coe in the roles of Honolulu-based free-lance magazine writers Paul Templin and Ben Gregory, respectively. Gary Lockwood played their 20-year-old researcher Eric Jason, who was, according to the story line, born on December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor Day). In reality, Lockwood was born on February 21, 1937, and was hence nearly five years older than the character he played. Gigi Perreau played Katherine Ann "Kathy" Richards, the pretty secretary, and Jay Lanin was Lieutenant Frank Roper, the writers' friend on the police force.

Lockwood's success on "Follow the Sun" propelled him thereafter to the role of William T. "Bill" Rice in "The Lieutenant", a program about the peacetime United States Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, which aired on NBC during the 1963-1964 season. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056771/ "The Lieutenant" (1963) ] ]

"Follow the Sun" is somewhat similar in theme and tone to Rod Taylor's "Hong Kong" (1960-1961) and Robert Conrad's "Hawaiian Eye" (1959-1963). Taylor's role as Glenn Evans, a foreign correspondent, could have fit in with the writers on "Follow the Sun" who also got involved in detective work -- just like the "Hawaiian Eye" cast. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054539/ "Follow the Sun" (1961) ] ]

"Follow the Sun" faced stiff competition at 7:30 Eastern time on Sunday evenings from CBS's "Dennis the Menace" with Jay North and The Ed Sullivan Show" as well as NBC's "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. [1961-1962 Television Network Schedule] Though the program ran for only one shortened season, there were comic books which featured Halsey, Coe, and Lockwood.

Guest stars

Popular female stars made appearances on "Follow the Sun": Rhonda Fleming, Julie London, Joanna Moore, Tuesday Weld, Joanna Barnes, Stella Stevens, Yvonne DeCarlo, Anne Helm, Yvonne Craig, Dyan Cannon, Pippa Scott, and Diane Baker. Male guest stars included Keith Andes, Dennis O'Keefe, Keenan Wynn, Robert Vaughn (who later appeared with Lockwood in "The Lieutenant"), William Bendix, and Brian Keith. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054539/ "Follow the Sun" (1961) ] ]

Brian Keith and Jayne Mansfield starred in the episode "The Dumbest Blonde" that reworked the "Born Yesterday" plot, with Barry Coe as reporter Ben Gregory serving as a stand-in for the William Holden character. Mansfield played the beautiful "Scottie" who has low self-esteem and is uncomfortable in high society. Scottie's wealthy boyfriend, played by Keith, mostly ignores her needs. In the story line, Ben Gregory introduces Scottie to books and some of his friends so that she gradually moves forward on her own. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0580916/ "Follow the Sun" The Dumbest Blonde (1962) ] ]

In one episode, "Follow the Sun" featured David Janssen, a year before he became Dr. Richard Kimble in ABC's "The Fugitive", as a retired 30-something prize fighter who enters the University of Hawaii as a freshman. Another episode had Bethel Leslie as a beautiful, devious woman. Inger Stevens portrayed a refugee from the former East Germany in "The Girl from the Brandenberg Gate" episode. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054539/ "Follow the Sun" (1961) ] ]

Production notes

Roy Huggins, the head of production at 20th Century Fox, created "Follow the Sun" as well as "Maverick", and "77 Sunset Strip" on ABC and "The Rockford Files" on NBC. Anthony Lawrence, the producer of "Follow the Sun" went on to write the Elvis Presley film "Paradise, Hawaiian Style". Huggins' "Banacek", starring George Peppard, came a decade later.

References

External links

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