Car 54, Where Are You? | |
---|---|
Also known as | Car 54 |
Genre | Sitcom Police comedy |
Created by | Nat Hiken |
Directed by | Al De Caprio Nat Hiken Stanley Prager |
Starring | Joe E. Ross Fred Gwynne |
Theme music composer | Nat Hiken John Strauss |
Opening theme | "Car 54, Where Are You?" |
Composer | John Strauss |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 60 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers | Nat Hiken Billy Friedberg |
Cinematography | J. Burgi Contner George Stoetzel |
Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production company | Eupolis Productions |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | September 17, 1961 – April 14, 1963 |
Car 54, Where Are You? is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1961 to April 1963. Filmed in black and white, the series starred Joe E. Ross as Gunther Toody and Fred Gwynne as Francis Muldoon, two mismatched New York City police officers who patrol the fictional 53rd precinct in The Bronx. Car 54 was their patrol car.
The series had a rotating group of directors, including Al De Caprio, Stanley Prager, and series creator Nat Hiken. Filming was done both on location [1] and at Biograph Studios in the Bronx. [2]
The series follows the adventures of New York City Police Department officers Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross), badge #1432, and Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne), badge #723 and #1987 in early episodes, assigned to Patrol Car 54. Toody is short, stocky, nosy, and not very bright, and he lives with his loud, domineering wife Lucille (Beatrice Pons). College-educated Muldoon is very tall, quiet, and more intellectual. A shy bachelor, he lives with his mother and two younger sisters. He is reluctant to get married.
Much of the series is set in the station house, with commanding officer Captain Block (Paul Reed) ordering his men to answer neighborhood police calls or investigate baffling cases that have stymied the force at large. Toody and Muldoon often blunder into these cases, encountering the criminals accidentally and proceeding on a wrong assumption. By sheer perseverance, inadvertence, and luck, Toody and Muldoon bring each case to a successful conclusion.
Many of the scripts were written by Nat Hiken, who won an "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy" Emmy Award for his work on the series.
Hiken had previously produced The Phil Silvers Show in New York; it was a military comedy with Silvers (as Sgt. Bilko) and his gang of comical soldiers. Hiken recruited many of the Bilko alumni for this new series. Joe E. Ross and Fred Gwynne had featured roles on the Bilko show, and Beatrice Pons was hired to reprise her old role of Ross's wife. Other veterans from the Bilko show were Paul Reed, Al Lewis, Charlotte Rae, Jimmy Little, Jack Healy, Frederick O'Neal, Martha Greenhouse, Bob Hastings, Billy Sands, and Gerald Hiken.
Some supporting players on Car 54 were so well received that they were brought back for additional episodes. Molly Picon played Mrs. Bronson, an enterprising matron who made life miserable for city authorities but always adhered strictly to the law, forcing her whims to be accommodated. Larry Storch played a gypsy husband, and Charlie, the town drunk, whose constant scrapes with the police compelled Toody and Muldoon to rehabilitate him. Gene Baylos was the hapless Benny the Bookie, whose attempts at swearing off gambling always involved Toody and Muldoon. Carl Ballantine appeared as Al, Toody's imperious brother-in-law, who commanded instant obedience from his wife, Rose (Martha Greenhouse).
Interiors were filmed at Biograph Studios, Inc. at 807 East 175th Street, in The Bronx, New York City, New York. [3] Precinct exteriors is of Biograph Studios building, [4] within the territory of New York's 48th Precinct. [5]
So that they would not be mistaken for actual police cars during location filming, the cars used for the series were painted dark [5] red and white, which appeared as the proper shade of gray on Orthochromatic black-and-white film to replicate NYPD cars of that era, which were black and green, with a white roof and trunk. [6]
Three cars were used as the title vehicle during the series: a 1961 Plymouth Belvedere during most of the first season, followed by a 1962, and later a 1963, Plymouth Savoy.[ citation needed ]
The theme song's lyrics were written by series creator, writer, and occasional director, Nat Hiken, with music by John Strauss. [7]
There's a holdup in the Bronx,
Brooklyn's broken out in fights;
There's a traffic jam in Harlem
That's backed up to Jackson Heights;
There's a Scout troop short a child,
Khrushchev's due at Idlewild;
Car 54, Where Are You?
The line "Khrushchev's due at Idlewild" refers to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. In September 1960, a year before the series began, Khrushchev flew to New York's Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport) to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
Car 54, Where Are You? originally aired Sunday evenings, 8:30–9:00 p.m. on NBC, following Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and preceding Bonanza . The network run of Car 54 was sponsored by Procter & Gamble.
Several New York-based celebrities, including Hugh Downs, Mitch Miller, Jan Murray, and Sugar Ray Robinson, appeared as themselves. Among others cast in various episodes are:
Car 54, Where Are You? was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, earning one.
Car 54, Where Are You? first entered into syndication in January 1964. It began airing on the cable channel Nick at Nite in 1987 and ran on the network until 1990. It was seen for less than one year on the short-lived Ha! Channel in 1990–1991 and also aired on another Viacom-owned cable channel, Comedy Central, in the early 1990s. In 2016, the show aired early Sunday mornings on MeTV, [8] and currently airs Monday through Friday on its sister network Decades.
Car 54, Where Are You? was made into a 1994 film, shot mainly in Toronto, starring John C. McGinley as Muldoon, David Johansen as Toody, and Rosie O'Donnell as Toody's wife Lucille. Though made in 1990, it was not released until 1994 due to the bankruptcy of Orion Pictures. [9] Original cast members Al Lewis and Nipsey Russell appeared in the film, which underperformed both critically and commercially upon release.
In the early 1990s, Republic Pictures Home Video released some episodes on VHS.[ citation needed ] Shanachie Entertainment announced in late 2010 it was releasing season one on DVD Region 1 on February 22, 2011. [10] The second and final season was released on April 24, 2012. [11]
The show's theme song is parodied as “Mario, Where Are You?” in an Atari commercial for Mario Bros. [12]
In the 1966 film Munster, Go Home! Herman Munster (also played by Fred Gwynne) starts calling for police agencies, eventually yelling, “Car 54, where are you?”
The Munsters is an American sitcom about the home life of a family of benign monsters that aired from 1964 to 1966 on CBS. The series stars Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monster Herman Munster, Yvonne De Carlo as his vampire wife Lily, Al Lewis as Grandpa the aged vampire Count Dracula, Beverley Owen as their niece Marilyn, and Butch Patrick as their werewolf-like son Eddie. The family pet, named "Spot", was a fire-breathing dragon.
Frederick Hubbard Gwynne was an American actor, artist and author, who is widely known for his roles in the 1960s television sitcoms Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters, as well as his later film roles in The Cotton Club (1984), Pet Sematary (1989), and My Cousin Vinny (1992).
Al Lewis was an American actor and activist, best known for his role as Grandpa on the television series The Munsters from 1964 to 1966 and its film versions. He previously also co-starred with The Munsters's Fred Gwynne in the television show Car 54, Where Are You? from 1961–1963. Later in life, he was a restaurant owner, political candidate, and radio broadcaster.
The Phil Silvers Show, originally titled You'll Never Get Rich, is a sitcom which ran on the CBS Television Network from 1955 to 1959. A pilot titled "Audition Show" was made in 1955, but it was never broadcast. 143 other episodes were broadcast – all half-an-hour long except for a 1959 one-hour live special. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko of the United States Army.
Decoy is an American crime drama television series created for syndication and initially broadcast from October 14, 1957, to July 7, 1958, with 39 black-and-white 30-minute episodes. The series was the first American police series with a female protagonist. Many Decoy episodes are in the public domain.
Biograph Studios was an early film studio and laboratory complex, built in 1912 by the Biograph Company at 807 East 175th Street, in The Bronx, New York City, New York, which was preceded by two locations in Manhattan.
The Biograph Company, also known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1916. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, and for two decades was one of the most prolific, releasing over 3000 short films and 12 feature films. During the height of silent film as a medium, Biograph was the most prominent U.S. film studio and one of the most respected and influential studios worldwide, only rivaled by Germany's UFA, Sweden's Svensk Filmindustri and France's Pathé. The company was home to pioneering director D. W. Griffith and such actors as Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, and Lionel Barrymore.
Joe E. Ross was an American actor known for his trademark "Ooh! Ooh!" exclamation, which he used in many of his roles. He starred in such TV sitcoms as The Phil Silvers Show and Car 54, Where Are You?.
Nathan Hiken was an American radio and television writer, producer, and songwriter who rose to prominence in the 1950s.
Maurice Lionel Gosfield was an American stage, film, radio and television actor, best remembered for his portrayal of Private Duane Doberman on the sitcom The Phil Silvers Show (1954–1959) and voicing Benny the Ball in Top Cat (1961–62).
Fort Apache, The Bronx is a 1981 American crime drama film directed by Daniel Petrie. The film stars Paul Newman as Murphy, a hard-drinking, lonely veteran cop, and Ken Wahl as his young partner, Corelli, both of whom work in a crime-ridden precinct in the Bronx. Although Murphy's life takes a good turn when he falls in love with young nurse Isabella, the arrival of police captain Connolly threatens to tip the neighborhood's delicate balance into anarchy. Danny Aiello, Kathleen Beller and Pam Grier play supporting roles. The film was written by Heywood Gould and produced by Martin Richards and Thomas Fiorello, with David Susskind as executive producer.
Paul Reed was an American actor, known for his trademark "slow burn", which he made famous in his role as Captain Paul Block on Car 54, Where Are You?.
Car 54, Where Are You? is a 1994 comedy film directed by Bill Fishman and stars David Johansen and John C. McGinley. It is based on the television series of the same name starring Joe E. Ross and Fred Gwynne that ran from 1961 to 1963.
Beatrice Pons was an American stage, radio, television and film character actress. She is best known for her recurring television roles on The Phil Silvers Show and Car 54, Where Are You? She appeared as "Mother" in the independent horror film Mother's Day under the name Rose Ross.
John Leonard Strauss was an American television and film composer and music editor. Strauss co-wrote the theme song for the NBC television series, Car 54, Where Are You?, with Nat Hiken. He also won a Grammy Award for his work as the producer of the soundtrack for the 1984 film, Amadeus. He also frequently collaborated with director Woody Allen in his films, including Take the Money and Run in 1969 and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* in 1972.
"Hill Street Station" is the first episode of the first season of the American serial police drama Hill Street Blues. "Hill Street Station" originally aired in the United States on NBC on Thursday January 15, 1981, at 10:00 pm Eastern Time as part of a two-week five-episode limited-run pilot airing on Thursdays and Saturdays. The episode won numerous Primetime Emmy Awards, a Directors Guild of America Award, a Writers Guild of America Award, and an Edgar Award as well as Emmy Award nominations for film editing, music composition, and art direction. The episode was directed by Robert Butler and written by Michael Kozoll and Steven Bochco.
Hank Garrett is an American actor, comedian, author, speaker, teacher, mixed martial artist and retired professional wrestler best known for the television role of Officer Nicholson on Car 54, Where Are You?
The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR) is a major archive of motion picture, television, radio, and theater research materials. Located in the headquarters building of the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin, the WCFTR holds over three hundred collections from motion picture, television, and theater writers, producers, actors, designers, directors, and production companies. These collections include business records, personal papers, scripts, photographs, promotional graphics, and some twenty thousand films and videotapes of motion picture and television productions.
Gerald Hiken was an American actor.
William Friedberg was an American producer and screenwriter.