Conflict (American TV series)

Last updated
Conflict
Dennis Hopper & Karen Sharpe - Conflict TV Promotional Photograph (1957).jpg
Karen Sharpe and Dennis Hopper in the April 30, 1957 episode "No Man's Road"
Genre Anthology
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes20
Production
Executive producer William T. Orr
Producer Roy Huggins
Running time60 mins.
Production company Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network ABC
Release18 September 1956 (1956-09-18) 
3 September 1957 (1957-09-03)
Related

Conflict is a 1956 to 1957 American ABC television series that was a successor to the earlier Warner Bros. Presents . Although Conflict assumed the same time slot as its predecessor, the two do not share the same format. Where Warner Bros. Presents had been a wheel series,[ citation needed ]Conflict was fully an anthological series. [1] However, since Cheyenne and Conflict alternated [2] the Tuesday 7:30 P.M. time slot, [1] the net effect was that of a proper wheel series—even though Cheyenne and Conflict were not under the same umbrella title.

Contents

The name change was imposed upon its production company, Warner Bros., by ABC executives who believed that "conflict" was the missing element in Casablanca and Kings Row from Warner Bros. Presents.[ citation needed ]

Man from 1997

Actor James Garner caught producer Roy Huggins' attention with a comedic performance as a gambler in the series' sixth episode, a time travel scenario entitled "Man from 1997", leading Huggins to cast Garner as the lead the following year in his television series Maverick , according to Huggins' Archive of American Television interview.[ citation needed ]

In the episode, Charles Ruggles portrays an elderly time-traveling librarian from the future attempting to retrieve a 1997 almanac that he mistakenly left 41 years before it is supposed to exist. Garner portrays "Red," the brother of Maureen (Gloria Talbott); the show also stars Jacques Sernas as Johnny Vlakos.

Huggins noted in his Archive of American Television interview that he subsequently cast Garner as the lead in Maverick due to his comedic facial expressions while playing scenes in "Man from 1997" that were not originally written to be comical, leading staffers in the screening room watching the rushes to unexpectedly laugh. Huggins had written the scenes himself and realized that Garner was definitely adding the humor solely with his performance.[ citation needed ]

Schedule

The series does not fit neatly into standard American television seasons, technically superseding Warner Bros. Presents after Casablanca concluded its run in April 1956 [3] and apparently providing at least one week of new material at the beginning of the 1957 season, before Sugarfoot , starring Will Hutchins, replaced it. Hutchins was also cast in three episodes of Conflict, including his screen debut as Ed Masters in "The Magic Brew" (October 16, 1956).

Production

William T. Orr was the executive producer, and Roy Huggins was the producer. [1] David Buttolph was the composer of the theme for Conflict and for the scores for all episodes. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Garner</span> American actor (1928–2014)

James Scott Garner was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, which included The Great Escape (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964) with Julie Andrews; Cash McCall (1960) with Natalie Wood; The Wheeler Dealers (1963) with Lee Remick; Darby's Rangers (1958) with Stuart Whitman; Roald Dahl's 36 Hours (1965) with Eva Marie Saint; as a Formula 1 racing star in Grand Prix (1966); Raymond Chandler's Marlowe (1969) with Bruce Lee; Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) with Walter Brennan; Blake Edwards's Victor/Victoria (1982) with Julie Andrews; and Murphy's Romance (1985) with Sally Field, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He also starred in several television series, including popular roles such as Bret Maverick in the ABC 1950s Western series Maverick and as Jim Rockford in the NBC 1970s private detective show, The Rockford Files.

<i>Maverick</i> (TV series) American TV series (1957–1962)

Maverick is an American Western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins and originally starring James Garner as an adroitly articulate poker player plying his trade on riverboats and in saloons while traveling incessantly through the 19th-century American frontier. The show ran for five seasons from September 22, 1957, to July 8, 1962 on ABC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warner Bros. Television Studios</span> Television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment

Warner Bros. Television Studios is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of Warner Bros.. Since 2006, it is one of the two companies that serve as television production arms of The CW, alongside Paramount Global's subsidiary CBS Studios; it serves as a television production arm of DC Comics productions by DC studios and distribution arm of HBO, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. Warner Bros. Television Studios has also produced shows for other networks such as Blindspot and Found on NBC, Person of Interest on CBS, The Cleaning Lady on Fox and Abbott Elementary on ABC. It has also produced series for streaming services, including The Sandman on Netflix, Ted Lasso on Apple TV+, The Peripheral on Amazon Prime Video and Mrs. Davis on Peacock.

Roy Huggins was an American novelist and an influential writer/creator and producer of character-driven television series, including Maverick, The Fugitive, Hunter, and The Rockford Files. He became a noted writer and producer using his own name, but much of his later television scriptwriting was done using the pseudonyms Thomas Fitzroy, John Thomas James or John Francis O'Mara.

<i>Sugarfoot</i> American Western TV series

Sugarfoot is an American Western television series that aired for 69 episodes on ABC from 1957-1961 on Tuesday nights on a "shared" slot basis – rotating with Cheyenne ; Cheyenne and Bronco ; and Bronco. The Warner Bros. production stars Will Hutchins as Tom Brewster, an Easterner who comes to the Oklahoma Territory to become a lawyer. Brewster was a correspondence-school student whose apparent lack of cowboy skills earned him the nickname "Sugarfoot", a designation even below that of a tenderfoot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Kelly (actor)</span> American actor

John Augustus Kelly Jr., known professionally as Jack Kelly, was an American film and television actor most noted for the role of Bart Maverick in the television series Maverick, which ran on ABC from 1957 to 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Colbert</span> American actor (b. 1931)

Robert Louis Colbert is an American actor best known for his leading role as Dr. Doug Phillips on the ABC television series The Time Tunnel and his two appearances as Brent Maverick, a third Maverick brother in the ABC/Warner Brothers western Maverick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Crowley</span> American actress (1929–2017)

Kathleen Crowley was an American actress. She appeared in over 100 movies and television series in the 1950s and 1960s, almost always as a leading lady.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Hutchins</span> American actor

Will Hutchins is an American actor most noted for playing the lead role of the young lawyer Tom Brewster, in the Western television series Sugarfoot, which aired on ABC from 1957 to 1961 for 69 episodes.

<i>Bret Maverick</i> American TV series or program

Bret Maverick is an American Western television series that starred James Garner in the title role, a professional poker player in the Old West. The series aired on NBC from December 1, 1981, to May 4, 1982. It is a sequel series to the 1957-1962 ABC series Maverick, as well the short-lived 1979 TV series Young Maverick, and that series' pilot, the 1978 TV movie The New Maverick, all of which starred Garner in the same role. In the two previous series, Bret Maverick had been a solitary rounder who travels from riverboat to saloon looking for high-stakes games. In this series, Maverick has settled down in Sweetwater, Arizona Territory, where he owns a ranch and is co-owner of the town's saloon. However, he is still always on the lookout for his next big score, and continues to gamble and practice various con games whenever the chance arises. The series was developed by Gordon Dawson, and produced by Garner's company Cherokee Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

<i>Cheyenne</i> (TV series) TV program

Cheyenne is an American Western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on ABC from 1955 to 1962. The show was the first hour-long Western, and was the first hour-long dramatic series of any kind, with continuing characters, to last more than one season. It was also the first series to be made by a major Hollywood film studio which did not derive from its established film properties, and the first of a long chain of Warner Bros. original series produced by William T. Orr.

<i>Colt .45</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

Colt .45 is an American Western television series, originally starring Wayde Preston, which aired on ABC between October 1957 and September 1960.

<i>Nichols</i> (TV series) American Western television series

Nichols is an American Western television series starring James Garner. It was first broadcast in the United States on NBC during the 1971–72 season. Set in the fictional town of Nichols, Arizona, Nichols differed from traditional Western series. The time period was 1914, at the beginning of the motorized era and well after the decline of the "Old West". The main character, a sheriff also named Nichols, rode on a motorcycle and in an automobile rather than on the traditional horse. Nichols did not carry a firearm and was generally opposed to the use of violence to solve problems, preferring other means. Margot Kidder played his love interest, a barmaid named Ruth.

<i>Warner Bros. Presents</i> American TV series or program

Warner Bros. Presents is the umbrella title for three series that were telecast as part of the 1955–56 season on ABC: Cheyenne, a new Western series that originated on Presents, and two based on classic Warner Bros motion picture properties, becoming Casablanca and Kings Row. The series ran from September 13, 1955, until September 4, 1956, or September 11, 1956.

Edward Thomas Marion Lawton Hargrove Jr. was an American writer.

William T. Orr was an American actor and television producer associated with various Western and detective programs of the 1950s-1970s. In most of his Warner Bros. series, he was billed as "Wm. T. Orr." Orr began his career as an actor; his film credits included The Mortal Storm, The Gay Sisters, and The Big Street.

<i>Kings Row</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

Kings Row is an hour-long American television period drama starring Jack Kelly, Nan Leslie and Robert Horton which was broadcast on ABC between September 13, 1955 and January 17, 1956 as part of the wheel series Warner Bros. Presents. It was the first of 20 filmed shows produced for ABC between 1955 and 1963 by Warner Bros Television, under the supervision of executive producer William T. Orr, Kings Row is also the only straight drama among those shows, whereas Westerns and detective/adventure series comprised 14 of the 20 productions.

Casablanca is an hour-long American television series, in the genre of spying and intrigue during the Cold War, which was broadcast on ABC between September 27, 1955 and April 24, 1956 as part of the wheel series Warner Bros. Presents. The third of 20 filmed shows produced for ABC, between 1955 and 1963, by Warner Bros. Television, under the supervision of executive producer William T. Orr, Casablanca is also the only one among those shows to be structured in the form of a non-U.S.-based Cold-War-intrigue storyline, while 14 of the 20 productions were western and detective/adventure series.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Television Series and Specials Scripts, 1946-1992: A Catalog of the American Radio Archives Collection. McFarland. October 21, 2009. p. 66. ISBN   978-0-7864-5437-2 . Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  2. Anderson, Christopher (October 11, 2013). Hollywood TV: The Studio System in the Fifties. University of Texas Press. ISBN   978-0-292-75953-4 . Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  3. "Warner Brothers Presents at the Museum of Broadcast Communications". Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
  4. Burlingame, Jon (March 3, 2023). Music for Prime Time: A History of American Television Themes and Scoring. Oxford University Press. pp. 26–27. ISBN   978-0-19-061830-8 . Retrieved April 1, 2023.