Flipper (1964 TV series)

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Flipper
Flipper Title Screen.JPG
Genre
Created by
Directed by Ricou Browning
Starring
Music byHenry Vars
Samuel Matlovsky
Ruby Raksin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes88 (list of episodes)
Production
ProducersIvan Tors
James Buxbaum
CinematographyHoward Winner
Clifford H. Poland Jr.
Running timeapprox. 25 minutes
Production companies Ivan Tors Films, Inc.
MGM Television
Original release
Network NBC
ReleaseSeptember 19, 1964 (1964-09-19) 
April 15, 1967 (1967-04-15)
Related

Flipper is an American television program broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. [1] Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the pet of Porter Ricks, chief warden at Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve (a fictional version of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, Florida), and his two young sons, Sandy and Bud. The show has been dubbed an "aquatic Lassie ", and a considerable amount of children's merchandise inspired by the show was produced during its first run.

Contents

Production

The television show is an extension of the 1963 film Flipper starring Chuck Connors and Luke Halpin as Porter and Sandy Ricks, and of its 1964 sequel, Flipper's New Adventure . For the second film, the producers scripted that Mrs. Ricks had died, making Porter now a single parent, with Brian Kelly taking over the role as Porter Ricks, but now as a trainee park ranger rather than a fisherman. In adapting the films to a television series, the producers gave Porter a second, younger son, Bud, portrayed by Tommy Norden, and the TV series has Porter returning permanently to the Florida Keys as the park ranger of the Coral Key Marine Preserve. The producers also departed from the films by endowing Flipper with an unnatural degree of intelligence and an extraordinary understanding of human motives, behavior, and vocabulary. [2]

The show was created, by way of the creation of the first film, by Jack Cowden and Ricou Browning, the latter of whom had experience in underwater filming and underwater performance, notably as the monster in Creature from the Black Lagoon . In Browning's second filmed portrayal of the creature, Revenge of the Creature , a scene showcases one of the film's shooting locations, Marineland of Florida (depicted with a fictionalized name), presenting several stunts performed by "Flippy, the Educated Porpoise", in a form of product placement. Browning also wrote the book Flipper based on the ancient legend of Taras, a mythical founder of the Spartan city-state of the same name (on the coast of Italy where modern day Taranto is located), who was rescued from shipwreck by a dolphin sent by Poseidon, which was picked up and adapted by famous producer Ivan Tors into the first Flipper movie.

Filming locations

Flipper was filmed in Miami at Greenwich Studios (at the time called Ivan Tors Studios) at 12100 Ivan Tors Boulevard in Miami, Florida, and at Key Biscayne, Florida. Nassau was an occasional location, especially for underwater footage. The show was produced in co-operation with the Miami Seaquarium, an aquarium also located on Key Biscayne in Miami.

The show used two different Thunderbird Iroquois boats as picture boats, a 22' model with all white upholstery and a single porthole on the sides of the cuddy for the first two seasons, and upgraded to a 23' model in the third season with two-tone upholstery and two portholes on the sides of the cuddy. [3]

Miami Seaquarium still presents the Flipper Show, a dolphin show in the lagoon that served as the film location for the show. [4]

The Miami Seaquarium set where Flipper was filmed also served as the set of another Ivan Tors production, Gentle Ben ; the house where the Ricks family lived was the same house used for the Wedloe family on Gentle Ben.[ citation needed ] Flipper was moved to Jimbo's Shrimp (also known as Jimbo's Place), located across from Miami Seaquarium, into the care and exercise of James "Jimbo" Luznar. Sr. Flipper lived in a pen in the cove behind Jimbo's Shrimp.

Role of Flipper

Flipper was portrayed at first by a female dolphin named Susie, though mostly by another female, Kathy, and occasionally by other females named Patty, Scotty, and Squirt. Female dolphins were chosen because they are less aggressive than males and their skins (unlike the skins of male dolphins) are usually free from scars and other disfigurations acquired in altercations with other dolphins, making their passing for the identical "Flipper" easier. The five dolphins performed all of Flipper's scenes except the famous tail walk, a trick they were unable to master completely. A male dolphin named Clown was brought in for scenes involving the tail walk. [5] The famous "voice" of Flipper was actually the doctored song of a kookaburra bird. [6]

Music

The show's theme tune was credited to Henry Vars with lyrics by By Dunham. In France, the melody was known as "La Romance de Paris" ("The Love Song of Paris"). The first five episodes of the second season featured a different version of the theme, with Frankie Randall singing new lyrics. After those episodes, the original style of the theme was brought back. The background music of the long underwater sequences was inspired by Ravel's "Daphnis and Chloe".

Broadcast history

Filming began in the early summer of 1964, and the first episode of season one was broadcast on September 19, 1964, with the series ending with the 28th episode of season three being broadcast on April 15, 1967, showing on NBC Saturday nights 7:30–8:00 pm, making 88 episodes in total. NBC continued broadcasts with repeats from season three until September 1967. One episode (episode three in season one, called "SOS Dolphin") was filmed earlier in 1964 as a pilot immediately after the filming of Flipper's New Adventure was completed. Brian Kelly appeared in all 88 episodes, Luke Halpin was in 85, and Tommy Norden was in 84. Later, reruns of the first two seasons aired January 1968 – June 1968, NBC, Sunday 6:30–7:00 pm and June 1968 – September 1968, NBC, Sunday 7:00–7:30 pm.

In its debut season in the 1964–65 United States network television schedule, Flipper was a considerable ratings success, rating in the top 25, especially going up against the long-standing and popular The Jackie Gleason Show on CBS. Ratings declined only slightly in season two 1965–66 United States network television schedule buoyed by its proximity to NBC's popular new Saturday night shows I Dream of Jeannie and Get Smart . Ratings fell sharply in season three against a strong rise in ratings for Gleason's show.

Characters and cast

Animal cast

Flipper the Dolphin Flipper 1964 2.jpg
Flipper the Dolphin

Human cast

Flipper Kelly Halpin Norden 1964 crop.jpg
Flipper Kelly Halpin Norden 1964 crop.jpg
Clockwise from top: Brian Kelly, Luke Halpin and Tommy Norden.

Notable guest stars

Flipper was notable for the casting of a number of guest actors, several of whom went on to stardom in later years or had already had a stellar career.

Plot

The Ricks cottage at Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve Ricks cottage, Flipper (1964 TV series).JPG
The Ricks cottage at Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve

The series follows a bottlenose dolphin named Flipper who is the wild pet of Porter Ricks, a park warden, and his sons, Sandy (15) and Bud (10). Flipper lives in a lagoon near the Ricks cottage at Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve. With the Ricks family, Flipper helps protect the park and preserve and its wild inhabitants. He is also instrumental in apprehending criminals and thugs in the park. Flipper is generally recognized by the characters in the show (and the theme song) as being a particularly intelligent and capable dolphin. Flipper is the special companion of the youngest member of the Ricks family, Bud, and several episodes feature Flipper rescuing Bud from dangerous situations. Flipper is able to somehow communicate through different chatter-like tones, head nods and shakes, and other attention-seeking antics with Sandy and Bud, and draw their (and Porter's) attention to danger or in the direction of people needing help. Few women are in the lives of the Ricks males, but in the first season, Porter does have a date, and Sandy falls for the girl operator of a floating zoo, who appears in four episodes. A female oceanographer enters the series in the second season to add a feminine touch to the proceedings, but little more than mild flirtations and fondness between Porter and her ensues. Promotional material for the third season announced a new girlfriend for Sandy, although she only appeared in one episode, and he has an innocently flirtatious scene with another girl in a separate episode. The series is distinguished for its lush photography of subtropical Florida and its colorful underwater sequences.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 30September 19, 1964 (1964-09-19)April 10, 1965 (1965-04-10)
2 30September 18, 1965 (1965-09-18)April 16, 1966 (1966-04-16)
3 28September 17, 1966 (1966-09-17)April 15, 1967 (1967-04-15)

Cancellation and subsequent history

The last first-run episode of Flipper aired April 15, 1967. In the conclusion of a two-part episode, the characters of Sandy and Bud are written out of the show (by that time, both Halpin and Norden had grown out of their roles), as it is detailed how each plans to leave Coral Key — Sandy has been accepted to the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, and Bud will be attending a private school remedially in Massachusetts, as arranged by their Aunt Martha. At the same time, a new family (the Whitmans) moves to the area: a widowed mother (portrayed by Karen Steele) and her young son and daughter (portrayed by Stuart Getz and Chris Charney). The two new children are depicted as unfamiliar with maritime life, but they promptly befriend Flipper, and promise to be his new companions after Sandy and Bud leave. Plans were made for a fourth season, revolving around the Whitman children taking the role of Flipper's guardians/playmates and their mother becoming involved in a serious relationship with Porter. Sandy and Bud presumably would have made a cameo visit in an episode or two. All this was for naught, however, as Ivan Tors chose not to continue to make a fourth season in this new format, so NBC cancelled it. [7]

Flipper has seen periodic syndication since its NBC cancellation. The show has aired on Family Channel, Nickelodeon, Animal Planet, Discovery Kids, in high-definition on satellite provider Voom's Family Room channel, and on digital subchannel Antenna TV. Most of the images of Flipper jumping against a skyline were not in the originally aired version, as the filming took place in an enclosed lagoon. They were filmed at the end of the series and added for syndication. [7]

The rights to Flipper were later acquired by The Samuel Goldwyn Company, later becoming a subsidiary of Orion Pictures, which in turn would later be acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (whose MGM Television division originally produced the series), now officially owned by Amazon under Amazon MGM Studios division. As a result, MGM owns distribution rights to the series; the series copyright is held by Orion Pictures (whose own holdings include the Goldwyn library). It is also one of the few pre-1985 MGM Television programs in MGM's pre-May 1986 library that is not currently owned by Warner Bros. through Turner Entertainment Co. Thus, the physical home video rights of this series is currently distributed also by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (since 2020, under the joint venture division, Studio Distribution Services in which after Fox and MGM Worldwide home media deal expired).

As of November 2016, Flipper airs as one of a handful of classic TV series (alongside Ivan Tors' earlier series Sea Hunt ) on the primarily movie-oriented digital subchannel This TV. [8] In 2017, Flipper and Sea Hunt began airing together on Light TV.

Home media

On August 29, 2017, Olive Films re-released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1. They also released seasons one and two on Blu-ray. [9] Season three was released on October 31, 2017, on DVD and Blu-ray. [10]

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References

  1. Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 175–176. ISBN   0-8108-1651-2.
  2. "Flipper - The Original Series: Season One". DVD Talk . Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  3. Budne, Phil. "Richard Cole 1909-2004". omc-boats.org. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  4. "Fun Attractions in Miami Seaquarium" . Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  5. Ric O' Barry and Keith Coulbourn, Behind the Dolphin Smile, Renaissance Books, 2000, ISBN   978-1-58063-101-3
  6. Arthur, Nicole (January 31, 2003). "Day of the Dolphin". Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  7. 1 2 Ric O' Barry and Keith Coulbourn, Behind the Dolphin Smile, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1988, ISBN   0-912697-79-2
  8. "This TV's official movie page for Flipper (1964)". Archived from the original on September 14, 2016.
  9. Box Art, Pricing for 'Season 1' and 'Season 2' on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Archived September 2, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
  10. Flipper - First-Ever DVD and Blu-ray Releases for 'Season 3'! The final season of the classic show comes from Olive this Halloween Archived September 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine

Further reading