Temple Houston (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Temple Houston is a 1963–64
NBC
television series which has been called "the first attempt . . . to produce an hour-long Western
series with the main character being an attorney
in the formal sense." It was the only show Jack Webb
sold to a network
during his ten months as the head of production at Warner Bros. Television
. It was also the first Warner Bros. Television show to be aired on a network other than ABC
, and the lone series in which actor Jeffrey Hunter
played a regular part.
for Temple Houston. In its broadest sense, however, it is a show based loosely on the career of the real-life circuit
-riding lawyer Temple Houston (1860–1905), son of the more famous Sam Houston
. Aside from that general statement, though, there is little which binds all the episodes together under a common framework. The series variously cast the characters and situations in both an overtly humorous and a deadly serious light. Writer Francis M. Nevin asserts of the first episode: "Clearly, the concept here is Perry Mason
out West", going so far as to note that Houstons court opponent "apes Hamilton Burger
by accusing Houston of 'prolonging this trial with a lot of dramatic nonsense'". Later episodes turned Houston into more of a detective than a lawyer. Over the course of the series, the bulk of narrative saw Houston actually gathering evidence, rather than trying cases. In the end, the series largely eschewed criminal law in favor of overtly humorous plots, such as in the episode "The Law and Big Annie", which saw Houston using his legal expertise to help his friend figure out what to do after he had inherited an elephant.
Inasmuch as the series was loosely based on an actual person, producers tried to avoid storylines that would embarrass the two children of Temple Houston who were still alive when the series went on the air.
as Temple Houston
Jack Elam
as George Taggart
Frank Ferguson
as Judge Gurney
Chubby Johnson
as Concho
Mary Wickes
as Ida Goff
Some notable guest stars on the show were: Parley Baer
, Shug Fisher
, Collin Wilcox
, Susan Kohner
, Charles Bateman, Russ Conway
, Douglas Fowley
, Virginia Gregg
, Ron Hayes
, Morgan Woodward
, J. Pat O'Malley
, William Fawcett
, Victor French
, Tom Skeritt, Kathie Browne
, Robert Conrad
, Anne Francis
, Richard Jaeckel
, Paula Raymond
, Van Williams
, and Connie Stevens
.
. It took about six years for a pilot to be filmed. That pilot
, The Man From Galveston, was filmed in March 1963, but was never broadcast on television. Instead, the 57-minute film was released theatrically in December 1963. A part of the reason for this method of release was because the series used a radically different cast; some were unavailable at the start of series production in August. Actor Jeffrey Hunter was the only cast member to star in both pilot and series, although his character was re-dubbed
Timothy Higgins in the pilot when it was released as a theatrical film.
vehicle
collapsed in the summer of 1963, NBC suddenly had a vacant slot on its fall 1963 schedule. It therefore quickly moved Temple Houston forward. Houston had only about three weeks from greenlight to its first date of filming. At the time it was greenlit, writing—much less pre-production—had barely begun. In this chaotic three weeks period, the series underwent a dramatic concept overhaul. Hunter described the situation in a 1965 interview:
The series was produced by Warner Bros. Television and Apollo Productions, a company co-owned by star Jeffrey Hunter, who had demanded to produce it in exchange for a film and television commitment to Warner Bros.
By December 1963, the series was rated
31st of the 32 new shows that season. NBC then ordered a switch back to more humorous stories. The aim, according to Hunter, was to make something "on the order of Maverick
", but the change merely allowed the series to continue to the end of the season.
in Texas
.
Because the show produced so few episodes, it had little presence on the domestic syndication market. However, it appears to have enjoyed limited international syndication. The series was shown in Japan in 1963, and on Australian regional television
station GTS-4 in 1974
. In Britain
the program aired during 1964, inspiring one of the few pieces of memorabilia from the show—a 1965 British annual.
1963-64 United States network television schedule
This was the television schedule on all three networks for the fall season beginning in September 1963.ABC began its new fall schedule a week early, beating CBS and NBC out of the starting gate. New series debuting this week included sci-fi anthology The Outer Limits, police/lawyer series Arrest...
NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television series which has been called "the first attempt . . . to produce an hour-long Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series with the main character being an attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in the formal sense." It was the only show Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
sold to a network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
during his ten months as the head of production at Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
. It was also the first Warner Bros. Television show to be aired on a network other than ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, and the lone series in which actor Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
played a regular part.
Premise
Due to interference from NBC upon the production team's concept for the series, it is somewhat difficult to speak of a single premisePremise
Premise can refer to:* Premise, a claim that is a reason for, or an objection against, some other claim as part of an argument...
for Temple Houston. In its broadest sense, however, it is a show based loosely on the career of the real-life circuit
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
-riding lawyer Temple Houston (1860–1905), son of the more famous Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
. Aside from that general statement, though, there is little which binds all the episodes together under a common framework. The series variously cast the characters and situations in both an overtly humorous and a deadly serious light. Writer Francis M. Nevin asserts of the first episode: "Clearly, the concept here is Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
out West", going so far as to note that Houstons court opponent "apes Hamilton Burger
Hamilton Burger
Hamilton Burger is the fictional Los Angeles district attorney who is the nemesis of Perry Mason in the long-running series of novels, films, and radio and television programs featuring the fictional defense attorney created by Erle Stanley Gardner...
by accusing Houston of 'prolonging this trial with a lot of dramatic nonsense'". Later episodes turned Houston into more of a detective than a lawyer. Over the course of the series, the bulk of narrative saw Houston actually gathering evidence, rather than trying cases. In the end, the series largely eschewed criminal law in favor of overtly humorous plots, such as in the episode "The Law and Big Annie", which saw Houston using his legal expertise to help his friend figure out what to do after he had inherited an elephant.
Inasmuch as the series was loosely based on an actual person, producers tried to avoid storylines that would embarrass the two children of Temple Houston who were still alive when the series went on the air.
Cast
Jeffrey HunterJeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
as Temple Houston
Temple Houston
Temple Lea Houston was the last-born child of Texas Revolutionary Sam Houston.After traveling and working in the East, Houston returned to Texas in 1877, and graduated from Baylor University with honors in 1880....
Jack Elam
Jack Elam
William Scott "Jack" Elam was an American film actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies .-Early life:...
as George Taggart
Frank Ferguson
Frank Ferguson
Frank Ferguson was an American character actor with hundreds of appearances in both film and television. Perhaps his best known role was as the ranch handyman, Gus Broeberg, on the CBS television series, My Friend Flicka, based on a novel of the same name...
as Judge Gurney
Chubby Johnson
Chubby Johnson
Chubby Johnson was an American movie and television supporting character actor with a genial demeanor and warm country-accented voice perfect for westerns...
as Concho
Mary Wickes
Mary Wickes
Mary Wickes was an American film and television actress.-Career:Wickes was born as Mary Isabelle Wickenhauser in St. Louis, Missouri, of German Irish Protestant extraction. She graduated at the age of eighteen with a degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis, where she...
as Ida Goff
Some notable guest stars on the show were: Parley Baer
Parley Baer
Parley Edward Baer was an American actor in film, television, and radio.-Radio:Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Baer had a circus background, but began his radio career at Utah station KSL...
, Shug Fisher
Shug Fisher
Shug Fisher , born George Clinton Fisher, Jr., was an American character actor, singer, songwriter, musician and comedian. During a 50-year career, he appeared in many Western films, often as a member of The Sons of the Pioneers in Roy Rogers serials...
, Collin Wilcox
Collin Wilcox (actress)
Collin Wilcox was an American actress in film, on stage and television. She was also credited as Collin Wilcox-Horne or Collin Wilcox-Paxton....
, Susan Kohner
Susan Kohner
Susan Kohner is an American actress.-Early life and career:Born as Susanna Kohner in Los Angeles, Kohner is the daughter of Mexican actress Lupita Tovar and Jewish film producer Paul Kohner who was born in Bohemia part of Austria-Hungary...
, Charles Bateman, Russ Conway
Russ Conway (actor)
Russ Conway was a Canadian-American character actor who appeared on film and television between 1947 and 1975.-Early years:...
, Douglas Fowley
Douglas Fowley
Douglas Fowley was an American movie and television actor.Fowley was born Daniel Vincent Fowley in The Bronx, New York. The 5'11" actor is probably best remembered for his role as the movie director Roscoe Dexter in Singin' in the Rain . The actor appeared in over 240 films and later in dozens of...
, Virginia Gregg
Virginia Gregg
Virginia Gregg Burket was an American actress best known for her many roles in radio dramas.Born in Harrisburg, Illinois, Virginia Gregg was the daughter of musician Dewey Alphaleta and businessman Edward William Gregg.-Radio:Gregg was a prolific radio actor, heard on such programs as The...
, Ron Hayes
Ron Hayes
Ronald G. Hayes was an American television actor who, as an activist in the environmental movement, worked for the establishment of the first Earth Day, observed on April 22, 1970. He was a member of the Sierra Club and a founder of the ecological interest group Wilderness World...
, Morgan Woodward
Morgan Woodward
Morgan Woodward is an American actor.He is probably best known for his recurring role in Dallas as Marvin "Punk" Anderson...
, J. Pat O'Malley
J. Pat O'Malley
James Patrick O'Malley was an English singer and character actor, who appeared in many American films and television programs during the 1940s–1970s, using the stage name J. Pat O'Malley...
, William Fawcett
William Fawcett
William Fawcett may refer to:* William Fawcett , former Adjutant-General to the Forces* William Fawcett , British botanist and co-author of the Flora of Jamaica...
, Victor French
Victor French
Victor Edwin French was an American actor and director.-Early career:Born in Santa Barbara, California,...
, Tom Skeritt, Kathie Browne
Kathie Browne
Kathie Browne was an American film and television actress.-Background:Born in San Luis Obispo, California as Jacqueline Katherine Browne she appeared in many films and TV shows such as Star Trek: The Original Series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason,...
, Robert Conrad
Robert Conrad
Robert Conrad is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the 1965 CBS television series The Wild Wild West, in which he played the sophisticated Secret Service agent James T. West, and his portrayal of World War II ace Pappy Boyington in the television series Baa Baa Black Sheep...
, Anne Francis
Anne Francis
Anne Lloyd Francis was an American actress, best known for her role in the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet , and as the female private detective in the television series Honey West . She won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy award for her role in Honey West...
, Richard Jaeckel
Richard Jaeckel
Richard Hanley Jaeckel was an American actor of film and television.-Life and career:Jaeckel was born in Long Beach, New York. A short, but tough guy, he played a variety of characters during his fifty years in movies & television and became one of Hollywood's best known character actors...
, Paula Raymond
Paula Raymond
Paula Raymond was an American model and actress.In 1950, she was put under contract by MGM, where she played opposite such leading men as Cary Grant and Dick Powell...
, Van Williams
Van Williams
Van Zandt Williams is a former actor best known for his television role as Britt Reid/the Green Hornet. He teamed for one season with the late Bruce Lee as his partner Kato, in the television series The Green Hornet, broadcast on ABC during the 1966-67 season.Williams was also known for his...
, and Connie Stevens
Connie Stevens
Connie Stevens is an American actress and singer, best known for her roles in the television series Hawaiian Eye and other TV and film work.-Early life:...
.
Pilot
The earliest known conceptual documents for Temple Houston date back to 19571957 in television
The year 1957 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1957.-Events:*January 6 – Elvis Presley makes final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show....
. It took about six years for a pilot to be filmed. That pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
, The Man From Galveston, was filmed in March 1963, but was never broadcast on television. Instead, the 57-minute film was released theatrically in December 1963. A part of the reason for this method of release was because the series used a radically different cast; some were unavailable at the start of series production in August. Actor Jeffrey Hunter was the only cast member to star in both pilot and series, although his character was re-dubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
Timothy Higgins in the pilot when it was released as a theatrical film.
Series
When a Robert TaylorRobert Taylor (actor)
Robert Taylor was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Spangler Arlington Brugh in Filley, Nebraska, he was the son of Ruth Adaline and Spangler Andrew Brugh, who was a farmer turned doctor...
vehicle
Star vehicle
A star vehicle has historically been a movie, play, TV series, or other production whose primary purpose, besides turning a profit, is to enhance someone's career. Vehicles are most commonly produced when a young or inexperienced actor has signed a long-term contract with a major studio...
collapsed in the summer of 1963, NBC suddenly had a vacant slot on its fall 1963 schedule. It therefore quickly moved Temple Houston forward. Houston had only about three weeks from greenlight to its first date of filming. At the time it was greenlit, writing—much less pre-production—had barely begun. In this chaotic three weeks period, the series underwent a dramatic concept overhaul. Hunter described the situation in a 1965 interview:
The series was produced by Warner Bros. Television and Apollo Productions, a company co-owned by star Jeffrey Hunter, who had demanded to produce it in exchange for a film and television commitment to Warner Bros.
By December 1963, the series was rated
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
31st of the 32 new shows that season. NBC then ordered a switch back to more humorous stories. The aim, according to Hunter, was to make something "on the order of Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
", but the change merely allowed the series to continue to the end of the season.
Cancellation
Temple Houston was pulled after one season of 26 episodes. Jeffrey Hunter later indicated that he thought the series' failure was due to an inability to establish a consistent tone for the project. He also noted the unusual title: "The big joke around town was, the series was about a synagogueSynagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
After cancellation
Although Warner Bros. owns the copyrights to the episodes (allowing, for instance, the scripts to be remade), the theatrical and television distribution rights are owned "in perpetuity" by NBC, which has licensed those rights to various distributors over the years.Because the show produced so few episodes, it had little presence on the domestic syndication market. However, it appears to have enjoyed limited international syndication. The series was shown in Japan in 1963, and on Australian regional television
Regional television in Australia
Regional television is a term given to local television services in areas outside of the five main Australian cities .-1960s:...
station GTS-4 in 1974
1974 in television
The year 1974 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1974.For the American TV schedule, see: 1974-75 American network television schedule.-Events:...
. In Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
the program aired during 1964, inspiring one of the few pieces of memorabilia from the show—a 1965 British annual.