Tucker's Witch
Encyclopedia
Tucker's Witch is a 12-episode comedy
-detective
series which aired on CBS television
from October 6, 1982, to November 10, 1982, and again sporadically from March 31 to June 9, 1983. It starred 34-year-old Tim Matheson
and 31-year-old Catherine Hicks
as a charming married couple, Rick and Amanda Tucker, who own and operate their private detective agency in Laurel Canyon
in Los Angeles
. Hicks replaced actress Kim Cattrall
, who was in the pilot but was removed from the show after the movie Porky's
came out and showed Cattrall's racy scene in the gym. In the story line, Amanda's psychic
powers become an asset in solving cases but also tend to get the pair into various troubles. In later rebroadcasts on the USA Network
, the program was known as The Good Witch of Laurel Canyon.
The series pilot, in which Art Hindle
and Kim Cattrall
played Rick and Amanda, was never broadcast.
Ted Danson
played an elevator killer in the 1982 premiere episode during the same season he began playing bartender Sam Malone
on Cheers
. Danson first was seen as Sam Malone on the September 30th premiere episode of Cheers and then seen on Tucker's Witch on October 6, six days later. The better known guest stars in Tucker's Witch included Barry Corbin
, Simon Oakland
, Ted Danson
, Joe Penny
, and Noble Willingham
.
Catherine Hicks had previously been a soap opera actress on ABC's Ryan's Hope, and received an Emmy nomination for her 1980 performance as Marilyn Monroe in an ABC biopic, and later known to audiences for her role as Annie Camden, the sympathetic, discerning wife of the minister Eric Camden, played by Stephen Collins, in the Warner Brothers family series 7th Heaven
. Matheson starred earlier in Robert Young
's Window on Main Street
and two western
series, NBC
's The Virginian
with James Drury
and ABC
's The Quest
with Kurt Russell
, and in various film
s, including Animal House. He was also the voice of the Jonny Quest
cartoon
character.
Tucker's Witch aired at 10 p.m. Eastern on Wednesdays in its first run and proved unable to compete with ABC's Dynasty
prime time
soap opera
starring John Forsythe
, Joan Collins
, and Linda Evans
and with NBC's Quincy, M.E.
starring Jack Klugman
. The program was switched to Thursday for the second half of its brief run.
The show was produced by Hill-Mandelker Films.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
-detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
series which aired on CBS television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
from October 6, 1982, to November 10, 1982, and again sporadically from March 31 to June 9, 1983. It starred 34-year-old Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson is an American actor, director and producer. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the smooth-talking Eric 'Otter' Stratton in the 1978 comedy National Lampoon's Animal House and has had a variety of other well-known roles, including providing the voice of the lead character...
and 31-year-old Catherine Hicks
Catherine Hicks
Catherine Mary Hicks is an American stage, film, television actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Annie Camden on the long-running television series 7th Heaven and as Karen Barclay in Child's Play.-Personal life:...
as a charming married couple, Rick and Amanda Tucker, who own and operate their private detective agency in Laurel Canyon
Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California
Laurel Canyon is a canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was first developed in the 1910s, and became a part of the city of Los Angeles in 1923 ....
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Hicks replaced actress Kim Cattrall
Kim Cattrall
Kim Victoria Cattrall is an English actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, and for her leading roles in the 1980s films Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, and Porky's...
, who was in the pilot but was removed from the show after the movie Porky's
Porky's
Porky's is a 1982 comedy film about the escapades of teenagers at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida in 1954. It was released in the United States in 1982, and spawned two sequels: Porky's II: The Next Day and Porky's Revenge! and influenced many writers in the teen film genre...
came out and showed Cattrall's racy scene in the gym. In the story line, Amanda's psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
powers become an asset in solving cases but also tend to get the pair into various troubles. In later rebroadcasts on the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
, the program was known as The Good Witch of Laurel Canyon.
The series pilot, in which Art Hindle
Art Hindle
Arthur Hindle is a Canadian actor and director.Hindle was born in Halifax. His family moved to Toronto while he was a child. Although shy as a youngster, he grew to be a rebellious and independent teenager...
and Kim Cattrall
Kim Cattrall
Kim Victoria Cattrall is an English actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, and for her leading roles in the 1980s films Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, and Porky's...
played Rick and Amanda, was never broadcast.
Ted Danson
Ted Danson
Edward Bridge “Ted” Danson III is an American actor best known for his role as central character Sam Malone in the sitcom Cheers, and his role as Dr. John Becker on the series Becker. He also plays a recurring role on Larry David's HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm and starred alongside Glenn Close...
played an elevator killer in the 1982 premiere episode during the same season he began playing bartender Sam Malone
Sam Malone
Sam "Mayday" Malone is a fictional character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Ted Danson. The central character of the series, Sam is a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball team who owns Cheers and tends bar there. He is a recovering alcoholic and...
on Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
. Danson first was seen as Sam Malone on the September 30th premiere episode of Cheers and then seen on Tucker's Witch on October 6, six days later. The better known guest stars in Tucker's Witch included Barry Corbin
Barry Corbin
Leonard Barrie Corbin, known as Barry Corbin , is an American actor with more than one hundred film, television and video game credits.-Early life:...
, Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland
Simon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.-Early life and career:Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician . He began his acting career in the late 1940s...
, Ted Danson
Ted Danson
Edward Bridge “Ted” Danson III is an American actor best known for his role as central character Sam Malone in the sitcom Cheers, and his role as Dr. John Becker on the series Becker. He also plays a recurring role on Larry David's HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm and starred alongside Glenn Close...
, Joe Penny
Joe Penny
Joseph Edward Penny, Jr., credited as Joe Penny is an actor best known for his role as Nick Ryder on the detective series Riptide from 1984 to 1986 and for his role as Jake Styles in the CBS television series Jake and the Fatman from 1987 to 1992.-Early life:Penny was born in London, England to an...
, and Noble Willingham
Noble Willingham
Noble Henry Willingham, Jr. was an American television and film actor.-Career:Willingham had appeared in more than thirty feature films, including Harry's War , Up Close and Personal , City Slickers , The Last Boy Scout , City Slickers II , Ace Ventura: Pet Detective , Chinatown...
.
Catherine Hicks had previously been a soap opera actress on ABC's Ryan's Hope, and received an Emmy nomination for her 1980 performance as Marilyn Monroe in an ABC biopic, and later known to audiences for her role as Annie Camden, the sympathetic, discerning wife of the minister Eric Camden, played by Stephen Collins, in the Warner Brothers family series 7th Heaven
7th Heaven
7th Heaven is an American family drama television series, created and produced by Brenda Hampton. The series premiered on August 26, 1996, on the WB, the first time that the network aired Monday night programming, and was originally broadcast from August 26, 1996 to May 13, 2007...
. Matheson starred earlier in Robert Young
Robert Young (actor)
Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
's Window on Main Street
Window on Main Street
Window on Main Street is an American comedy-drama series starring Robert Young, which aired on CBS during the 1961-1962 season. The series was created by Roswell Rogers and produced by series star Robert Young.-Synopsis:...
and two 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, 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...
's The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
with James Drury
James Drury
James Child Drury, Jr. is an American actor probably best known for his success in playing the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series The Virginian, broadcast on NBC from 1962-1971...
and 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...
's The Quest
The Quest (TV series)
The Quest, a 15-episode Western television series which aired on NBC beginning September 22, 1976, starring Kurt Russell and Tim Matheson.-Overview:...
with Kurt Russell
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
, and in various film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s, including Animal House. He was also the voice of the Jonny Quest
Jonny Quest
Jonny Quest is a media franchise that revolves around a boy named Jonny Quest who accompanies his father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964-65 television series and has come to include two subsequent television series, two television films, and a video game.-1964–1965...
cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
character.
Tucker's Witch aired at 10 p.m. Eastern on Wednesdays in its first run and proved unable to compete with ABC's Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
starring John Forsythe
John Forsythe
John Forsythe was an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning four decades and three genres: as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the sitcom Bachelor Father ; as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the crime drama Charlie's...
, Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
, and Linda Evans
Linda Evans
Linda Evans is an American actress. She is known primarily for her roles on television, and rose to fame playing Audra Barkley in the 1960s Western TV series, The Big Valley...
and with NBC's Quincy, M.E.
Quincy, M.E.
Quincy, M.E., also called Quincy, is a United States television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC...
starring Jack Klugman
Jack Klugman
Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman is an American stage, film and television actor known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, and television and on Broadway...
. The program was switched to Thursday for the second half of its brief run.
The show was produced by Hill-Mandelker Films.
Episodes
- October 6: "The Good Witch of Laurel Canyon:
- October 13: "Big Mouth"
- October 20: "The Corpse Who Knew Too Much:
- October 27: "The Curse of the Toltec Death Mask"
- November 10: "Abra-Cadaver"
- March 31: "Dye Job"
- April 7: "Psyche Out"
- April 14: "Rock Is a Hard Place"
- April 28: "Formula for Revenge"
- May 5: "Living and Presumed Dead"
- June 9: "Murder Is the Key"