The Long, Hot Summer (TV series)

The Long Hot Summer
Genre	Drama
Created by	Dean Riesner
Written by	William Bast; Alfred Brenner; Oliver Crawford; William Faulkner; James Gunn; Anthony Lawrence; Dean Riesner; Mark Rodgers; Jerome Ross; Donald S. Sanford; Robert J. Shaw; Jack Turley
Directed by	Marc Daniels; Robert Gist; Alex March; Don Richardson; Mark Rydell; Vincent Sherman
Starring	Edmond O'Brien (1965 – January 1966); Dan O'Herlihy (January 1966-1966); Roy Thinnes; Nancy Malone; Paul Geary; Ruth Roman; Lana Wood
Theme music composer	Sammy Cahn; Alex North
Opening theme	"The Long Hot Summer" performed by Jimmie Rodgers
Composer(s)	Leith Stevens
Country of origin	USA
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Producer(s)	Frank Glicksman
Running time	45 mins. (approx)
Production company(s)	20th Century Fox Television
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	September 16, 1965 –; April 13, 1966

The Long Hot Summer is an American drama series from 20th Century Fox Television that was broadcast on ABC-TV for one season from 1965–1966. It was aired in the UK on ITV.

Synopsis

The series was set in the Deep South community of Frenchman's Bend, Mississippi. The community was dominated and owned by the town's wealthy, powerful (and deceitful) bank owner "Boss" Will Varner (Edmond O'Brien). A widower with two grown children who also owned other businesses besides the town's bank, the unscrupulous Varner ran the town and its citizens with an iron fist and nobody dared to question him. He and his family lived in the largest mansion in Frenchman's Bend.

However, problems arose in Varner's orderly world when Ben Quick (Roy Thinnes), a young man whose father Varner destroyed some years prior, returns to town after thirteen years away to reclaim his family's farm and to challenge Varner's absolute authority over the town and its people. Ben's aim was to settle the score against the wicked Varner in the fight his father ran from.

Supporting characters include Clara and Jody Varner; Jody was Will's weak-willed and immature, but more honest son and Clara was Will's sensitive and sensible but deeply troubled older daughter who was considered to be the lady of the house (in lieu of her late mother). To her father's dismay, she liked Ben; Minnie Littlejohn, the town's hotel owner who is a good friend to many in town and was also the mistress of Will Varner; and Eula Johnson, a 17-year-old girl who becomes a central point in wealthy Jody Varner's life after he picks her up during a rain storm and defends her from her brother and fiance. (In the movie, Eula was married to Jody Varner; but in the TV series, she was merely a friend of Jody's.)

Also seen occasionally was Andrew, the Varner family's butler/chauffeur; Sheriff Harve Anders, the local sheriff for the county in which Frenchman's Bend is located; Judge Armistid, the community's judge; and Dr. Aaron Clark, the Varner family's physician.

Cast

Main

Edmond O'Brien (1965 – January 1966) and Dan O'Herlihy (January 1966 – April 1966) as "Boss" Will Varner
Roy Thinnes as Ben Quick
Nancy Malone as Clara Varner
Paul Geary as Jody Varner
Ruth Roman as Minnie Littlejohn
Lana Wood as Eula Johnson

Guest cast

Paul Bryar as Sheriff Harve Anders
Harold Gould as Bowman Chamberlain
Warren J. Kemmerling as Lucas Taney
Charles Lampkin as Andrew
William Mims as Sam Ruddabaw
Tisha Sterling as Susan Beauchamp
Jason Wingreen as Dr. Aaron Clark

Production

Development

Created by Dean Riesner, The Long Hot Summer was based on the novel The Hamlet by William Faulkner, the short story "Barn Burning", and the 1958 film of the same name. The show retained the movie's theme song, "The Long, Hot Summer," written by Sammy Cahn and Alex North, and Jimmie Rodgers sang it for the series just as he did for the film.

Broadcast

The Long Hot Summer was scheduled on Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST opposite CBS' Thursday Night Movie and NBC's long-running variety series The Dean Martin Show.[1] The series was canceled after twenty-six episodes with the last original episode airing on April 13, 1966.

Casting

In January 1966, series star Edmond O'Brien left the series after a disagreement with the producers (the disagreement was about making Ben Quick the main focus of the show instead of the Varners) and was replaced by Dan O'Herlihy. O'Herlihy played the role of Will Varner for the rest of the series' run.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"The Homecoming"	Ralph Senensky	Dean Riesner	September 16, 1965 (1965-09-16)
2	"A Time for Living"	Robert Gist	Teleplay by: Donald S. Sanford & Dean Reisner Story by: Donald S. Sanford	September 23, 1965 (1965-09-23)
3	"A Stranger to the House"	Vincent Sherman	Teleplay by: Alfred Brenner & Dean Reisner Story by: Alfred Brenner	September 30, 1965 (1965-09-30)
4	"The Twisted Image: Part 1"	Robert Gist	Anthony Lawrence	October 7, 1965 (1965-10-07)
5	"The Twisted Image: Part 2"	Mark Rydell	Anthony Lawrence	October 14, 1965 (1965-10-14)
6	"Home is a Nameless Place"	Richard Sarafian	William Bast	October 21, 1965 (1965-10-21)
7	"No Hiding Place"	Vincent Sherman	Teleplay by: John Bloch Story by: Jerome Ross	October 28, 1965 (1965-10-28)
8	"Run, Hero, Run"	James B. Clark	Mark Rodgers	November 4, 1965 (1965-11-04)
9	"The Desperate Innocent"	Alex March	Oliver Crawford	November 11, 1965 (1965-11-11)
10	"Bitter Harvest"	Vincent Sherman	Al C. Ward	November 18, 1965 (1965-11-18)
11	"Hunter to the Wind"	TBA	TBA	December 2, 1965 (1965-12-02)
12	"Nor Hell a Fury"	TBA	TBA	December 9, 1965 (1965-12-09)
13	"The Return of the Quicks"	TBA	TBA	December 16, 1965 (1965-12-16)
14	"Track the Man Down"	Vincent Sherman	Oliver Crawford	December 30, 1965 (1965-12-30)
15	"Face of Fear"	TBA	TBA	January 6, 1966 (1966-01-06)
16	"Evil Angel"	TBA	TBA	January 13, 1966 (1966-01-13)
17	"Day of Thunder"	TBA	TBA	January 19, 1966 (1966-01-19)
18	"The Warning"	TBA	TBA	January 26, 1966 (1966-01-26)
19	"The Intruders"	TBA	TBA	February 2, 1966 (1966-02-02)
20	"From This Day Forward"	TBA	TBA	February 9, 1966 (1966-02-09)
21	"A Time to Die"	Alex March	Michael Zagor	February 16, 1966 (1966-02-16)
22	"Reunion—Italian Style"	Marc Daniels	Teleplay by: Robert J. Shaw Story by: Mark Rodgers & Robert J. Shaw	February 23, 1966 (1966-02-23)
23	"Blaze of Glory"	Vincent Sherman	Teleplay by: Robert J. Shaw Story by: William Bast & Robert J. Shaw	March 2, 1966 (1966-03-02)
24	"Crisis"	Mark Rydell	Anthony Lawrence	March 9, 1966 (1966-03-09)
25	"Carlotta, Come Home"	Mark Rydell	Robert J. Shaw	March 30, 1966 (1966-03-30)
26	"Man with Two Faces"	Alex March	Jack Turley	April 13, 1966 (1966-04-13)

References

Hyatt, Wesley (2003). Short-Lived Television Series, 1948–1978: Thirty Years of Bore Than 1,000 Flops. McFarland & Co. p. 155. ISBN 0-7864-1420-0.

External links

The Long Hot Summer on IMDb
The Long Hot Summer at TV.com
Long Hot Summer on TV IV
Long Hot Summer complete episodes on YouTube

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[1] Hyatt, Wesley (2003). Short-Lived Television Series, 1948–1978: Thirty Years of Bore Than 1,000 Flops. McFarland & Co. p. 155. ISBN 0-7864-1420-0.