Broadside (TV series)

Broadside is an American sitcom that aired on ABC during the 1964–1965 TV season. The series, produced by McHale's Navy creator Edward J. Montagne, starred Kathleen Nolan, formerly of The Real McCoys (her character, Lieutenant Morgan, had first appeared on McHale's Navy the previous season).[1]

Broadside
Kathleen Nolan with Sheila James, Joan Staley and Lois Roberts, 1964.
Genre	Sitcom
Written by	Frank J. Gill, Jr. George Carleton Brown Si Rose Ray Brenner Barry E. Blitzer Benedict Freedman Earl Barret Robert C. Dennis Jack Harvey Bruce Howard Bud Nye Elroy Schwartz Irving Taylor Sam Locke Joel Rapp Stan Dreben Howard Merrill William Raynor Myles Wilder
Directed by	Frank McDonald Sidney Miller Edward Montagne Hollingsworth Morse Don Richardson Jean Yarbrough E.W. Swackhamer Charles Barton
Starring	Edward Andrews Dick Sargent Sheila James Kathleen Nolan Joan Staley George Furth Arnold Stang Jimmy Boyd
Composer(s)	Jerry Fielding
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	32
Production
Producer(s)	Edward J. Montagne
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Universal Television
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	September 20, 1964 (1964-09-20) – May 2, 1965 (1965-05-02)

Synopsis

The series centered on the women of the Navy (WAVES) on "a supply base somewhere in the South Pacific, 1944," who found themselves transferred to the island of Ranakai to run the motorpool in an otherwise all-male environment. Lt. Anne Morgan (Kathleen Nolan) was in command of the man-crazy, wisecracking Selma Kowalski (Sheila James), the alternately chipper and worried Molly McGuire (Lois Roberts), the slow-witted blonde and former exotic dancer Roberta Love (Joan Staley), and the unit's only male recruit, Marion Botnik (Jimmy Boyd), assigned to the WAVES due to a clerical error.

Their nemesis was the rarefied Commander Roger Adrian (Edward Andrews), who regarded the war as a major intrusion on his idyllic, luxurious lifestyle; he felt that the WAVES experiment would attract official government supervision, endangering his private paradise. Adrian and his easily flustered junior officer Ensign Beasley (George Furth) constantly conspired to get rid of the WAVES, while executive officer Lt. Max Trotter (Dick Sargent) and streetwise sailor Nicky D'Angelo (Don Edmonds) sided with the girls in their counter-attacks on Adrian. Completing the ensemble was Adrian's fussy personal chef Bernard (Richard Jury).

Producer Montagne had produced movie short subjects starring comedian Arnold Stang in the early 1950s. Midway through the Broadside run, Montagne recruited Stang to join the cast and gave him co-star billing. Stang, popular from voicing the cartoon series Top Cat, appeared as outspoken master chef Stanley Stubbs, reunited with his high-school classmate, Selma in the WAVES motorpool.

Broadside boasted clever scripts and good direction by the McHale's Navy staff, and enthusiastic performances by the ensemble cast. As it was a rule that vehicles on set could only be operated by union members, the cast playing drivers got honorary Teamsters’ cards.

The series might have continued indefinitely, but it ran for just a single season. Though ratings weren't bad, the executives at Universal Studios felt the tropical exteriors being used by Broadside and McHale's Navy—and nothing else—were taking up too much space on the backlot, so Broadside was canceled and McHale's Navy was relocated to Italy (and the studio's more frequently used European facades).

Cast

• Kathleen Nolan as Lieutenant Anne Morgan
• Edward Andrews as Commander Roger Adrian
• Dick Sargent as Lieutenant Maxwell Trotter
• Jimmy Boyd as Marion Botnik
• George Furth as Ensign Beasley
• Sheila James as Selma Kowalski
• Lois Roberts as Molly Maguire
• Joan Staley as Roberta Love
• Arnold Stang as 1st Class Stanley Stubbs

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Don't Make Waves"	Edward Montagne	Teleplay by: Barry Blitzner & Ray Brenner & Frank Gill, Jr. & George Carleton Brown Story by: Si Rose	September 20, 1964 (1964-09-20)
A quartet of WAVES takes over the motor pool on a South Pacific island, with animosity immediately developing.
2	"The Non-Permanent Wave"	Earl Bellamy	William Raynor & Myles Wilder	September 27, 1964 (1964-09-27)
Marion Botnik snaps pictures of the girls in violation of Navy regulations, but Commander Adrian locks the pictures in a safe so that the Admiral can see them.
3	"Kill 'Em with Kindness"	Charles Barton	Sam Locke & Joel Rapp	October 4, 1964 (1964-10-04)
Adrian offers the WAVES delicious, high-calorie foods so that they'll be unable to pass the upcoming fitness test.
4	"Annie Shoots Down the Cupid"	Earl Bellamy	Ralph Goodman & Stan Dreben	October 11, 1964 (1964-10-11)
Dissension among the WAVES breaks out after each of them has dated a muscular sailor.
5	"Lt. Morgan's Secret Marriage"	Hollingsworth Morse	Ralph Goodman & Stan Dreben	October 25, 1964 (1964-10-25)
Adrian's visiting nephew ends up causing more trouble for him than the WAVES.
6	"The Great Lipstick War"	E.W. Swackhamer	Benedict Freeman	November 1, 1964 (1964-11-01)
Adrian cuts off the WAVE's makeup supply in the hopes that they'll leave, but Morgan quickly sets up a liptick still.
7	"Adrian Gets Nipped"	Charles Barton	John Fenton Murray	November 8, 1964 (1964-11-08)
Adrian and the crew pose as the enemy in order to try and frighten the WAVES into leaving the island.
8	"The Morale of Molly McGuire"	E.W. Swackhamer	William Raynor & Myles Wilder	November 15, 1964 (1964-11-15)
Molly falls in love, so Adrian schedules a psychological test for her in the hopes that the entire motor pool will be shipped stateside.
9	"Adrian's Anniversary Waltz"	TBA	TBA	November 22, 1964 (1964-11-22)
A WAVE birthday party results in a raid on Adrian's gourmet food cellar.
10	"Anne Bugs the Enemy"	Charles Barton	Frank Gill, Jr. & George Carleton Brown	November 29, 1964 (1964-11-29)
Adrian sabotages the motor pool in order to get them flagged for inefficiency, so Anne fights back by trying to put a tape recorder in the Commander's headquarters in the hopes that he'll make a damaging admission.
11	"Ranaka Flips Its Wig"	Charles Barton	Bruce Howard & Bud Nye	December 6, 1964 (1964-12-06)
The WAVES are tricked by Adrian into thinking that they're victim of a rare tropical disease known as "galloping baldness."
12	"My Son, the Egg"	Charles Barton	Sam Locke & Joel Rapp	December 13, 1964 (1964-12-13)
Adrian gets the mistaken notion that one of the WAVES is pregnant.
13	"Selma, the Love Trap"	TBA	TBA	December 20, 1964 (1964-12-20)
The WAVES instruct Selma in the care and feeding of the fragile male ego.
14	"The Obstacle Course"	TBA	TBA	December 27, 1964 (1964-12-27)
The WAVES compete against three pre-trained Marines in running a jungle obstacle course and end up using their ingenuity to come out ahead.
15	"Behind the Eight Ball"	Don Richardson	Elroy Schwartz	January 3, 1965 (1965-01-03)
After undergoing involuntary hypnosis, Adrian's attitude toward the WAVES swings wildly between love and hate.
16	"The Stowawaves"	Hollingsworth Morse	William Raynor & Myles Wilder	January 10, 1965 (1965-01-10)
The WAVES stow away on a cargo ship and are shocked to see that Adrian is aboard.
17	"The Wolfman Cometh"	Frank McDonald	Frank Fox & Bruce Howard & Bud Nye	January 17, 1965 (1965-01-17)
A war correspondent uses the power of the press to wangle a date with a WAVE lieutenant.
18	"Taurus to Aries to Chance"	TBA	TBA	January 24, 1965 (1965-01-24)
After Roberta destroys Adrian's croquet court while trying to warn him about ominous astrological signs, the other WAVES realize that they have to make Adrian believe in astrology in order to avoid having Roberta court-martialed.
19	"Adrian Goes Gung-Ho"	Bruce Humberstone	Bruce Howard & Bud Nye	January 31, 1965 (1965-01-31)
While Anne is on leave, Adrian uses sleep teaching records to try and get the WAVES to leave. After she returns, she tries the same thing on him and implants the idea that he should volunteer for dangerous duty.
20	"The Arrival of Stanley Stubbs"	TBA	TBA	February 7, 1965 (1965-02-07)
World-famous chef Stanley Stang (Arnold Stang) comes to the island after Adrian begs to have him assigned there.
21	"Follow That Pigeon"	TBA	TBA	February 14, 1965 (1965-02-14)
After spotting coded messages being sent by carrier pigeon, Adrian becomes convinced that the WAVES are guilty of espionage.
22	"Three Wishes"	TBA	TBA	February 21, 1965 (1965-02-21)
Adrian acquires a monkey's paw that's supposed to give the owner magical wishing powers. However, he's unaware that a curse is applied if an evil wish is made.
23	"Lieutenant Love, Sir"	TBA	TBA	February 28, 1965 (1965-02-28)
After calling a Navy hearing to try and charge the WAVES with inefficiency, Adrian then has them arrested by Brisbane police so that they won't be present to defend themselves.
24	"Adrian's Phantom Staff Car"	Jean Yarbrough	Robert C. Dennis & Earl Barret	March 7, 1965 (1965-03-07)
Stanley and Selma allow Adrian's Rolls Royce staff car to roll off a cliff and into a tree and have to scramble in order to try and limit the consequences.
25	"Adrian Gets the Boot"	Jean Yarbrough	Jack Harvey & Iving Taylor	March 14, 1965 (1965-03-14)
Adrian orders the WAVES to undergo boot camp training while continuing with their motor pool duties. The WAVES fight back by faking an order that Adrian undergo basic training.
26	"Filet on the Hoof"	TBA	TBA	March 21, 1965 (1965-03-21)
Adrian smuggles a steer onto the island and then assigns the process of fattening it up to Anne after he discovers that she's allergic to animal hair.
27	"The Great Ranakai Mutiny"	TBA	TBA	March 28, 1965 (1965-03-28)
After Adrian begins shooting at an imaginary polar bear, Ensign Beasley takes command of the base.
28	"Ann Morgan's Home Movies"	Hollingsworth Morse	Teleplay by: Bruce Howard Story by: Stan Dreben & Howard Merrill	April 4, 1965 (1965-04-04)
Adrian has movies of the WAVES taken during an unguarded moment so that he can use it as evidence that they're neglecting their duties.
29	"Witchcraft a Go-Go"	Hollingsworth Morse	Elroy Schwartz	April 11, 1965 (1965-04-11)
Roberta develops ESP, which causes Adrian to use him to contact his wife, an 18th Century Hawaiian King, Napoleon's cook and a Chinese emperor who reigned in 6 A.D.
30	"Once Upon an Island"	TBA	TBA	April 18, 1965 (1965-04-18)
During the flight to Brisbane for the WAVES' court martial, the airplane door inadvertently opens, which causes Adrian, the WAVES, Ensign Beasley and Lt. Trotter to sail out over the South Pacific.
31	"Miss Ranakai"	TBA	TBA	April 25, 1965 (1965-04-25)
Adrian stages a beauty contest in order to create jealousy among the WAVES.
32	"Operation Clip-Joint"	TBA	TBA	May 2, 1965 (1965-05-02)
When Molly needs money for her nephew's operation, Adrian suggests a fund-raising party. He then arranges to raid the party in the company of Admiral Bradford.

References

1. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007-10-16). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present (9 ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 184. ISBN 0-345-49773-2.

External links

• Broadside on IMDb
• Broadside at TV.com
• A promotional clip from 1964 featuring Broadside on YouTube