Fri 24 Feb 2017
A TV Series Review by Michael Shonk: RUN, BUDDY, RUN (1966-67).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV Comedy[12] Comments
RUN, BUDDY, RUN. CBS, 1966-67. Talent Associates in association with CBS Television Studios. Cast: Jack Sheldon as Buddy Overstreet, Bruce Gordon as Mr. D. and Jim Connell as Junior. Created by Leonard Stern. Theme by Jerry Fielding.
Successful TV producer Leonard Stern produced both the successful spy spoof Get Smart, and The Fugitive spoof Run, Buddy, Run. The two series were much alike but with very different results. Get Smart would become on of TV’s most memorable series, while Run, Buddy, Run has been long forgotten.
Jazz musician Buddy Overstreet (Jack Sheldon) accidentally overhears a mob boss (Bruce Gordon) discuss “Operation Chicken Little,†a plan to kill an unnamed person. Buddy is discovered and makes a run for it. With the mob close behind, Buddy runs from town to town looking for a place he can be safe or until he can find out more about “Chicken Little†and prove to the cops he needs protection.
Jack Sheldon began as a successful trumpet player in the West Coast jazz movement during the 1950s. He was a regular on The Merv Griffin Show for many years. Shelton has worked as a singer. He sang for the ABC-TV series Schoolhouse Rock (“Conjunction Junction” and “I’m Just a Bill”). He has done voice work on The Simpsons and Family Guy. There is a documentary about him, Trying to Get Good: The Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon.
A better musician than actor, Sheldon has appeared on old forgotten series The Cara Williams Show and The Girl with Something Extra. On Run, Buddy, Run, Sheldon makes Buddy likeable and an average guy the audience can root for, but he is not good enough to rise above the hit-and-miss writing.
The series villain was well cast. Bruce Gordon a successful character actor best known as Frank Nitti in The Untouchables (1959-1963) played Mr. D., the head of the mob. At his side was his young son Junior played well by Jim Connell.
Run, Buddy, Run could not outrun a quick cancellation but lasted long enough to air thirteen episodes. Airing Monday at 8:00 -8:30pm, Buddy would finish last in the ratings versus NBC’s I Dream of Jeannie and the last half-hour of ABC’s Iron Horse. It didn’t help that the three series that followed Buddy in CBS’s Monday night lineup — The Lucy Show, The Andy Griffith Show and Family Affair – finished in the top 15 for ratings.
“Steambath and Chicken Little.†(9/12/66) Written by Mel Tolkin and Ernie Chambers. Directed by Leonard Stern. Produced by David Susskind, David Melnick and Leonard Stern. Guest Cast: Bernie Kopell, Malcolm Atterbury, and Laurel Goodwin. *** Jazz musician Buddy Overstreet accidently overhears plans for a mob hit but is discovered. He escapes and now is on the run from the mob that wants him dead.
On the run, he ends up in Rockford, Illinois helping a nice young woman and her sick father try to save their gas station from bankruptcy.
Part One:
Part Two:
Part Three:
The humor had its moments but was more often ruined by a lack of believability. While Get Smart is much better, Run, Buddy, Run is a good example of the silly stupid humor of the American TV comedy in the 60s.
You can read more about the series at the TVParty website:
http://www.tvparty.com/recrunbuddy.html
February 24th, 2017 at 7:47 pm
Part of the problem was that Sheldon, outside of music, was better in smaller doses. He could be memorable in a smaller part, but he wasn’t a lead actor, something that isn’t always a matter of talent.
February 24th, 2017 at 8:07 pm
David, I have vague memories of watching him when I was a kid and not liking him much. Now I can see why, it is that style of comedy – that slapstick stupid. But now I found he had his moments.
What surprised me most was how important of a jazz musician he was, and putting his face to the singer in Schoolhouse Rock “I’m just a bill.”
There is an element of luck and magic to any entertainment success. GET SMART had that magic, but for whatever reason RUN,BUDDY, RUN did not.
February 25th, 2017 at 1:12 pm
Shows like this ought not to be forgotten, and in small doses, like the videos you supplied from YouTube, Michael, it’s fun to watch.
But truth be told, back in 1966, my second year of grad school, if I’d add access to a TV and time to watch it, I’m sure I’d have been watching IRON HORSE — a show very popular at the time but also all but forgotten now.
February 25th, 2017 at 1:31 pm
Several episodes of Iron Horse are on YouTube. Here is one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX8tQgyCc2s
At that time I was twelve and either outside or watching I DREAM OF JEANNIE.
February 25th, 2017 at 3:27 pm
Thanks for the link, Michael. I’ve never seen an episode till now, so I’ll be sure to take a look later today. I’m sure I read that the series was supposed to come out on DVD, but I don’t believe it ever did.
February 25th, 2017 at 10:46 pm
I think it was announced in 2012 as a Made On Demand but don’t know if it was ever made or if its available now.
February 26th, 2017 at 11:44 am
I’d like to add that Jack Sheldon is highly esteemed as a jazz trumpeter/humorist and, since a serious stroke several years ago, as a guy with guts and determination to spare. After being reported deceased (“I’m only slightly dead”), he learned how to speak again and play the trumpet left-handed.
For more: http://www.dailynews.com/arts-and-entertainment/20131203/jack-sheldons-return-hits-all-the-right-notes
February 26th, 2017 at 1:47 pm
There is no doubt people will always remember the major role he played in jazz music and his voice in the classic Schoolhouse Rock that has taught generations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFroMQlKiag
I wasn’t aware that he had gotten sick. It is nice to see him getting back to his – I suspect – first love, jazz.
February 26th, 2017 at 5:32 pm
I remember listening to an extended interview with Jack Sheldon on the jazz radio station out of Long Beach. For his day job, back in the fifties, he worked as a lifeguard. The interview went through his discography and he would talk about what he was doing at the time of the recordings. Over and over he would repeat,”Right around this time, Art Pepper got out of jail and we made this record.”Check out his work on the first track of the LP The Return of Art Pepper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMLs5pPD3L4
February 28th, 2017 at 7:20 pm
Nice music, Matthew. Thanks!
March 5th, 2017 at 12:13 pm
Jack Sheldon is a good example of a performer who is mainly admired by other performers.
His music would get him in the door, but his personal humor won him friends at all levels of the business, who provided him with his acting sideline.
Several years after Run, Buddy, Run, Jack Webb, a major jazz buff, began using Sheldon in small parts (mainly comic) on the ’60s Dragnet; his dry delivery made them seem better than they were.
Later on, his friendship with Merv Griffin got him into Griffin’s TV orchestra with his trumpet, and into comic talking bits with Merv between numbers; the trumpet paid the bills, but the comedy kept up the interest.
That this all did not pay off into “stardom” – well, them’s the breaks.
March 5th, 2017 at 7:02 pm
Sheldon was a star. His work was worthy of a documentary TRYING TO GET GOOD. He had albums as a standup and for his own Quartet. Apparently he had a cocaine habit (a jazz musician with a drug habit!!!).
A SAMPLE OF JACK SHELDON
TRYING TO GET GOOD – TRAILER FOR DOCUMENTARY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P32rmSoOl8
THE LONG GOODBYE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkKHp4nOU3E
GET OUT OF TOWN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VABr1-88Y4
WHAT IS HERE TO SAY?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9DTvy7WVZU
JACK SHELDON QUARTET – AH MOORE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KVM37vXoRE
THE SANDPIPER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbT0zk588ds
FROM HIS STANDUP COMEDY
AMOEBA JAZZ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twsVlM3QtjU