BIG HAWAII (1977) – From a promising pilot movie to “poof” it’s canceled – that’s the story of and that’s the glory of Big Hawaii. I’ve rarely seen such a pronounced overhaul from a pilot movie to the resulting series.
We’re not just talking about a change in some cast members here, this thing changed genres between its pilot film and its first episode and was definitely worse off for it.
BIG HAWAII: DANGER IN PARADISE (May 12th, 1977) – The creative team came so close to changing the future of 1970s prime time programming by getting the jump on Dallas, which did not come out until 1978. The network suits or somebody chickened out after this powerhouse pilot movie.
The Paradise Ranch in Hawaii is the setting for enough family intrigue, corporate power struggles and romantic subplots to fuel what might have been the biggest prime time soap opera since Peyton Place.
JOHN DEHNER, forever remembered as the voice of Paladin on the Have Gun Will Travel radio western, played Barrett Fears, patriarch of the Fears family and a veteran power player in what would soon become Jock Ewing fashion.
Barrett rules through fear and a “divide and conquer” mentality when it comes to those around him. A stroke temporarily slows him down.
INA BALIN as Barrett’s second wife Marla embodied the older-but-still-hot female character that would soon define a genre. Think Joan Collins and Linda Evans on Dynasty, Abby Dalton, Susan Sullivan and many more on Falcon Crest, Barbara Rush and Stella Stevens on Flamingo Road, Katharine Ross on The Colbys plus a few others I’m probably forgetting.
The sultry Marla Fears misled the much older Barrett into thinking she was a devoted wife but all the while she and her son plus every other man she could manipulate tried helping her steal sole control of Paradise Ranch – especially the priceless land on which it stood.
In just this telefilm she subtly sabotages her recovering husband’s medical care, works with organized crime in a land-stealing venture, sleeps with her hunky flunky and even tries to seduce her stepson into an alliance against his father. Continue reading
PROFILES IN COURAGE (1964-1965) – This television series took its name from the late President John F. Kennedy’s non-fiction book of that title. Some of the episodes dramatized specific sections of JFK’s book while others depicted what the producers felt were similar instances of political figures facing tough choices. 
Those choices were between following their conscience or following what was best for their political career at the time. 
OSCAR W. UNDERWOOD (Nov 8th, 1964) – Senator Underwood was a top contender for the Democrat presidential nomination in 1924. However, he obeyed his conscience by speaking out against the Ku Klux Klan, one of the Democrat Party’s most powerful forces. 
MARY S. MCDOWELL (Nov 15th, 1964) – Mary McDowell was a New York teacher during World War One. She refused to support the war effort via War Bonds rallies or sign a loyalty oath due to her religious principles as a Quaker. 
LUCKY SEVEN (1978) – Years before the hacker calling himself Captain Midnight hijacked HBO airtime to protest their high prices and years before the weird Max Headroom parody hack in Chicago came this forgotten incident in the annals of pirate broadcasting. 
The host for Lucky 7 was a memorable man wearing a gas mask on his face like he was some kind of late-night Horror Host. This figure would introduce the programs and movies being shown on the channel and would also editorialize about the way corporations and the government held a monopoly on the airwaves. 
WILDSIDE (1985) – After The Wild Wild West, The Barbary Coast and Bearcats but before The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. came this short-lived series about a secret crime-fighting group in the 1880s American West. 
HOWARD ROLLINS portrayed Bannister Sparks, who had been a demolitions man as an outlaw and retained that expertise as a crime-fighting operative. 
WILLIAM SMITH played Brodie Hollister, gunfighter extraordinaire. Hollister breeds and trains horses.
THE BEST OF BROADWAY (1954-1955) – Balladeer’s Blog’s latest look at a Forgotten Television item deals with The Best of Broadway. The color program aired on CBS once per month and its failure to last more than one season may be explained by the fact that the other three weeks the program that aired in its time slot was … Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts. 
THE ROYAL FAMILY (September 15th, 1954) – From the Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman comedy The Royal Family of Broadway. Paul Nickell directed this depiction of a Barrymore-esque thespian dynasty and the chaos that results when the family matriarch is outraged to learn that her daughter and granddaughter are considering leaving their stage careers behind for marriage. 
NBC OPERA THEATRE (1949-1964) – Believe it or not, television networks used to regularly broadcast presentations of operas. Gradually, declining public interest drove operas off the networks and onto educational television. 
ARREST AND TRIAL (1963-1964) – Decades before Law & Order came this forgotten television series which used one half of its 90-minute run-time to depict the police tracking down and arresting a suspect and the other half depicting the trial. Ben Gazzara, Chuck Connors and Don Galloway starred. 
Arrest and Trial lasted just one season (yes, some shows did 30-episode and even 39-episode seasons back then). Audiences may have been too used to the comfort food of crime shows where they knew going in who was guilty and who was innocent. Cop shows like Dragnet always showed the police nabbing the guilty and lawyer shows like Perry Mason always showed the defendants being innocent. No such convenience on this show. 
Balladeer’s Blog’s Forgotten Television feature wraps up its look at 
MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN (1964) – An example of Hicksploitation. H.G. Lewis of all people wrote and SANG for this movie. A country western singer, tired of the artificial feel of mainstream Nashville music, spends some time with his North Carolina relatives to soak up some authentic atmosphere. 
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