One season wonder The Tab Hunter Show celebrates its 55th anniversary today. The sitcom premiered on NBC on Sunday, September 18th, 1960 and ran for 32 episodes before the network pulled the plug. The final original episode was seen on April 30th, 1961. Repeats aired through September 1961. My article about The Tab Hunter Show can be found here.
The series followed the romantic (mis)adventures of Paul Morgan, a cartoonist whose popular “Bachelor-at-Large” comic strip was based on his own life. Tab Hunter played Paul with Richard Erdman co-starring as his rich friend Peter, who was a big fan of Paul’s lifestyle. Jerome Cowan played Paul’s editor, who was happy as long as “Bachelor-at-Large” strips were finished on time. Rounding out the cast was Reta Shaw as Paul’s housekeeper, who was definitly not impressed with his romantic entanglements.
Not surprisingly, series featured plenty of beautiful young actresses as guest stars, including Mary Tyler Moore, Nina Talbot, Suzanne Pleschett, Gena Rowlands, Elizabeth Montgomery, Tuesday Weld, Joanna Barnes and Audrey Dalton.
I haven’t seen any episodes of The Tab Hunter Show, just clips. It sounds an awful lot like The Bob Cummings Show, only with a cartoonist instead of a photographer. That series ran for five seasons. Perhaps The Tab Hunter Show could have been just as successful if it hadn’t faced The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS and The Lawman on ABC, which both ended the 1960-1961 season in the Top 30.
Do you remember watching The Tab Hunter Show six decades ago? Or perhaps later if it was syndicated (I’m not sure if it was)? Hit the comments with any recollections.
