“The Baileys of Balboa”

This sitcom aired for a single twenty-six episode season during the 1964-1965 season. Paul Ford starred as Sam Bailey, a widowed curmudgeon who operated a charter boat service around the affluent island community of Balboa. His everyman attitude flew in the face of the aristocratic population and he had frequent clashes with his neighbors, especially Commodore Wyntoon. Not helping matters was a budding romance between Sam’s son Jim and Wyntoon’s daughter Barbara.

When Paul Ford was approached in early 1964 to star in The Baileys of Balboa, he was at the time starring in a Broadway play called “Never Too Late,” with a contract to expire on the first of June, setting the stage for a move to television. Ford told Val Adams of The New York Times “we’re negotiating. No deal has been set, but something may happen soon” [1]. At the time, CBS had the series scheduled for Tuesdays from 9:30-10PM.

According to Michael Dann, the network’s vice president of programs, CBS was planning to lease an island in Newport Harbor, California near the real Balboa Island, with production scheduled to begin in July.[2]. When CBS announced its fall schedule in March of 1964, Ford was signed to star, and The Baileys of Balboa was one of fourteen new and returning comedies on the CBS roster [3]. The series was ultimately given the Thursday from 9:30-10PM time slot opposite the second installment of ABC’s prime time soap opera, Peyton Place, and NBC’s Hazel.

CBS decided against leasing an entire island but in order to film on the actual Balboa Island an unusual production schedule was devised. Six weeks were spent at the CBS Studio Center in the San Fernando Valley, filming interiors, followed by one week on Balboa Island filming exteriors. According to TV Guide, sets for the series had to be rebuilt and then torn down every time production began on Balboa Island [4]. Producer Bob Sweeney explained that “this location makes it tough. We shoot six shows in the studio in Hollywood. In every one of them, we leave a few bits to do down here. And these bits must match the studio stuff exactly. But we must do it this way to live up to our promise of doing a show that escapes from the usual three-wall set” [5].

Paul Ford and Judy Carne as Sam Bailey and Barbara Wyntoon – September 19th, 1964
Copyright © TV Guide, 1964 [1]

Filming the opening credits to the series proved equally as challenging. Originally, they were supposed to feature co-star Judy Carne water skiing. Only Judy Carne couldn’t water ski. TV Guide reported that two days were spent trying to get the shot. Said Carne, “I guess I managed to get up a little, but I looked so horrid they decided to just let me wave from the back of the boat [6]. (According to the TV Guide article, Carne was ultimately seen waving while standing on a beach. In the opening credits seen above, Carne isn’t included.)

In The Baileys of Balboa, Paul Ford as Sam Bailey, a widowed, blue-collar worker who just happened to live in the midst of a island paradise of Balboa. The island was home to a snobbish elite that looked down their noses at Sam and his laid-back lifestyle (the man didn’t live in a mansion, for starters). Cecil Wyntoon (played by John Dehner), commodore of Balboa’s snooty yacht club, was Sam’s nemesis. The two were constantly arguing.

Sam operated The Island Princess, a charter boat, and ran Bailey’s Landing, a sort of bed and breakfast. Wyntoon was eager to acquire Sam’s property to expand the yacht club’s holdings. Sterling Holloway co-starred as Buck Singleton, the sole member of The Island Princess‘s crew. Buck lived in a van and also helped out at Bailey’s Landing, cooking and doing odd jobs.

Les Brown, Jr. and Paul Ford as Sam and Jim Bailey

Les Brown, Jr. and Judy Carne co-starred as Jim Bailey and Barbara Wyntoon, the respective children of Sam Bailey and Commodore Wyntoon. Jim worked with his father at Bailey’s Landing and had fallen for Barbara, who returned from boarding school a beautiful young woman, nothing like the girl Jim remembered. Carne made her first appearance in the October 8th episode, the show’s third. Both Sam and Wyntoon frowned upon the romance, neither wanting their offspring associating with the enemy.

Clint Howard rounded out the cast, playing young Stanley, an obnoxious pre-schooler who lived near Sam and intruded upon his life at inopportune times. John Banner and Howard Freeman had recurring roles; their characters were named Hans and Langley. Michael J. Pollard appeared in two episodes during the winter of 1965 as Sam’s brainy nephew, Chester, whose father was concerned that his son was spending too much time in his lab dabbling in chemistry and not enough outside in the sun with other young people.

The island of Balboa was surrounded by beautiful waters in which the annual Balboa Island Swim Race took place. There was also a park, where Sam and his Balboa Marching and Grunion Hunting Society Military Band attempted to play. There was even an annual Balboa-to-Laguna Antique Car Race, which Buck and Sam entered, in an automobile with a top speed of 11 miles per hour. Raquel Welch guest-starred in one episode as Chester’s girlfriend, who he wanted to keep dating despite Sam’s disapproval. In order to trick Sam into letting the two be together, Chester and Jim came up with a plan to make Sam think Chester was invisible.

Advertisement for The Baileys of Balboa – September 19th, 1964
Copyright © TV Guide, 1964 [2]

Other episodes involved Sam and Buck having a falling out, Sam and Jim having a falling out, Sam falling for an actress, Sam trying to save money by cooking on the cheap, Stanley moving into Bailey’s Landing and Wyntoon trying to bankrupt Sam by forging a treasure map.

The Baileys of Balboa debuted on Thursday, September 24th, 1964. Jack Gould was less than impressed with the premiere, writing that “the script was a strained and mechanically rendered narrative” [7]. Gould did have kind words to say about Paul Ford, however, opining that he could “carry this series by just being himself” and noting that “it would be a pity if brittle antics were to overshadow the underlying warmth of Mr. Ford” [8]. Rick Du Brow of UPI also praised Ford, suggesting that “if you don’t expect too much, and simply appreciate the pleasure of Ford’s company, no matter where, you will get a few chuckles” [9]. Cynthia Lowry of The Associated Press was more positive, stating that “after a short shake-down cruise, this may prove to be a pleasant, warm series” [10].

Opposite Peyton Place, The Baileys of Balboa never stood a chance in the Nielsen ratings. Based on the numbers for November through December of 1964, The Baileys of Balboa ranked 84th out of 96 programs, ahead of shows like The Outer Limits, The Joey Bishop Show, Mickey and That Was the Week That Was [11]. By comparison, the Thursday installment of ABC’s Peyton Place ranked 7th while NBC’s Hazel was 43rd [12].

On December 12th, The New York Times reported that CBS planned to move the series to Fridays at 9PM beginning January 1st, 1965 but the move never materialized [13]. For the two week period ending January 24th, 1965 the series ranked dead last in the Nielsen ratings [14]. The Baileys of Balboa was canceled in February of 1965 [15].

Following the show’s cancellation, a CBS stockholder accused the former president of the network, James Aubrey (who had resigned on February 27, 1965), of favoring Richelieu Productions, the company that produced the The Baileys of Balboa as well as The Reporters and The Cara Williams Show. The Wall Street Journal, reporting on the lawsuit in March of 1965, incorrectly stated that The Baileys of Balboa was “in the top 10 in popularity” [16].

Sterling Holloway and Paul Ford as Buck Singleton and Jim Bailey

According to The New York Times, the suit charged that “while Mr. Aubrey was president of the company he selected shows offered by Richelieu Productions, Inc., for presentation without the submission of the customary pilot films, and ordered them into prime time slots” [17]. The suit itself declared that “in 1963 Aubrey and Richelieu entered into a conspiracy to so conduct the programing and purchasing of shows by C.B.S. as to most advantage said conspirators, directly or indirectly, without regard to the best interests of C.B.S.” [18].

Richard Oulahan and William Lambert, in a September 10th, 1965 LIFE article, wrote that “announcement of the three CBS compacts with Brasselle set off a riot of industry gossip–and opened the final act of Aubrey’s decline and fall” [19]. The article, titled “The Tyrant’s Fall That Rocked the TV World,” described how said industry gossip began “hinting at conflicting interests and hidden partnerships with Richelieu” [20].

An investigation was ordered by the FCC and conducted during the summer of 1964 by an outside law firm; the LIFE article quotes a pair of unnamed FCC officials as calling the report “a self-serving document” and “strictly a unilateral investigation” [21]. For the record, The Reporter ended its run in December of 1964 after 13 episodes while both The Baileys of Balboa (26 episodes) and The Cara Williams Show (30 episodes) lasted the entire season. The final episode of The Baileys of Balboa aired on April 1st, 1965.

The ultimate outcome of the lawsuit against James Aubrey is unknown.

Works Cited:

Image Credits:

Back to Articles

Last Updated June 26th, 2008