''Convoy'' is a 13-episode American television show set during World War II that appeared on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

for the 1965–1966 television season. The series starred John Gavin as

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Dan Talbot of the US Navy

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

''DD-181'' and

John Larch John Larch (born Harold Aronin; October 4, 1914 – October 16, 2005; also credited Harry Larch) was an American radio, film, and television actor. Early life John Larch was born Harold Aronin"California County Marriages", marriage licens ...

as civilian merchant Captain Ben Foster of the

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

''Flagship'', who were involved with the

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

ships and their escorts that help to transport food, supplies and war materiel across the Atlantic during the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

. The series also featured Linden Chiles as Steve Kirkland and James T. Callahan, formerly of ABC's '' Wendy and Me''

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

, in the role of Lieutenant O'Connell. Among the guest stars were Dennis Hopper, Jack Palance, Barbara Rush,

James Doohan James Montgomery Doohan (; March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005) was a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series ''Star Trek''. Doohan's characterization of the Scottish chief engineer of t ...

Leslie Nielsen Leslie William Nielsen (February 11, 1926November 28, 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters. He made his a ...

, Horst Ebersberg,

Harold Gould Harold Vernon Goldstein (December 10, 1923 – September 11, 2010), better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom ''Rhoda'' (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom ''The Golden ...

, and Jeremy Slate.

Production

A pilot was announced in late 1964. NBC was worried about getting women into the series but research revealed that hundreds of females travelled in convoys. "The opportunity to exploit romance as well as action is obviously evident, and believe me we are going to take advantage of it", said writer-producer

Frank Price Frank Price (born May 17, 1930) is an American retired television writer and film studio executive. He held a number of executive positions including head of Universal TV; president, and later chairman and CEO, of Columbia Pictures; and presid ...

. Price called the show "technically... the greatest production challenge on the tube today. You can't fool TV audiences these days because they don't expect anything less, realistically or dramatically, from a TV episode than from a war movie." The series relied heavily on stock footage from the war. This meant it could not be shot in color and ''Convoy'' was one of the last NBC series in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

, even though NBC advertised itself as "The Full- Color Network." As a result, several NBC affiliates refused to clear the program. Price also travelled to San Diego to shoot 75,000 feet of footage involving ships that remained from World War II. Former naval officer John Gavin admitted sometimes he had trouble with the dramatic licence taken by the writers. The program rated poorly from the beginning, struggling against ''Hogan's Heroes,'' ''Gomer Pyle, U. S. M. C.,'' ''The Addams Family,'' and ''Honey West'' and notice of its axing came after a few weeks.

Episodes

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 58794 1965 American television series debuts 1965 American television series endings NBC television dramas Black-and-white American television shows American English-language television shows Television series by Universal Television American military television series World War II television drama series