''Ensign O'Toole'' is an American situation comedy that stars Dean Jones in the title role as an officer aboard the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

destroyer USS ''Appleby'' in the early 1960s. It aired from 1962 to 1963.

Synopsis

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

O'Toole is a junior

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

aboard the fictional destroyer USS ''Appleby'' in the peacetime

of the early 1960s. Also aboard the ''Appleby'' are the ship's executive officer,

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Virgil Stoner; its supply officer, the rich and usually befuddled

Lieutenant (junior grade) Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), ...

Rex St. John; and an assortment of zany crewmen, including

Chief Petty Officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi ...

Homer Nelson — who always seems to be in search of a poker game and often butts heads with O'Toole — and Seamen Gabby Di Julio, Howard Spicer, and Claude White. The nonchalant O'Toole is clever, speaks several languages, can answer any trivia question, and expresses expertise in almost any subject that comes up, but avoids doing work, preferring to spend his time pulling pranks and showing up the ambitious and overbearing St. John, usually with the enthusiastic help of the crew. The ''Appleby''′s commanding officer never appears on camera; usually Lieutenant Commander Stoner relays his orders to the crew, although sometimes the commanding officer's voice is heard over the ship's " squawk box."McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present, Fourth Edition'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, , p. 258.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–present (Sixth Edition)'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, , p. 316.Nostlagia Central ''Ensign O'Toole'' Accessed 10 November 2021
/ref>

Cast

* Dean Jones .... Ensign O'Toole * Jay C. Flippen .... Chief Petty Officer Homer Nelson * Jack Mullaney .... Lieutenant (junior grade) Rex St. John *

Jack Albertson Harold Albertson (June 16, 1907 – November 25, 1981), known professionally as Jack Albertson, was an American actor, comedian, dancer and singer who also performed in variety. Albertson was a Tony, Oscar, and Emmy winning actor. For his perfo ...

.... Lieutenant Commander Virgil Stoner *

Harvey Lembeck Harvey Lembeck (April 15, 1923 – January 5, 1982) was an American comedic actor best remembered for his role as Cpl. Rocco Barbella on ''The Phil Silvers Show'' (a.k.a. ''Sgt. Bilko'', a.k.a. ''You'll Never Get Rich'') in the late 1950s, and a ...

.... Seaman Gabby Di Julio * Beau Bridges .... Seaman Howard Spicer * Bob Sorrells .... Seaman Claude White *

Stuart Margolin Stuart Margolin (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022) was an American film, theater, and television actor and director who won two Emmy Awards for playing Evelyn "Angel" Martin on the 1970s television series ''The Rockford Files''. In 1973, h ...

.... Lieutenant Miller (recurring) * Skip Ward .... Lieutenant Ferguson (recurring) * Ken Berry .... Lieutenant Melton (recurring) * Gerald Trump .... Crump (recurring) * Andrew Colmar .... Naismith (recurring) * Eddie Peterson ....Selby (recurring)

Production

''Ensign O'Toole'' was based on two books — ''All the Ships at Sea'' (1950) and ''Ensign O'Toole and Me'' (1957) — by William Lederer, who served as consultant for the series. The destroyer portrayed the fictional USS ''Appleby''.

Broadcast history

''Ensign O'Toole'' premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on September 23, 1962. It lasted a single season, and the last of its 32 original episodes aired on May 5, 1963.Classic TV Archive ''Ensign O'Toole'' (1962–63) Accessed 8 November 2021
/ref> Prime-time reruns of ''Ensign O'Toole'' followed in its regular time slot on NBC until September 15, 1963. The show aired at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday throughout its run. From March to September 1964, ABC ran prime-time reruns of ''Ensign O'Toole'' at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday. The last of these aired on September 10, 1964 before '' Bewitched'' took its time slot the following week.

Episodes

SOURCES

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0055671, title=Ensign O'Toole
''Ensign O'Toole'' opening credits on YouTube''Ensign O'Toole'' episode "Operation: Benefit" on YouTube''Ensign O'Toole'' episode "Operation: Jinx" on YouTube''Ensign O'Toole'' episode "Operation: Casanova" on YouTube''Ensign O'Toole'' episode "Operation: Arctic" on YouTubeOpening from ''Ensign O'Toole'' episode "Operation: Daddy" on YouTubeExcerpt from ''Ensign O'Toole'' episode "Operation: Mess" on YouTubeImages from ''Ensign O'Toole'' on YouTube
1962 American television series debuts 1963 American television series endings 1960s American sitcoms Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows Military comedy television series Military humor in film American military television series Nautical television series Television series about the United States Navy Television series set in the 1960s