''San Francisco International Airport'' is a television

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

that was originally aired in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

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 ...

as a part of its 1970–71

wheel series A wheel series, wheel show, wheel format or umbrella series is a television series in which two or more regular programs are rotated in the same time slot. Sometimes the wheel series is given its own umbrella title and promoted as a single unit ins ...

Four in One ''Four in One'' is the umbrella title for a wheel series broadcast in the United States on the NBC television network as part of its 1970-71 schedule in the Wednesday 10 PM Eastern time slot. ''Four in One'' consisted of six episodes of each of ...

''. The series starred

Lloyd Bridges Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...

as Jim Conrad, the manager of the gigantic

San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middl ...

, which at the time of the series aired was said to handle more than 15,000,000 passengers annually and have more than 35,000 employees. Bob Hatten (

Clu Gulager William Martin Gulager (; November 16, 1928 – August 5, 2022), better known as Clu Gulager, was an American television and film actor and director born in Holdenville, Oklahoma. He first became known for his work in television, appearing in ...

) was his chief of security, an important role at a time when security was beginning to emerge as a real-life major issue in air transport. June (

Barbara Werle Barbara May Theresa Werle (October 6, 1928 – January 1, 2013) was an American actress, dancer and singer, best known for her role in ''Seconds'' (1966). Career Werle was born on October 6, 1928, in Mount Vernon, New York. She became a ballro ...

) was Conrad's secretary. Airport situations drawn from real life were addressed, such as protesting demonstrators, mechanical malfunctions, and similar problems. The show's pilot, also called ''San Francisco International Airport'' or simply ''San Francisco International'', had aired as a

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

and starred

Pernell Roberts Pernell Elven Roberts Jr. (May 18, 1928 – January 24, 2010) was an American stage, film, and television actor, activist, and singer. In addition to guest-starring in over 60 television series, he was best known for his roles as Ben Cartw ...

in the role of Jim Conrad. The network ordered six series episodes, but only with the stipulation that Bridges play the role instead of Roberts. ''San Francisco International Airport'' was the second program in the ''

'' rotation, following '' McCloud''. The six episodes were first shown in order from late October until early December, 1970, and were then replaced in the Wednesday night 10 pm Eastern time slot by ''

Night Gallery ''Night Gallery'' is an American anthology television series that aired on NBC from December 16, 1970, to May 27, 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, ''The Twilight Zone ...

''. Once ''Night Gallery'' and '' The Psychiatrist'' had completed their first runs, episodes of all four series were rerun interspersed with one another. ''

'' was picked up for the next season as a stand-alone series and '' McCloud'' was renewed as an element in a new wheel series, ''

NBC Mystery Movie ''The NBC Mystery Movie'' is an American television anthology series produced by Universal Pictures, that NBC broadcast from 1971 to 1977. Devoted to a rotating series of mystery episodes, it was sometimes split into two subsets broadcast on di ...

'', but ''San Francisco International Airport'' and ''The Psychiatrist'' were cancelled, with no more episodes ordered beyond the initial six. The pilot, starring Roberts, got lukewarm reviews and was largely forgotten for years, but it was eventually rescued from obscurity by becoming the subject of a sixth-season episode of ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1 ...

'' in 1994.

Episode list

''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' episode

The ''

'' (''MST3K'') presentation of the series pilot first aired on November 19, 1994, as episode number 614. In ''The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide'', writer

Paul Chaplin Paul Chaplin (born Paul Schersten) is an American writer and comedian, known for his work on the television series ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'', for which he wrote and played the recurring characters of an Observer, Ned the Nanite, Pitch th ...

remarked on star

's "astounding pomposity and self-absorption ... Pernell struts and preens like a balding cock-of-the-walk." Three of the episode's non-movie segments focus on host Mike Nelson's imitation of Urkel from the ABC sitcom ''

Family Matters ''Family Matters'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC on September 22, 1989, and ended on May 9, 1997. However it moved to CBS, where it was shown from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of '' Perfect Strangers, ...

'', which Chaplin admits many found to be "an odd decision". The episode finished number 99 out of 177 episodes in a poll voted upon by'' MST3K'' season-11 Kickstarter backers. Writer Jim Vorel ranked the episode number 109 out of 191 ''MST3K'' episodes, saying, "The entire thing is a relentless barrage of wacky subplots. ... There’s so much going on the entire time that Mike and the Bots can barely keep up." The ''MST3K'' version of the pilot for ''San Francisco International'' was included as part of the ''Mystery Science Theater 3000, Volume XXXII'' DVD collection, released by

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

on March 24, 2015. The other episodes in the four-disc set include ''

Space Travelers This is a list of space travellers by first flight. The table is listed in chronological order from the date of first flight. The table adheres to the international definition of a space traveller; the Fédération Aéronautique Internation ...

'' (episode 401), ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

'' (episode 502), and ''

Radar Secret Service ''Radar Secret Service'' is a 1950 action film starring John Howard, produced by Barney A. Sarecky and directed by Sam Newfield. The film was featured on the American television show ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''. Plot In the post-World War T ...

'' (episode 520). MST3K: Volume XXXII.
Shout! Factory. Retrieved on 2018-07-11.

References

* Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle. ''

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''.

External links

* *{{IMDb episode, 0066326, San Francisco International 1970 American television series debuts 1970 American television series endings 1970s American workplace drama television series NBC original programming Television series by Universal Television

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

Television shows set in San Francisco Aviation television series English-language television shows Airports in fiction