''Camp Runamuck'' is an American sitcom that aired on NBC during the 1965–66 television season. The series was created and executive produced by David Swift, and aired for 26 episodes.

Synopsis

The series related the wacky goings-on at the titular boys'

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer summer vacation, months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part ...

, and at Camp Divine, its girls' counterpart across the lake. Runamuck was run by Commander Wivenhoe (

Arch Johnson Archibald Winchester "Arch" Johnson (March 14, 1922 – October 9, 1997) was an American actor who appeared on Broadway and in more than 100 television programs. Early years Archibald Winchester Johnson was born in Minnesota in 1922. He served ...

), a man who couldn't stand kids, and senior counselor Spiffy (

David Ketchum David Ketchum (born February 4, 1928, in Quincy, Illinois) is an American character actor, writer, and director perhaps most noted for playing Agent 13 on the 1960s sitcom '' Get Smart''. Ketchum studied physics at UCLA and joined other UCLA stu ...

), his assistant of sorts. Helping them out were counselor Pruett ( Dave Madden), Doc Joslyn, and camp cook Malden (Mike Wagner). Eulalia Divine (

Hermione Baddeley Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton-Baddeley (13 November 1906 – 19 August 1986) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She typically played brash, vulgar characters, often referred to as "brassy" or "blowsy".Folkart, Burt, "Noted ...

) was the owner of the girls' camp, which was run by chief counselor Mahalia May Gruenecker (

Alice Nunn Alice Elizabeth Nunn (October 10, 1927 – July 1, 1988) was an American film and theatre actress. She was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and died at her apartment in West Hollywood, California. Although she played many roles across her 31-yea ...

). Nina Wayne (younger sister of Carol) played Camp Divine's curvaceous counsellor Caprice Yeudleman. The competitiveness between the two camps and the incidents and accidents that would normally occur at such summer camps - missing kids, people falling into the lake, food poisoning, and so on - formed the basis of most of the show's plots. The series was scheduled opposite CBS's ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels ...

'' and ABC's ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their nex ...

'' and struggled in the ratings. The series was canceled after 26 episodes, with the last new episode airing on April 15, 1966. Reruns aired on NBC until September 2, 1966.

Production notes

Composer and bandleader Frank DeVol (who also wrote the series' theme song) played the part of Doc Joslyn in the pilot episode, but illness forced him to quit the role, and he was replaced by Leonard Stone for the actual series. DeVol's original theme song was performed by

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music. He started his career as a songwriter for Connie Fran ...

. Hugo Montenegro provided a new theme song and score to the episodes. In April 1966,

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...

issued a ''Camp Runamuck'' comic book. Some of the characters on that show were based on some of the names described in the song "

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich ...

" by

Allan Sherman Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (A ...

, including Joe Spivey.

Cast

as Commander Wivenhoe *

as Senior Counsellor Spiffy * Dave Madden as Counselor Pruett *

Frank De Vol Frank Denny De Vol (September 20, 1911 – October 27, 1999) was an American actor, and using the name De Vol was an arranger and composer. As a composer he was nominated for four Academy Awards. Early life and career De Vol was born in Moundsv ...

as Doc Joslyn (1) * Leonard Stone as Doc Joslyn (2) * Mike Wagner as Camp Cook Malden *

as Eulalia Divine *

as Mahalia May Gruenecker * Nina Wayne as Caprice Yeudleman * George Dunn as The Sheriff

Episodes

Syndication

The series aired in the UK by the BBC on Saturday mornings 10 years after it aired in the United States. (Although this was the first network UK screening of ''Camp Runamuck'', the series was aired by some ITV regional stations in 1969). In the United States, it briefly ran on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

and

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy program ...

. Approximately half of the series became available on streaming service

Crackle Crackle or crackling may refer to: Foods * Cracklings, the tissue remaining after lard and tallow have been extracted from animal fats ** Pork rinds in American English, pork scratchings in British English when served in small pieces as a snack ...

in 2021.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0058793
Behind-the-scenes production photos
Collection of Stephen Lodge. 1965 American television series debuts 1966 American television series endings 1960s American sitcoms English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series about summer camps Television series by Screen Gems