''Lucas Tanner'' is an American drama series that aired 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 ...
during the
1974–75 season. The title character, played by
David Hartman David Hartman is the name of:
*David Hartman (rabbi) (1931–2013), American-Israeli rabbi
*David Hartman (TV personality)
David Downs Hartman (born May 19, 1935) is an American journalist and media host who began his media career as an actor. He ...
, was a former
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...
player and
sportswriter
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...
who becomes an English teacher at the fictional
Harry S Truman
Harry may refer to:
TV shows
* ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin
* ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons
* ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
High School in
Webster Groves, Missouri
Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census.
The city is home to the main campus of Webster University.
Geography
Webster Groves is located at ...
, a suburb of
St. Louis. Episodes often deal with the resistance of traditional teachers to Tanner's unorthodox teaching style.
Regular co-stars included
Rosemary Murphy
Rosemary Murphy (January 13, 1925 – July 5, 2014) was a German- American actress of stage, film, and television. She was nominated for three Tony Awards for her stage work, as well as two Emmy Awards for television work, winning once, for her ...
,
Kimberly Beck
Kimberly Beck (born January 9, 1956) is a former American actress and model. She is best known for her role as Trish Jarvis in Joseph Zito's '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (1984). Her other film roles include Alfred Hitchcock's '' Mar ...
, and ten-year-old
Robbie Rist
Robbie Rist (born April 4, 1964) is an
American actor. He is known for playing Cousin Oliver in '' The Brady Bunch'', Martin in '' Grady'' and "Little John" in ''Big John, Little John''. Rist is also known for voicing assorted characters in ...
. Unusually, the show was actually filmed in Webster Groves, rather than on a Hollywood backlot. That gave it a somewhat unusual "look" for a prime-time TV series.
A 90-minute
pilot film of the series aired on NBC the week of May 4, 1974; the pilot also starred
Kathleen Quinlan
Kathleen Denise Quinlan Abbott (born November 19, 1954) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 1977 film of the novel '' I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,'' and her Golden ...
and
Joe Garagiola
Joseph Henry Garagiola Sr. (February 12, 1926 – March 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball catcher, later an announcer and television host, popular for his colorful personality.
Garagiola played nine seasons in Major League Basebal ...
.
NBC TV Guide ad for week of May 4, 1974, at Vintage Toledo TV.
/ref>
This series was Hartman's last work as an actor. In November 1975, he began as co-host of ABC's ''Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...
''. To date, he has not returned to acting.
Episodes
References
*Tim Brooks & Earle Marsh, '''' (7th ed. 1999), p. 601.
External links
* {{IMDb title, 0071008, Lucas Tanner
1974 American television series debuts
1975 American television series endings
1970s American workplace drama television series
1970s American high school television series
English-language television shows
Tanner, Lucas
NBC original programming
Television series about educators
Television series by Universal Television
Television shows set in Missouri
Television shows set in St. Louis