The Sixth Sense

It was indeed on in 1972, thought it was fall of 72. It was a syndicated show i believe that it was on weekends on Channel 40 WHYN TV back in those days. Channel 40 is still very much around today and is known as WGGB in Springfield Mass. They were great for showing many syndicated shows on Saturdays and on Sundays.

Yes, that is the first time i ever saw Gary Collins. His was a serious character on the show. They delved into the super natural and tried to solve cases of some sort. My mother and i loved the show and we watched it avidly!!! So it probably has more fans than you think. It was well written, well acted, and well presented!! I was 16 and a junior in high school back then. Good Memory!

This show aired in the Fall Season of 1972-73 and was quickly forgotten, probably due to it's genre (paranormal drama) and it's half-hour length. It centered on a professor (Gary Collins who actually acts in this) who explored cases of the mind, e.g. ESP and telekinesis.

Sadly, no one really remembers this series and the fact that a popular movie came out with the exact name makes it even more of a rarity. Not a bad show, it will cause somewhat of an air of suspense, all in a bite-size package.

Fortunately, this series was reedited into the syndication package of "Night Gallery" (which itself was badly edited) and can be seen wherever half-hour segments of "Night Gallery" is being shown. The only difference is in the very beginning where the typeface is different and a few more credits given to Anthony Lawrence and one other person. There is still the Rod Serling prologue (which he was paid handsomely for) and even some paintings to accent these episodes. Not a bad fate for a half-forgotten TV show.

It's two-hour pilot, "Sweet Sweet Rachel," is often aired as a movie. If anyone has a copy of this pilot or some of the episodes, please email me. I would be very interested in completing my collection.

Created by writer Anthony Lawrence, after the 1971 TV movie "Sweet, Sweet Rachel", and supervised during the first season (the first thirteen episodes) as an executive story consultant, the framework of "The Sixth Sense" is detective story but with wild macabre elements throughout the ESP phantasmagoria: delirious visions, hallucinations, apparitions, delusions, nightmares, mind transfers, memories from strangers, premonitions. As in the tradition of the private eye helped by his secretary, Dr. Michael Rhodes is supported by assistant librarian Nancy Murphy who only stays during the first seven episodes. The show's first ambition is to introduce to the audience the paranormal by rational and scientifical means and therefore, Dr. Rhodes plays the edifying and idealistic College professor who encounters hostility and skepticism. Too rigid and anecdotal to turn into a success, "The Sixth Sense" displays good episodes as "The House That Cried Murder", "Lady, Lady, Take My Life" (featuring a psychic lynch mob), "Once Upon a Chilling". Actually, "The Sixth Sense" is the second attempt to spread the ESP genre, after the 1959 anthology "One Step Beyond"--hosted and directed by John Newland; Newland participated in three "Sixth Sense" episodes: "Dear, Joan, We're Going to Scare You to Death", "Through a Flame, Darkly" and "And Scream by the Light of the Moon, the Moon"--, but with a regular conventional character and an early 1970's psychedelic film-making style. Many directors from other Universal fantastic shows worked on "The Sixth Sense": John Badham, Jeff Corey, Daniel Haller and Barry Shear from "Night Gallery" and Allen Barron from "Kolchak, The Night Stalker".

There, I said it! The funny thing is that The Sixth Sense is MUCH better than the more celebrated Night Gallery, even though I enjoy both shows. This review isn't really meant to rip the more popular show of the 2, but they both really go hand in hand. From what I read, and it's been a while, is that TSS piggybacked off of TNG during those crazy 70's ESP years, and was not given the proper respect is most definitely deserved; in fact, if you're lucky enough to catch the show on the tube like I did a few years ago, you'll find the show severely edited, and that hurts the quality. I was skeptical about this show at first, as Gary Collins and his turtleneck and big Chevy did nothing for me, but I did become a fan soon after, as the man can actually act, plus the stories were less silly than the ahem...other show. There's also many familiar faces(I won't name all of them though), such as Will Geer, June Allyson, Joseph Campanella, Joan Crawford, Sandra Dee, John Saxon, William Shatner, Steve Forrest, Patty Duke, Larry Linville, Tom Bosley, and Jessica Walter, although there's many others. It's difficult for me to understand why this show wasn't more popular, and I suppose that adds to the charm, but I bet there's many out there who would really enjoy seeing The Sixth Sense, even for the first time. I'm just glad I recorded many episodes a few years ago, and while their severely edited, it's better than not having them!

Not everyone has forgotten this short lived tv show. I remember it as very suspenseful and thought provoking. I was a junior in high school when it appeared and my classmates and I thought it was great. Unfortunately, not enough of the country felt likewise and it was cancelled quickly. However, it was intriguing to think that esp was possible. The show was well done but ahead of its' time. Today it would go over very well, as did the movie of the same name.