Hennesey

Jackie Cooper played a WWII Army vet who went to medical school and entered the Navy as a doctor. In the first episode when the new doctor reports to his new commanding officer at the naval hospital, the CO looks over his personnel record, notes the Army experience and asks Hennesey, 'Have you ever been to sea?' No, sir.' 'Have you ever been on a ship?' 'No, sir.' 'Can you identify water?' 'In daytime, I can, yes, sir.' In the series, James Komack played a hip nonconformist dentist who reputedly filled his own teeth. Henry Kulky as Max probably had the best role of his career as the sensitive Goliath who--in one episode--saved the arm of a sailor who had it caught in a machine. Max picked up the sailor and turned him over to unwind the arm from the gears. The show was blessed with a great cast and excellent writers. The show was funny without being silly and serious without sinking into melodrama.

Does anybody remember which episode was done without talking? This was a milestone, set by one other series during this time. 77 Sunset Strip also did an episode without talking, the only sound at the end was a dog barking. It was written up in TV guide. I have forgotten the names of each of these incredible episodes and would appreciate any leads on them. Roger Smith was the star in the 77 Sunset Strip episode. In the Hennesey episode the whole ensemble was in it. Also, does anybody know where if DVD's of 77 Sunset Strip and Hennessey have been issued? Also, People's Choice was a great ensemble and funny show. Does anybody know if that show is available in DVD. And does anybody have current information about Jackie Cooper? As for Roger Smith, the husband of Ann Margeret, I actually flew with them when their cast was flying to Tahoe for one of her shows, back in 1979. Both of them were most gracious.

Unfortunately neither ioffer.com nor ebay.com have any DVDs legal or otherwise to purchase as of October 2009. However the theme song can now be listened to at http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-3831

If anyone knows of a pier to pier file-sharing network sharing Hennesey episodes, or of any way at all to access episodes, please post this information. CBS.com does not even recognise the series name name in the search engine on its homepage, so it seems there's no hope there.

YouTube is devoid of Hennesey. Perhaps someone with the DVDs mentioned above could put them up there? There's a complete list of all episodes with plot synopses at http://ctva.biz/US/Comedy/Hennesey.htm

The only other source of information about potential release on DVD that I've been able to find is at http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/shows/Hennesey/1610#Links

I really looked forward to each weeks program. The cast was stellar and the writing was excellent. I remember one night that I watched Hennesey, I was to leave for the Army the next day. It made me laugh and took some of the pressure off of me. I spent some time in the army and wish that I would have had a CO like Roscoe Karns. The same goes for the time that I spent in an Army Hospital. Oh if I only would have had a nurse like Nurse Hale. The Army nurses that took care of me were great and Abbey Dalton did a very realistic job of portraying military nurses. I wish that the programs were available on DVD, I would buy all of them. Many have praised the theme song and I agree with them. It was a very good show and it is sad that it is not available so that a new generation of people can enjoy it.

I worked with Don at KHJ-TV in Hollywood in the early 70's, and he said he "controlled" 'Hennesy,' and would NEVER let it be re-run. Being a pretty contentious guy he said he didn't need a reason, but I watched every episode and, believe me, it would hold up VERY WELL by today's TV standards (is that an oxymoron?) But seriously, folks, Hennesy, even though it is black and white, could, of course, be colorized; and I sincerely hope that his estate, or whomever owns the show now, would consider releasing it; at least on video...I would be the first customer in line for all 96 episodes. Thanks for letting me put in my 2c worth.