Aventureros del Misisipi

There were Afro-Americans in the series. I just watched Path of the Eagle and there are several and the Captain is very polite with them.

I always liked Darren McGavin. He was a very good actor. I remember that Burt Reynolds had problems with him. But, I wonder if Burt's ego didn't get the better of him. Darren had all ready been the star of another great series Mike Hammer, Burt was just starting out. He probably should have listened more and mouthed off less. I think Burt clashed because they have they same kind of swagger.

So, where are the other episodes??? Same with Mike Hammer, where are they???

'Riverboat' may not be considered a television classic, but it is one of the most enjoyable shows of the late 50's early 60's period! A 'big budget' show for it's time, it works mainly because of Darren McGavin, at his handsome, dynamic best as the dashing Captain Grey Holden of the riverboat 'Enterprise'. Plenty of big name guest stars, and up and comers like Robert Vaughn etc. keep it interesting. It's said that McGavin and Burt Reynolds didn't get on, why, no one's quite sure? Probably a clash of similar personalities? But as far as personality, charisma and acting ability goes, Darren McGavin wins hands down! At any rate, after the first 21 episodes, Reynolds was replaced by Noah Beery Jnr. Finally, all 44 episodes have been released onto DVD, picture and sound quality are pretty good, but unfortunately, not re-mastered like 'Rawhide' or 'Maverick', other shows from the same period, but then the Timeless Media Group don't appear to do that? Still, great to have this wonderful old series made available at last! I enjoyed it all those years ago when it was screened in Australia, and I'm enjoying it all over again now!

Riverboat was a television that never quite developed it's audience. My guess is that the reports of the fighting on set which I well remember got more attention than the show itself.

Darren McGavin who had a few film credits, most notably The Man With The Golden Arm and a half hour version of Mike Hammer that ran in the middle fifties was the captain of the Riverboat Enterprise and star of the show. Who could possibly have known what an illustrious history that name for vessels would have?

His co-star was young Burt Reynolds in what was to have been his first big break. Like John Wayne in The Big Trail which was supposed to make him a big star, it flopped and Reynolds would have to wait a few more years for stardom.

The main thing was how the two of them didn't get along, McGavin and Reynolds. If we had tabloid TV back in those days, McGavin and Reynolds would have been feature stories. Maybe one day Burt Reynolds will tell us the reason, we certainly can't hear it any more from McGavin.

John Mitchum's rollicking memoir, Them Ornery Mitchum Boys, does devote a bit of space to Riverboat. Bob's younger brother was a series regular and he does say that the cast generally sided with Reynolds, feeling that McGavin was the heavy here. He also said that everyone else also felt that Reynolds was a star in the making.

It wasn't a bad series, but it will be more known for the offstage battling than anything else.

I'm writing this a few minutes after hearing the news that Burt Reynolds had passed away. The newscasts didn't even mention "Riverboat". It's sure how most of us who were teenage girls in 1959 remember him best! He made a career on being cute, and he was never cuter than when he was on Riverboat. It was a great show. Well worth re-watching now. I remember one episode where they killed off one of the main characters--something that was never, ever done on a TV show in that era. It must surely have been a first. It was the character played by Jack Lambert. I still remember his name was Joshua. It was absolutely mind boggling at the time. Even my dad, watching it with me, kept saying "No, he's not really dead. . .he'll be all better at the end." But he wasn't! That was a pretty big deal for a TV show in 1959.

I remember Darren McGavern speaking some decades later on two talk shows about this series. The series was based on the riverboat freight transport system that operated in the New Orleans and Lousiana area during the late 1800's.

Mc Gavern stated on at least two occasions that there was great disharmony among the writers and producers because, he said, the network and the sponsors didn't want any Black people in the show.

Rightly so, McGavern thought this restriction stupid, since at that time in that area depicted in the series, the majority of the laborers on the docks and piers were Black and Creole.

Then again, it was the late 50's to early 60's and such was the policy of the networks.