California Fever

CBS scheduled "California Fever" on Tuesday nights at 8 opposite ABC's powerhouse, "Happy Days".

I thought it was an engaging bit of fluff, but it had such an implausible-no-IMPOSSIBLE premise. The four stars never went to school; never went home; parents were never shown-they would just hang out at the beach-all the time.

This was in the fall of 1979. I had my "SONY BETAMAX" & I also had a habit of taping shows I knew were 'terminal' from the start.

Jimmy McNichol & Michelle Tobin had starred in a very short- lived family show called, "The Fitzpatricks" in the fall of 1977. In that show, they were brother & sister.

Co-star Marc McClure ( Ross ), went on to play "Jimmy Olsen" in the original four Superman movies.

Lorenzo Lamas ( Rick ), eventually made it big on "Falcon Crest".

Jimmy went on to make a few made-for-TV movies. One of them was called, "Blinded by the Light", in which he starred with his famous sister, Kristy. Jimmy was very one-dimensional in that one ( about a cult ). Kristy was much, much better.

Michelle disappeared completely after "Fever". Jimmy had some moderate success playing bass guitar in various bands, but his trail has been 'cold' for many years.

There were 13 episodes of "Fever" produced; 9 were telecast before cancellation-I have 6 of them. They are now on VHS masters & I can & have transferred them on to DVD, as well. Hard to believe & 'who cares' ? I know. But this is a rarity that will, doubtless, never be seen, again. I'm probably the only person in the country that has this one & it makes for a neat collector's item.

The theme song was sung by Jimmy & was written by Alan O'Day. O'Day had a number 1 hit in the summer of 1977 with, "Undercover Angel". It was there at the top for a number of weeks & is still heard & fondly remembered, today.

"Fever" ran from September 25th, 1979 until December 11th. Then it was gone. Ironically, one week after "Fever" was pulled, CBS aired "The Jimmy McNichol Special" in the same time slot ! But people paid as little attention to that as they had with "Fever".

A good friend of mine once asked me, "Jeff, why do you work so hard at remembering"? I countered that with, "Why do YOU work so hard at FORGETTING"?

"California Fever". It's been nearly 30 years. But it is also fun to remember-as well as have a chunk of the show in my hands.

"These kids have the fever. California Fever-where every day is sun & fun & every night is something else. Catch "California Fever", this fall on CBS". An original promo ( am I thorough or what ) ? More likely I need to stop sniffing nail polish remover. Nah. While you have to totally suspend disbelief in order to watch a show like this one, it did have a certain unrealistic charm to it.

Oh Boy, I need a vacation ! California ? No, I think not.

Jeffrey McAdam-Reed ( reven2skater@yahoo.com ).

Yes we got the California Fever TV series down in New Zealand in 1979-80. I was 12 yrs old and realised there was no God in the universe when we saw 16 yr old kids in the US driving hotted up cars like that to school. Vinnie had a metalflake painted '70 Firebird with fat cragars, Ross had the customised Ford van which was later replaced with some kind of mad max lookin' 4x4, Laurie had a beat up 69 fastback Mustang. The 4 on the floor kids hung out at Ricks Place (Lorenzo Lamas) which looked to be shot at Newport Beach by the wharf. Was there a year or 2 ago, wondered if it was the location, good ice creams there anyway. Pretty straight line show story and acting wise, young disco bunnies (hehe) cool cars, lamo bands etc. However had an appealing cheese factor, and a couple of believable actors cast. Would be keen to see again as was a great time capsule for the times... flare kitted vans, disco, polyester tees, beaches, crusin, even some illegal drag racing. Like Chips they would always be helping out some poor sod, and squeezing in the latest California fad every episode. Would particularly like to see the first episode (may have been the pilot) which featured some authentic cruise night footage which may have been shot on Sunset or Van Vuys, was hoping for more of that action throughout the series. Appeared to capture the perception of the southern Cali vibe of the late 70's. Deserves 8 out of 10 just for petrolhead appeal.

California Fever aired when I was 8. I loved the show but at 8 I really didn't grasp the concept of shows getting cancelled, it was just gone. The cool cars, the beach, the great music (at the time it was great music and in every episode..lol), what more could ya ask for as a kid. For a long time I thought Rex Smith was the Star of the show until the internet came along with all the answers. I've been trying to find the show for over 30 years, on vhs, and then dvd, and now streaming or for download. It always bums me out when the shows from my childhood whether short lived or not just can't be found.

Best I can remember, I liked this show. But I was a silly 14 yr old girl with typical crushes. I loved the cars and the beaches. I enjoyed skating back then and thought that was the best, to get to skate all the time like that. Where I lived at we all met up at the skating rink. I thought one day I'd like to go to California until I found out they had earth quakes and forest fires. But I do remember enjoying the sites of the beach and I thought they must have the best life ever. I did wonder why they never went home? Why their parents wasn't ever looking for them? I'm just sorry all the actors dropped off the face of the earth, more or less I hope the actors are living their best life now. Wouldn't mind watching the episodes again for old times sake.

Although this show was short lived and a very long time ago now, I remember it like yesterday. Probably because at the time "California Fever" was on the air my father had a 1970 Trans Am. Not even close to being as cool as the one in the show driven by Jimmy McNichol. But what I am wondering is.. whatever happened to Jimmy's TA after the show ended? I've searched the web for images of the car but there really aren't any. Just promo shots of the gang posing around the car and not much of it in frame. I have also been researching google and following leads but there isn't any information about the show's super cool Trans Am. I loved the paint job. Please let me know if you have any information.