Never Too Young

I remember NTY fondly. I was a junior in high school just outside Philadelphia. Loved the show, it looked like it was filmed before a live audience. Several classmates faithfully watched the show and enjoyed the staged scenes of the Malibu beaches and the background music, and the special drop in guests. Living on the east coast , we could only dream of what California beaches looked like. Unfortunately the show had no permanent sponsor (pays the shows' bills), and our local ABC affiliate did not carry the show so we saw it on low power UHF channel 29 which required a converter for the then-state of the art black and white TVs. Note that Channel 29 operated out of an apartment with their tower on top of the apartment building. It took tinfoil on the rabbit ears to bring in a snowy picture. UHF has just come to Philly the previous month. Another crush was chopping five minutes off for "Arlene Dahl's Beauty Spot", in color yet, at 4:25 eastern, reducing NTY to about 17 minutes after commercials.

I remember watching the final episode on the "big" TV in our family room and shedding a few tears when the final credits faded to black. School had just ended and tis was kind of a downer losing my favorite after school show. Never got into Dark Shadows although it was a moneymaker for ABC.

"Never Too Young " is a great teen-age soap opera. Chet (Tony Dow) is a predecssor to Fonzie in that he drifts around as a mechanic. Alfie is the former rock and roll singer who doesn't want to be tied down. Tommy Rettig as Jo-Jo is the hilarious nerd type who keeps trying to find girls the right way. Throw in some spoled rich kids, brainy kids, serious medical students, and there you have it.

I was 13 when this premiered, but my 17 year old sister watched it all the time. I have to admit, I got sucked in and was more than a little disappointed when it ended and the next Monday, when Dark Shadows premiered in its place it seemed a tremendous loss. Yet, within the year, DS became a super-big hit. Go figure. At the time it seemed special, teen-aged angst-ridden drama. And Tony Dow plus Tommy Rettig to boot! One other thing to note: I remember them playing the hit "Groovy Kind of Love" at the end of the last episode. Can't remember if that was a regular thing or just for that episode. It was obvious that it was the last episode though. Also remember a lot of musical guests, but the one I remember best was Paul Revere and the Raiders because my sister was wild about them.

Never Too Young was one of my favorite soaps on TV. Wish it could have lasted longer. Enjoyed watching Michael J. Blodgett, Joanna Barnes and John Upton over the years and have often wondered whatever happened to them since the 80's. I loved Debbie Watson as Gidget in Gidget Goes Hawaiian as well. Would like to know what she is doing now in the 21st century.

I can remember seeing the Ramsey Lewis Trio on the show.

I was senior in high school when NTY started. Can hardly believe it's 40 years since it was on TV.

If anyone has any information on the cast I would love to hear it.

Is there any way in which to get in touch with Michael, Joanna and Debbie to let them know how much I enjoyed them?

Never Too Young was a teenage soap opera with a lot of teen angst every week from its various cast members. It had trouble trying to find itself an audience and in its second season switched to some adult cast members like Patrice Wymore, John Lupton, and Merry Anders and some adult themed stories. I remember in the end it was a murder to be solved and one of the aforementioned adults did the deed.

The formula had to wait a score of years before Baywatch premiered. We did see a lot of scantily clad boys and girls every week always an audience pleaser. For the girls it was Cindy Carol and for the guys it was Michael Blodgett, talk about a golden couple.

It was the California beach scene, but in response to the British invasion British guy David Watson took over the hangout where all the kids congregated. He dispensed wisdom and advice to the young and that accent sure made it sound like he knew what he was talking about.

Never Too Young never found its audience, but those who did watch it have fond memories.