Riverboat

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.

This was a very good series. In each town the riverboat stopped in, some little drama would take place, with crew members getting involved in the local intrigue. The plots were always watchable and interesting, with occasional but excellent humor, and the acting was first rate. Darren McGavin was dashing as the captain (think Kolchak minus fifteen years).

Darren McGavin was the star of this series. Yet, on his page, he's credited with being in one episode, and on this page appears not at all. IMDb's television series pages used to be pretty accurate, now a lot of stars show as limited guests on their own shows. What happened?

This was a very good television series for its day. What should be noted is that McGavin and Reynolds had a feud during this television series. I seem to recall it was around who's the actual star/salary paid/whatever?. To my knowledge, these two haven't been friendly since ~ almost 50 years! They don't mention each other's name when commenting about this show. It's VERY hard to ensure we get a "maximum 1000 words or a minimum of 10 lines" as per your posting guidelines, when our comments, while they may be valid after your review, may not meet this criteria. Perhaps you could consider LOWERING this guideline for some of us avid contributors!?

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.

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.