Riverboat

I watched the 3 DVD set of the Riverboat series and was surprised at the poorly conceived stories and mediocre acting. I think that I was more in love with the idea of traveling along on the river in what appears to be an authentic paddle wheel river boat. All of the scenes of the boat moving along the river are what seem to be what I remembered most.

What really stands out are the parallels between Riverboat and Star Trek. Of course the name of both ships was the Enterprise. One of the characters in the crew that the captain interacted with had a heavy Scottish accent. Probably the one thing that stood out the most was comparing Darren McGavin and William Shatner. Both played captains that were full of bravado, and both way over the top with swagger. It's almost as though William Shatner was playing an intergalactic version of Captain Grey Holden.

I hardly remembered Burt Reynolds, and after watching him in these DVDs, he seemed like a real stiff.

Definitely not as good as I remembered from my childhood.

'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 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?