Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 11, 1995 TAG: 9506280005
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: R.D. HELDENFELS KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
With NBC's ``High Sierra Search and Rescue'' (WSLS-Channel 10), Conrad will have starred in a different series in each of the last five decades - the '50s through the '90s. According to the show's publicists, he is the only actor to have done so.
Well, James Garner was in a series in five decades - including ``Maverick'' from 1957-60, ``Nichols'' in the '70s, ``Bret Maverick'' in the '80s and ``Man of the People'' in the '90s - although not five different series, which is a carefully constructed part of the Conrad claim.
And what about Richard Crenna? His credits include ``Our Miss Brooks'' in the '50s, ``The Real McCoys'' in the '50s and '60s, ``Slattery's People'' also in the '60s, ``All's Fair'' in the '70s, ``It Takes Two'' in the '80s and ``Pros and Cons'' in the '90s. Hold that footnote, Mr. Conrad.
Instead the rugged actor should just be happy with the foothold he has in series TV, starting with ``Hawaiian Eye'' in 1959. The new series, about an all-volunteer group in Conrad's home turf of Bear Valley, Calif., certainly suggests the 60-year-old actor has kept himself in shape.
But it also may be that TV's veteran leading men developed an early attachment to weight machines. After all, last season saw other graybeards taking on physical roles - 58-year-old Chad Everett in ``McKenna'' and 54-year-old James Brolin in ``Extreme.''
Nor is the five-decade claim as impressive as it originally sounds. For one thing, Conrad had a shot at the title with his last series, ``Jesse Hawkes,'' which premiered in April 1989. But it did not last beyond May, just over six months shy of taking Conrad into the '90s.
And because the claim is based on a different series in each decade, it does not take into consideration actors who had very long runs in relatively few series.
Michael Landon, for instance, was a four-decade player based on just three series - ``Bonanza,'' ``Little House on the Prairie'' and ``Highway to Heaven.'' Those three series had Landon in prime time at least part of every year from 1959, when ``Bonanza'' premiered about three weeks before Conrad's ``Hawaiian Eye,'' to 1989.
That's as impressive an example of longevity as you will find in TV series history, made more so because Landon was a bit younger than Conrad and his life was cut short by illness in 1991; Landon was preparing yet another TV series when he was diagnosed with cancer.
Similarly, Carroll O'Connor starred in three prime-time decades with just two series, ``All in the Family'' and ``In the Heat of the Night.'' Lucille Ball also did three decades with two series, ``I Love Lucy'' and ``The Lucy Show,'' although the latter went through occasional name changes and format overhauls; she then tacked on a fourth decade with the unfortunate ``Life With Lucy'' in 1986.
Conrad's record is more comparable to those of actors like Harry Morgan and Robert Urich, who piled up series credits by never letting failure slow them.
Conrad has had 10 series before ``High Sierra Search and Rescue'': ``Hawaiian Eye'' (1959-63), ``The Wild Wild West'' (1965-70), ``The D.A.'' (1971-72), ``Assignment Vienna'' (1972-73), ``Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (1976-78), ``Centennial'' (1978-79, called a miniseries but, at 24 hours, longer than many full-season series), ``The Duke'' (1979), ``A Man Called Sloane'' (1979-80), ``High Mountain Rangers'' (1988) and ``Jesse Hawkes'' (1989). Only three ran more than one season.
Morgan - who, incidentally, co-starred with Conrad in ``The D.A.'' - has 11 series over four decades, almost half of which lasted at least two seasons. But he also kept pitching through dry spells, compiling this list: ``December Bride'' (1954-59), ``Pete & Gladys'' (1960-62), ``The Richard Boone Show'' (1963-64), ``Kentucky Jones'' (1964-65), ``Dragnet'' (1967-70), ``The D.A.'' (1971-72), ``Hec Ramsey'' (1972-74), ``M*A*S*H'' (where he appeared from 1975 to 1983), ``AfterMASH'' (1983-84), ``Blacke's Magic'' (1986) and ``You Can't Take It With You'' (1987).
Urich, meanwhile, had a five-year stretch in which he tackled five series: ``Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1973), ``S.W.A.T.'' (1975-76), ``Tabitha'' and ``Soap'' (both 1977) and, finally a hit to call his own, ``Vega$,'' which ran from 1978 to 1981. Other Urich series: ``Gavilan'' (1982-83), ``Spenser: For Hire'' (1985-88), ``American Dreamer'' (1990-91), ``Crossroads'' (1992) and ``It Had to be You'' (1993).
Resumes like that, or Conrad's, tell you a couple of things about television. First, a television series is a fragile thing, and for all the hits we remember, there are dozens of series that disappear in the blink of an eye. And second, the smart actor keeps looking for a hit - because last year's failure may simply open the door to this year's success.
by CNB