The New Bob Cummings Show

The New Bob Cummings Show is an American sitcom which was broadcast by CBS during the 1961–62 television season. The series was originally titled The Bob Cummings Show when it first appeared on the CBS schedule on October 5, 1961; however, this led to confusion between this program and series stars Bob Cummings's earlier 1955 series, also called The Bob Cummings Show; thus, the title The New Bob Cummings Show was officially adopted beginning with the December 28 episode.

The New Bob Cummings Show
Bob Cummings and Roberta Shore
Also known as	The Bob Cummings Show
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Roland Kibbee
Written by	Jerry Adelman Roscoe J. Armbuster Jr Mel Diamond Lee Erwin Robert Fisher Austin Kalish Sheldon Keller Howard Leeds Alan Lipscott Milt Rosen Sheldon Stark
Directed by	Earl Bellamy John English Don Weis
Starring	Bob Cummings Roberta Shore Murvyn Vye
Composer	Stanley Wilson
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22 (list of episodes)
Production
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production company	Revue Studios
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	October 5, 1961 (1961-10-05) – March 1, 1962 (1962-03-01)

Synopsis

The New Bob Cummings Show began two years after production had ended on Cummings's previous, successful sitcom The Bob Cummings Show, which, when the newer program began its run, was still being rerun on ABC's daytime schedule under the title Love That Bob, which it was to retain through many years in syndication.

The new program, like its predecessor, took advantage of Cummings's real-life interests; once again, the character he played, Bob Carson, was a pilot. Carson owned two planes, a conventional, twin-engine plane which he used for long trips, and the Aerocar, which, as its name implied, was a vehicle which could be alternately flown or, with its wing detached, driven on highways as an automobile, which he used for short hops near his California base.

In addition to his activities as a charter pilot, Carson was an amateur detective, a fact which provided the basis for the plots of most of the episodes. In contrast to Cummings earlier program, which had several co-stars, the only recurring roles in The New Bob Cummings Show other than Cummings's own were that of "Lionel", Carson's bodyguard, played by Murvyn Vye, and "Hank", the tomboyish-yet-precocious teenage daughter of the owner of the airstrip where Carson's planes were based, played by Roberta Shore.

Production

When The Bob Cummings Show ended, Cummings said he was not keen to do comedy for his next series. However The New Bob Cummings Show was very much in the same vein as the first one.

The show was announced in April 1961. The network said Cummings's character would do anything that was not "illegal, immoral or underpaid".

It was filmed by Revue Productions and sponsored by the Kellogg Company and Brown & William Tobacco. The show replaced Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre on the network line up.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Executive Sweet"	Don Weis	Mel Diamond & Henry Sharp	October 5, 1961 (1961-10-05)
2	"Very Warm for Mayan"	Don Weis	Sheldon Stark & Mel Diamond	October 12, 1961 (1961-10-12)
3	"Vive La Credit Card"	Don Weis	Howard Leeds	October 19, 1961 (1961-10-19)
4	"The Ox-Tail Incident"	John English	Roscoe J. Armbuster Jr.	October 26, 1961 (1961-10-26)
5	"Roamin' Holiday"	Don Weis	Alan Lipscott & Bob Fisher	November 2, 1961 (1961-11-02)
6	"Who Chopped Down the Cherokee"	Don Weis	Jerry Adelman, Lee Erwin, & Mel Diamond	November 9, 1961 (1961-11-09)
Bob tries to convince some Native Americans to give up land for a missile base.
7	"Always On Tuesday"	Earl Bellamy	Howard Leeds	November 16, 1961 (1961-11-16)
8	"Re: Fifi"	Earl Bellamy	Sheldon Keller & Mel Diamond	November 23, 1961 (1961-11-23)
9	"The Guns of Abalone"	Earl Bellamy	Austin Kalish, Milt Rosen, & Mel Diamond	November 30, 1961 (1961-11-30)
10	"Lavender's Hale"	David Orrick McDearmon	Joel Rapp & Sam Locke	December 7, 1961 (1961-12-07)
11	"The Saga of Twangy McCoombs"	Don Weis	Mannie Manheim, Arthur Marx & Mel Diamond	December 14, 1961 (1961-12-14)
12	"National Satin"	David Orrick McDearmon	Glenn Wheaton, Elroy Schwartz, & Mel Diamond	December 21, 1961 (1961-12-21)
13	"La Dolce Roma"	Earl Bellamy	Lee Karson & Ron Bishop	December 28, 1961 (1961-12-28)
14	"The Unretouchables"	Unknown	Unknown	January 4, 1962 (1962-01-04)
15	"Swiss Family Gogerty"	Eddie Rubin	Mel Diamond & Austin Kalish	January 11, 1962 (1962-01-11)
16	"The Turbulent Thirties"	Don Weis	Austin Kalish & Mel Diamond	January 18, 1962 (1962-01-18)
17	"U.N. The Night and the Music"	Eddie Rubin	Howard Leeds & Mel Diamond	January 25, 1962 (1962-01-25)
18	"A Cuppa Cawfee, a Sangwich, and Youse"	Unknown	Unknown	February 1, 1962 (1962-02-01)
19	"My Son, The Voodoo Doctor"	Eddie Rubin	T : Mel Diamond & Austin Kalish S/T : Peter Bourne, Mel Diamond, & Austin Kalish	February 8, 1962 (1962-02-08)
20	"Operation Cake Lift"	Eddie Rubin	Sol Stein, Glenn Wolfe, & Mel Diamond	February 15, 1962 (1962-02-15)
21	"North by Southeast"	David Orrick McDearmon	Steve Fisher & Mel Diamond	February 22, 1962 (1962-02-22)
22	"Fasten Your Money Belt"	Herschel Daugherty	Ronald Kibbee	March 1, 1962 (1962-03-01)

Reception

The show aired on Thursday nights opposite two popular shows, The Real McCoys on ABC and Dr. Kildare on NBC.

The New York Times said "the style but not the setting is about the same as his past series... Fast talk, pretty girls and breezy comedy are still the main ingredients. It's bright, quick, inconsequential and inoffensive."

Filmink thre series "had the same flaws as My Hero – i.e. a weak concept (a pilot has adventures) and no sense of family."

Cancellation

Two months after the show debuted in October the title was changed to The New Bob Cummings Show. Ratings did not improve and the show was cancelled in January. The last episode aired on March 1, 1962. It was replaced by Oh! Those Bells.

External links

• The New Bob Cummings Show at IMDb