While I have taken a small break from watching my DVD of the first season of the 1960s drama Mr. Novak in favor of my annual binge watching of vintage Christmas films, I have been watching the series, one episode per day. After much fanfare and pressure, Warner Brothers issued the first season set of the series recently. It was worth the wait, I can say that.
Mr. Novak, starring actor James Franciscus as a sort of consolation prize after he bypassed Dr. Kildare in favor of shooting a pilot of a television series that never aired, was an NBC series lasting two seasons, 1963-1965. I remember the series as a child, but I never saw it during its first run. Like The Defenders, it was rarely if ever syndicated despite it being critically acclaimed. The series centered on a first-year high school English teacher, John Novak (excellently played by Franciscus), dealing with the various problems and issues facing the teaching profession. It was a series steeped in early sixties idealism commonplace with these great dramatic series and embodied by the Novak character. He also was tough and had high standards. It was one of the few television series centering on the teaching profession and in a realistic way.
It was probably too realistic, but one can credit the advisory panel of the NEA for that. The episodes rang true with me, decades after they were filmed, and the subjects still relevant today. It didn't matter what the subject. There were episodes dealing with racism, anti-semitism, inappropriate relationships between teachers and students, and one of them I recently watched dealt with the death of a teacher. Realistic as hell. Dean Jagger played the principal in the first season, and he was good. Jagger's character was not one of these dictatorial assholes I have come across in real life or incompetents who are supported by corrupt school districts like one I used to work for, and I am not naming any names. He always weighed the pros and cons before making a decision. The episodes did not always end on a happy note, either. Often it was left up to the viewer to draw conclusions over what happened to a character who didn't always get what he or she wanted.
There is also a book recently published about the series, which I plan to get.
At the time, Franciscus, who always reminded me of Richard Chamberlain at that time and I often got the two mixed up, was the son-in-law of director William Wellman. He had the connections, but he had real talent on top of his looks plus his Ivy League education (he was a Yale graduate). He went on to other series such as the one-season Longstreet, where he played a blind insurance investigator. It recently came out on DVD as well. Sadly, Franciscus, a four-pack-a-day smoker, died way, way too young, in 1991, at the age of 57 of emphysema. He left behind his second wife and four daughters from his marriage to Kitty Wellman. A fine talent who never got the recognition he deserved.
I highly recommend Mr. Novak to those interested in teaching and in classic television series. Here's hoping the second and final season comes out on DVD shortly.
No comments:
Post a Comment