September 1965: Television debuts

All summaries taken from listings in various newspapers. 

'Run For Your Life'

Debut: Monday, September 13, NBC

Summary: At the outset of this drama series, hero Ben Gazzara is given two years or so to live, which prompts the rather slight premise of cramming a lifetime of incidents into his remaining days and nights.

'My Mother the Car'

Debut: Tuesday, September 14, NBC

Summary: The radio on a used car bought by a young man carries the voice of his departed mother, who says she is going to look after him.

'F Troop'

Debut: Tuesday, September 14, ABC

Summary: The place is Fort Courage, manned by devout cowards in the postbellum west. There's really no reason for Fort Courage, because the Indians are in cahoots with the cavalrymen, but occasionally, just to make things look good for the war department, the soldiers and the Indians stage a little mock war.

'Green Acres'

Debut: Wednesday, September 15, CBS

Summary: Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor playing city husband and wife who set up housekeeping in the country.

'Lost in Space'

Debut: Wednesday, September 15, CBS

Summary: Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, this is a space opera for the kids and they should love it. And if you're older and inclined toward science fiction, the production is first-rate and should hold you, too. The action takes place in 1997 and it's about a space expedition that's thrown off course by the presence of an enemy spy.

'Gidget'

Debut: Wednesday, September 15, ABC

Summary: Here's a series that's strictly for the teen crowd that loves the beach party type film. Adults will find some solace in the fine performance of Don Porter as the intelligent father coping with the problems of his irrepressible 15-year-old daughter while trying to fend off the well-meaning interference of her sister and her buttinsky husband. Sally Field mugs and grimaces her way through the Gidget role.

'The Big Valley'

Debut: Wednesday, September 15, ABC

Summary: Give this series a chance. Tonight's introduction spends too much time setting the scene and introducing the various characters and their potential personal conflicts. The people seem interesting enough and the series comes close enough to "Bonanza" to warrant as much success as that series. The actual story is a simple one about the mean railroad against the decent settlers.

'I Spy'

Debut: Wednesday, September 15, NBC

Summary: One of the more promising of the new series, this one co-stars actor Robert Culp and comedian Bill Cosby (who reveals himself to be a surprisingly good actor) as secret agents who don't mind romping all over the globe in order to fulfill their missions.

'Hogan's Heroes'

Debut: Friday, September 17, CBS

Summary: If you're willing to accept the fact that life in a German prisoner of war camp was a ball, this series brings you vivid slapstick substantiation. The camp is really run by Col.  Hogan (Bob Crane) of the air corps, under the noses of his captors. His men forge passport, smuggle spies, print counterfeit money, have a barbershop and engage in all the little niceties they wouldn't have if they were back with their own forces.

'The Wild Wild West'

Debut: Friday, September 17, CBS

Summary: The perils of an "undercover agent" in this one-hour action series are given added piquancy by the unique character of the time and setting -- the American frontier at its most turbulent.

'Honey West'

Debut: Friday, September 17, ABC

Summary: Anne Francis stars as a private eye who's quite an eyeful. Her partner tries to keep her out of trouble, but this honey attracts it.

'Get Smart'

Debut: Saturday, September 18, NBC

Summary: Starring Don Adams in a new half-hour comedy-adventure color series spoofing the current rage and cloak-and-dagger heroics. Adams portrays Maxwell Smart, Secret Agent 86, who has been carefully trained by a top-secret government organization known as CONTROL. Smart speaks several languages, has a working familiarity with every deadly weapon, is adept and karate and judo, and combines this knowledge with a zealous inefficiency and a remarkable lack of insight. But Smart means business in CONTROL's ceaseless conflict with the nefarious agents of KAOS. Despite Smart's incredible ineptness, he will manage each week to befuddle the enemy, with the aid of Secret Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon.)

'I Dream of Jeannie'

Debut: Saturday, September 18, NBC

Summary: A young astronaut is stranded on a mission and opens a bottle from which pops a beautiful genie who proceeds to complicated his life. 

'The FBI'

Debut: Sunday, September 19, ABC

Summary: Spellbinding stories based on cases in the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, linked with the personal drama of its agents. 

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