September 1964: Television debuts

All summaries taken verbatim from listings in various newspapers. 

'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'

Debut: Monday, September 14, ABC

Summary: An underwater adventure series filled with visual gimmicks which should appeal to the youngsters. Scientist Richard Basehart and Commander David Hedison run things on an atomic-powered sub known as the Seaview.

* Fan websites: @ and @

'Peyton Place'

Debut: Tuesday, September 15, ABC

Summary: Twice-weekly, half-hour, night-time soap opera about life in a small New England town. Dorothy Malone stars. In the premiere, a doctor arrives in town to take up practice. The other half of this serial debuts Thursday.

* Fan website: @

* DVD reviews: @ and @

'Shindig!'

Debut: Wednesday, September 16, ABC

Summary: The teen set will probably flip for this "fab" musical series which is a cross between a rock 'n' roll concert and a hootenanny. The opener, taped with an eager audience of teen-age enthusiasts, features the various talents of Sam Cooke, the Everly Brothers, the Wellingtons, Jackie and Gayle, Donna Loren, Bobby Sherman and the Righteous Brothers.

* Entry from TV.com: @

'Bewitched'

Debut: Thursday, September 17, ABC

Summary: Weekly half-hour situation comedy with Elizabeth Montgomery as a beautiful witch married to a perplexed mortal (Dick York), an advertising man. Agnes Moorehead costars as Miss Montgomery's mother who disapproves of her marriage to a human. In the premiere, York gets a wedding night confession from his bridge that she is a witch.

* Entry from Museum of Broadcast Communications: @

'Jonny Quest'

Debut: Friday, September 18, ABC

Summary: Weekly half-hour animated series about an 11-year-old boy whose father is a scientist and international troubleshooter.

* Entry from The Big Cartoon Database: @

'The Addams Family'

Debut: Friday, September 18, ABC

Summary: Cartoonist Charles Addams' spooky New Yorker magazine creation fits neatly into the TV comedy groove. Carolyn Jones makes a seductive "Morticia"; John Astin is deliciously droll as her weirdo husband "Gomez"; tall Ted Cassidy registers as the butler "Lurch"; Lisa Loring and Ken Weatherwax are perfect as the children "Wednesday and Pugsley"; and baldpated Jackie Coogan as "Uncle Fester" and Blossom Rock as "Granny" round out the cast of regulars. The opener introduces the offbeat household through a visit by a nervous truant office, wildly played by Allyn Joslyn.

* Fan website: @

* Tee & Charles Addams Foundation: @

'12 O'Clock High''

Debut: Friday, September 18, ABC

Summary: An absorbing drama series about a World War II bomber group, greatly enhanced by excellent usage of actual aerial combat footage and the casting of Robert Lansing as General Frank Savage, its star. Lansing is believable right down to the line as the commander of the B-17 bombers.

* Entry from epguides.com: @

'Flipper'

Debut: Saturday, September 19, NBC

Summary: Weekly half-hour adventure series about a marine preserve ranger who is a widower. His two young sons and their playmate, a tame dolphin named Flipper. Filmed in Florida.

* Entry from "The Encyclopedia of TV Pets" (2002, Ken Beck and Jim Clark): @

'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'

Debut: Tuesday, September 22, NBC

Summary: Better watch this one because people may ask you questions tomorrow. Robert Vaughn stars as Napoleon Solo, a James Bond type agent-superman, in the wildest, most contrived but in some ways, most entertaining adventure show in many moons. The opening seven minutes set the tone for the hour, and they're the best part of the show since they put you in the mood to accept ingenious plot gimmicks. By finale time, you'll either be on the edge of your seat or on the floor laughing.

* "The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Book" (1987, Jon Heitland): @

* Fan website: @

'The Munsters'

Debut: Thursday, September 24, CBS

Summary: This cheery, wild affair with Frankenstein, Dracula and Vampira will win the kids and many grownups, too. A monster family called the Munsters go to a costume party and are embarrassed to find they're the real McCoy. Herman and Grandpa, with the aid of many special effects, are the most engaging. Nothing scary for the kids in the opener.

* www.munsters.com (website of Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster): @

* "The Munsters: A Trip Down Mockingbird Lane" (2006, Stephen Cox): @

'Daniel Boone'

Debut: Thursday, September 24, NBC

Summary: Another action-packed series for the kids with pre-Revolutionary frontier adventure to spare and a superhero to ape, played with vigor and vim by series star Fess Parker. In the opening episode, Daniel Boone and his sidekick Yadkin (Albert Salmi) have a bout with the Indians when Gen. George Washington orders them to build a fort.

* Entry from Archive of American Television: @

'Gomer Pyle - USMC'

Debut: Friday, September 25, CBS

Summary: An engaging and humorous opening for Marine Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors), who brings a woman into camp so she can see her boyfriend. This is the same Gomer from the Andy Griffith series, trying to get along with a tough gung-ho sergeant.

* Entry from epguides.com: @

* Entry from "Encyclopedia of the Sixties" (2012): @

'Gilligan's Island'

Debut: Saturday, September 26, CBS

Summary: Another situation comedy, "Gilligan's Island," debuts -- and the landing is dubious. In this one, Bob Denver (of Dobie Gillis fame) is the incredible hero -- First Mate Gilligan of a charter sightseeing boat that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island in the Hawaii area. His flustered skipper is Alan Hale and his distraught passengers are Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer (a wealthy Long Island couple); Tina Louise (a glamor puss film starlet); Russell Johnson (a befuddled professor) and Dawn Wells (a notion counter clerk). Most of the action concerns the group's amazement at their predicament and their efforts to enlist help through the ship's radio which has been swallowed by a fish.
* Gilligan's Island Fan Club: @
* "Inside Gilligan's Island" (1994, Sherwood Schwartz): @

'My Living Doll'

Debut: Sunday, September 27, CBS

Summary: Bob Cummings plays a space agency psychiatrist who suddenly finds himself custodian of Rhoda, an Air Force top secret robot, played by Julie Newmar. 

Note: Newmar's character helped popularize the phrase "That does not compute." 

* Entry from Television Obscurities: @

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