Going My Way (TV series)
Going My Way is an American comedy-drama series starring dancer and actor Gene Kelly. Based on the 1944 film of the same name starring Bing Crosby, the series aired on ABC with new episodes from October 3, 1962, to September 11, 1963. The program was Kelly's first and only attempt at a weekly television series. The series was cancelled after one season of 30 episodes. The program was also broadcast in England, where the trade publication Sponsor reported that it was "a smash in the London market", rated in the top 10 programs there in 1963.
Plot
Kelly stars as Father Chuck O'Malley, a Roman Catholic priest who is sent to St. Dominic's Parish located in a lower-class section of New York City. Dick York portrays Chuck's boyhood friend Tom Colwell, the director of a secular neighborhood youth center. Also co-starring is Leo G. Carroll as the aging pastor, Father Fitzgibbon. Nydia Westman is Mrs. Featherstone, the housekeeper of the rectory. Episodes focus on Father O'Malley's attempts to connect with the congregation and his relationship with the elderly Father Fitzgibbon.Guest stars
- Ed Begley
- Raymond Bailey
- Dave Barry
- Patricia Barry
- Don Beddoe
- Whit Bissell
- Willis Bouchey
- Eddie Bracken
- Steve Brodie
- Argentina Brunetti
- Ellen Burstyn
- Richard Carlson
- Paul Carr
- Nancy Carroll
- Linden Chiles
- Virginia Christine
- Fred Clark
- Richard Conte
- Ellen Corby
- Jerome Cowan
- William Demarest
- Richard Denning
- Lawrence Dobkin
- Ivan Dixon
- Keir Dullea
- James Dunn
- Dan Duryea
- James Edwards
- Anthony Eisley
- Ross Elliott
- Robert Emhardt
- Mary Field
- Dianne Foster
- Preston Foster
- Robert Foulk
- Anne Francis
- Beverly Garland
- Connie Gilchrist
- Virginia Gregg
- Don Keefer
- Barry Kelley
- George Kennedy
- Kip King
- Henry Kulky
- Arch Johnson
- Harry Lauter
- Cloris Leachman
- Peter Leeds
- Forrest Lewis
- Joanne Linville
- Richard Long
- Nora Marlowe
- Kevin McCarthy
- Frank McHugh
- Ralph Meeker
- Roger Mobley
- Joanna Moore
- Harry Morgan
- Patricia Morrow
- Bill Mumy
- Barbara Nichols
- Jeanette Nolan
- Pat O'Brien
- Gerald S. O'Loughlin
- J. Pat O'Malley
- Willard Parker
- Vic Perrin
- Michael J. Pollard
- Simon Scott
- Vito Scotti
- Mickey Shaughnessy
- Fay Spain
- Harold J. Stone
- Buck Taylor
- Arthur Tovey
- Lee Tracy
- Gary Vinson
- Ray Walston
- Jack Warden
- James Westerfield
- James Whitmore
- Jane Wyatt
Production
Going My Way was broadcast on Wednesdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Its competition included The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Virginian, and Kraft Television Theatre. Joe Connelly was the producer. Directors included Joseph Pevney and Fielder Cook. Writers included Arnold Bernstein and Emmet Lavery was the writer.The series was produced by Revue Studios, as parent company MCA owned the rights to the original film through its subsidiary, EMKA, Ltd., which in 1957 bought Going My Way and many other pre-1950 sound feature films from Paramount Pictures.
John H. Breck, Inc. sponsored the program, promoting its Breck Shampoos. The company had sponsored some specials in previous seasons, but this was its first sponsorship of a series. The $3.2 million that it spent for 50 weeks was double what the company had spent on TV advertising in any previous year, and it matched the most that the company had spent on both TV and print advertising in any previous year. The company hoped "to attract families, with large shares of women."