"Ben Casey" (1961) TV series 1961-1966

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Creator:

James E. Moser
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

2 October 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Gritty realistic hospital drama featuring manly Dr. Casey against the medical establishment, at first under the watchful eye of Dr...

Plot Keywords:

Medical | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 11 nominations

Cast

Vince Edwards

...

Dr. Ben Casey (153 episodes, 1961-1966)

(more)

Series Directed by
Leo Penn		(19 episodes, 1962-1965)
Irving Lerner		(13 episodes, 1961-1965)
Sydney Pollack		(10 episodes, 1962-1963)
Alex March		(9 episodes, 1961-1965)
Mark Rydell		(9 episodes, 1963-1964)
Marc Daniels		(9 episodes, 1964-1966)
John Meredyth Lucas		(9 episodes, 1964-1966)
Vince Edwards		(7 episodes, 1963-1965)
Abner Biberman		(6 episodes, 1961-1962)
Alan Crosland Jr.		(5 episodes, 1965-1966)
Allen Reisner		(4 episodes, 1964-1965)
Fielder Cook		(3 episodes, 1961-1962)
Paul Nickell		(3 episodes, 1962-1963)
Arthur Hiller		(3 episodes, 1962)
Richard C. Sarafian		(3 episodes, 1963-1965)
Robert Butler		(3 episodes, 1963)
Charles R. Rondeau		(3 episodes, 1964)
Harvey Hart		(3 episodes, 1965-1966)
Harry Landers		(3 episodes, 1965-1966)
Gerald Mayer		(3 episodes, 1965-1966)
Byron Paul		(2 episodes, 1961-1962)
Robert Ellis Miller		(2 episodes, 1961)
Joseph Pevney		(2 episodes, 1962)
Stuart Rosenberg		(2 episodes, 1962)
Paul Wendkos		(2 episodes, 1963-1964)
Harmon Jones		(2 episodes, 1964)
John Erman		(1 episode, 1964)

Series Writing credits
James E. Moser		(153 episodes, 1961-1966)
Howard Dimsdale		(18 episodes, 1963-1966)
Gilbert Ralston		(16 episodes, 1961-1964)
Barry Oringer		(12 episodes, 1963-1966)
Norman Katkov		(10 episodes, 1962-1965)
Jack Laird		(9 episodes, 1961-1963)
Chester Krumholz		(9 episodes, 1964-1966)
Theodore Apstein		(8 episodes, 1961-1965)
Oliver Crawford		(5 episodes, 1962-1965)
Jack Curtis		(5 episodes, 1962-1964)
Al C. Ward		(4 episodes, 1961-1965)
Lester Pine		(4 episodes, 1962-1965)
Gabrielle Upton		(3 episodes, 1962-1964)
Don Brinkley		(3 episodes, 1962-1963)
Alvin Sargent		(3 episodes, 1962-1963)
Wilton Schiller		(3 episodes, 1962-1963)
Steven W. Carabatsos		(3 episodes, 1963-1966)
Anthony Lawrence		(3 episodes, 1963-1964)
William P. McGivern		(3 episodes, 1963-1964)
John Meredyth Lucas		(3 episodes, 1964-1965)
Lionel E. Siegel		(3 episodes, 1964-1965)
Michael Zagor		(3 episodes, 1964-1965)
Marcus Demian		(2 episodes, 1961-1964)
Teddi Sherman		(2 episodes, 1962-1963)
John T. Dugan		(2 episodes, 1963-1965)
Jeanne Beeching		(2 episodes, 1963-1964)
Norman Jacob		(2 episodes, 1963-1964)
Dean Riesner		(2 episodes, 1964-1966)
Alfred Brenner		(2 episodes, 1964-1965)
Pat Fielder		(2 episodes, 1964-1965)
Richard H. Landau		(2 episodes, 1964-1965)
Ellis Marcus		(2 episodes, 1964-1965)
Lewis Gilbert		(unknown episodes)
Vernon Harris		(unknown episodes)
Barry Trivers		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
John Meredyth Lucas	....	producer (11 episodes, 1965-1966)
Irving Elman	....	producer (2 episodes, 1965)
James E. Moser	....	producer (unknown episodes, 1961-1966)
Matthew Rapf	....	producer (unknown episodes, 1961-1966)
Fred Freiberger	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Jack Laird	....	associate producer (unknown episodes)
Wilton Schiller	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Leigh Harline		(1 episode, 1965)

Series Cinematography by
Ted Voigtlander		(1 episode, 1965)

Series Film Editing by
Michael Pozen		(1 episode, 1965)
Al Clark		(unknown episodes)
Bruce Schoengarth		(unknown episodes)

Series Casting by
Lynn Stalmaster		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
Rolland M. Brooks		(1 episode, 1965)

Series Set Decoration by
Robert Priestley		(1 episode, 1965)
John Sturtevant		(unknown episodes)

Series Costume Design by
Oscar Rodriguez		(unknown episodes)

Series Makeup Department
E. Thomas Case	....	makeup artist (1 episode, 1965)
Gale McGarry	....	hair stylist (1 episode, 1965)

Series Production Management
William A. Calihan Jr.	....	production supervisor (1 episode, 1965)
Houseley Stevenson Jr.	....	post-production supervisor (1 episode, 1965)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gil Kissel	....	assistant director (1 episode, 1965)
Gilbert Mandelik	....	assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Marvin Walowitz	....	supervising sound editor (1 episode, 1961)
William Andrews	....	sound editor (1 episode, 1965)
Victor B. Appel	....	sound engineer (1 episode, 1965)

Series Stunts
George Orrison	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Jesse Wayne	....	stunts (unknown episodes)

Series Casting Department
Milt Hamerman	....	casting (1 episode, 1965)
Lynn Stalmaster	....	casting (1 episode, 1965)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Oscar Rodriguez	....	costumes (1 episode, 1965)

Series Editorial Department
Harry W. Gerstad	....	editorial supervisor (1 episode, 1965)

Series Music Department
David Raksin	....	composer: title music (153 episodes, 1961-1966)
John Fresco	....	music supervisor (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Dennis Crosby	....	assistant to producer (1 episode, 1965)
James E. Moser	....	story consultant (1 episode, 1965)
John Pommer	....	production executive (1 episode, 1965)

Production Companies

• Bing Crosby Productions

Distributors

• ABC Films
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1961-1966) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Worldvision Enterprises

Other Companies

• Glen Glenn Sound  recorded by (as Glen Glenn Sound Co.)
• Pacific Title  photographic effects

Runtime:

60 min (153 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Bing Crosby Productions

Trivia:

Specialist Dr. Ben Casey is a neurosurgeon.

Quotes:

[Opening narration.]
Narrator: Man... woman... birth... death... infinity.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to a Funny Thing (#4.1)" (1962)

Classic medical drama series that needs to be seen.....

Until his counterpart,Dr. Kildare,Ben Casey was a resident of a large hospital,a full-fledged doctor on staff who was a very prominent neurosurgeon who was under the supervision of his mentor,Dr. Zorba. But just like any other medical doctor,Ben Casey always had his patients confidentality and tender care and sometimes have him going against the medical establishment at times with was sometimes the case along with him and his mentor finding the cure and making the demands of the both the patients and the staff he works under.

Ben Casey was a gritty medical drama that was also realistic which featured Vince Edwards going against the establishment and the administration not to mention his patients at fictional Metro General Hospital. The series was produced by Bing Crosby's production company,BCP Productions,and amazingly ran for five seasons on ABC-TV from September of 1961 to September of 1966. However,the black and white episodes ran from 1961-1965,and in its final season,Ben Casey made the transition to color by the end of the show's final run,from 1965-1966. The series also starred Sam Jaffe,as Casey's mentor,Dr. David Zorba,and Franchot Tone as Casey's friend and assistant Dr. Niles Freeland,and Harry Landers as Dr. Ted Hoffman. Vince Edwards' character of Dr. Casey you may say was a precursor to the changes that were happening during the time,which in point during the show's run,the country was going through the motions of its time,especially with the Cuba Missile Crisis,the Civil Rights Movement and the violent confrontations that occurred within the South with the unjustice of the Jim Crow laws,the assassination of President John Kennedy,the march on Washington,the signing of the Civil Rights Act,and the escalating war that went on in Vietnam,and rioting that occurred in sections of the country including the Watts riots,and so forth. In other words,America was at war with itself,and this occurred during the show's five year run. "Ben Casey" was given great support from the assistance of the American Medical Association which was behind some of the scenes during its production.

But getting back to Ben Casey,it was a groundbreaking medical show that had it share of some tough issues of that era,but case in point,Casey had to work with a system that was a monolith that existed for its own purpose and within its own momentum. He knew he had to deal with the pressures of a major medical hospital,so he had to wrestle with it especially with the mediocrity around it to get the job done. But within its own frame of dealing with that,you had his mentor,Dr. Zorba who often appeared to be more of a matador than a mentor,trying to tame the raging bull that was inside Ben Casey,as he always called him. That was the case in various episodes where the good doctor had to overcome the impossible in order to accomplish his task. There were two examples of this,one which had the Dr. Casey and Dr. Zorba in a malpractice suit where guest star,Beau Bridges was the center of the settlement,which was a good two-parter episode,and the other where Casey is bitten by a rat and goes into shock,and the other episode dealt with racism where Casey and his associates defend a black doctor,played by Greg Morris,who is accused of neglecting a patient and Casey has to defend him during a run-in with a discriminatory administrative staff.

The last time this series was even shown was during the mid-1980's when cable's CBN Network(The Christian Broadcasting,aka The Family Channel) showed this series during the mid-mornings hours and sometimes late nights too. However,Ben Casey paved the way for the next batch of medical shows including Marcus Welby,Medical Center,Trapper John, Doggie Howser,and ER.