Route 66 

The adventures of two young drifters across America.

Creators:

Stirling Silliphant, Herbert B. Leonard

Stars:

Martin Milner, George Maharis, Glenn Corbett

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Martin Milner	...	Tod Stiles / ... 116 episodes, 1960-1964
George Maharis	...	Buz Murdock 82 episodes, 1960-1963
Glenn Corbett	...	Linc Case 32 episodes, 1963-1964

Storyline

Only fiction series written & shot all over North America. Two young adventurers in a Corvette explore early 60's social problems and changing mores, looking for the right place to settle down while seeking themselves. Debuting 3 years after "On the Road" transformed modern literature, while such newly available fast cars dominated the new teenage culture, Tod, an Ivy Leaguer, and Buz, an orphan from Hell's Kitchen, cruise the U.S.A. coping with shifting relationships and lifestyles. The FCC's Newton Minow characterized U.S. TV as a "vast wasteland," in 1961, but "Route 66" found important, compelling stories all over. Sterling Silliphant who won an Oscar for writing "In the Heat of the Night," traveled around the U.S. and Canada scouting locales, while writing ¾ of the very dark, literate show's episodes - a feat only Rod Serling matched with The Twilight Zone. Soon, a crew of 50 arrived at the location. Shows were filmed in 40 States. Tod, from a once-wealthy family, inherited only ...

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Plot Keywords:

road trip | superstition mountains arizona | arizona | superstition mountains | arizona territory | 

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Taglines:

Two soldiers of fortune ride the highway to adventure in this thrilling new series (season 1)

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Genres:

Adventure

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Searchers

Filming Locations:

Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lancer Productions Limited,Edling Productions,Screen Gems Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 51 min (116 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although the series was called "Route 66", many of the episodes were set in areas in the United States, through which Route 66 did not travel. For example, Route 66 begins in Chicago and ends in Los Angeles, or vice versa, but two episodes were shot in New England, one in Maine, season four,, episode two, "Same Picture, Different Frame", and one in Vermont, season four, episode three, "Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are". Both aired in the fall of 1963, and starred Martin Milner and Glenn Corbett.

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Connections

Referenced in Everybody Loves It (1964)

User Reviews

An excellent series, unjustly neglected

Simply one of the finest shows from American t.v.This is an undeservedly "lost" show ,amazingly neglected when so many inferior 60's series are wildly overpraised.If you have never seen "Route 66" try to,it's a rare gem.The scripts are not just highly literate,but often close to poetic(no wonder Jim Aubrey,downmarketeer boss at CBS TV disliked it!).There's a great deal of acting talent in the guest roles-Boris Karloff,Lee Marvin,Robert Duvall,Warren Stevens,Lew Ayers,Michael Rennie,Martin Sheen,Dorothy Malone,Ed Asner,Walter Matthau,Edward Andrews,Leslie Nielson,Anne Francis,Jack Lord,William Shatner and Dan Duryea are just a few to look out for.The two part story "Fly away home" has a haunting tortured performance by Michael Rennie as a doomed pilot;"Welcome to Amity"featuring Susan Oliver is both uplifting and truly moving; in "A month of Sundays" the "Route 66" camera captures Anne Francis at the peak of her stunning beauty and series regular Martin Milner gives the performance of his life as a drug crazed Tod Stiles in "A thin white line".These are just some of the highlights in "Route 66".The location filming (unusual then and now),provides a marvellous time capsule of a now vanished America.