Biff Baker, U.S.A.

Biff Baker, U.S.A.
Alan Hale, Jr. and Randy Stuart in 1952.
Genre	Crime drama
Written by	Fenton Earnshaw Lawrence Kimble Howard J. Green Jerome Gary Barry Shipman
Directed by	Richard Irving Herschel Daugherty John English
Starring	Alan Hale, Jr. Randy Stuart
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26 (5 syndicated)
Production
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	Revue Productions
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	November 6, 1952 – March 26, 1953

Biff Baker, U.S.A. is an American crime drama television series that aired on CBS from November 6, 1952, to March 26, 1953^[1] starring Alan Hale, Jr. as Cold War spy Biff Baker.

Synopsis

Set in the early years of the Cold War, the series stars Alan Hale, Jr. in the title role as an espionage agent posing as an import-export dealer. Randy Stuart plays his wife, Louise, his partner in spying, usually behind the Iron Curtain.

Hale was cast as Biff Baker twelve years before he began playing the role of "the Skipper" opposite Bob Denver in CBS's fantasy situation comedy, Gilligan's Island, and five years before he portrayed railroad engineer Casey Jones in the syndicated adventure series, Casey Jones.^[1] Hale's lookalike father Alan Hale, Sr. had enjoyed a major career as a Warner Bros. supporting actor in major vehicles such as It Happened One Night and The Adventures of Robin Hood.

Scheduling

The first twenty-one episodes of Biff Baker, U.S.A. aired on CBS, with the final five segments airing in syndication. The series aired on CBS at 9 p.m. Eastern on Thursdays, opposite Jack Webb's Dragnet crime drama on NBC. Biff Baker followed on CBS the alternation of the sitcom Amos 'n' Andy and the anthology series, Four Star Playhouse. Biff Baker was filmed by Revue Productions, which has since become Universal Television.^[1]

Notable guest stars

(In alphabetical order)

• Charles Bronson
• Lawrence Dobkin
• Carl Esmond
• Lee Marvin
• Mort Mills
• Jay Novello
• Ann Robinson
• Victor Sen Yung

DVD release

Alpha Video released two volumes featuring select episodes of the series on Region 1 DVD in the United States.

References

1. "Biff Baker, U.S.A.". Classic TV Archives. Retrieved August 6, 2011.

External links

• Biff Baker, U.S.A. at the Internet Movie Database
• Biff Baker, U.S.A. at TV.com