Tightrope!

Tightrope
Mike Connors with Laura Snowden (left) and Claire Kelly, 1960.
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Clarence Greene Russell Rouse
Written by	Frederick Brady Berne Giler Clarence Greene Steven Ritch Russell Rouse Al C. Ward
Directed by	Abner Biberman Irving J. Moore Russell Rouse Oscar Rudolph
Starring	Mike Connors
Theme music composer	George Duning
Opening theme	Vic Schoen & Orchestra
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	37
Production
Producer(s)	Clarence Greene Russell Rouse
Cinematography	Scotty Welbourne
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production company(s)	Greene-Rouse Productions Screen Gems Television
Distributor	Columbia TriStar Domestic Television (2001) Sony Pictures Television
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	September 8, 1959 – September 13, 1960

Tightrope is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from September 1959 to September 1960, under the alternate sponsorship of the J.B. Williams Company (Aqua Velva, Lectric Shave, etc.), and American Tobacco (Pall Mall). Produced by Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene in association with Screen Gems, the series stars Mike Connors as an undercover agent named "Nick" who was assigned to infiltrate criminal gangs. The show was to have originally been titled Undercover Man but it was changed before going to air.^[1]

Synopsis

Mike Connors' character would narrate the episode, echoing film noir technique. Police often did not know that Nick was working for the law, thus he was in danger from both the good guys and the bad guys. A special gimmick was that in addition to a gun in a shoulder holster, he carried a second gun snubnosed revolver in a holster behind his back; he was often searched by both cops and bad guys, but they stopped searching after finding the first gun.

Guest stars

Rico Alaniz Jack Albertson Raymond Bailey Barbara Bain Whit Bissell Madge Blake Whitney Blake Neville Brand Paul Burke Jean Byron Anthony Caruso Mary Castle Russ Conway Ellen Corby Jerome Cowan Walter Coy Dennis Cross Donna Douglas Jack Elam Ross Elliott Douglas Fowley Bruce Gordon Dabbs Greer Ron Hagerthy

Myron Healey Connie Hines Richard Jaeckel L.Q. Jones Brett King John Larch Ruta Lee Barton MacLane John Marley Ann McCrea Ed Nelson Simon Oakland John M. Pickard Stuart Randall Mike Road Madlyn Rhue Doris Singleton Olan Soule Karl Swenson William Tannen Kent Taylor George Tobias Jesse White

Cancellation

Despite the show's popularity, it was canceled after one season. Mike Connors stated in an interview that the show's sponsor refused the network's request to move it to a later time slot on a different day. When CBS head Jim Aubrey stated the show was going to move, take it or leave it, the sponsor dropped Tightrope, and underwrote another program on another network. Connors also did not want suggested changes to the show to turn into an hour format with a sidekick to be played by Don Sullivan.^[2] He thought such an alteration would eliminate the suspense element of the program.^[3] Also, another factor in the show's eventual cancellation were complaints concerning its alleged excessive violence.^[4][5]

References

1. "Tightrope!". Broadcasting (Cahners Pub. Co.) 56: 71. 1959.
2. Interview by Paul & Donna ParlaSULLIVAN’S TRAVELS IN HOLLYWOOD An Interview with ‘B’ Monster Movie Hero Don Sullivan copyright 2008 Paul Parla/Anthony Di Salvo
3. pp. 29–30 Weaver, Tom Mike Connors Interview in Eye on Science Fiction, 2003, McFarland
4. http://www.tv.com/shows/tightrope/
5. http://ctva.biz/US/Crime/Tightrope.htm

External links

• Tightrope at the Internet Movie Database
• Tightrope at TV.com
• Tightrope at epguides.com