Noah's Ark (1956 TV series)
Noah's Ark is an American drama series which aired on NBC television in the 1956-1957 season. Along with Richard Boone's Medic series, Noah's Ark was one of the early medical shows on American television. It was also an early program to be aired in color at a time when most shows were in black-and-white.
Synopsis
Noah's Ark stars Paul Raymond Burke (1926-2009) as a young veterinarian, Dr. Noah McCann,[1] partner with the older Dr. Sam Rinehart, played by Victor Rodman (1892–1965), who in the series uses a wheelchair. May Wynn plays the young receptionist, Liz Clark.[1][2]
Burke would later play a New York City police officer from 1960 to 1963 in ABC's Naked City.
Another similarly titled series, Second Noah, a family drama with Daniel Hugh Kelly in the title role of author Noah Beckett and Betsy Brantley as his veterinarian-wife, was televised on ABC from 1996 to 1997.[3]
Production notes
Noah's Ark was created, produced, and directed by Jack Webb through his Mark VII Limited production company, and filmed at Revue Studios, later part of Universal Television.[4] Its pilot episode on September 18, 1956, is titled "Jack Webb Presents." At the time, Webb and Ben Alexander co-starred on NBC's popular police drama, Dragnet.[4] In the October 2 episode of Noah's Ark titled "The Petition," a dispute develops over a re-zoning request for the veterinary clinic. When Noah tries to reason with recalcitrant neighbors, violence results.[1]
Scheduling
The 24th episode of the series with the title, "Irmgaard's Problem," never aired. Instead on March 5, 1957, the suspense series Panic made its debut to replace Noah's Ark. The theme song for Noah's Ark was performed by the group, the Hi-Los.[1] Noah's Ark aired at 8:30 p.m. EST on Tuesdays, opposite The Brothers (with Gale Gordon, Bob Sweeney, and Barbara Billingsley) on CBS and Hugh O'Brian's The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp on ABC. Noah's Ark followed the quiz show The Big Surprise and preceded the anthology series, The Jane Wyman Show, on NBC.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Noah's Ark. Classic Television Archives. Retrieved on January 16, 2011.
- ↑ Alex McNeil, Total Television, p. 606.
- ↑ Second Noah. tv.com. Retrieved on December 18, 2019.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Noah's Ark: "Jack Webb Presents". tv.com. Retrieved on December 18, 2019.
- ↑ 1956-1957 American network television schedule, Total Television, appendix.
