Captain Nice (1967)

"CAPTAIN NICE"-Produced by Talent Associates,Inc./Paramount Television In Association With NBC Productions. Filmed at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. The series ran on NBC-TV. Premiere Episode of the series: January 9,1967. Last Telecast of the series: May 1,1967. 15 Episodes Were Produced-All In Color.

The campy and most successful action series "Batman" cast a very long shadow across superhero productions in film and on television. It was so successful upon its premiere on ABC-TV in the Spring of 1966 that by the following January of 1967,both competing networks(NBC and CBS)had invented their own superhero shows to air on opposite nights and challenge the supermacy of Adam West's Caped Crusader. What remains so interesting about this that both networks sought to repeat "Batman's" fame and fortune not by licensing well-known comic book superheroes but by creating new(and terribly lame)heroes instead. Even more intriguing,both networks,looking at "Batman" and apparently saw it as campy and a sitcom parody but at the same time both networks were matching the "Batman" formula to work with other shows,a prime example of this was the spy-series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E"(on NBC),which by the second and third seasons,NBC executives look at this series as just comedy and not serious at all. Instead the two networks(NBC and CBS)may have competed ably by producing a superhero show regarding various characters.Instead,ABC counter-programmed against "camp" in January of 1967,with a serious adaption of "The Green Hornet",which lasted one season.

The results of NBC and CBS's efforts were not pretty,and what emerged on television in the winter of 1967 were two half-hour series that never managed to attain individual identities in the eyes of viewers: "Captain Nice",which was on NBC,and "Mister Terrific",which was on CBS. These shows may have been made for adults but its main target audience that were watching the shows were children. In other words,straight-forward kiddie oriented material. Both shows lasted one season. Even more ominously,both shows ended their primetime span(with reruns)on the same date:August 28,1967,the same day both shows were dethroned in the Nielsens(along with the Western satire,"F-Troop",which was on ABC) by the final episode of the series,"The Fugitive",which became the highest-rated series finale in television history. In fact "Captain Nice" and "Mister Terrific",both looked and sounded so much alike that it was confusing to some viewers who either seem too like it or for the most part hated it. What made it so frustrating that is was an appropriate face,not to mention an enterprises that were designed to copy the "Batman" series,so rigorously. However,both sides failed and from this both shows were sent to the bottom of the television graveyard of forgotten sitcoms never to be heard from again. Of the two clone superheroes series,NBC's Captain Nice had the better pedigree,not to mention the cast.

"Captain Nice" was created by Buck Henry,the genius behind the spy-spoof "Get Smart",which was a huge hit for NBC at the time(NBC,1965-1968,and later on went to CBS,1968-1970),who serves as executive producer of this series along with producer Jay Sandrich. The series starred William Daniels(who would make a name for himself in other shows as well later on including "Saint Elsewhere",and the teen-comedy "Boy Meets World")as the meek Carter Nash,a police scientist that develops a serum endowing him superpowers to fight off evildoers. The series starred Ann Prentiss,Alice Ghostley,Liam Dunn,William Zuckert,and Byron Foulger. It's competition,"Mister Terrific"(which was on CBS)starred Alan Young,who was fondly remembered for his stint on the children's situation comedy show "Mister Ed"(which was on the same network).