The Addams Family is an American television series based on the characters in Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons. The series starred John Astin as Gomez Addams, Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams, Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester, Ted Cassidy as Lurch, Ken Weatherwax as Pugsley Addams, Lisa Loring as Wednesday Addams, and Blossom Rock as Granmama. The 30-minute series was shot in black-and-white and aired for two seasons in 64 installments on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966. It is often compared to its working-class rival, The Munsters, which ran for the same two seasons and achieved somewhat higher Nielsen ratings.
The Munsters is a 1960s television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, Yvonne De Carlo as his wife Lily Munster, Al Lewis as Grandpa, and Butch Patrick as Eddie Munster. The series ran concurrently with The Addams Family. Although the Addamses were well-to-do, the Munsters were a more blue-collar family. The series aired at night once a week in black-and-white on the CBS Television Network from September 24, 1964, to May 12, 1966, for a total of 70 episodes. Though ratings were low during its initial two-year run, The Munsters grew in popularity during decades of syndication. This popularity warranted a spin-off series, as well as several films, including one with a theatrical release.
Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to Petticoat Junction, the series was broadcast on CBS from September 15, 1965, to April 27, 1971. With the success of The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction, CBS offered producer Paul Henning another half-hour on the schedule — unusually with no pilot required. Lacking the time, he encouraged colleague Jay Sommers to create the series. Sommers used his 1950 radio series, Granby's Green Acres, as the basis for the new series. Green Acres was about Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert), an accomplished and erudite New York City attorney, acting on his dream to be a farmer, and Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor), his glamorous, bejeweled Hungarian wife, dragged unwillingly from the privileged city life she adored to a ramshackle farm.
"Five O'Clock World" is the title of a song written by Allen Reynolds and recorded by American vocal group The Vogues. It reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1966 and is one of The Vogues' best-known hits. "Five O'Clock World" was used in the soundtrack to the 1987 movie Good Morning Vietnam and in the soundtrack to the 2003 movie Big Fish and was featured on The Drew Carey Show as its opening theme song during the second season in 1996.
"You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" is the second single released by The Lovin' Spoonful. The song was featured on their 1966 album Daydream. Written by the group's lead singer, John Sebastian, and group member Steve Boone, it reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1966.
"Call Me" is a song composed by Tony Hatch for Petula Clark which became an easy listening standard via a hit version by Chris Montez. "Call Me" first appeared as the title cut on a Petula Clark album released in 1965. Also in 1965, Chris Montez, who had scored the hit "Let's Dance" in 1962 and subsequently dropped out of the music business, was invited to resume recording by A&M Records' founder Herb Alpert. Alpert was unhappy when Montez began recording for A&M in his previous Chicano rock style and personally suggested Montez shift to easy listening, choosing "Call Me" as the song to be Montez's debut single on A&M. The song peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1966.
This vocal group was originally comprised of three guys and a gal from Livonia, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, who liked to hang around a recording studio doing background vocals hoping for a chance to record on their own. They got their chance when recording artist Edwin Starr wrote a tune and had them record it. The song was "Oh How Happy", and the group now calling themselves The Shades of Blue had themselves a Top 20 hit in the early summer of 1966. "Oh How Happy" peaked in June at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Pontiac GTO was built by Pontiac Division of General Motors in the United States from 1964 to 1974 and by GM subsidiary Holden in Australia from 2004 to 2006. It is considered an innovative, and now classic, muscle car of the 1960s and 1970s. Pontiac's intermediate line was restyled again for 1966, gaining more curvaceous styling with kicked-up rear fender lines for a "Coke-bottle" look and a slightly tunneled backlight. The tail light featured a rare louvered cover, only seen on the GTO. Overall length grew only fractionally, to 206.4 inches, still on a 115 inch wheelbase while width expanded to 74.4 inches. Rear track increased one inch. Overall weight remained about the same. The GTO became a separate model series, rather than an optional performance package, with unique grille and tail lights, available as a pillared sports coupe, a hardtop sans pillars, or a convertible. Also an automotive industry first, plastic front grilles replaced the pot metal and aluminum versions seen on earlier years. New Strato bucket seats were introduced with higher and thinner seat backs and contoured cushions for added comfort and adjustable headrests were introduced as a new option. The instrument panel was redesigned and more integrated than in previous years with the ignition switch moved from the far left of the dash to the right of the steering wheel. Four pod instruments continued and the GTO's dash was highlighted by walnut veneer trim. Engine choices remained the same as the previous year. A new rare engine option was offered: the XS engine option consisted of a factory Ram Air set up with a new 744 high lift cam. Approximately 35 factory installed Ram Air packages are believed to have been built though 300 dealership-installed Ram Air packages are estimated to have been ordered. On paper, the package was said to produce the same 360 hp as the non-Ram Air, Tri Power car, though these figures are believed to have been grossly underestimated in order to get past GM mandates. Sales increased to 96,946, the highest production figure for all GTO years. Although Pontiac had strenuously promoted the GTO in advertising as the "GTO Tiger" it had become known in the youth market as the "Goat." Pontiac management attempted to make use of the new nickname in advertising but were vetoed by upper management which was dismayed by its irreverent tone.
"The Pied Piper" had been recorded in 1965 by its writers, Steve Duboff and Artie Kornfeld, as The Changin' Times but it was Crispian St. Peters' version in 1966 that was the hit, reaching #4 in June 1966 on the Billboard Hot 100. No subsequent release would ever match the success of "The Pied Piper," although its success helped boost "You Were on My Mind" into the US Top 40 in 1967.
Bob Kuban & The In-Men peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1966 with "The Cheater". Kuban is honored in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's permanent exhibit on one-hit wonders. After "The Cheater," Kuban never scored high on the pop charts again - he had two other top 100 hits: "The Teaser" peaked at #70 and a remake of the Lennon/McCartney song "Drive My Car" went to #93 - but he remained a fixture on the St. Louis music scene for decades. Bob Kuban and the In-Men performed for opening ceremonies of Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 10, 1966, and The Bob Kuban Brass performed before the last regular-season baseball game there on October 2, 2005. In an ironic and tragic twist, Walter Scott, frontman for The In-Men and singer of "The Cheater" (whose lyrics speak of the downfall of an unfaithful lover), was murdered in 1983 by his wife's lover, with his wife's help.
"Poor Side Of Town" was written by Johnny and Lou Adler and recorded with a lush string arrangement provided by Marty Paich. The female back-up singers you hear are The Blossoms with the voice of Darlene Love in the lead. This was a change of direction for Johnny Rivers, who had tired of the upbeat Go-Go sound that provided him with his early hits. However, he found his record company reluctant to tamper with a winning formula. He recalls, "Al Bennett and those guys were goin' Man, don't start comin' out with ballads. You're gonna kill your career. You got a good thing goin' with this funky trio rock sound, stay with that." "Poor Side Of Town" was the #1 song in the nation during the second of week of November 1966.
"California Dreamin'" is a popular song by The Mamas & the Papas, first released in late 1965. The song is #89 in Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The lyrics of the song are about a man in a cold winter landscape longing for the warmth of California. According to John Phillips, he and Michelle Phillips wrote the song in 1963 while they were living in New York. He dreamed about the song and woke her up to help him write it. At the time, they were members of the folk group The New Journeymen which evolved into The Mamas & the Papas. They earned their first record contract after being introduced to Lou Adler, the head of Dunhill Records, by the singer Barry McGuire. In thanks to Adler, they sang the backing vocals to "California Dreamin'" on McGuire's album This Precious Time. The Mamas and the Papas then recorded their own version, using the same instrumental and backing vocal tracks to which they added new vocals and an alto flute solo by Bud Shank. McGuire's original vocal can be briefly heard on the left channel at the beginning of the record, having not been completely wiped. The single was released in late 1965 but it was not an immediate breakthrough. After gaining little attention in Los Angeles upon its release, Michelle Phillips remembers that it took a radio station in Boston to break the song nationwide. By early 1966, the song peaked at #4 in March 1966 and stayed on the charts for 17 weeks.
F Troop is set at Fort Courage, Kansas, a fictional United States Army outpost in the Old West, shortly after the end of the American Civil War. F Troop is a satirical American television sitcom that originally aired for two seasons on ABC-TV. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965 and concluded its run on April 6, 1967 with a total of 65 episodes. The first season of 34 episodes was filmed in black-and-white but the show switched to color for its second season.
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network for two and a half seasons from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968. The show was aired twice weekly for its first two seasons, resulting in the production of a total of 120 episodes.
