CBS scheduled "California Fever" on Tuesday nights at 8 opposite ABC's powerhouse, "Happy Days".
I thought it was an engaging bit of fluff, but it had such an implausible-no-IMPOSSIBLE premise. The four stars never went to school; never went home; parents were never shown-they would just hang out at the beach-all the time.
This was in the fall of 1979. I had my "SONY BETAMAX" & I also had a habit of taping shows I knew were 'terminal' from the start.
Jimmy McNichol & Michelle Tobin had starred in a very short- lived family show called, "The Fitzpatricks" in the fall of 1977. In that show, they were brother & sister.
Co-star Marc McClure ( Ross ), went on to play "Jimmy Olsen" in the original four Superman movies.
Lorenzo Lamas ( Rick ), eventually made it big on "Falcon Crest".
Jimmy went on to make a few made-for-TV movies. One of them was called, "Blinded by the Light", in which he starred with his famous sister, Kristy. Jimmy was very one-dimensional in that one ( about a cult ). Kristy was much, much better.
Michelle disappeared completely after "Fever". Jimmy had some moderate success playing bass guitar in various bands, but his trail has been 'cold' for many years.
There were 13 episodes of "Fever" produced; 9 were telecast before cancellation-I have 6 of them. They are now on VHS masters & I can & have transferred them on to DVD, as well. Hard to believe & 'who cares' ? I know. But this is a rarity that will, doubtless, never be seen, again. I'm probably the only person in the country that has this one & it makes for a neat collector's item.
The theme song was sung by Jimmy & was written by Alan O'Day. O'Day had a number 1 hit in the summer of 1977 with, "Undercover Angel". It was there at the top for a number of weeks & is still heard & fondly remembered, today.
"Fever" ran from September 25th, 1979 until December 11th. Then it was gone. Ironically, one week after "Fever" was pulled, CBS aired "The Jimmy McNichol Special" in the same time slot ! But people paid as little attention to that as they had with "Fever".
A good friend of mine once asked me, "Jeff, why do you work so hard at remembering"? I countered that with, "Why do YOU work so hard at FORGETTING"?
"California Fever". It's been nearly 30 years. But it is also fun to remember-as well as have a chunk of the show in my hands.
"These kids have the fever. California Fever-where every day is sun & fun & every night is something else. Catch "California Fever", this fall on CBS". An original promo ( am I thorough or what ) ? More likely I need to stop sniffing nail polish remover. Nah. While you have to totally suspend disbelief in order to watch a show like this one, it did have a certain unrealistic charm to it.
Oh Boy, I need a vacation ! California ? No, I think not.
Jeffrey McAdam-Reed ( reven2skater@yahoo.com ).
I thought it was an engaging bit of fluff, but it had such an implausible-no-IMPOSSIBLE premise. The four stars never went to school; never went home; parents were never shown-they would just hang out at the beach-all the time.
This was in the fall of 1979. I had my "SONY BETAMAX" & I also had a habit of taping shows I knew were 'terminal' from the start.
Jimmy McNichol & Michelle Tobin had starred in a very short- lived family show called, "The Fitzpatricks" in the fall of 1977. In that show, they were brother & sister.
Co-star Marc McClure ( Ross ), went on to play "Jimmy Olsen" in the original four Superman movies.
Lorenzo Lamas ( Rick ), eventually made it big on "Falcon Crest".
Jimmy went on to make a few made-for-TV movies. One of them was called, "Blinded by the Light", in which he starred with his famous sister, Kristy. Jimmy was very one-dimensional in that one ( about a cult ). Kristy was much, much better.
Michelle disappeared completely after "Fever". Jimmy had some moderate success playing bass guitar in various bands, but his trail has been 'cold' for many years.
There were 13 episodes of "Fever" produced; 9 were telecast before cancellation-I have 6 of them. They are now on VHS masters & I can & have transferred them on to DVD, as well. Hard to believe & 'who cares' ? I know. But this is a rarity that will, doubtless, never be seen, again. I'm probably the only person in the country that has this one & it makes for a neat collector's item.
The theme song was sung by Jimmy & was written by Alan O'Day. O'Day had a number 1 hit in the summer of 1977 with, "Undercover Angel". It was there at the top for a number of weeks & is still heard & fondly remembered, today.
"Fever" ran from September 25th, 1979 until December 11th. Then it was gone. Ironically, one week after "Fever" was pulled, CBS aired "The Jimmy McNichol Special" in the same time slot ! But people paid as little attention to that as they had with "Fever".
A good friend of mine once asked me, "Jeff, why do you work so hard at remembering"? I countered that with, "Why do YOU work so hard at FORGETTING"?
"California Fever". It's been nearly 30 years. But it is also fun to remember-as well as have a chunk of the show in my hands.
"These kids have the fever. California Fever-where every day is sun & fun & every night is something else. Catch "California Fever", this fall on CBS". An original promo ( am I thorough or what ) ? More likely I need to stop sniffing nail polish remover. Nah. While you have to totally suspend disbelief in order to watch a show like this one, it did have a certain unrealistic charm to it.
Oh Boy, I need a vacation ! California ? No, I think not.
Jeffrey McAdam-Reed ( reven2skater@yahoo.com ).