User Reviews

I see this on SuperChannel, which is a Japanese cable channel that's basically a graveyard for short-lived American TV shows. (Shaft, Serpico, Funny Face,...etc.) I got into it quickly.

This is obviously the inspiration for Matt Damon's 'Bourne' films.

The amnesia angle was played very well. Watching Frank Converse do what he felt he needed to do without knowing WHY was eerie.

You really felt for the guy. I'm surprised this show wasn't a hit and Converse wasn't a bigger star.

It was apparent that the cold war was the 'hidden' secret. But since the show never made it...we never really found out until Larry Cohen told us himself.

Haven't thought of this fine series in ages. Then, suddenly that phrase that so haunted Frank Converse jumped into my head and I did a search. What do I get? The answer to the mystery. Thanks IMDb and like-minded fans. "Coronet Blue" was shot several years earlier than it's summer '67 airing. I remember this from a TV Guide article and I think we knew we'd never know the outcome. Is that possible? Was there a hope it's summer airing with less than a season of episodes might lead to its revival? I prayed so and caught every episode. Strong premise, Converse's intensity plus humanity, was convincing. And I have always recalled the camaraderie of Converse's running man and two other characters. I think one ran a coffee shop or bar and the third might have been black. Sadly, I've never heard of it resurfacing, which means it's probably rotting in some leaky vault. Please, how about a DVD set with at least an interview with Larry Cohen. "Coronet Blue" and my romance with Debbie Fink were the highlights of the summer of 1967.

This was a short lived amnesia spy show that I only occasionally seen..comparisons with the 2011 Liam Neeson flick "Unknown", and as the first reviewer also noted, "Bourne Identity'(forgot that series..). This becomes a real popular theme...but it doesn't get used more often.

This show was so odd that it wasn't rerun..or even given closure (no big surprise for many shows..)..or a video release.

8 out of 10 at least for something unique. Even if it seemed a bit weird. But now with the Matt Damon "Bourne series", and thanks to the first reviewer for refreshing the old cranium here, and Liam Neeson "Unknoqn", this gimmick in a popular state has gotten a favorable status with producers and, as box office shows, fans.

There had never been a show quite like "Coronet Blue"; the 'hero' (Frank Converse) emerges, half-dead, from a watery 'grave', with no recollection of his past, and only the phrase 'Coronet Blue' to guide him. Soon it becomes obvious that some very mysterious and powerful people would prefer him dead, and his life, much as Jason Bourne, in THE BOURNE IDENTITY, becomes a race to pick up clues about himself, while trying to stay alive. Each week would introduce a new piece to the jigsaw puzzle, offering a glimpse of a possible past, while asking even more questions...Who does "Michael Alden" (a name created when he could not remember his own) work for? Is he a hero or a criminal? And why is it so important to silence him?

CBS thought the premise was worth taking a chance on, and had green-lighted 13 episodes, but then decided it was too 'intellectual' (this WAS the network of "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Gilligan's Island"), and condemned the series to a summer run, when TV viewing plummeted, and the regular series were 'between seasons'. Many 'failed' programs debuted during the summer, giving the networks a chance to recoup production costs by advertising revenue, and to brag that they were offering more than just endless reruns to TV viewers.

Then something remarkable happened; TV critics, previewing the first episode, were universally in praise of the quirky drama, making the show's debut an 'event'. And viewers, tuning in, were introduced to the Robert Redford-like charisma of blond, 29-year old Converse, making him an instant sex symbol. CBS was astonished and pleased by the response, but unprepared for the word-of-mouth that soon made the series a 'Must See' for fans. Hastily, the network attempted to revive the program for the fall season, but Plautus Productions, who created the series, had folded after CBS axed the show, and Converse had signed as a regular on "N.Y.P.D." (the ground-breaking cop show that would pave the way for "N.Y.P.D. Blue", and "Law and Order"). The 13 episodes would become the legacy of a show that would have been a long-running hit, had CBS been willing to gamble on viewers' intelligence!

This was, to me, my first exposure to the possibility of "good television." This show was SOOOO special because it was a 30-year precursor of the ALIAS/LOST/PRISON BREAK intricate continuing series.

In today's entertainment marketing environment, this show would have been through the roof in ratings and been short-listed right into production.

Back then, I think the network was stunned by the audience reaction. By the time they realized what it hit it had on its hands, it was too late to do anything about it. What a shame.

Bravo!!

Artie

I sat immersed in each and every episode.

I felt personally cheated when the all to short series ended without clearing up what Coronet Blue was .

As enigmatic and mysterious as the phrase was, having it sung as the title song by Frankie Lane ...was absolute theatrical super glue !

I can recognize Frank Converse's voice almost instantly.

I think a whole new series with B&W flashes of the original series would be as good as any JJ Abrams or Joss Weedon production.

If Frank was teamed with Nathan Fillion in some form of X Files/detective'esk treatment I think the brilliance of the original would still hold up.

Stylish well made yet short lived drama-thriller, this is suppose to be an addition to the 'man-on the run' or amnesiac genre. Our hero has no memory of who he is, or why people are gunning for him (Ironically, he is never actually "on the run."). I think if the writers had kept things that way, made the series a chase across country, then this one would have become a huge hit but as things turned the original premise seems to have been put on the backburner since several episodes meander way too for off the plan. Despite, or maybe because of the change, these thirteen very powerful episodes well deserve the cult status they possess today.

Only about a dozen episodes of Coronet Blue were made and it wasn't chosen for broadcast during the regular season. Someone had the idea to show it during the summer - and it was a ratings sensation. Everyone wondered what the mysterious words "coronet blue" really meant, and hope that the show would go into production again so we'd find out. But no more episodes were ever made, and no writer stepped forward to give viewers the answer to the mystery!

This show made the summer of 1967. Frank Converse was out of this world. I followed everything he ever did after that, but he didn't do much. Brian Bedford went on to Broadway. We tuned in just to see how much, if anything, he would learn that week. If only they would re-run it. Today it would be a cult classic (even if it was in black and white) I am sure. Or maybe they could remake it. I would certainly watch.

I never missed a show I thought Frank Converse was dreamy and very well cast. Every show made you think the next one was for sure going to reveal the secret that would unravel Michaels life. I can still hear the theme song in my head. I wish someone would have picked and the ball and ran with it! It's a shame a hit show just fell to the wayside..:(

I have read various accounts of the premise of Coronet Blue and how the pilot episode opens. There are two details I vividly remember differently and was wondering if anyone else noted them as I did. Most interesting is the origin of the series title. Some websites state Frank Converse's character climbs out of the water himself and mumbles only two words: "Coronet Blue" - hence, the title. I watched the pilot episode the night it first aired on television. Specifically, he was pulled from the water by other people, and unconscious at that. The people go through his pockets looking for identification, but the only thing he has on him is a matchbook with a design of a blue coronet (crown) on the outside of it. Doesn't anyone else remember that detail?

Starting with the theme song - sung by Johnny Rivers - this was a suspenseful, engrossing show about a man with amnesia. Frank Converse was exciting and SO sexy!! We were heartbroken when it wasn't picked up and the story continued.