In essence, this was the premise behind The Millionaire, which lasted 5 1/2 seasons on CBS (1955-60). The concept revolved around a reclusive millionaire, John Beresford Tipton (voiced by Paul Frees, who went uncredited), who sent his executive secretary, Michael Anthony (Marvin Miller), out to deliver cashiers' checks of $1,000,000 each to various individuals that Tipton had never met. Tipton was heard, but never completely seen, by the viewers during the course of the series.
The series was a staple of syndication, at least in New York, during the 70's, as WOR used it to fill time after movies or Mets games. In recent years, the program has resurfaced sporadically on cable, on Me-TV, TV Land, and other networks.
Right now, here's a sample episode, with guest star Betty White, who had been under contract to producer Don Fedderson's production company at the time.
Edit, 8/17/24: Have to change the video. This one is colorized.
We previously covered this series over at Saturday Morning Archives due to Miller & Frees' extensive backgrounds in voice work. CBS wanted to revive the series in the 80's, but it didn't get past the pilot stage.
Rating: A.
They did try to revive the basic format - but changed it so that the recipients were winners of the lottery. In fact that was the tile of that series - "Lottery!". It ran for a few episodes, and I remember one of the co-stars was Ben Murphy from "Alias Smith & Jones".
ReplyDeleteFunny how the amount was a million dollars. Back then a million dollars was serious money. Sure it's a tidy sum now, but it's just rather paltry compared to recent jackpot winners in real life.
Lottery was an ABC entry, IIRC. CBS, as noted, tried to revive the original concept, with a new actor as Michael Anthony.
ReplyDeleteLottery will be reviewed another time.