The Flipper TV Series by Alan R June 28, 2001 (NOTE: Alan R is a frequent contributor to The Luke Halpin Gallery. This writeup on Luke's TV series Flipper was originally posted on the Guestbook on June 28, 2001.) I'll just provide a little more information about the Flipper TV series. It was produced for three years: the 1964 season, 30 episodes; 1965 season, 30 episodes; 1966 season, 28 episodes; total of 88 episodes. What's really unusual, though, that people today probably wouldn't realize, is the fact that the entire series was produced in color, right from the start. Y'see, when the show debuted in 1964, black-and-white was still the rule of the day. Back in the 50's, a few syndicated shows had been shot in color, like later episodes of "Superman" and "The Lone Ranger", but after them, color fell back to an extreme rarity, used for almost nothing except some specials (notably including the 1960 staging of "Peter Pan" that Luke was in!) The only other things I know of that were produced regularly in color in 1964 were "Bonanza", which had been shot in color since it premiered in 1959; "The Lucy Show", which had debuted in 1962 in B&W, and switched to color a year later, in 1963, and continued that way in '64; and cartoon shows. So, in 1964, the color TV landscape consisted basically of "Bonanza", "The Lucy Show", "Flipper", and cartoons. The rest of the TV schedule was in black-and-white. I think maybe the reason "Flipper" was singled out for this honor might have been because it was coming to television from the movies, of which there had been two, both in color. Appearing in B&W would probably have seemed like a glaring step backward. In 1964, many shows continued their runs in B&W. Some shows that debuted in B&W include: Gilligan's Island, Gomer Pyle, Bewitched, The Addams Family, The Munsters, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., this last from the same studio that produced "Flipper", MGM. In 1965, the landscape changed radically. Most debuts were in color (notable exceptions were I Dream of Jeannie, Lost in Space, and F Troop.) Hogan's Heroes and Get Smart had their pilot episodes in B&W, but all subsequent episodes in color. Continuing shows were split between staying in B&W, and shifting to color. By fall of 1966, all of prime time was in color. (News and daytime still had a lot of B&W.) Many old B&W shows were canceled or bowed out, rather than make the switch. (Dick van Dyke Show, Patty Duke Show, Perry Mason, Addams Family, Munsters...) I think that the 1966 season had one of the largest percentages of NEW shows ever. Back to "Flipper", whenever you see an episode, the opening titles can tell you which season the episode is from. The first season is marked most clearly by where the titles say, "and Flipper", showing the dolphin alone. The later seasons used a shot of the 3 Rickses with Flipper. Variations in the first season: the first four episodes use cast shots taken during the filming of the pilot. The rest of the season, and the second season, use later shots (these include the shot of Tommy Norden with the puppy in his face). Five episodes of the first season also feature "Guest star Andy Devine". The titles for the second season changed just by changing the "and Flipper" to include the family; except, the first five episodes of the season featured a totally different version of the Flipper theme, sung by swingin' Frankie Randall. I think there was a conscious effort at the start of the new season to heighten the drama (the criminal Burt Reynolds strands the family on an island, and ends up threatening Sandy at gunpoint; Flipper is endangered by an old floating mine; and is deafened and may have to be put to sleep after an underwater explosion), and to broaden the appeal more to general audiences (having been promoted originally in 1964 as "for children", which even such juvenile fare as "The Munsters" and "Gilligan's Island" had not been!); hence, the new theme, and a new "love interest" for Porter, Ulla Norstrand. The cast shots of Luke and Tommy, carried over from the first season, finally had their source revealed, when the scene they were taken from was used in the opening scene of episode 40, "Dolphin Patrol". That "new scene" of that episode was actually a year old! The third season is marked by new cast pictures of "the Rickses". That year also introduced the airplane into the stories, and it was used to show each cast member in a different mode of transport: Brian Kelly in the plane, Luke Halpin in the "launch", and Tommy Norden in the "skiff". The shot of the family with Flipper was carried over.