'TVparty
is hands down the best site on the Web for classic TV.'
- Discovery Channel
By Billy Ingram
Route 66 was one of the best hour-long dramas of the 1960s, one of the few that hold up very well today. The premise was a simple one — two young guys touring the country in a brand new Corvette convertible, 4 seasons, 5 cars (the pilot was shot with a 1960 model, swapped out for a ’61 model when the second episode aired Friday night at 8:30 on October 14, 1960).
The series was shot on location, in a different city or small town every week with rare exceptions like a two-part episode.
A new town meant lots of weekly guest stars like Barbara Eden, Buster Keaton, Lon Chaney, Jr, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Inger Stevens, Elizabeth Ashley, Ed Asner, Beulah Bondi, Edgar Buchanan, James Caan, James Coburn, Joan Crawford, Keir Dullea, James Dunn, Anne Francis, Peter Graves, Tammy Grimes, Robert Duvall, David Janssen, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Robert Loggia, Jack Lord, Tina Louise, Dorothy Malone, E.G. Marshall, Lee Marvin, Walter Matthau, Darren McGavin, Ralph Meeker, Vera Miles, Julie Newmar, Leslie Nielsen, Arthur O'Connell, Susan Oliver, Nehemiah Persoff, Slim Pickens, Suzanne Pleshette, Stefanie Powers, Robert Redford, Marion Ross, Soupy Sales, Martin Sheen, Sylvia Sidney, Lois Smith, Rod Steiger, Beatrice Straight, Rip Torn, Jo Van Fleet, Jessica Walter, Jack Warden, and Tuesday Weld among many others.
Route 66 ran on CBS from 1960-1964 for a total of 116 episodes.
Almost 30 years later, NBC attempted a revival in 1993 but Route 66 (redux) only ran for 4 episodes, premiering on June 8th of that year. James Wilder portrayed Nick Lewis, an illegitimate son of Buz from the original series, with Dan Cortese as his traveling companion Arthur Clark.
The premise being that Nick Lewis (James Wilder) had inherited a 1961 Corvette from his father, even though it was Tod Stiles who owned the car in the original production. Lewis then picked up a hitchhiker, Arthur Clark (Dan Cortese), and they became traveling partners. It doesn’t look as if this new version was intended for an intelligent audience like the 1961-64 series, more likely aimed at the Dukes of Hazard’s (1979-1985) former fans.
Promo for Route 66 airing on NBC in 1993,
just another flop for a flailing network:
Here’s a scene from Route 66 from 1993,
note the neon-like lighting that was so popular on TV back then.
There was a Route 66 pilot shot in 1992 by Propaganda Films starring Brent David Fraser, Andrew Lowery and Jennifer Rubin. Written by Harley Peyton (Twin Peaks), it was directed by Michael Lehmann (Heathers, True Blood, Californication).
