Gibbsville (TV series)


Gibbsville is a 1976 American dramatic television series starring John Savage and Gig Young. The plot centers on the activities of two reporters for a newspaper in a small Pennsylvania town in the 1940s. It aired from November 11 to December 30, 1976.

Cast

In the 1940s, Jim Malloy returns to his hometown, the fictional small mining town of Gibbsville, Pennsylvania, after being expelled from Yale University during his sophomore year. He becomes a young cub reporter for the towns newspaper, the Gibbsville Courier. He works there with a senior reporter, Ray Whitehead, who had begun his career in journalism with the Courier and left Gibbsville to pursue a promising career with more prestigious newspapers in larger cities. However, alcoholism had made Rays career falter, and he had returned to Gibbsville and the Courier to try to make a fresh start. Mr. Pell is the editor of the Courier and is Jims and Rays boss.
Jim lives in Gibbsville with his parents, Dr. Mike Malloy and Mrs. Malloy. Dr. Malloy is the towns physician.

Production

was Gibbsvilles executive producer. The stories and characters in the show were based on the writings of John O'Hara about the fictional Gibbsville, and the opening credits refer to the show as "John OHaras Gibbsville."
In addition to a 1975 television movie written and directed by playwright Frank D. Gilroy that served as the shows pilot, thirteen episodes were produced, although only six of them aired.

Broadcast history

A 90-minute television movie, John OHaras Gibbsville - later retitled The Turning Point of Jim Malloy and alternatively titled Gibbsville: The Turning Point of Jim Malloy - aired on NBC on April 12, 1975. Based on the John O'Hara semi-autobiographical story anthology The Doctors Son, it served as the pilot for Gibbsville. Several delays followed in getting the weekly series on the air. Gibbsville finally was to have premiered at the beginning of NBCs fall 1976 season, but it encountered one last delay when it was displaced at the last minute. After the cancellation of the series Gemini Man, NBC reshuffled its Thursday evening lineup and added Gibbsville to the schedule in mid-November 1976.
Gibbsville finally premiered as a weekly series on November 11, 1976 - 17 months after its pilot aired - and NBC broadcast it at 10:00 p.m. on Thursdays throughout its brief run. Its sixth episode was broadcast on December 30, 1976, after which NBC cancelled it. The remaining seven episodes never aired.

Episodes

Sources:
Season #Episode #TitlePlot/NotesOriginal air date
--Pilot: "The Turning Point of Jim Malloy"Jim Malloy returns to his home town of Gibbsville, Pennsylvania, after being expelled from Yale University during his sophomore year and begins a new career on the town's newspaper, the Gibbsville Courier. Originally broadcast as the television movie John O′Hara′s Gibbsville and also alternatively titled Gibbsville: The Turning Point of Jim Malloy, this was the only 90-minute episode of Gibbsville. Janis Paige, Kathleen Quinlan, and Robert Ginty guest-star.April 12, 1975
11"How Old, How Young"Gibbsville city officials thwart efforts to get to the bottom of a mysterious explosion. Walter Pidgeon, Jane Wyatt, Jack Aranson, Kenneth Tobey, Frank Campanella, Roy Jenson, and Arnold Soboloff guest-star.November 11, 1976
12"Saturday Night"An armed robber terrorizes local merchants, a middle-aged couple are purged of the guilt with which they lived for six years, and at the local dance Jim enjoys the company of a high-school acquaintance who has blossomed into a stunning beauty, all on the same Saturday night in Gibbsville. William Windom, Alan Young, Debralee Scott, Salome Jens, Richard Mulligan, Grant Goodeve, Lew Brown, and Stephanie Burchfield guest-star.November 18, 1976
13"Trapped"The people of Gibbsville await word on miners trapped in an explosion while a radio personality milks the disaster for pathos and Jim and Ray try to dig up evidence of negligence. Bob Crane, Ed Nelson, Kate Woodville, Tovah Feldshuh, Ed Harris, Addison Powell, Charles Cyphers, Biff Elliot, and Lesley Woods guest-star.December 9, 1976
14"All the Young Girls"A policeman who supplements his income illegally gives some help to his wartime buddy, a has-been boxer. Robert Forster, Simon Oakland, Barbara Parkins, Maureen McCormick, Rozelle Gayle, and Tony Burton guest-star.December 16, 1976
15"Andrea"Ray rekindles a romance with a woman who is now engaged to a judge presiding over a mine-safety hearing. Joan Collins, Dan O'Herlihy, Diana Scarwid, Jack Aranson, Frank Campanella, Russell Arms, and Laura Lacey guest-star.December 23, 1976
16"Afternoon Waltz"Jims former classmate at Yale University struggles to adjust to a secret personal problem. Edward Albert, Hope Lange, Sharon Farrell, M. Emmet Walsh, Tom Simcox, Susanne Reed, and Nora Heflin guest-star.December 30, 1976
17"Chatauqua, Chatauqua, Chatauqua"?Unaired
18"In the Silence"?Unaired
19"Manhood"?Unaired
110"A Case History"?Unaired
111"The Price of Everything"?Unaired
112"All I've Tried To Be"?Unaired
113"The Grand Gesture"?Unaired