| Camp Runamuck | |
|---|---|
 Alice Nunn as Mahalia May Gruenecker | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | David Swift |
| Written by | William Freedman Ben Gershman Sidney A. Mandel Ann Marcus Bob Rodgers David Swift |
| Directed by | Charles Barton Bruce Bilson Howard Duff Hal March R. Robert Rosenbaum David Swift |
| Starring | Arch Johnson David Ketchum Dave Madden Alice Nunn |
| Theme music composer | Frank DeVol Jack Keller Howard Greenfield |
| Opening theme | "Camp Runamuck Theme" |
| Composer | Edward J. Forsyth |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | David Swift |
| Producers | Billy Friedberg Irving Temaner (assistant) |
| Editor | Ralph James Hall |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production companies | Runamuck Productions Inc. Screen Gems Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | September 17, 1965 – April 15, 1966 |
Camp Runamuck is an American sitcom that aired on NBC during the 1965–66 television season. The series was created and executive produced by David Swift, and aired for 26 episodes.
The series related the wacky goings-on at the titular boys' summer camp, and at Camp Divine, its girls' counterpart across the lake. Runamuck was run by Commander Wivenhoe (Arch Johnson), a man who couldn't stand kids, and senior counselor Spiffy (David Ketchum), his assistant of sorts.
Helping them out were counselor Pruett (Dave Madden), Doc Joslyn, and camp cook Malden (Mike Wagner). Eulalia Divine (Hermione Baddeley) was the owner of the girls' camp, which was run by chief counselor Mahalia May Gruenecker (Alice Nunn). Nina Wayne (younger sister of Carol) played Camp Divine's curvaceous counsellor Caprice Yeudleman. The competitiveness between the two camps and the incidents and accidents that would normally occur at such summer camps - missing kids, people falling into the lake, food poisoning, and so on - formed the basis of most of the show's plots.
The series was scheduled opposite CBS's The Wild Wild West and ABC's The Flintstones and struggled in the ratings. The series was canceled after 26 episodes, with the last new episode airing on April 15, 1966. Reruns aired on NBC until September 2, 1966.[1]
Composer and bandleader Frank DeVol (who also wrote the series' theme song) played the part of Doc Joslyn in the pilot episode, but illness forced him to quit the role, and he was replaced by Leonard Stone for the actual series.[2] DeVol's original theme song was performed by Bobby Darin. Hugo Montenegro provided a new theme song and score to the episodes.
In April 1966, Dell Comics issued a Camp Runamuck comic book.[3]
Some of the characters on that show were based on some of the names described in the song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" by Allan Sherman, including Joe Spivey.
| Episode # | Episode title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | "Who Stole My Bathtub?" | David Swift | David Swift | September 17, 1965 |
| 1-2 | "Rabbits of the World Unite" | David Swift | David Swift | September 24, 1965 |
| 1-3 | "Fraternize" | R. Robert Rosenbaum | David Swift | October 1, 1965 |
| 1-4 | "I'm in Luv with Your Beautiful Limpid Eyes, But I Can't Marry You Because You're a Cow" | David Swift | David Swift | October 8, 1965 |
| 1-5 | "Say, You're A Bleeder Aren't You?' Tom Asks Cuttingly" | Hal March | David Swift | October 15, 1965 |
| 1-6 | "They're Not Making Hurricanes Like They Used To" | Howard Duff | David Swift | October 22, 1965 |
| 1-7 | "Turtle???" | R. Robert Rosenbaum | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | October 29, 1965 |
| 1-8 | "Slaughter" | David Swift | David Swift | November 5, 1965 |
| 1-9 | "Today is Parent's Day" | David Swift | David Swift | November 12, 1965 |
| 1-10 | "Masquerade" | Howard Duff | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | November 19, 1965 |
| 1-11 | "Spiffy Quits - Part 1" | David Swift | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | November 26, 1965 |
| 1-12 | "Spiffy Quits - Part II" | David Swift | David Swift | December 3, 1965 |
| 1-13 | "Soapsuds" | R. Robert Rosenbaum | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | December 10, 1965 |
| 1-14 | "The New Swimming Pool" | R. Robert Rosenbaum | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | December 24, 1965 |
| 1-15 | "Wivenhoe's New Car" | Howard Duff | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | December 31, 1965 |
| 1-16 | "Tomboy" | Hal March | Ann Marcus & David Swift | January 7, 1966 |
| 1-17 | "Look Out, Here Comes Arnie" | Howard Duff | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | January 14, 1966 |
| 1-18 | "Diet" | R. Robert Rosenbaum | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | January 28, 1966 |
| 1-19 | "Air Conditioner" | R. Robert Rosenbaum | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | February 4, 1966 |
| 1-20 | "Food Poisoning" | Howard Duff | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | February 11, 1966 |
| 1-21 | "Building" | R. Robert Rosenbaum | David Swift | February 25, 1966 |
| 1-22 | "Termites" | Charles Barton | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | March 4, 1966 |
| 1-23 | "Peace" | Howard Duff | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | March 18, 1966 |
| 1-24 | "Malden Falls in Love" | David Butler | Bill Freedman & Ben Gershman | March 25, 1966 |
| 1-25 | "Senior Citizens" | Howard Duff | Sidney A. Mandel & Bob Rodgers | April 8, 1966 |
| 1-26 | "Commander for a Day" | Bruce Bilson | Bill Freedman & Ben Gershman | April 15, 1966 |
The series aired in the UK by the BBC on Saturday mornings 10 years after it aired in the United States. (Although this was the first network UK screening of Camp Runamuck, the series was aired by some ITV regional stations in 1969). In the United States, it briefly ran on Nickelodeon[4] and Comedy Central.
Approximately half of the series became available on streaming service Crackle in 2021.[5]
