| The Baileys of Balboa | |
|---|---|
 Paul Ford (background) and Sterling Holloway (foreground), 1964. | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Directed by |
|
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Harry Geller |
| Composer | Harry Geller (all episodes) |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Keefe Brasselle |
| Producer | Bob Sweeney |
| Running time | 30 mins. |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 24, 1964 – April 1, 1965 |
The Baileys of Balboa is an American sitcom that appeared on CBS in the 1964–1965 season on Thursdays at 9:30pm ET. The series lasted only one 26-episode season. The show was directed by Gary Nelson and Bob Sweeney.[1]
The show was primarily developed for the network because its president, James T. Aubrey, insisted that Gilligan's Island, which premiered the same season (and which he personally loathed), would have been a better show if it had centered on the exploits of a charter boat captain operating in a marina, and had his old friend Keefe Brasselle produce his version of the idea in order to prove his point.
After Aubrey was fired from the network in February 1965 (amid charges of "conflict of interest" in scheduling the show and two other Brasselle productions without formal pilot episodes), The Baileys of Balboa fulfilled its 26-episode commitment, and was abruptly canceled – due, in part, to its poor ratings opposite ABC's highly successful twice-weekly soap opera, Peyton Place. Gilligan's Island continued for two more seasons.
The plot follows the Bailey family, who live at a beach resort, where Sam Bailey operates a charter boat at the local marina. The Baileys regularly get into conflicts with their wealthier neighbors. The show starred Paul Ford (Sam Bailey), Sterling Holloway (Buck Singleton), John Dehner (Commodore Cecil Wyntoon), Judy Carne (Barbara Wyntoon), Les Brown, Jr. (Jim Bailey), Clint Howard (Stanley), Howard Freeman (Langley) and Dorothy Green. John Banner also occasionally appeared as "Hans".
Among the guest stars on The Baileys of Balboa was Roger Ewing, in the December 1964 episode "Look Who's A Sailor", and later played Thaddeus "Thad" Greenwood in CBS's western series, Gunsmoke, from 1965 to 1967. Child actor Kelly Corcoran, then 6 years old, made his third ever screen appearance in the February 1965 episode "The Education Of Sam Bailey".
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Love is a White Sea Bass" | Bob Sweeney | Richard Powell | September 24, 1964 | |
| Sam's relentless efforts to learn the secret formula which five-year-old Stanley uses as bait to capture enormous white sea bass lead him to the parlor of an attractive widow. | |||||
| 2 | "The Great Yacht Club Robbery" | Unknown | Unknown | October 1, 1964 | |
| Sam unwittingly charters his fishing boat to a band of armed robbers fleeing a crime. | |||||
| 3 | "The Return of Barbara Wyntoon" | Unknown | Unknown | October 8, 1964 | |
| Sam and Commodore Wyntoon worry over a mysterious trip by their respective offspring to Tijuana, Mexico, known for its "quickie" weddings. | |||||
| 4 | "To Sam, He's a Swimmer" | Unknown | Unknown | October 15, 1964 | |
| Commodore Wyntoon schemes for the defeat of Jim Bailey and the return of the around-the-stand swimming race trophy to the yacht club. | |||||
| 5 | "Mutiny" | Unknown | Unknown | November 5, 1964 | |
| Sam faces a mutiny from passengers of the Island Princess after he refuses to take its passengers back to shore, where a process server awaits him. | |||||
| 6 | "My Son, the Dreamer" | Unknown | Unknown | November 12, 1964 | |
| Fearful that Commodore Wyntoon will make another attempt to squeeze him off his property, Sam signs his estate over to his son. | |||||
| 7 | "Wanna Buy a Hot Turkey?" | Unknown | Unknown | November 19, 1964 | |
| Commodore Wyntoon makes an attempt to frame the Baileys for stealing a turkey after Buck unknowlingly buys a stolen bird. | |||||
| 8 | "Buck Ships Out" | Unknown | Unknown | November 26, 1964 | |
| The call of the four winds and seven seas, coupled with petty quarrels with Sam, stir Buck Singleton to ship out from Bailey's Landing. | |||||
| 9 | "Captain Stanley" | Unknown | Unknown | December 3, 1964 | |
| The Bailey's neighbor, five-year-old Stanley, takes charge of Sam's harbor tours when Sam falls victim to illness. | |||||
| 10 | "Las Vegas By the Sea" | Unknown | Unknown | December 10, 1964 | |
| A floating dice game is started on the Island Princess after Buck's unemployed gambler friend, Shorty McAllister, is hired. | |||||
| 11 | "Look Who's a Sailor" | Charles Barton | Sid Morse & Arthur Julian | December 17, 1964 | |
| Following an argument with his father, Jim Bailey defects to the side of the yachting set, forcing Sam to seek a replacement for Jim's chores. | |||||
| 12 | "Won't You Come Home, Sam Bailey?" | Unknown | Unknown | December 24, 1964 | |
| When Sam meets an attractive actress, he decides to court her while at the same time continuing his wooing of widow Emily Sheldon. | |||||
| 13 | "Happiness is a Seal Called Lester" | Unknown | Unknown | December 31, 1964 | |
| An affectionate seal named Lester moves into the Bailey household and improves Sam's business in the process. | |||||
| 14 | "Bailey's Band" | Charles Barton | Sid Morse | January 7, 1965 | |
| Sam finds a way to express his anger after the park closes before his band has an opportunity to perform. | |||||
| 15 | "Sam's Dream" | Unknown | Unknown | January 14, 1965 | |
| Sam dreams he is commodore of the yacht club and devises a plan to force Commodore Wyntoon to sell property to him. | |||||
| 16 | "Sam and the Surfers" | Unknown | Unknown | January 21, 1965 | |
| A secret formula for treating surfboards leads to the kidnapping of a teenage chemistry wizard. | |||||
| 17 | "To Hawaii with Love" | Unknown | Unknown | January 28, 1965 | |
| Commodore Wyntoon and his superior in yacht club affairs, Walter Langley, conspire to remove Jim Bailey from both the Balboa scene and Barbara Wyntoon's life. | |||||
| 18 | "The Education of Sam Bailey" | Unknown | Unknown | February 4, 1965 | |
| While caring for Stanley for one week, Sam gets in trouble when he takes the child out of nursery school in a dispute over educational methods. | |||||
| 19 | "Sam and the Invisible Man" | Bruce Bilson | Sid Morse | February 11, 1965 | |
| Sam's nephew turns "invisible" in an attempt to escape deportation from Balboa and the end of a romance. | |||||
| 20 | "The Antique Car Race" | Unknown | Unknown | February 18, 1965 | |
| Commodore Wyntoon challenges Sam and Buck to match his "achievement" of getting a speeding ticket in a vintage car. | |||||
| 21 | "The Haunted Van" | Unknown | Unknown | February 25, 1965 | |
| Commodore Wyntoon devises with Jim Bailey to spook Buck out of his moving van and back into the household. | |||||
| 22 | "Stanley the Runaway" | Unknown | Unknown | March 4, 1965 | |
| Stanley becomes a nursery school dropout to join the crew of the Island Princess, and seems immune to Sam's attempts at child psychology. | |||||
| 23 | "Sam's Economy Kick" | Unknown | Unknown | March 11, 1965 | |
| Sam causes an uproar when he slashes the family budget to the breaking point. | |||||
| 24 | "Sam's Treasure Hunt" | Unknown | Unknown | March 18, 1965 | |
| A fortune in gold and precious stones lures Sam and Buck, not knowing that the "treasure map" is a fraud perpetrated by Commodore Wyntoon. | |||||
| 25 | "Sam Sells Out" | Unknown | Unknown | March 25, 1965 | |
| Sam at last submits to adversity and puts his property up for sale when expenses mount and business declines. | |||||
| 26 | "Sam and the Sea Monster" | Unknown | Unknown | April 1, 1965 | |
| A "sea monster" throws fear into Sam and Buck when it slithers through waters and stalks sands at Bailey's Landing. | |||||
