The Jimmy Stewart Show

I caught the show when it ran on a retro TV channel and loving Jimmy Stewart and curious about it, I gave it a try, but with boring characters and boring scripts it's easy to understand why the show only lasted one season.

The age difference between Stewart and Julie Adams is too wide to ignore. Although just 18 years apart, Stweart looks much older than his 62 years and Adams in her 40s could easily pass for 10 years younger.

For a college setting in the early 70s the campus seems to be completely detached from the concerns of times. The lone Black faculty member played by Hal Williams disappeared after one episode. Series producer Hal Kanter in James Stewart: A Biography by Donald Dewey reported that Stewart protested against having a regular African American cast member as a faculty member in a position higher than Stewart's character because it would alienate Southern viewers. The character was dropped after one episode.

The best part of the show was John McGiver whose over-the-top performance also showed moments of vulnerability (at least in one episode where his character is rejected by an infatuation). A young Kate Jackson also made her mark in a few episodes as a student.

As a curiosity, it might be worth checking out an episode or two for serious retro TV fans, beyond that, there is not much to recommend.