Ensign O'Toole is an American situation comedy that stars Dean Jones in the title role as an officer aboard the United States Navy destroyer USS Appleby in the early 1960s. It aired from 1962 to 1963.
Synopsis
Ensign O'Toole is a junior officer aboard the fictional destroyer USS Appleby in the peacetime United States Navy of the early 1960s. Also aboard the Appleby are the ship's executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Virgil Stoner; its supply officer, the rich and usually befuddled Lieutenant (junior grade) Rex St. John; and an assortment of zany crewmen, including Chief Petty Officer Homer Nelson — who always seems to be in search of a poker game and often butts heads with O'Toole — and Seamen Gabby Di Julio, Howard Spicer, and Claude White. The nonchalant O'Toole is clever, speaks several languages, can answer any trivia question, and expresses expertise in almost any subject that comes up, but avoids doing work, preferring to spend his time pulling pranks and showing up the ambitious and overbearing St. John, usually with the enthusiastic help of the crew. The Appleby′s commanding officer never appears on camera; usually Lieutenant Commander Stoner relays his orders to the crew, although sometimes the commanding officer's voice is heard over the ship's "squawk box."
Cast
Dean Jones .... Ensign O'Toole
Jay C. Flippen .... Chief Petty Officer Homer Nelson
Jack Mullaney .... Lieutenant (junior grade) Rex St. John
Jack Albertson .... Lieutenant Commander Virgil Stoner
Harvey Lembeck .... Seaman Gabby Di Julio
Beau Bridges .... Seaman Howard Spicer
Bob Sorrells .... Seaman Claude White
Stuart Margolin .... Lieutenant Miller (recurring) Skip Ward .... Lieutenant Ferguson (recurring) Ken Berry .... Lieutenant Melton (recurring) Gerald Trump .... Crump (recurring) Andrew Colmar .... Naismith (recurring) Eddie Peterson ....Selby (recurring)
Production
Ensign O'Toole was based on two books — All the Ships at Sea (1950) and Ensign O'Toole and Me (1957) — by William Lederer, who served as consultant for the series. The destroyer portrayed the fictional USS Appleby.
Broadcast history
Ensign O'Toole premiered on NBC on September 23, 1962. It lasted a single season, and the last of its 32 original episodes aired on May 5, 1963. Prime-time reruns of Ensign O'Toole followed in its regular time slot on NBC until September 15, 1963. The show aired at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday throughout its run.
From March to September 1964, ABC ran prime-time reruns of Ensign O'Toole at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday. The last of these aired on September 10, 1964, before Bewitched took its time slot the following week.
From April 2023, the series was shown in the UK on Talking Pictures TV.