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Mr. Novak

Mr. Novak
James Franciscus Dean Jagger Mr. Novak 1964.JPG
James Franciscus as Mr. Novak and Dean Jagger as Principal Albert Vane.
Genre Drama
Written by John D. F. Black
Joseph Calvelli
Richard De Roy
Meyer Dolinsky
Mel Goldberg
Sidney Marshall
James Menzies
E. Jack Neuman
Milt Rosen
Carol Sobieski
Betty Ulius
Roland Wolpert
Preston Wood
Directed by Abner Biberman
Richard Donner
Alvin Ganzer
Ida Lupino
Michael O'Herlihy
Allen Reisner
Boris Sagal
Joseph Sargent
Paul Wendkos
Starring James Franciscus
Dean Jagger
Burgess Meredith
Opening theme Lyn Murray
Composer(s) Leith Stevens
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 60
Production
Executive producer(s) E. Jack Neuman
Producer(s) Joseph Calvelli
Running time 48 mins.
Production company(s) MGM Television
Release
Original network NBC
Picture format Black-and-white
Audio format Monaural
Original release September 24, 1963 (1963-09-24) – August 31, 1965 (1965-08-31)

Mr. Novak is an American dramatic series starring James Franciscus in the title role, which aired on NBC for two seasons, from 1963 to 1965. The series won a Peabody Award in 1963.

The series follows John Novak, an idealistic first-year English teacher at Jefferson High School in Los Angeles who often got involved in the lives of his students and fellow teachers. Principal Albert Vane was played by Dean Jagger (he was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1964 and 1965 for his performance). Jagger left the series in 1964 after forty-four episodes, and it was explained that his character was elected California Superintendent of Public Instruction; Burgess Meredith played the new principal, Martin Woodridge, for the remaining seventeen episodes.

The school seen in Mr. Novak duplicated Los Angeles' John Marshall High School "complete to walks, shrubs, and parking." After using the school itself for the pilot, the duplicate was built at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, the "largest permanent set to be constructed [there] in a number of years." The complete set filled an acre at the studio. Other construction on the MGM sound stages included duplicates of corridors and classrooms.

The show, produced by MGM Television, was broadcast on Tuesday evenings from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. (Eastern time). In its first season, Mr. Novak's principal competition was the ABC series Combat!, and the second half of the hour-long The Red Skelton Show on CBS. In the second season, the competition was still Combat! on ABC, and the documentary series World War One on CBS. Skelton was moved a half-hour later in December 1964.


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