Flipper (1964 TV series)
| Flipper | |
|---|---|
Title screen
|
|
| Genre |
Children Family Adventure Drama |
| Created by | Jack Cowden Ricou Browning |
| Starring |
Brian Kelly Luke Halpin Tommy Norden Andy Devine (1964) Ulla Strömstedt (1965) Flipper (various dolphins) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 88 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | MGM Television in association with Ivan Tors Films, Inc. |
| Distributor | MGM Television (1964–1981, 1997–present) MGM/UA Television (1981–1986) Turner Entertainment Co. (1986–1997) The Samuel Goldwyn Company (1986–1997) Orion Television (1997–1999, 2013–present) |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 19, 1964 – April 15, 1967 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by |
Flipper Flipper's New Adventure |
| Followed by | Flipper – The New Adventures |
| Related shows | Flipper |
Flipper, from Ivan Tors Films in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, is an American television program first broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the companion animal of Porter Ricks, Chief Warden at fictional Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve in southern Florida, and his two young sons, Sandy and Bud. The show has been dubbed an "aquatic Lassie", and a considerable amount of children's merchandise inspired by the show was produced during its first run.
The television show is an extension of the 1963 film Flipper starring Chuck Connors and Luke Halpin as Porter and Sandy Ricks, and of its 1964 sequel, Flipper's New Adventure. For the second film the producers scripted that Mrs. Ricks had died, making Porter now a single parent, with Brian Kelly taking over the role as Porter Ricks but now as a trainee Park Ranger rather than a fisherman. In adapting the films to a television series, the producers gave Porter a second, younger son, Bud, portrayed by Tommy Norden, and the TV series sees him returning permanently to the Florida Keys as the Park Ranger of the Coral Key Marine Preserve. The producers also departed from the films in endowing Flipper with an unnatural degree of intelligence and an extraordinary understanding of human motives, behavior, and vocabulary.
The show was created, by way of the creation of the first film, by Jack Cowden and Ricou Browning, who had experience in underwater filming and underwater performance, notably as the monster in The Creature from the Black Lagoon. In Browning's second filmed portrayal of the Creature, Revenge of the Creature, a scene showcases one of the film's shooting locations, Marineland of Florida (depicted with a fictionalized name), presenting several stunts performed by "Flippy, the Educated Porpoise", in a form of product placement. Browning also wrote the book Flipper based on the ancient legend of Taras, a mythical founder of the Spartan City State of the same name (on the coast of Italy where modern day Taranto is located) who was rescued from shipwreck by a dolphin sent by Poseidon, which was picked up and adapted by famous producer Ivan Tors into the first Flipper movie.
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