Hawkins Falls
| Hawkins Falls, Population 6200 | |
|---|---|
Bernadette Flynn (center) with Macdonald Carey and Frank Pacelli, the show's director, 1953.
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| Also known as | ''Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel'' |
| Created by | Doug Johnson |
| Starring |
Bernardine Flynn Maurice Copeland Jim Bannon Arthur Peterson |
| Narrated by |
Hugh Downs Wed Howard |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Dave Brown Ben Park |
| Location(s) | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Running time | 50 minutes (June 1950–August 1950) 12–13 minutes (April 1951–July 1955) |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | June 17, 1950 – July 1, 1955 |
Hawkins Falls, Population 6200 is a U.S. television soap opera that was broadcast in the 1950s. Though it was not the first original (non-radio-derived) soap opera on American TV, it was the first to be successful, running for more than five years.
Sponsored by Unilever's blue detergent, Surf, the program began as a one-hour comedy-drama on June 17, 1950, and ran in prime time on the NBC network until October 12, 1950.
On April 2, 1951, the series was moved to a fifteen-minute daytime slot, where it was retitled Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel, and developed into a soap opera format. Hawkins Falls ran until July 1, 1955, making it NBC's longest-running soap opera until The Doctors exceeded it in 1967.
The town of Hawkins Falls was patterned after the real-life town of .
The Drewer family lived in the town of Hawkins Falls. Lona Drewer was played by Bernardine Flynn, while her husband was played by Frank Dane. After the first year, according to Hugh Downs, Dane came to feel that as the lead actor he was indispensable to the show. He demanded more money and fewer hours. In a move that set the model for countless future encounters between imprudent stars and their management, Dane walked off the set and refused to return until his demands were met. The producer and writer saw their chance to accommodate Dane's desire for less work and crafted a script that sent Mr. Drewer on a plane flight that was lost over the sea. Actor Jim Bannon was happy to join the cast as Lorna's new romantic interest.
Hawkins Falls was broadcast live from Chicago. Among the series announcers were Hugh Downs.
Two of the actors in the series, Art Van Harvey and Bernardine Flynn, had previously spent over a decade together as the title characters in the radio series Vic and Sade. On Hawkins Falls, the two were only briefly cast members together; although Flynn played Lona Drewer Corey for the entire duration of the show, Van Harvey only joined the cast in 1954.
Billboard magazine compared it quite favorably with radio soaps, and called it "pleasurable viewing".
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