Going My Way is an American black-and-white comedy-drama series starring dancer and actor Gene Kelly. Inspired by the 1944 film of the same name starring Bing Crosby, the series aired on ABC with new episodes from October 3, 1962 to April 24, 1963 and summer repeats until September 11, 1963.
Kelly's only attempt at acting in a weekly television series, Going My Way was canceled after one season of 30 episodes. The program was also broadcast in England, where the trade publication Sponsor reported that it was "a smash in the London market", rated in the top 10 programs there in 1963.
Contents
Premise
Kelly stars as Father Chuck O'Malley, a Roman Catholic priest who is sent to St. Dominic's Parish located in a lower-class section of Manhattan. Dick York, later of Bewitched, portrays a character not in the film, Chuck's boyhood friend Tom Colwell, the director of a secular neighborhood youth center. Also co-starring is Leo G. Carroll as the aging pastor, Father Fitzgibbon, portrayed in the film, by Barry Fitzgerald. Nydia Westman is Mrs. Featherstone, the housekeeper of the rectory, portrayed by Eily Malyon in the film, where the character is named Mrs. Carmody. Episodes focus on Father O'Malley's attempts to connect with the congregation and his relationship with the elderly Father Fitzgibbon.
Production
Going My Way was broadcast on Wednesdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Its competition included The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Virginian, and Kraft Television Theatre. Joe Connelly was the producer. Directors included Joseph Pevney and Fielder Cook. Writers also included Arnold Bernstein and Emmet Lavery.
The series was produced by Revue Studios, as parent company MCA owned the rights to the original film through its subsidiary, EMKA, Ltd., which in 1957 bought Going My Way and many other pre-1950 sound feature films from Paramount Pictures.
John H. Breck, Inc. sponsored the program, promoting its Breck Shampoos. The company had sponsored some specials in previous seasons, but this was its first sponsorship of a series. The $3.2 million that it spent for 50 weeks was double what the company had spent on TV advertising in any previous year, and it matched the most that the company had spent on both TV and print advertising in any previous year. The company hoped "to attract families, with large shares of women."
The failure of the series to enter a second season is usually attributed to its competition, particularly The Beverly Hillbillies. Going My Way was also scheduled opposite the final season of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis on CBS and last third of the 90-minute Western, The Virginian, on NBC. Aired at 8:30 pm Eastern time on Wednesdays, Going My Way followed the Western series Wagon Train on the ABC schedule. The program itself was followed on ABC by the Stanley Holloway sitcom, Our Man Higgins.
Critical response
A review in the trade publication Variety said that the show had potential based on its family-show appeal and the co-stars, but it acknowledged the strength of competition on other networks. Kelly and Carroll were said to be well-cast, but the plot was described as thin.
Home media
On December 6, 2011, Timeless Media Group released Going My Way: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.