Pretty Good

Let's be realistic.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

When asked why Hennesey episodes have never been seen in syndication Abby Dalton explained that they were accidentally destroyed in a fire. After Hennesy when Abby became Joey Bishop's TV wife on his sitcom some viewers griped that Abby and Joey lacked the chemistry of Abby and Jackie. Yet many of us love Abby no matter who her TV hubby was.

My recollection is that the theme music is titled "The Doodletown Pipers". It was popular in the "40's or "50's. It may have been done by several bands of the Big Band Era. The version I have is by The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra. I have no idea whose orchestra was used in the actual theme. I have heard Hennesey's Island by Frank Mills and doubt if there is any connection between it and the TV program "Hennesey". If I am in error, please correct me.I remember very little specifically about the program. I do remember that I enjoyed it and that the characters were very believable. It was a very good program with good story lines. I remember the character played by Jackie Cooper. I thought Jackie Cooper did a very good job with his role.

I remember this show vividly from my childhood -- I was in grade school when it was on and can remember watching it every week with my parents. (I think one of the reasons I liked it was that my dad was in the Navy during WWII.) I have a vague recollection that one of the episodes featured Jackie Cooper visiting Pearl Harbor and that that show aired around December 7th. Like others who've written things here, I also remember it as a serious show (I was a serious kid) and that the theme music was very unusual.I'd love to see the entire series on DVD -- or better yet, on network TV. I keep reading that the networks have given up on Saturday evenings -- why not ditch the junk they are airing that night (nobody's watching anyway) and re-run classic series like Hennesey or The Law & Mr. Jones or The Defenders or Leslie Nielsen as the Swamp Fox (which I believe was Disney.) I think Baby Boomers would love the chance to see these "lost treasures" from the 50s and 60s again. And a whole new generation of kids would be exposed to entertaining-but-intelligent programs on network TV every Saturday night.

I remember the remarkable thing about "Hennesey" was that it was a dry, adult comedy WITH NO LAUGHTRACK. My mother used to love the show for that reason alone. The absence of that psychological prod actually made the absurdities funnier. We the audience were being treated as adults who could laugh when it was funny. This was an innovative and bold move in television of the time. I really notice the idiocy of American TV when it is rebroadcast here in Italy. The use of the laughtrack to manipulate the audience into thinking something is funny is really noticeable here, where it is rarely employed. Also, the use of implausible situations, as mentioned above, was lacking. The show stood or fell on the quality of the characters and writing. Whoever chooses to re-release this show will have an uphill battle to avoid inserting these banal mechanisms to please sponsors.