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My Friend Tony is an American crime drama that aired on NBC in 1969. The pilot originally aired as "My Pal Tony" on The Danny Thomas Hour on March 4, 1968.

My Friend Tony
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Ivan Goff Ben Roberts Warren Duff
Starring	James Whitmore Enzo Cerusico
Theme music composer	Earle Hagen
Composers	Earle Hagen Richard Shores Hugo Friedhofer Carl Brandt
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producer	Sheldon Leonard
Producers	Art Seid Ernest Frankel
Running time	45–48 minutes
Production companies	Sheldon Leonard Productions, in association with NBC (filmed at Paramount Studios
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	Color
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	January 5 (1969-01-05) – August 31, 1969 (1969-08-31)
Chronology
Related shows	The Danny Thomas Hour

Synopsis

The series features Enzo Cerusico as the title character, Tony Novello, and James Whitmore as John Woodruff, a professor of criminology who served in Italy during World War II. As a child, Novello had been a street urchin who survived as a pickpocket, with Woodruff being one of his intended victims. The premise of the series was that the adult (and reformed) Novello had emigrated to the United States to join Woodruff in a private investigation team. Novello handled the legwork and physical side of the investigations while Woodruff conducted painstaking analysis of the most obscure clues.[1]

My Friend Tony debuted on January 5, 1969. NBC slotted the program in the 10 p.m. Eastern timeslot on Sundays, following Bonanza.[2] The network ended production of the series after 16 episodes[3] but continued airing reruns of the show through that summer. The program aired for the last time on August 31, 1969.[4]

Reception

Despite having the highly successful Bonanza as its lead-in, Sheldon Leonard — who developed My Friend Tony and was its executive producer — attributed the program's low ratings to its timeslot.

"First, the 10-to-11 P.M. time spot didn't take full advantage of Enzo's youthful audience, as shown by his flood of fan mail, which exceeds anything in our experience," Leonard told TV Guide. "Second, because of the one-hour length and the network's commitment to 27 new projects all demanding air time, there was no 8 or 9 o'clock spot into which to move it."[5]

Critics had savaged My Friend Tony, calling the series "hackneyed and confusing" ... "the kind of minimal fare that has been ground out ad nauseam" ... "mundane" and "bilge."[6]

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Corey Doesn't Live Here Anymore"	Arthur Marks	Jerrold L. Ludwig	January 5, 1969 (1969-01-05)
2	"Death Comes in Small Packages"	Unknown	Jerry Thomas	January 12, 1969 (1969-01-12)
3	"Voices"	Harvey Hart	Ernest Frankel	January 19, 1969 (1969-01-19)
4	"Let George Do It"	Unknown	Unknown	January 26, 1969 (1969-01-26)
5	"The Lost Hours"	Arthur Marks	Jackson Gillis	February 2, 1969 (1969-02-02)
6	"The Hazing"	Unknown	Unknown	February 16, 1969 (1969-02-16)
7	"Encounter"	Lewis Allen	James L. Brooks	February 23, 1969 (1969-02-23)
8	"Dead Reckoning"	Unknown	Unknown	March 9, 1969 (1969-03-09)
9	"Wedding Cake Blues"	Unknown	Unknown	March 23, 1969 (1969-03-23)
10	"The Twenty Mile Jog"	Unknown	Unknown	April 13, 1969 (1969-04-13)
11	"Molly"	Unknown	Unknown	May 18, 1969 (1969-05-18)
12	"Intermission"	Richard Wechsler	Michael Zagor	May 25, 1969 (1969-05-25)
13	"Casino"	Unknown	Unknown	June 1, 1969 (1969-06-01)
14	"Kidnap"	Harvey Hart	Jackson Gillis	June 8, 1969 (1969-06-08)
15	"The Shortest Courtship"	Unknown	Unknown	June 15, 1969 (1969-06-15)
16	"Welcome Home, Jerry Stanley"	Unknown	Unknown	June 22, 1969 (1969-06-22)

References

External links

• My Friend Tony at IMDb

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