Run Buddy Run

to the person who thought Buddy used power pills, I think you are recalling another show that was on CBS around the same time called Mr. Terrific. I think of both shows in the same breath as well. They had a similar look and sensibility about them. The scene I remember about this show, and I don't know why , is where Buddy ( who wasn't too smart) is working at a Coney island type snack bar. Hes being instructed on the art of selling frosty type ice cream cones.....when a little girl comes up and asks for a frosty....he goes to the frosty machine, swirls the ice cream onto the cone and hands it to girl, who says , "thank you ", and walks away......he asks the person training him how he did, and they say "great, except for one thing, you didn't get her money!"....as a kid, that struck me as funny......

Buddy Overstreet witnesses or hears (can't remember which) some mob goings on and the syndicate boys begin chasing him to silence him. Each episode was about Buddy's on going attempts to elude the mob. It was a comedy and the show was short lived but had it's moments of hilarity. Where is it today? Who knows. It would be fun to see the few episodes again. Bruce Gordon who portrayed Frank Nitti on the Untouchables was cast once again as a mobster.

I remember this show as fun and would like to see it again in syndication (since Buddy was running from the "Syndicate"). It is also somewhat timely in light of the activities of John Gotti and his son "Junior". It was a product of a more innocent time and was amusing without being vulgar or offensive. I really miss this type of creative entertainment.

The writer commented he could not remember if

Buddy overheard or witnessed something that got

him into trouble with the mob.

The answer is that while minding his own business in a sauna when some mob members come in and start

discussing a recent hit...unaware anyone else was there because of all the steam...

It was interesting noticing how the actor playing Buddy visibly lost weight during the course of its one season...from all the running I suppose...

Produced and written by Leonard Stern, associate producer of "Get Smart," "Run, Buddy, Run" had many similarities to "Smart" in that it combined crime and comedy in equal proportions, with the one never getting in the way of the other. It had two top-drawer character men, Jack Sheldon and Bruce Gordon, as the leads, and it had a good spot on the schedule. Just about everyone I know who saw it, myself included, enjoyed it.

Why, then, did it fail? There could be any number of reasons. The most likely of all, I think, was that too many shows with similar formats had established themselves by then, leaving "Buddy" with, literally, nowhere to run. Also, the somewhat offbeat premise didn't help much, either. Nowadays, such a show would have been given more time to build up an audience. In 1966, it was axed halfway through the season.

Pity, as this was one of the most creative, funny shows to emerge from the Golden Age of Sitcoms.