Temperatures Rising

I am agreement with the previous comment. During the first season of the show I was in stitches. Cleavon Little was one funny man. The show could have been tighter, but overlooking its faults, it was a gas. Out went James Whitmore, in comes Paul Lynde, then down it went. I laughed little and eventually stopped watching. What the show needed was better writing, not new cast members. As funny as Paul Lynde is, he was not on this show. What started out on the right track, derailed in the second season. Too bad. I do not remember much about this show, but Cleavon Little and James Whitmore stand out most in my mind. They connected. For a hospital comedy, it could have had better writing, but the first season was funny and fun to watch.

This short-lived hospital sitcom set in Washington, DC lasted only two seasons but had three distinct versions during that time. The only constant throughout the show's run was Cleavon Little. After one season featuring Little, James Whitmore as an older doc, and several nurses and staffers, the show was reconfigured into "The New Temperatures Rising" with Paul Lynde, Alice Ghostley and Sudie Bond brought in as the family who owned the hospital and were primarily concerned with cutting costs. After a few months with them, the show was put on hiatus, only to return a few months later in a third version with more new cast members (plus Nancy Fox from the original cast) but without Lynde, Ghostley and Bond. Needless to say, a third season was not forthcoming. In all three versions, the laugh count was about average for this type of show (that is to say, too low). TV never has really managed to produce a top quality, long-running hospital sitcom; we'll have to see if "Scrubs" stands the test of time.

When I was little, I could remember very few things at the age of seven on television except Captain Kangaroo. However, lightening had struck the night I first saw Nancy Fox on ABC's "Temperature's Rising". She was my FIRST childhood crush. I can remember seeing her in TV Guide, and when my dad threw the magazine in the garbage, I had lost my soul-mate and my whole world was in a mess.

The only reason that I am giving this TV show a perfect "10" is because of Nancy's presence on the sitcom. I remember she played a gorgeous, dim-witted student nurse, Ellen Turner. After the show went off the air, I searched and searched for Nancy, but I couldn't find her on TV. She was such a goddess, and I'm sure she still is, and had a sultry, perky voice with fabulous curves. For years I thought she had played "Vera" on the popular CBS TV show, "Alice", but it was a different actress, Beth Howland. Nancy did appear on episodes of "Charlie's Angels" and was a childhood friend of Jaclyn Smith.

In case you should happen to come across this writing, Nancy, I guess the world wants to know how you're doing these days??? You should have a website and photos on the Internet. We, who miss you, bow in prayer and say, "Hail, Nancy!"

I recall this series and the first season was funny. OK, so as a 12 year old my tastes were a bit different than now, but regardless, I did find it funny. Clevon Little was (is?) a comic master and was allowed to be funny. Then the show was 're-configured' with some, eh, funny people and the emphasis was taken off Little and he was made essentially a straight man for some very marginally funny cast members. I don't recall the last season, maybe I just gave up at that point. The few past posts I've done and all future ones concerning TV will show what my true feelings are towards television executives. Too much responsibility placed on too little brain power.

There, I've said it.

I could not understand why Lynde was brought in. He was coming off his own show which was a disaster and killed two successful series by producers trying to make him a star player. Frankly, I NEVER thought the guy was funny. Cleavon Little however (RIP) had a track record of GREAT laughs.

ABC did a lot of show tampering a lot then. Take a show that was popular, tamper with it and destroy it. They not only caused shows to "jump the shark", they provided the ocean and the shark! If somebody has the original film (tapes?) they should publish them. ME TV? Here is a great candidate for your line up!