Highcliffe Manor
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
|image =
|caption =
|creator = Robert Blees
|genre = Sitcom
|director = Nick Havinga
|starring = Shelley Fabares
Stephen McHattie
Eugenie Ross-Leming
Gerald Gordon
Audrey Landers
|narrated = Peter Lawford
|composer = Bob Alberti
|opentheme = "Highcliffe Manor" by Frank De Vol
|country = United States
|language = English
|num_seasons = 1
|num_episodes = 6 (2 unaired)
|producer = Eugenie Ross-Leming
Brad Buckner
|runtime = 30 minutes
|channel = NBC
|company = Alan Landsburg Productions
T.A.T. Communications Company
|first_aired = {{Start date|1979|04|12}}
|last_aired = {{End date|1979|05|03}}
}}
Highcliffe Manor is an American sitcom with a gothic horror background focused on the events in a mansion with crazy scientists and strange figures. The series starred Shelley Fabares and aired on NBC from April 12 to May 3, 1979.
Summary
The plot concerned the goings on at Highcliffe Manor, a creepy old mansion on a desolate island in New England. Helen Blacke, an attractive but flaky widow, is the owner of the mansion that was home to the Blacke Foundation, a scientific research institute with a houseful of sinister characters which included Frances, a mad scientist; Bram Shelley, a bionic man; Ian Glenville, a womanizing preacher; Cheng, a huge Korean assistant; Wendy Sparkles, a sexy secretary; Rebecca, a creepy housekeeper and evil doctors Lester and Sanchez. Each episode featured voice-over narration by Peter Lawford.
Cast
- Shelley Fabares as Helen Blacke (widow of the foundation's founder)
- Stephen McHattie as Reverend Ian Glenville
- Eugenie Ross-Leming as Dr. Frances Kisgadden
- Gerald Gordon as Dr. Felix Morger (former assistant to the late Berkeley Blacke)
- Audrey Landers as Wendy Sparkles (secretary to the late Mr. Blacke)
- Jenny O'Hara as Rebecca (the housekeeper)
- Christian Marlowe as Bram Shelley (the bionic man)
- David Byrd as Dr. Lester
- Luis Avalos as Dr. Sanchez
- Ernie Hudson as Smythe (valet to the late Mr. Blacke)
- Harold Sakata as Cheng
Episodes
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| style="background:#39f;"| No.
! style="background:#39f;"| Title ! style="background:#39f;"| Directed by ! style="background:#39f;"| Written by ! style="background:#39f;"| Original airdate {{Episode list |Title=The Blacke Death |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1979|4|12}} |EpisodeNumber=1 |DirectedBy= Nick Havinga |WrittenBy= Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner |ShortSummary= Helen is oblivious to her tenants' designs toward her. |LineColor=3399ff }} {{Episode list |Title=Berkeley Cheats the Grave |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1979|4|19}} |EpisodeNumber=2 |DirectedBy= Nick Havinga |WrittenBy= Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner |ShortSummary= Felix persists in his unrequited passion for Helen and the villagers make a ghastly discovery at the crypt. |LineColor=3399ff }} {{Episode list |Title=The Evil from Within |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1979|4|26}} |EpisodeNumber=3 |DirectedBy= Nick Havinga |WrittenBy= Earle Doud |ShortSummary= A plot by Helen's evil enemies is short-circuited by Rev. Ian Glenville. |LineColor=3399ff }} {{Episode list |Title=Love Blooms |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1979|5|3}} |EpisodeNumber=4 |DirectedBy= Nick Havinga |WrittenBy= Rick Orloff |ShortSummary= Dr. Kisgadden's abduction jolts her amnesiac bionic man to the realization that he is the presumed-dead. |LineColor=3399ff }} {{Episode list |Title=Sex & Violence |OriginalAirDate=Unaired |EpisodeNumber=5 |DirectedBy= Nick Havinga |WrittenBy= Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner |ShortSummary= Rebecca and Smythe find each other during a heart-to-heart chat and Helen's mother (Inga Swenson) visits. |LineColor=3399ff }} {{Episode list |Title=Stark Terror |OriginalAirDate=Unaired |EpisodeNumber=6 |DirectedBy= Nick Havinga |WrittenBy= Carmen Finestra and John Surgal |ShortSummary= Helen suspects Smythe is more than a valet and sinister vapors from a coffee maker claims two victims. |LineColor=3399ff }} |
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References
- Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present. Eight Edition. New York: Ballantine, 2003.
External links
- {{IMDb title|0078624|Highcliffe Manor}}
Category:1979 American television series debuts
Category:1979 American television series endings
Category:1970s American sitcoms
Category:American English-language television shows
Category:Television series by Alan Landsburg Productions
Category:Television series by Sony Pictures Television