Rafferty (TV series)
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
| caption =
| camera = Single-camera
| runtime = 60 minutes
| genre = Medical drama
| company = Warner Bros. Television
| creator = James Lee
| developer =
| executive_producer = Jerry Thorpe
| producer = Norman S. Powell
Robert van Scoyk
| starring = Patrick McGoohan
John Getz
Millie Slavin
| country = United States
| language = English
| network = CBS
| theme_music_composer = Leonard Rosenman
| first_aired = {{Start date|1977|09|05}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1977|11|28}}
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 13 (3 unaired)
| list_episodes =
| related =
}}
Rafferty is an American drama series starring Patrick McGoohan{{cite news |title=An MD with a new form of fee-splitting |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102438626/ |access-date=24 May 2022 |work=Newsday |date=September 5, 1977}} that aired on CBS{{cite news |title=An Old Format, The TV Doctor, Gets New Life With McGoohan |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102438683/ |access-date=24 May 2022 |work=The Tampa Tribune |date=September 18, 1977}} from September 28 until November 28, 1977. McGoohan played a former army doctor named Sid Rafferty who has retired and moved into private practice. Also seen regularly were John Getz as Rafferty's junior partner, Dr. Daniel Gentry, and Millie Slavin as the medical office's nurse, Vera Wales. Episodes often dealt with the gruff, egotistical and driven Rafferty, a brilliant diagnostician with almost no social skills or bedside manner, working to identify his patients' unusual and life-threatening ailments. One reviewer considers this series a forerunner to House, M.D.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tv.com/rafferty/show/4192/summary.html |title=TV.com: Rafferty |access-date=2010-09-08 |archive-date=2009-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503090337/http://www.tv.com/rafferty/show/4192/summary.html |url-status=dead }}
It only lasted one season for 10 out of 13 episodes, and McGoohan was apparently very unhappy with the series, reportedly saying: "...a disaster ... the most miserable job I've ever done in my life ... a total frustration from start to finish.."[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001526/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm Patrick McGoohan biography page,IMDB]
Cast
- Patrick McGoohan as Dr. Sid Rafferty{{cite news |last1=Witbeck |first1=Charles |title=McGoohan has Rafferty down pat |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102438798/ |access-date=24 May 2022 |work=Sunday News |date=September 18, 1977}}
- John Getz as Dr. Daniel Gentry
- Millie Slavin as Nurse Vera Wales
Episodes
| class="wikitable" style="background:#fff;" |
| style="background:#FFD700; width:20px"| No.
! style="background:#FFD700;"| Title ! style="background:#FFD700;"| Directed by ! style="background:#FFD700;"| Written by ! style="background:#FFD700; width:135px"| Original air date {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=1 |Title=Pilot |DirectedBy=Barry Crane |WrittenBy=James Lee |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|9|5}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=2 |Title=Brothers & Sons |DirectedBy=Barry Crane |WrittenBy={{StoryTeleplay | s = Jerry De Bono | t = Arthur Heinemann & James Lee | slabel = {{abbr|S|Story by}} | tlabel = {{abbr|T|Teleplay by}} }} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|9|12}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=3 |Title=A Point of View |DirectedBy=Alexander Singer |WrittenBy=James Lee |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|9|19}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=4 |Title=The Cutting Edge |DirectedBy=Barry Crane |WrittenBy=John Meredyth Lucas |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|9|26}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=5 |Title=The Narrow Thread |DirectedBy=Barry Crane |WrittenBy= |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|10|3}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=6 |Title=The Epidemic |DirectedBy=Barry Crane |WrittenBy=David P. Lewis |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|10|17}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=7 |Title=The Wild Child |DirectedBy=Patrick McGoohan |WrittenBy=Sue Milburn |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|10|31}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=8 |Title=The Will to Live |DirectedBy=Edward H. Feldman |WrittenBy={{StoryTeleplay | s = Arthur Joel Katz | ex1 = Sue Milburn | slabel = {{abbr|S|Story by}} | ex1label = {{abbr|S/T|Story and teleplay by}} }} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|11|7}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=9 |Title=Walking Wounded |DirectedBy=Arnold Laven |WrittenBy=James Lee |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|11|14}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=10 |Title=Death Out of a Blue Sky |DirectedBy=Barry Crane |WrittenBy=Robert Van Scoyk |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1977|11|28}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=11 |Title=No Yesterday and No Tomorrow |DirectedBy=Arnold Laven |WrittenBy={{StoryTeleplay | s = Rift Fournier | t = James Menzies | slabel = {{abbr|S|Story by}} | tlabel = {{abbr|T|Teleplay by}} }} |OriginalAirDate=N/A |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=12 |Title=The Price of Pain |DirectedBy=Arnold Laven |WrittenBy={{StoryTeleplay | s = Rift Fournier | t = James Menzies & John Meredyth Lucas | slabel = {{abbr|S|Story by}} | tlabel = {{abbr|T|Teleplay by}} }} |OriginalAirDate=N/A |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=13 |Title=The Burning Man |DirectedBy=Barry Crane |WrittenBy=Sue Milburn |OriginalAirDate=N/A |ShortSummary= |LineColor = FFD700 }} |
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Cultural impact
The lyrics of the single "Sleeping Gas" by the post-punk band The Teardrop Explodes express displeasure at the series: "You can watch Rafferty turn into a serial / Just like a cartoon by a.a.p."{{Cite web | title=The Teardrop Explodes - Sleeping Gas Lyrics {{!}} Lyrics.com | url=https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/4474623/The+Teardrop+Explodes | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308202029/https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/4474623/The+Teardrop+Explodes | access-date=2025-02-15 | archive-date=2024-03-08}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0075562}}
- [http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.php?c=2160 Opening & Sponsorship Sequence for Rafferty] at [http://www.FuzzyMemories.TV The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (www.FuzzyMemories.TV)]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080513124135/http://www.tv.com/rafferty/show/4192/summary.html Summary of the Show from TV.com]
Category:1970s American medical drama television series
Category:1977 American television series debuts
Category:1977 American television series endings
Category:CBS television dramas
Category:American English-language television shows
Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios
Category:Television shows set in Los Angeles
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