Surfside 6

File:Surfside 6 1.JPG) and Sandy (Troy Donahue) work on a dance routine.]]

Surfside 6 was one of four detective TV series produced by Warner Bros. around that time, the others being 77 Sunset Strip (set in Los Angeles), Hawaiian Eye (set in Hawaii), and the aforementioned Bourbon Street Beat (set in New Orleans). Plots, scripts (changing the names and locales), characters, and almost everything else crossed over from one series to another, not a difficult feat since they were all actually shot on the studio's backlots in Los Angeles.

Surfside 6{{'}}s memorable theme song, written by Jerry Livingston and Mack David, has often been parodied in popular culture. The lyrics have many variations for each episode,, but "Surfside 6" and "In Miami Beach!" stay intact. When the women are introduced, the melody picks up with back-up singers singing "Cha Cha Cha" when the announcer introduces Margarita Sierra, who vamps exaggeratedly and winked at the camera during this brief weekly sequence.

In its first season, Surfside 6 was aired opposite the CBS sitcoms Bringing Up Buddy and The Danny Thomas Show and NBC's Western Tales of Wells Fargo starring Dale Robertson. In the second year, Surfside 6 competed against Danny Thomas and The Andy Griffith Show on CBS and NBC's short-lived, but highly acclaimed 87th Precinct starring Robert Lansing, a series about a fictitious New York City police precinct.

File:Surfside 6.JPG, Troy Donohue, Lee Patterson, Diane McBain, and Van Williams]]

{{Main|List of Surfside 6 episodes}}

• Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield II moved to Miami to escape the shadow of his father, Jonathan Winfield I, who wanted him to be a Wall Street attorney. His father pays for Sandy's room and board at the Racquet Club in Miami Beach. At first, Sandy was not part of the firm, but he was friends with Kenny and Dave and he eventually joined their business.
• Van Williams as Kenny Madison, who graduated from law school and worked as a private investigator in New Orleans, in Bourbon Street Beat. He then moved to Miami.
• Lee Patterson as Dave Thorne, who served in the Air Force in the Korean War and worked in the New York District Attorney's office before moving to Miami.
• Diane McBain as Daphne Dutton, a socialite who has the berth next to the Surfside houseboat for her yacht, the Daffy II.
• Margarita Sierra as Cha Cha O'Brien, a featured performer at the Boom Boom Room, across the road from where the boys live.
• Mousie Garner as Mousie

File:Diane McBain.JPG

The series was announced in April 1960 as a replacement for Bourbon Street Beat.{{Cite news|title=TV Tips: Balloting to Begin for Emmys|author=Jack Gaver|work=The Washington Post and Times-Herald|date=17 Apr 1960|page=G18}} One paper described it as like "replacing a violin with a fiddle".{{Cite news|author=L.L. |date=Apr 17, 1960|title=Writers taking spotlight|work=The Washington Post and Times-Herald|id={{ProQuest|141086241}}}} It was given a Monday-night slot at 8:30.{{Cite news|title=SENATOR KENNEDY TO BE PAAR GUEST|author=R. F.|date=Jun 9, 1960|work=New York Times|id={{ProQuest|114954358}}}}{{Cite news|title=NEWS OF TELEVISION AND RADIO -- CIVIL WAR|author=VAL ADAMS.|date=June 12, 1960|work=New York Times|page=127}}

According to one critic, Surfside 6 "was one of TV's weakest shows; for the most part it was poorly written and not exactly endorsed by the Actors Studio, but the teenagers loved it."{{Cite news|title=A Critic's Opinions Make Him Unloved|author=Page, Don.|date=Sep 5, 1962|work=Los Angeles Times|page=C12}} The Los Angeles Times called it "inept".{{Cite news|title=Plan Revived to Bring Allen Back|author=Smith, Cecil.|date=May 17, 1961|work=Los Angeles Times|page=A8}}

The show managed to be renewed for a second season.{{Cite news|author=Wolters, L.|title=In prospect for next fall|date=Jun 25, 1961|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|id={{ProQuest|182939061}}}} By April 1962, the show was cancelled.{{Cite news|title=Fall Schedules Cut Anti-Crime Crews|author=Lawrence Laurent.|date=Apr 14, 1962|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=C9}}

File:Troy Donahue Margarita Sierra Surfside 6 1960.jpg

File:Lee Patterson Surfside 6 1962.JPG

After the show was cancelled, Troy Donahue moved over to the cast of Hawaiian Eye to replace Anthony Eisley. Donahue played hotel social director Philip Barton.

Also, a book was released, Surfside 6 by Jay Flynn (US, Dell 8388, October 1962).

Margaret Sierra died in 1963 of a congenital heart condition.{{Cite news|title=TOWER TICKER|author=Lyon, Herb.|date=Sep 9, 1963|work=Chicago Tribune|page=22}}

Four years later, in 1966, Van Williams went on to his own short-lived TV series (which later became a cult classic), The Green Hornet, which co-starred Bruce Lee.

The houseboat was damaged in 1964, when Hurricane Cleo hit Miami.{{Cite news|title=AFTER THE STORM: Miami Beach Acts Quickly to Remove Scars Left by Hurricane Cleo|author=JAY CLARKE.|date=Sep 6, 1964|work=New York Times|page=X15}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• [http://www.thrillingdetective.com/surfside.html Surfside 6] at Thrilling Detective website
• [https://classictvguide.com/show.php?id=633 Surfside 6] at Classic TV Hits website
• {{IMDb title|0053540}}

{{William T. Orr shows}}

Category:1960 American television series debuts

Category:1962 American television series endings

Category:1960s American crime television series

Category:American Broadcasting Company television dramas

Category:Black-and-white American television shows

Category:American detective television series

Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios

Category:Television shows set in Miami