Biff Baker, U.S.A. (TV series)

Biff Baker, U.S.A. is an American adventure television program starring Alan Hale Jr. in the title role and Randy Stuart as his wife, Louise.^[1] The series was broadcast on CBS from November 6, 1952, until March 26, 1953. After the show's network run ended, it was syndicated,^[2] with reruns being broadcast until late in the 1950s.^[3] Lucky Strike cigarettes sponsored the program.^[4]

Biff Baker, U.S.A.
Alan Hale, Jr. and Randy Stuart in Biff Baker, U.S.A. in 1952
Genre	Adventure
Written by	Frank Burt Fenton Earnaham
Directed by	Richard Irving Robert G. Walker
Starring	Alan Hale Jr. Randy Stuart
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26 (5 unaired)
Production
Producer	Alan Miller
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	Revue Studios
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	November 6, 1952 (1952-11-06) – March 26, 1953 (1953-03-26)

Premise

As the operator of an importing business, Biff Baker traveled around the world with Louise to find merchandise. They usually became involved with international intrigue of some kind, often related to spying. Baker did not look for trouble, but trouble usually found him.^[1] The Bakers' travels enabled the use of a variety of locales for episodes, with a different setting each week, "ranging from Paris to Pakistan and from Saigon to Istanbul^[5]

Some sources say that the Bakers were spies who posed as businesspeople.^[6][7]

Critical response

Leon Morse, writing in the trade publication Billboard, found the program's November 6 episode "another thriller, similar to many of its kind, but with two personable leads ...".^[4] He wrote that the production's quality was high, but the episode lacked sufficient suspense, and "The characters and the scenes were written on a juvenile level."^[4]

Newspaper columnist Hal Humphrey found flaws in the program, based on the first two episodes. He noted that Baker was so busy with his spying activity that he had little time left for his business, and he found fault with the sometimes silly conversations between the Bakers. He wrote that the characters were "portrayed in such a namby-pamby manner that the viewer finds himself not really caring whether they escape from their predicament or not."^[8]

Production

Richard Irving was the director of Biff Baker, U.S.A.. Frank Burt and Fenton Earnaham were the writers.^[9] The program was produced by Alan Miller at Revue Studios.^[7] Of the 26 episodes filmed, 21 were shown on CBS in the initial run.^[3]

References

1. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (24 June 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
2. "Syndicated Pix ARB Multi-City Ratings". Billboard. March 27, 1954. p. 8. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
3. "Biff Baker, U.S.A. 1952-53) CBS". November 1, 2021. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
4. Morse, Leon (November 15, 1952). "Television-Radio Reviews: Biff Baker USA" (PDF). Billboard. p. 16. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
5. "Coca-Cola To Present New Television Show". The Jackson Sun. March 28, 1954. p. 42. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Terrace, Vincent (29 May 2020). The Television Treasury: Onscreen Details from Sitcoms, Dramas and Other Scripted Series, 1947-2019. McFarland. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-4766-8029-3. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
7. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 93. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
8. Humphrey, Hal (November 18, 1952). "U. S. Tops For TV Thrillers". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 39. Retrieved November 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Hyatt, Wesley (6 October 2015). Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops. McFarland. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-4766-0515-9. Retrieved November 1, 2021.