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American western drama television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Father Murphy is an American Western drama television series that aired on the NBC network from November 3, 1981 to September 18, 1983. Michael Landon created the series, was the executive producer, and directed the show in partnership with William F. Claxton, Maury Dexter, Victor French, and Leo Penn.
| Father Murphy | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genre | Western |
| Created by | Michael Landon |
| Directed by |
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| Starring |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 34 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Michael Landon |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | NBC Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | November 3, 1981 – September 18, 1983 |
The series stars former NFL Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle football player and Little House on the Prairie actor Merlin Olsen as an 1870s frontiersman named John Michael Murphy who teams up with prospector Moses Gage (Moses Gunn) to shelter a group of orphans who are being threatened with internment in a workhouse. Murphy disguises himself as a priest and befriends a schoolmarm to help the children find a home.
At the end of the first season, John's true identity is revealed to the head of the workhouse, and the orphans seem destined for a life of labor. Instead, Murphy marries the schoolmarm and they get custody of the children.
Many of the episodes were filmed at the Old Tucson Studios and theme park just outside Tucson, Arizona. The main village featured in the show was located at Big Sky Movie Ranch in Simi Valley, California; this was also the filming location for the television series Little House on the Prairie. The village was located approximately 200 yards (180 m) uphill from the Ingalls' farm set.
Father Murphy is an NBC production and is syndicated outside of the U.S. by MGM Worldwide Television, but MGM does not own the video rights.
Notable guest appearances on the series include: Shannen Doherty, Mykelti Williamson, Kellie Martin, John M. Pickard, Eddie Quillan, Christina Applegate, Amanda Peterson, Donna Wilkes, Tina Yothers, Mary Beth Evans, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Jerry Hardin, James Cromwell, and Christopher Stone.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Michael Landon | Michael Landon | November 3, 1981 | 101-102 | |||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
|
Two-hour (with commercials) movie. | |||||||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Eggs, Milk and a Dry Bed" | Michael Landon | Michael Landon | November 10, 1981 | 103 | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "Establish Thou the Works of Our Hands" | Leo Penn | Paul W. Cooper | November 17, 1981 | 104 | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "A Horse from Heaven" | William F. Claxton | Frank K. Telford | November 24, 1981 | 105 | |||||
| 6 | 6 | "By the Bear That Bit Me: Part 1" | William F. Claxton | Ron Bishop & Steve Hayes & Michael Landon | December 1, 1981 | 106 | |||||
| 7 | 7 | "By the Bear That Bit Me: Part 2" | William F. Claxton | Ron Bishop & Steve Hayes & Michael Landon | December 8, 1981 | 107 | |||||
| 8 | 8 | "False Blessings" | Leo Penn | Vince R. Gutierrez | December 15, 1981 | 108 | |||||
| 9 | 9 | "The Ghost of Gold Hill" | William F. Claxton | John T. Dugan | December 22, 1981 | 109 | |||||
| 10 | 10 | "Graduation" | William F. Claxton | Peter Dixon | January 5, 1982 | 110 | |||||
| 11 | 11 | "Will's Surprise" | William F. Claxton | Chris Abbott | January 12, 1982 | 111 | |||||
| 12 | 12 | "Eighty-Eight Keys to Happiness" | Victor French | George Atkins | January 19, 1982 | TBA | |||||
| 13 | 13 | "Knights of the White Camelia" | William F. Claxton | Don Balluck | February 2, 1982 | TBA | |||||
| 14 | 14 | "The Parable of Amanda" | William F. Claxton | Paul W. Cooper | February 9, 1982 | TBA | |||||
| 15 | 15 | "The Spy" | William F. Claxton | Michael Landon | February 16, 1982 | TBA | |||||
| 16 | 16 | "The Heir Apparent" | William F. Claxton | Michael Landon | February 23, 1982 | TBA | |||||
| 17 | 17 | "In God's Arms" | William F. Claxton | Paul W. Cooper | March 2, 1982 | TBA | |||||
| 18 | 18 | "The Dream Day" | Maury Dexter | Michael Landon | March 14, 1982 | TBA | |||||
| 19 | 19 | "Laddie" | William F. Claxton | Larry Bischof | March 21, 1982 | TBA | |||||
| 20 | 20 | "Matthew and Elizabeth" | William F. Claxton | Chris Abbott | March 28, 1982 | TBA | |||||
| 21 | 21 | "The First Miracle: Part 1" | William F. Claxton | Chris Abbott | April 4, 1982 | TBA | |||||
| 22 | 22 | "The First Miracle: Part 2" | William F. Claxton | Chris Abbott | April 11, 1982 | TBA | |||||
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 1 | "Happiness Is..." | William F. Claxton | Renee and Harry Longstreet | September 28, 1982 |
| 24 | 2 | "The Father Figure" | Joseph Pevney | Michael McGreevey | October 5, 1982 |
| 25 | 3 | "Stopover in a One-Horse Town" | William F. Claxton | Lee Sheldon | October 26, 1982 |
| 26 | 4 | "Outrageous Fortune" | Joseph Pevney | Lee Sheldon | November 9, 1982 |
| 27 | 5 | "The Reluctant Runaway: Part 1" | William F. Claxton | Chris Abbott | November 16, 1982 |
| 28 | 6 | "The Reluctant Runaway: Part 2" | William F. Claxton | Chris Abbott | November 23, 1982 |
| 29 | 7 | "Buttons and Beaux" | William F. Claxton | Gerry Day | November 30, 1982 |
| 30 | 8 | "John Michael Murphy, R.I.P." | Joseph Pevney | Michael Landon | December 7, 1982 |
| 31 | 9 | "The Witness" | Maury Dexter | Paul W. Cooper | December 14, 1982 |
| 32 | 10 | "Blood Right" | William F. Claxton | Don Buday | December 21, 1982 |
| 33 | 11 | "Sweet Sixteen" | William F. Claxton | Chris Abbott | December 28, 1982 |
| 34 | 12 | "The Rockets' Red Glare" | Joseph Pevney | Paul W. Cooper | June 1, 1983 |
| 35 | 13 | "The Matchmakers" | Joseph Pevney | Vince R. Gutierrez | September 18, 1983 |
Image Entertainment (under license from NBC Studios) released both seasons of Father Murphy on DVD in Region 1 in 2004/2005.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 22 | October 26, 2004 | |
| Season 2 | 13 | January 25, 2005 | |
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