Question: I remember a show from the early- to mid-'70s called Primus. It was sort of a Sea Hunt knockoff, but it got me into scuba diving. Can you tell me more about this show, such as who was in the cast and the years it aired?
Answer: That's why I'm here, Kevin. Actually, Primus, a syndicated show produced in 1971, was more than just a Sea Hunt knockoff — it was a younger sibling of sorts. Producer Ivan Tors, who created the series, was also behind Sea Hunt and Flipper.
Carter Primus (Robert Brown), the title character, was an adventurer who, aided by submersible robot Big Kate, mini-sub Pegasus and other sundry gadgets, earned his living under the sea. Pal Charlie (Will Kuluva) and assistant Toni (Eva
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Grin and bear it: the cast of Gentle Ben
Question: Who were the stars of Gentle Ben?
Answer: Now, there's a question, Trina. You see, ostensibly Dennis Weaver, Beth Brickell, Clint Howard and Rance Howard were the stars of the CBS series, which ran from September 1967 to August 1969 and focused on the adventures of an Everglades family and their bear pal, Ben. But since it was an Ivan Tors production (Flipper, Daktari), it meant the bear was the real star. In fact, Tors reportedly used to greet the bear before the actors whenever he visited the set because, he said, he had known
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Hamming it up: Green Acres' Albert and Gabor
Question: I enjoyed the Flipper column where you talked about their using female dolphins, but it got me wondering. What about Arnold, the pig on Green Acres? Boy or girl?
Answer: As you might expect, the rule for pigs was the same as it was with dolphins: Girls (or "gilts" in pig-breeding lingo) may not be made of sugar, spice and everything nice like their human counterparts, but they are easier to deal with. The first pig to play Arnold, farmer Fred Ziffel's brilliant and adorable oinker on CBS' 1965-71 rural sitcom, was male, but after that it was all ladies. And that included the Arnold doubles and stand-ins (not counting the cardboard ones used to set up and light shots), which numbered anywhere from two to four per season.
The reason for the high Arnold turnover is that pigs stop being cute o
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