Mr. Broadway

Mr. Broadway is an American 13-episode CBS adventure and drama television series starring Craig Stevens as New York City public relations specialist Mike Bell. The program aired at 9 p.m. Eastern time Saturdays from September 26 to December 26, 1964. Also featured were Bell’s assistant, Toki, portrayed by Lani Miyazaki, and his police contact, Hank McClure, played by Horace McMahon. Mr. Broadway, a Talent Associates Production, was created by Garson Kanin and produced by David Susskind and Daniel Melnick. Dave Brubeck supplied the music and theme. It was shot on location in New York City.

Mr. Broadway episodes have unusual titles. The series included rare guest appearances by Liza Minnelli, in her first television dramatic role, as Minnie in “Nightingale for Sale”; Sandy Dennis in “Don’t Mention My Name in Sheboygan”, and Lauren Bacall as Barbara Lake, with Martin Balsam as Nate Bannerman, in “Something to Sing About”.

Other episodes are “Keep an Eye on Emily” with Tuesday Weld as Emily and Oleg Cassini as himself, “Take a Walk Through a Cemetery” with Lauren Bacall, again, but also with Jason Robards, Jr., and Jill St. John, “Try to Find a Spy” with Barbara Feldon and Simon Oakland, “Between the Rats and the Finks” with Larry Hagman, Dyan Cannon, Bruce Gordon, and Patrick McVey, “The He-She Chemistry” with Tammy Grimes, “Maggie, Queen of the Jungle”, with Nina Foch in the title role, “Smelling Like a Rose” with Art Carney, Hal Roach, and Tina Louise, “Bad Little Rich Girl” with Diana Van der Vlis as Mary Beth Warren and Larry Pennell as John Chambers, “Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones” with Philip Abbott as Geoffrey Karr and Lola Albright as Duff Daniels. Albright had been Stevens’s co-star on Peter Gunn, and “Pay Now, Die Later”, the series finale, with David Wayne as John Zeck and John Ireland as Jimmy King. In the latter episode the wealthy Zeck hires Mike Bell to write his obituary ahead of his death.