Bus Stop

Starring: Marilyn Maxwell, Rhodes Reason, Richard Anderson, Joan Freeman, Buddy Ebsen
First Aired: October 1, 1961
Number of Seasons: 1
Estimated Production Cost: $100,000 per episode* A drama that aired for twenty-six episodes, Bus Stop was set in the fictional town of Sunrise, near the Rocky Mountains. Bus Stop was initially a play (written by William Inge), and was then adapted into a television series. It featured various travelers entering and leaving a bus station and a nearby diner. Despite having a promising, popular premise, the show struggled to find new guest stars for every week.

Bus Stop

Frontier Circus

Starring: Chill Wills, Pat O’Malley, Richard Jaeckel
First Aired: October 5, 1961
Number of Seasons: 1
Estimated Production Cost: $225,000 per episode*
Frontier Circus was a part of the Western genre, although it featured a traveling circus. The show’s plot revolved around a circus in the West in the 1880s. It aired on CBS for a solitary 4 weeks in the fall of 1962. It was produced by Revue Productions and was written by Frank Price and Sam Peeples.  Despite high hopes,  Frontier Circus ran for just one season, and it had twenty-six episodes. In attempts to make the show more popular, they relied on calling in guest stars weekly.

Frontier Circus