Sea Hunt

Starring: Lloyd Bridges
First Aired: January 4, 1958
Number of Seasons: 4
Estimated Production Cost: $40,000* per episode with inflation

It can be difficult to direct and even more difficult to raise the necessary funds for underwater adventures, yet something about Sea Hunt seemed to connect. Even now, the action-adventure television series is regarded as a great testimony to the genre’s achievements. Lloyd Bridges played the starring role of Mike Nelson, a former Navy frogman, in the film. During his tenure as an independent scuba diver, Nelson is called upon to lend a hand when things go wrong. It was a combination of stock footage of underwater settings and post-production work that created the breathtaking backdrop for this MGM drama. Many of the scenes for Sea Hunt were shot in some of the most beautiful locales on the planet, including Grand Bahama Island and Paradise Cove. The dramatic and engaging series drew in viewers from the start, and the show’s ratings remained above water for the whole four-season duration of the show. Despite its widespread success, Sea Hunt came to an early end when complications with syndication arose, thereby eliminating any hope of further episodes being broadcast.

Sea Hunt

David Cassidy: Man Undercover

Starring: David Cassidy, Simon Oakland, Wendy Rastatter
First Aired: November 2, 1978
Number of Seasons: 1
Estimated Production Cost: $90,000* per episode with inflation

David Cassidy was at the height of his celebrity in the 1970s, thanks to his role in the television series The Partridge Family. He was a teen idol and a hugely popular young guy in his day and age. Following the conclusion of that show, David was cast in Man Undercover as undercover detective Dan Shay. Sadly, David was unable to salvage the series from its doom. On David Cassidy: Man Undercover, Dee Wallace was originally cast as Cassidy’s character’s wife; however, for reasons that were never revealed, NBC recast the part with Wendy Rastatter, a lesser-known actress. After Man Undercover, Columbia Pictures’ final series, during the show’s opening credits, a copyright notice appeared beneath the show’s emblem, indicating that the show had been copied. Each episode portrayed the story of Shay going undercover in a specific case and eventually getting to the heart of the crime, but it wasn’t enough to keep fans interested throughout the season. Only ten episodes of Man Undercover were produced before the show was canceled.

David Cassidy Man Undercover