Car 54, Where Are You?
Car 54, Where Are You? is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1961 to April 1963. Filmed in black and white, the series starred Joe E. Ross as Gunther Toody and Fred Gwynne as Francis Muldoon, two mismatched New York City police officers who patrol the fictional 53rd precinct in The Bronx. Car 54 was their patrol car.
For the 1994 film, see Car 54, Where Are You? (film).Car 54, Where Are You?
Car 54
Sitcom
police comedy
Al De Caprio
Nat Hiken
Stanley Prager
Nat Hiken
John Strauss
"Car 54, Where Are You?"
John Strauss
United States
English
2
60 (list of episodes)
Nat Hiken
Billy Friedberg
J. Burgi Contner
George Stoetzel
30 minutes
Eupolis Productions
September 17, 1961 –
April 14, 1963
The series had a rotating group of directors, including Al De Caprio, Stanley Prager, and series creator Nat Hiken. Filming was done both on location[1] and at Biograph Studios in the Bronx.[2]
Synopsis[edit]
The series follows the adventures of New York City Police Department officers Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross), badge #1432, and Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne), badge #723 and #1987 in early episodes, assigned to Patrol Car 54. Toody is short, stocky, nosy, and not very bright, and he lives with his loud, domineering wife Lucille (Beatrice Pons). College-educated Muldoon is very tall, quiet, and more intellectual. A shy bachelor, he lives with his mother and two younger sisters. He is reluctant to get married.
Much of the series is set in the station house, with commanding officer Captain Block (Paul Reed) ordering his men to answer neighborhood police calls or investigate baffling cases that have stymied the force at large. Toody and Muldoon often blunder into these cases, encountering the criminals accidentally and proceeding on a wrong assumption. By sheer perseverance, inadvertence, and luck, Toody and Muldoon bring each case to a successful conclusion.
Broadcast history[edit]
Car 54, Where Are You? originally aired Sunday evenings, 8:30–9:00 p.m. on NBC, following Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and preceding Bonanza. The network run of Car 54 was sponsored by Procter & Gamble.
Car 54, Where Are You? was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, earning one.
Syndication[edit]
Car 54, Where Are You? first entered into syndication in January 1964. It began airing on the cable channel Nick at Nite in 1987 and ran on the network until 1990. It was seen for less than one year on the short-lived Ha! Channel in 1990–1991 and also aired on another Viacom-owned cable channel, Comedy Central, in the early 1990s. In 2016, the show aired early Sunday mornings on MeTV,[4] and currently airs Monday through Friday on its sister network Decades.
1994 film[edit]
Car 54, Where Are You? was made into a 1994 film, shot mainly in Toronto, starring John C. McGinley as Muldoon, David Johansen as Toody, and Rosie O'Donnell as Toody's wife Lucille. Though made in 1990, it was not released until 1994 due to the bankruptcy of Orion Pictures.[5] Original cast members Al Lewis and Nipsey Russell appeared in the film, which underperformed both critically and commercially upon release.
Home media[edit]
In the early 1990s, Republic Pictures Home Video released some episodes on VHS. Shanachie Entertainment announced in late 2010 it was releasing season one on DVD Region 1 on February 22, 2011.[6] The second and final season was released on April 24, 2012.[7]
In popular culture[edit]
The show's theme song is parodied as “Mario, Where Are You?” in an Atari commercial for Mario Bros.[8]
In the 1966 film Munster, Go Home! Herman Munster (also played by Fred Gwynne) starts calling for police agencies, eventually yelling, “Car 54, where are you?”