Lucas Tanner is an American drama series aired on NBC during the 1974–75 season. The title character, played by David Hartman, is a former baseball player and sportswriter who becomes an English teacher at the fictional Harry S Truman Memorial High School in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. He changed professions following the death of his wife and child.Morrison, Bill. "Bland Television Menu Could Give You Ulcers," The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), Sunday, September 22, 1974. Retrieved January 17, 2023. Episodes often deal with the resistance of traditional teachers to Tanner's unorthodox teaching style.
Regular co-stars included Rosemary Murphy, Kimberly Beck, John Randolph, and ten-year-old Robbie Rist.
Unusually, the show was actually filmed on location in Webster Groves to a significant degree, though John Marshall High School in Los Angeles served as the setting for the fictional Truman Memorial High School. However, the location filming gave Lucas Tanner a somewhat unusual "look" for a prime-time TV series.
A 90-minute pilot film of the series aired on NBC the week of May 4, 1974; the pilot also starred Kathleen Quinlan and Joe Garagiola.
This series was Hartman's last work as an actor. In November 1975, he began as co-host of ABC's Good Morning America. To date, he has not returned to acting.
Episodes
References
Tim Brooks & Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (7th ed. 1999), p. 601.
External links