Season 1 • Episode 26
LatestProfessor Joe Howe is a Korean War veteran who is hired to teach English at Channing College. The dean Fred Baker is his mentor as Howe is writing a novel about his experiences. They are frequently involved in the student's lives. Channing, a production of Revue Studios, aired during the same time frame as the first season of NBC's somewhat similar offering, Mr. Novak.
Writing
Novel-within-a-series structure was unheard of in 1963.
Acting
Henry Jones as Dean Baker — weary warmth that anchors every scene.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Channing debuted three weeks before JFK's assassination, then got buried by NBC's scheduling incompetence. The teacher-show boom died with the era's optimism.
Jason Evers (Joe Howe) was so committed he kept his character's unfinished novel manuscript. It was found in his estate sale, 40 years later, still incomplete.
US
