Mr. Smith (TV series)

Mr. Smith
Promotional photo for Mr. Smith
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Stan Daniels Ed. Weinberger
Written by	Dari Daniels George Kirgo David Lloyd Douglas Wyman
Directed by	Stan Daniels Ralph Helfer Gerald Hirschfeld Ed. Weinberger
Starring	Leonard Frey Tim Dunigan Terri Garber Laura Jacoby Stuart Margolin
Voices of	Ed. Weinberger
Composer	Patrick Williams
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producers	Stan Daniels Ed. Weinberger
Producer	Ralph Helfer
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Weinberger/Daniels Productions Paramount Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 23 (1983-09-23) – December 16, 1983 (1983-12-16)

Mr. Smith is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23 through December 16, 1983. The title character was a talking orangutan. Mr. Smith was canceled after thirteen episodes had been aired.

The orangutan who played Mr. Smith had previously been featured in the 1978 film Every Which Way But Loose and its 1980 sequel Any Which Way You Can.^[1]

Originally a part of a traveling act called the Atwood Orangutans, Cha Cha and Bobo are separated from their trainer Tommy Atwood (Tim Dunigan) after he is knocked unconscious in a car accident while the act is traveling from Arizona to California. Frightened by the commotion caused by the accident, Cha Cha and Bobo both run away. Cha Cha is eventually found and sent to a government research center in Washington, D.C.. Weeks later, Cha Cha escapes from the center and ends up in a research lab where he finds an experimental mixture to increase human intelligence being developed. After drinking the mixture, Cha Cha is able to talk (his voice was provided by series executive producer Ed. Weinberger)^[2] and is later determined to have an I.Q of 256. He is then renamed Mr. Smith and, due to his high intelligence, becomes a political adviser. Mr. Smith's old trainer Tommy later becomes his assistant while Mr. Smith attempts to solve various political problems and his surrounding staff, which includes his secretary Raymond Holyoke (Leonard Frey), attempt to keep his identity hidden from the general public.

Mr. Smith's premiere episode brought in a weak 12.1/22 rating/share and ranked 47th out of 57 shows that week ^[3] and was panned by critics. Viewership decreased as the season progressed and the series was canceled (along with seven other NBC series) in December 1983.^[4][5]

• Leonard Frey as Raymond Holyoke
• Tim Dunigan as Tommy Atwood
• Terri Garber as Dr. July Tyson
• Laura Jacoby as Ellie Atwood
• Stuart Margolin as Dr. Klein

• Mr. Smith at IMDb