Beacon Hill (TV series)

1975 American period drama TV series

For the 2014 American web series, see Beacon Hill (web series).

Beacon Hill

Genre| Drama
Composer| Marvin Hamlisch
Country of origin| United States
Original language| English
No. of seasons| 1
No. of episodes| 11 (+2 unaired)
Production
Executive producer| Beryl Vertue
Producer| Jacqueline Babbin
Running time| 60 minutes
Production company| Robert Stigwood Organization
Original release
Network| CBS
Release| August 25 (1975-08-25) –
November 4, 1975 (1975-11-04)

Beacon Hill is a prime time period drama series which aired on CBS in 1975. Set after World War I in Boston's Beacon Hill area, the show was conceived as an Americanized version of the popular British series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975) and focused on the wealthy Irish-American Lassiter family and their Irish immigrant servants, who reside together on Louisburg Square.[1][2]

The show was produced by Jacqueline Babbin[1] and Beryl Vertue, the former literary agent of Upstairs, Downstairs co-creator Jean Marsh.[3][4]

## Production

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The first episode cost $900,000 to produce, and the music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch.[1] Christopher Schemering of The Soap Opera Encyclopedia called Beacon Hill "the most touted prime-time soap since the Lana Turner-George Hamilton debacle The Survivors".[1]

The series premiered on August 25, 1975, with an "impressive audience" of "43% of people watching TV" that evening, but it could not sustain those ratings.[1] Schemering wrote that "the overly large cast and fragmented stories did not allow the audience to get its bearings."[1] The show was cancelled after 11 weeks (two further episodes remained unaired) with its last episode airing on November 4, 1975.[1]

## Cast and characters

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The show starred Stephen Elliott as patriarch Benjamin Lassiter, a self-made businessman and éminence grise at Boston City Hall, and Nancy Marchand as his wife Mary, an elegant society woman from a wealthy family. They have five children; eldest daughter Maude (Maeve McGuire), who is married to yachting enthusiast Richard Palmer (Edward Herrmann); middle daughter Emily (DeAnn Mears), who is married to stockbroker Trevor Bullock (Roy Cooper) and is the mother of the spoilt Betsy (Linda Purl); "plain jane" Rosamond (Kitty Winn), who helps out the family business; bohemian Fawn (Kathryn Walker), who is having an affair with her Italian piano teacher Giorgio Bellonci (Michael Nouri); and Robert, the Lassiters’ only son, who has returned from France after losing an arm in World War I.

The servants consist of Arthur Hacker (George Rose), the family butler; his wife Emmeline (Beatrice Straight), the head housekeeper; his niece Maureen Mahaffey (Susan Blanchard), who works as a maid; his nephew Brian Mallory (Paul Ryan Rudd), the chauffeur who is having an affair with Rosamond; former chauffeur Harry Emmet (Barry Snider); footman Terence O'Hara (David Rounds); cook William Piper (Richard Ward) and his son Grant (Don Blakely); Marilyn Gardiner (Holland Taylor), Mary's personal assistant and secretary; and maids Eleanor (Sydney Swire) and Kate (Lisa Pelican).

## Episodes

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No.| Title| Directed by| Written by| Original air date| US viewers
(millions)

|
|
|
|
|

1| "Pilot"| Fielder Cook| Sidney Carroll| August 25, 1975 (1975-08-25)| 23.1[5]
2| "The Colonel and the Fawn"| Burt Brinckerhoff| Irving Gaynor Neiman| September 2, 1975 (1975-09-02)| 17.6
3| "The Marblehead Club"| Peter Levin| David Wiltse| September 9, 1975 (1975-09-09)| 14.6
4| "The Poor Little Thing"| Peter Levin| Story by : Sidney Carroll
Teleplay by : David Wiltse| September 16, 1975 (1975-09-16)| 15.2
5| "The Soldiers"| Peter Levin| David Wiltse| September 23, 1975 (1975-09-23)| 12.2
6| "The Shining Example"| Peter Levin| Sidney Carroll| September 30, 1975 (1975-09-30)| 14.3
7| "The Speakeasy"| Peter Levin| David Wiltse| October 7, 1975 (1975-10-07)| 12.7
8| "The Million Dollar Gate"| Peter Levin| Allan Sloane| October 14, 1975 (1975-10-14)| 9.7
9| "The Suitors"| Paul Lammers| David Wiltse| October 21, 1975 (1975-10-21)| 8.2
10| "The Test"| Peter Levin| Story by : Sidney Carroll
Teleplay by : George Baxt| October 28, 1975 (1975-10-28)| 10.8
11| "The Pretenders"| Mel Ferber| Story by : Anne Howard Bailey
Teleplay by : Irving Gaynor Neiman| November 4, 1975 (1975-11-04)| 10.5
12| "The Debut"| unknown| unknown| unaired| unaired
13| "The Visit"| unknown| unknown| unaired| unaired

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g Schemering, Christopher (September 1985). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (1st ed.). Ballantine Books. pp. 38–39. ISBN 0-345-32459-5.
2. ^ Andrews, Bart; Dunning, Brad (1980). The Worst TV Shows Ever. New York: E. P. Dutton. pp. 7–14. ISBN 0525475923.
3. ^ "Beryl Vertue OBE: Producer and Chairman". Hartswood Films. 2012. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
4. ^ "Beryl Vertue". BBC. 16 June 2004. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
5. ^ Bruce B. Morris, Prime Time Network Serials: Episode Guides, Casts and Credits for 37 Continuing Television Dramas, 1964-1993, McFarland and Company, 1997.

## External links

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* Beacon Hill at IMDb

*[No.]: Number