ABC Stage 67
George Blessing
ABC Stage 67 is the umbrella title for a series of 26 weekly shows that included dramas, variety shows, documentaries, and original musicals.
It premiered on American Broadcasting Company on September 14, 1966 with Murray Schisgal's The Love Song of Barney Kempinksi, directed by Stanley Prager and starring Alan Arkin as a man enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City in his last remaining hours of bachelorhood. Arkin was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance By An Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama and the program was nominated as Outstanding Dramatic Program.
Future programs included appearances by Petula Clark, Bobby Darin, Sir Laurence Olivier, Albert Finney, Peter Sellers, David Frost, and Jack Paar.
ABC's effort to bring culture to the masses was a noble but unsuccessful experiment. Scheduled first against I Spy on Wednesdays and then The Dean Martin Show on Thursdays, the show consistently received low ratings. Its last production, an adaptation of Jean Cocteau's one-woman play The Human Voice starring Ingrid Bergman, aired on May 4, 1967.
"Stage 67" was not actually a part of the primary ABC facilities in Los Angeles. It was produced at the old Monogram Studios backlot that was later sold to KCET.
