Window on Main Street

Window on Main Street is an American comedy-drama television series starring Robert Young about an author who returns to his home town after an absence of many years to write about the people and events there. Original episodes aired from October 2, 1961, until May 23, 1962.

Synopsis
Cameron "Cam" Garrett Brooks left his boyhood home town, Millsburg, in 1934, hoping to become a wealthy and famous writer. He lived in New York City, Connecticut, and France, but fortune and fame eluded him. In the aftermath of the death of his wife Selma and their child in an automobile accident on an icy road, he returns to Millsburg in 1961 as a struggling author. He resides in a room on the second story of the Majestic Hotel with a balcony overlooking Main Street, planning to use the people and events he sees on the street as inspiration for stories in a new book he is writing called Window on Main Street. His childhood friend Lloyd Ramsey, now the editor of the town's newspaper, tries to talk him out of it, telling him that the town has changed a great deal since he moved away and little is left of what he remembers from his childhood. Cam remains committed to his plan, however, believing that the people of Millsburg have remarkable stories for him to tell. Each week, he writes a chapter of his book, based on that week's story.

Chris Logan, a widow who works as Lloyd's assistant at the newspaper, is Cam's romantic interest, and Arny is her young son. Harry McGill is the hotel's desk clerk. Other people Cam frequently encounters include Mrs. Miller and her son Roddy, Miss Wycliffe, Dick Aldrich, and Phil Rowan.

In the spring of 1962, the hotel closed temporarily for renovations, and Cam moved in with its owner, Wally Evans, and his wife Peggy.

Cast

 * Robert Young....Cameron "Cam" Garrett Brooks
 * Constance Moore....Chris Logan
 * Ford Rainey....Lloyd Ramsey
 * Brad Berwick....Arny Logan
 * James Davidson....Wally Evans
 * Carol Byron....Peggy Evans
 * Coleen Gray....Miss Wycliffe
 * Warner Jones....Harry McGill
 * Marilyn Harvey...Mrs. Miller
 * Tim Matheson....Roddy Miller
 * William Cort...Dick Aldrich
 * Richard Wyler...Phil Rowan
 * Mary Adams...Lavinia Webster

Production
After a successful six-season run from 1954 to 1960 in Father Knows Best — prime-time reruns of which still ran on network television during the 1961–1962 season — Robert Young returned to series television in 1961–1962 in Window on Main Street. Roswell Rogers created the show and served as its principal scriptwriter, Young and Eugene B. Rodney co-owned and co-produced it, and Irving "Izzy" Friedman composed the music. Rogers, Rodney, and Friedman had performed the same roles for Father Knows Best. Window on Main Street was filmed at Desilu Studios.

CBS gave Young and Rodney complete creative control over the show, which had a moralizing and sentimental tone very similar to that of Father Knows Best. By not tying the central character, again portrayed by Young, to a domestic situation, however, Window on Main Street allowed the exploration of non-family themes that would not have fit into the premise of Father Knows Best. However Window on Main Street never gained the audience of Father Knows Best and lasted for only one season.

Broadcast history
Window on Main Street premiered on CBS on October 2, 1961, airing on Mondays at 8:30 p.m.  In mid-February 1962 it moved to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesdays, where it remained for the rest of its run. CBS cancelled it after only one season, and its last original episode aired on May 23, 1962.

After the show ended, CBS broadcast prime-time reruns of Window on Main Street during its normal Wednesday time slot The last prime-time rerun aired on September 12, 1962.

Episodes
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