Big John, Little John

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Big John, Little John
Image:BigjohnlittlejohnEdelman.jpg
Big John (Herb Edelman), from the opening credits
Genre Comedy
Created by Sherwood Schwartz
Starring Herb Edelman
Robbie Rist
Joyce Bulifant
Theme music composer Richard LaSalle
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13
Production
Executive
producer(s)		 Sherwood Schwartz
Producer(s) Lloyd Schwartz
Running time 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Original run September 11, 1976 – September 3, 1977
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Big John, Little John was an American Saturday morning sitcom produced by Sherwood Schwartz which starred Robbie Rist as Little John, and Herb Edelman as Big John. The show first aired on September 11, 1976 on NBC, and ran for one season of 13 episodes

[edit] Plot summary

Little John (Robbie Rist), as seen in the opening credits
Little John (Robbie Rist), as seen in the opening credits

The show centered around a forty-year-old middle school teacher named John Martin (played by Edelman). While vacationing in Florida, he drinks from a spring which turns out to be the legendary Fountain of Youth sought by Ponce de Leon. Returning home, the effects of the water change him into a twelve-year-old boy (played by Rist), and back again (In the days before morphing technology, the visual effect was accomplished by crossfading through a series of men's and boys' faces.)

Martin has no control over when the changes will occur, because he only took a sip of the water, and not a full drink, which explains why the changes are recurring and not permanent (according to legend, anyone who drank the fountain of youth could not regain their true age). Only his wife, Marjorie (Joyce Bulifant) and son, Ricky (Mike Darnell) know his secret. In order to explain the appearance of the younger John, the Martins claim that he is their nephew. Throughout the series, "Big John" unsuccessfully tries to find a cure for his predicament, but his experiences as "Little John" often give him insight into what his students are facing.

To make the two actors resemble each other, Rist's blond hair was dyed brown, while Edelman wore a hairpiece. Edelman and Rist appeared together in 1977, on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.

[edit] Cast

Rist previously worked on Schwartz's Brady Bunch during its final season (1973-1974), portraying the character Cousin Oliver.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Television series produced or created by Sherwood Schwartz