Father Murphy

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Father Murphy
Season 1 DVD cover
Format	Western Drama
Starring	Merlin Olsen Moses Gunn Katherine Cannon Timothy Gibbs Lisa Trusel Richard Bergman Ivy Bethune
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	35
Production
Executive producer(s)	Michael Landon
Running time	60 mins.
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Audio format	Mono
Original run	November 3 , 1981 – September 26, 1983
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Father Murphy is an American television drama series that aired on the NBC network from November 3, 1981 to September 18, 1983. Michael Landon created the series, was the executive producer, and also directed the show in partnership with William F. Claxton, Maury Dexter, Victor French and Leo Penn.

It starred former NFL Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle football player and Little House on the Prairie actor Merlin Olsen as an 1870s frontiersman named John Michael Murphy who teams up with prospector Moses Gage (Moses Gunn) to shelter a group of orphans who are being threatened with a workhouse. Murphy disguises himself as a priest and befriends a schoolmarm and helps the children find a home. In the second season, his true identity is revealed to the head of the orphanage, and the orphans seem destined to a life of labor. Instead, Murphy marries the schoolmarm and they adopt the children.

Notable guest appearances on the series included: Shannen Doherty, Kellie Martin, Eddie Quillan, Victor French, Christina Applegate, Amanda Peterson, Donna Wilkes and James Cromwell.

Many of the episodes were filmed at the Old Tucson Studios and theme park just outside of Tucson, Arizona.