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This subdued sitcom, like countless other sitcoms broadcast in the 1960s, ran for a total of twenty-six episodes. Set at summer camp for boys, this series focused more on the adults than the kiddies. Opposite The Wild, Wild West on CBS, Camp Runamuck never stood a chance. Although beloved by some younger viewers, the humor was stilted and the storylines benign. Still, there are some who enjoyed the series and would love to see it again.

Camp Runamuck, For Boys

Camp Runamuck was one of twenty-two pilots NBC had under consideration for the 1965-1966 season [1]. It was unofficially announced as landing a spot on NBC's schedule in February of 1965 [2]. Like most of NBC's primetime schedule, officially announced in March, Camp Runamuck was shot in color (only I Dream of Jeannie and Convoy were in black and white) [3].

It was given the Friday at 7:30PM timeslot, opposite The Flintstones on ABC and the first half of The Wild, Wild West on CBS. In May, actor and composer Frank DeVol was forced to pull out of his role as Doc Joslyn due to illness, although he would stay on as musical director for the series [4]. DeVol only appeared in the pilot episode.

Actor Leonard Stone took over the role of Doc Joslyn in June, beginning with the second episode [5]. Camp Runamuck premiered Friday, September 17th. The first two episodes averaged a dismal 10.9 rating, landing them in the bottom ten on the Nielsen charts. Only two other NBC shows (also new for the season) ranked lower: Hank and Convoy [6].

The last first-run episode aired in April of 1966, although repeats were shown during the same time period until September 2nd, 1966. David Swift created the series and also wrote and directed many of the first dozen episodes, the plots of which were corny, simple, and almost always centered around the adults, not the kiddies. Sometimes silly, mostly outrageous.

Wivenhoe and Spiffy

Although the series focused on the rivalry between two summer camps, one for boys and one for girls, most of the episodes dealt more with the turbulent relationship between the male counselors at Camp Runamuck and the female counselors at Eulalia Divine's Camp for Girls -- more commonly known as Camp Divine.

The two camps were located on opposite sides of a lake, making interaction between the two easy. Camp Runamuck was run by Commander Wivenhoe (Arch Johnson). Despite being in charge of a summer camp for boys, he didn't enjoy being around children. In order to get his mind off the kids, Wivenhoe had installed the only bathtub for miles, just so that he could relax.

Joining Wivenhoe at Camp Runamuck was Senior Counselor Spiffy, played by Dave Ketchum. Spiffy, despite his bumbling nature, seemed to genuinely care about the kids -- at least more than Wivenhoe did. Dave Madden appeared as Counselor Pruett, who would shake uncontrollably when in close proximity to women, and Mike Wagner was Maudlin, the camp cook. His food was nothing to write home about.

Eulalia Divine (Hermione Baddeley) may have been the owner of Camp Divine, but it was Mahalia May Gruenecker, played by Alice Nunn, who oversaw the camp's day-to-day operations. She was joined by several other female counselors, including Caprice Yeudleman (Nina Wayne), whose beauty caught the attention of just about every man at Camp Runamuck. Other counselors at Camp Divine included Counselor Ivy, played by Carol Anderson, and Counselor Nadine, played by Beverly Adams.

Caprice Yeudleman & Friend

Winvenhoe's bathtub, his one true comfort, played a big role in the first episode. And it more or less set the tone for the rest of the series. In the first episode the men at Camp Runamuck discovered that there were, contrary to popular belief, women to be found near the lake. And these women were overjoyed to discover that Wivenhoe had a bathtub. All they had were showers.

So, a handful of the Camp Divine counselors decided to get the bathtub for themselves. They used their womanly charms and some well-cooked food to lure a few of the Camp Runamuck counselors into their camp. Unable to find the bathtub during the day, Wivenhoe put together a crack team of commandoes (read: counselors) to sneak into Camp Divine that night and steal the bathtub back. Things went from bad to worse when the commissioner of camps showed up to revoke Wivenhoe's license.

Roll Call

Eulilia convinced the commissioner that the men were bringing the women the bathtub, saving Wivenhoe's hide. In doing so, however, she laid the groundwork for a feud between the two camps. The rest of the series depicted the rivalry between the two camps that began following the events in the premiere episode.

Maureen McCormick, who would later star as Marcia Brady in The Brady Bunch, popped up briefly in the premiere but would return later and feature more prominently in a January 1966 episode.

Other storylines included the inevitable "Parent's Day" episode in which the camp is overrun by parents wanting to check on their beloved children, episode in which counselors quit (or at least threatened to do so), testing a surfboard with a rocket tacked on to it, Wivenhoe getting himself a brand-spanking new car, and Camp Runamuck getting a new swimming pool.

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